Nintendo consoles from 1980 to now: Full historical past

• Nintendo focuses on gaming expertise over technical specs, bringing improvements just like the Wii and Swap.
• Nintendo, regardless of beginning as a card firm, has launched extra consoles than its opponents.
• Iconic consoles like Sport & Watch, NES, N64, and releases like DS, Wii, and Swap have formed Nintendo’s legacy.

For a lot of die-hard followers, relating to game consoles, there’s just one title that issues: Nintendo. The fashionable Nintendo consoles might not have the uncooked energy of rivals such because the PlayStation or Xbox, however Nintendo has at all times been extra centered on the gaming expertise than the specs of its consoles.

Merchandise just like the Wii introduced gaming to a complete new viewers, with a brand-new approach to play. The Nintendo Swap continues that spirit of innovation, by blurring the strains between console and handheld gaming.

Nintendo might have began life as a enjoying card firm, however it has had monumental success making consoles over time. In actual fact, Nintendo has launched extra consoles than another of the “large three” video games console firms. And regardless of what you would possibly assume, the NES wasn’t Nintendo’s first client video games machine that launched within the West – that accolade belongs to the hand-held collection Sport & Watch.

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Within the following years, Nintendo carved a reputation for itself because the quirky console producer. In comparison with the likes of Sony, Sega and Microsoft, it at all times took gaming in an odd however satisfying path. This turned it into an organization you may’t assist however love. Full disclosure: I would not be parted from my PS5, however Nintendo will at all times be my first real love.

We’re having a look again at Nintendo’s illustrious historical past, which has offered us with a few of the most iconic video games consoles and a few of the best video games franchises of all time, lots of which have offered me with numerous hours of enjoyment.

Nintendo Sport & Watch (1980-1991)

An LCD masterpiece that proves gameplay will at all times beat graphics

Nintendo

Nintendo launched a complete collection of Sport & Watch units all through the 80s. And like comparable handhelds of the time, they grew to become extremely widespread.

The primary Sport & Watch console was produced after Nintendo worker Gunpei Yokoi noticed a businessman touring on the Shinkansen, enjoying along with his calculator, and thought the corporate may make a conveyable video games machine to assist kill time on the commute.

Sport & Watch may a single recreation, and had both a clock, an alarm or, in some circumstances, each. There have been no cartridges or different video games to obtain. Certainly, there was no web to obtain them from. To procure a single recreation and caught to it. The “graphics” had been mounted LCD photographs that turned on or off, giving a less-than-convincing impression of movement, however the graphics did not matter. The video games had been extremely addictive, and the collection offered over 43 million models, placing Nintendo firmly on the map.

There have been round 60 totally different Sport & Watch fashions in whole. Some had been based mostly on arcade machines and had been additionally liable for bringing large licenses and recreation characters, similar to Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and Mario Bros, into the house. The Donkey Kong II Sport & Watch was the primary handheld I ever owned, and I beloved each second I performed it.

Nintendo Leisure System (1983-1995)

An iconic console that set the trail for tens of millions

Nintendo

Nintendo’s subsequent console would not want a lot introduction. The NES performed 8-bit video games and was designed for the house. It was by far the best-selling console of its time, promoting in extra of 60 million models, and helped North America recuperate from the videogame crash of 1983 that noticed too many consoles flood the market and private computer systems turn out to be extra highly effective.

The NES was initially marketed because the Household Laptop, or Famicom in Japan, however was launched as NES in North America at CES 1985. Launch titles included Tremendous Mario Bros, Ice Climber, Pinball and Duck Hunt. There have been some iconic video games launched throughout its lifetime, together with Tremendous Mario Bros. 3 which set the template for lots of the core options of the franchise, such because the world map to maneuver between ranges. The NES additionally noticed the looks of the first Metroid game, with Nintendo followers nonetheless eagerly awaiting Samus’ subsequent journey nearly 40 years later.

You might choose up a console with a duplicate of Tremendous Mario Bros for $99 or a Deluxe Set, which included two video games and several other equipment, for $199.99. The console continues to be beloved by many, as confirmed by the recognition of the retro NES Traditional Mini when it was launched in 2016.

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Sport Boy (1989-2003)

A console that you may take along with your wherever you went

Nintendo

One other of gaming’s best consoles ever is the Nintendo Sport Boy. Considered and designed by the identical group behind the Sport & Watch, the Sport Boy mixed options of the primary handheld with swappable cartridges just like the NES to create one of many best-selling consoles ever. Gross sales of the Sport Boy and Sport Boy Colour (launched in 1998) are estimated at round 120 million models.

It value round $90 when it launched in America and got here bundled with a duplicate of Tetris. This easy however insanely addictive recreation helped the Sport Boy to fly off the cabinets, and was completely suited to the small display and monochrome graphics. As has so typically been the case, Nintendo confounded the critics by exhibiting that graphics do not should be state-of-the-art if the gameplay is great. Nintendo additionally made a spread of equipment for the Sport Boy, together with a printer and magnifying display with built-in mild.

