WiiNoob

The Nintendo Entertainment System is 25 Years Old

Today, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Some readers may remember that we recently celebrated 25 years of Super Mario, but today we are celebrating 25 years since the day the NES first hit stores in the US.

Many can’t remember when the system launched, and that’s because the system didn’t have a set launch date. It just hit stores in New York and spread through the US, eventually becoming popular through the states over the course of the next year.

I remember the first time I saw the system; I was at my next door neighbor’s house and they were playing Super Mario Bros. (My memory is a bit faint here, but I believe it was Super Mario Bros. 2). It looked really awesome, this Nintendo thing. It was an interesting idea for a 4-year-old who had never been exposed to videogames. Growing up with my grandparents, my next big challenge was to pitch them the idea of what I knew would be my Christmas gift this year.

“It’s like a VCR. It goes on top of the TV, but you hold the remote control and it has a wire. When you push buttons on the remote control, and you control the cartoon,” I explained.

Looking back, I have no idea if the concept seemed odd to them. After all, they may have already seen the Atari by that time. If asked today, they probably wouldn’t remember when I first told them about the NES.

That Christmas, of course, I got my NES. This was long after the system had debuted, but it was my first videogame console. This may be one of the most cliché things I will ever say, or be comfortable saying, but that system definitely changed my life. Endless hours were spent playing games on my NES, and I don’t regret any of it.

So, Nintendo Entertainment System, here’s to you, the system that helped make gaming what it is today.

We have been looking back at 25 years of the NES and Mario this past month, so it’s worth checking out this awesome Wii, or this Japan-only DS.