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Nintendo Revives Video Games With the NES and Mario

1985·Culture, arts & philosophy·East Asia (Japan)·
1985Date
Culture, arts & philosophyCategory
4Empires active
Date
1985
Category
Culture, arts & philosophy
Region
East Asia (Japan)
Era
Contemporary
Significance

Nintendo rescued a collapsed video-game industry in 1985 by launching its Nintendo Entertainment System in North America on 18 October, bundled with the platform-defining game Super Mario Bros.

The American home-console market had crashed in 1983 under a glut of low-quality titles, and retailers were wary, so Nintendo marketed the NES as a "toy" with a robot accessory to slip past their resistance. Super Mario Bros., designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, introduced fluid side-scrolling levels, hidden secrets, and a mustachioed plumber who became gaming's most recognisable character, and it went on to sell tens of millions of copies. The console's strict licensing controls over third-party games restored quality and consumer confidence, rebuilding the industry on new commercial foundations. The NES sold roughly 60 million units worldwide and made Nintendo a household name, seeding franchises such as Zelda and Metroid and establishing Japan as the creative centre of gaming. Its success transformed video games from a fad written off by American analysts into a durable global entertainment medium that would rival film and music in cultural and economic weight over the following decades.

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E. H. Gombrich

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