Tremendous Nintendo Leisure System (1990-1998)

Begun the console wars have

Nintendo

Nintendo’s second main house console was additionally a runaway success, although it had robust competitors from the Sega Mega Drive. Sega’s 16-bit machine was launched first, however it was finally Nintendo’s array of video games that helped it turn out to be the best-selling console of the 16-bit period, with almost 50 million models shipped worldwide.

The SNES even continued to promote effectively in the course of the early years of 32-bit consoles such because the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. This was thanks in no small half to the technical wizardry used within the Uncommon traditional, Donkey Kong Nation, which used pre-rendered 3D sprites to push the graphical capabilities of the SNES to the bounds. It might not be the final time that Uncommon had an enormous affect on the success of a Nintendo console.

Nintendo produced totally different variations of the console for various markets, with the Japanese model known as the Tremendous Famicom. It additionally encoded the cartridges in such a means that you just weren’t in a position to play video games from one nation on a console from one other.

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Digital Boy (1995-1996)

Nintendo’s VR headset was 20 years too early

Nintendo

A bizarre and finally disastrous console launch adopted the SNES, however it’s appeared again on fondly because the forerunner of virtual reality within the house.

The Digital Boy stood on a desk or cupboard and gamers needed to lean into the visor to play wireframe 3D video games. Sadly, reasonably than present a space-age expertise, most players got here away feeling queasy. It additionally did not assist that you may play video games in any colour you needed, so long as it was pink and black monochrome. Unsurprisingly, it was an enormous flop, and the idea was shelved, with Nintendo specializing in its subsequent console launch, which might show a lot, far more profitable.

The lifespan of the Digital Boy may be measured in months, not years, and it by no means made it out of Japan or the US. It is the one Nintendo console that didn’t promote one million models, and there have been solely 22 video games obtainable for the Digital Boy when it ceased distribution.

Nintendo 64 (1996-2003)

The console that gave us a few of the greatest video games of all time

Dante Gray

The N64 received its title from the 64-bit CPU it used and was Nintendo’s final house console to require cartridges. It was profitable when it launched, with many shoppers preventing to get their arms on one, and it was deemed essentially the most highly effective console of its era.

That is proper, for some time, Nintendo had essentially the most graphically highly effective console available on the market. The N64 was in a position to course of a million polygons per second, in comparison with a measly 180,000 on the PlayStation. The N64 additionally noticed many iconic franchises make the leap from 2D to 3D, with Mario 64 seeing everybody’s favourite plumber achieve the power to go in instructions apart from sideways, and the primary 3D entry within the Zelda collection.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is just not solely regarded by many as the very best recreation within the collection, but in addition ceaselessly makes the listing of the best video games of all time, and at the moment holds the highest spot on Metacritic. One other all-time traditional from the N64 period is GoldenEye 007, a first-person shooter from Uncommon (them once more) that has had an enormous affect on the style. Uncommon’s follow-up, Excellent Darkish, was arguably even higher. In the event you owned an N64, you actually had been spoiled for alternative when it got here to video games.

The N64 had the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn to compete with, so it could not fairly emulate its predecessors’ success, happening to promote slightly below 33 million models.

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Nintendo GameCube (2001-2007)

It is hip to be sq.

Evan Amos-Public Area/Pocket-Hyperlink

Nintendo turned to the optical disc format for the GameCube however was up towards robust competitors from the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Sega Dreamcast. Sport progress may very well be saved to reminiscence playing cards, coming in sizes from 4MB to 64MB, and the controller was redesigned from the three-handled mannequin of the N64 to a lovely two-handled design.

Regardless of the swap to optical discs, Nintendo opted to make use of discs that had been a lot smaller than commonplace compact discs and DVDs. This instantly put the GameCube at a drawback when in comparison with the PS2, which was ready for use as a DVD participant in addition to a gaming console, serving to it to promote tens of millions. The GameCube solely managed to promote simply over 21 million models worldwide, in comparison with greater than 150 million PlayStations.

Regardless of the poor gross sales, the GameCube nonetheless featured some glorious video games. Metroid Prime was the primary recreation within the collection to make the leap to a 3D, first-person perspective, and it stays probably the greatest video games of the whole collection. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker divided opinions with its distinctive cel shading cartoon model and sluggish crusing speeds, however continues to be enjoyable to play to this present day. Tremendous Mario Sunshine additionally made cleansing up goop much more enjoyable than it ought to be.

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Sport Boy Advance (2001-2008)

The Sport Boy goes panorama

Nintendo determined to improve the Sport Boy idea with a extra highly effective mannequin, with higher graphics and a wider vary of colours obtainable to builders. The portrait design of the unique was additionally changed with a panorama orientation that is far more just like the Nintendo Swap.

The Sport Boy Advance went by a number of additional designs in its seven-year shelf life, with a return to the clamshell model of the unique Sport & Watch units for the Sport Boy Advance SP. That specific oddity may even be seen because the forerunner to the Nintendo DS that may observe quickly after.

Sport Boy Advance video games included Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous with 4 Swords, which allow you to play the traditional recreation wherever you needed, and included the four-player 4 Swords which was the primary Zelda recreation to incorporate a multiplayer ingredient. Metroid: Zero Mission and Wario Ware Twisted had been additionally effectively price a play.

