Today Nintendo is one of the giants of video game consoles around the world, but the beginning was not easy. Let’s not talk about its beginnings as a manufacturer of playing cards at the end of the 19th century, but when I was already betting on video games, since the 70s.
Back then, Nintendo opted for electronic toys. The first was a weapon, the Nintendo Beam Gun optoelectronic pistol, designed by Masayuki Uemura.
Then would come the Ultra Hand, the Ultra Machine, the Ultra Scope and the Love Tester, works by Gunpei Yokoi.
But after seeing the success of Atari and Magnavox With its video game systems, Nintendo thought of creating its own, allying with Mitsubishi Electric. These were the first steps of the big N on the market.
Color TV-Game
On June 1, 1977 Nintendo launched the Color TV-Game 6. It featured six variations of pong-type tennis, with tennis, hockey, and volleyball. In essence it was almost the same: dots driven by dashes from one side of the screen to the other.
The controls were attached directly to the machine, which made the experience more uncomfortable for the players.
A week later it was the turn of the Color TV-Game 15, with the big difference compared to its predecessor that the controls were connected with cables.
brought 15 versions of tennis, as we saw them on the previous console (hockey, volleyball and tennis, each in individual or doubles mode, as well as a penalty shootout, soccer type).
Between 1978 and 1979 the Color TV-Game Racing 112, with a bird’s eye view racing game, complete with steering wheel and gear stick, and the Color TV-Game Block Kuzushi, with the game Block Breaker, based on Atari’s Breakout.
The TV-Game phase closed in 1980 with the Computer TV-Game, sold and produced in limited quantities. Her game was Othello.
Nintendo Game & Watch
On April 28, 1980, the second generation of Nintendo video game consoles arrived. arrived the Game&Watch, a portable game console.
Each of them had a single set of LCD display, plus clock and alarm.
titles like Pinball, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros. and Ballon Fight They made their console debut.
It was discontinued in 1991, but gave way in the idea to Game Boy.
The nintendo entertainment system, or NES, had entered the market in 1983, becoming a before and after not only for the Japanese company, but also for the history of video games.