Perhaps the youngest have not heard his name before. Even the most veterans of the video game industry may be unaware of the existence of this man, but Lance Barr was one of the people behind the remodeling of the Famicon Japanese in 1983, taking charge of adapting this same console to American standards. Needless to say, this Japanese Famicon was what we know here as the NES, so it was the designer of it. That said, it must be added that, recently, the designer has announced his retirement after 39 years in the video game industry.
It should be noted that Barr’s history goes beyond console design, since from 1982 he was in charge of the position of Director of Design and Brand in the American division of Nintendo, which led to the creation of a cabinet of games prepared for it. American market, which was for drag at that time due to the Atari crisis, so Barr’s figure is, to some extent, responsible for everything we have today.
Lance Barr was more than just the American designer for the NES and Super Nintendo.
It should be noted that, for those of you who do not know, the Western video game industry was in the doldrums when Nintendo entered the market, being its official Nintendo quality seal which managed to keep it on the right track by keeping it away from all kinds of mediocre games that were thrown without rhyme or reason on the console. And, as you can imagine, Barr’s team was behind it.
However, outside of business decisions and consoles, Lance Barr was also behind some peripherals, like the iconic NES Zapper. And if all this wasn’t enough, what followed the NES was Super Nintendo, one of the best consoles in the history of Nintendo according to critics. For all this, there is no doubt that the man has earned his deserved rest, so there is only Thank you for the favor done to the industry and wish you luck in your future projects.