This video is a snapshot in time. Just hearing the music and seeing this should give (those who lived through it) flashbacks as to the quality peak Nintendo was at in 1990.

Note the clips of the Gameboy being played by a businessman. Note Howard Philips saying this isn’t just a boy’s toy, everyone is playing it. Even 40% are girls. In other words, the NES was the Wii and vice versa.

My favorite is the ‘truth from kids’ segment about 1:30 into the segment. It says why Nintendo fans are Nintendo fans.

Kid 1: “It’s because you can do things you can’t do in real life like fly around.”

TAKE THAT you ‘realistic game’ makers.

Kid 2: “It’s like a TV show but you’re acting it out.”

This has always been my definition of video games. It is no different from a play except you are the actor on the stage. You aren’t in the audience passively watching. This is why it is so wrong for game companies to make games like movies. Games revolve around the player as actor. The role of the game developer is to create the stage and environment and characters for the actor to interact with.

Kid 3: “When I get a new game, I like to play it a lot because it is like exploring a place you’ve never been before.”

Exploration! This is something you never hear about with new games. He is right. It was so much fun to explore a new game. Today, exploration seems last in concern with games. All games feel the same because they all use the same engine.

This was also before Nintendo went all ‘integrated hardware and software’ on us. The games were designed around being fun instead of designed around goofy hardware.