Pokémon Mini (2001)

Nintendo’s smallest cartridge system

This was a handheld centered on one particular franchise and was sadly a little bit of a flop. Nintendo launched the Pokémon Mini handheld console in late 2001, and it was the most cost effective console the corporate had ever produced, retailing for simply $45.

It got here packaged with the Pokémon Celebration Mini recreation, and you may select between quite a lot of colours for the hand-held. Regardless of its tiny dimension, you had been in a position to play totally different video games by switching out miniscule cartridges, though the entire video games had been Pokemon themed. The Pokemon Mini did not promote very effectively in any respect, with the far superior Sport Boy Advance having launched just a few months prior.

Nintendo DS (2004-2014)

The proper evolution of the Sport & Watch

Nintendo

Despite the fact that it was urgent ahead with new designs for the Sport Boy Advance, Nintendo determined to fully refresh its handheld technique with the discharge of the DS.

Importantly, it launched an modern new dual-screen setup that advanced from the unique Sport & Watch. The underside show featured a touchscreen and may very well be used to regulate video games, whereas the highest was an LCD display to see what you had been doing.

Its most important rival was the Sony PSP, however because of backwards compatibility with Sport Boy Advance video games and a few later fashions with improved efficiency and options, the DS line grew to become the best-selling handheld video games console collection in historical past. It was helped by a catalog of wonderful video games, together with Mario Kart DS and the vastly addictive Professor Layton puzzle video games.

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Nintendo Wii (2006-2013)

A brand new approach to play that took gaming mainstream

Nintendo

The Wii was Nintendo’s entry within the seventh era of house consoles, going up towards fearsome competitors within the type of the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360. However for a while, it led the opposite two in gross sales figures. In actual fact, it offered greater than 100 million models, making it Nintendo’s best-selling till the Swap.

The Wii ushered in a brand new period of movement gaming utilizing the Wii Distant, which the console tracked in three-dimensional area. It meant you may management video games simply by waving your Wiimote round, and this made video games much more accessible. Even your mother and father had been in a position to play Wii Sports activities video games similar to tennis or bowling, and it made gaming a way more social affair. In a while, the Wii Stability Board was launched, which may flip your Wii right into a health system.

Wii Sports activities was the sport that made the Wii similar to phenomenal success, however there have been another nice video games launched for the console. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword allowed you to swing Hyperlink’s sword with the Wiimote reasonably than a press of the button, which is as shut to truly being Hyperlink as we have ever come. The Tremendous Mario Galaxy video games are additionally a few of the highest entries within the franchise.

Nintendo 3DS (2011-2020)

The Nintendo DS goes 3D

To observe up on its DS handheld idea, Nintendo turned to a visible know-how widespread on the time: 3D. It made the highest display of its clamshell system a 3D display, though, in contrast to comparable image tech on TVs, it did not require glasses.

Most individuals had been disenchanted with the 3D show and its efficiency, however that did not cease the 3DS from promoting in bucket masses. It had minor refreshes within the kind of a bigger XL mannequin and enhanced variations. A 2D-only model was additionally obtainable for youthful kids who could not use the 3D display.

Common 3DS video games embody Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon Solar & Moon, and The Legend of Zelda: A Hyperlink Between Worlds.

Nintendo Wii U (2012-2016)

A backward step after the large success of the Wii

The Wii U was the successor to the Wii and Nintendo’s reply to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is the primary Nintendo console to help high-definition graphics, and is primarily managed utilizing the touchscreen-enabled Wii U GamePad.

Whereas preliminary reception to the Wii U was optimistic, it has finally been thought of a gaming failure, promoting simply over 13 million models since its launch. Nonetheless, the Wii U paved the best way for future Nintendo consoles, as you had been in a position to play video games by a linked TV, or solely handheld utilizing the Wii U GamePad with out the necessity for a TV. Sound acquainted?

Regardless of being a failure, the Wii U is liable for one of many best video games of all time. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was initially deliberate as a Wii U unique, earlier than ultimately changing into a launch recreation for the Nintendo Swap. Different nice Wii U video games embody Bayonetta 2 and Tremendous Mario Maker.

NES Traditional Mini (2016-2017)

A wholesome dose of nostalgia with video games that also maintain up

Retro gaming has turn out to be extremely widespread and upfront of the Nintendo Swap changing into obtainable in early 2017, the Japanese gaming large helped players younger and previous revisit a few of its greatest early video games with a mini type of the unique NES console.

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It featured 30 of the corporate’s Nintendo Leisure System titles and an genuine model controller however with a contemporary HDMI connector.

Massively profitable, Nintendo offered round 2.3 million of the console earlier than it was discontinued in 2017. Nintendo produced a restricted run of those consoles in 2018 to fulfill the remaining demand.

Tremendous NES Traditional Version (2017-2018)

An inevitability after the success of the NES Traditional Mini

Following the success of the NES Traditional Mini above, the Tremendous NES Traditional Version was launched in 2017 and just like the NES Traditional Mini, was very profitable. It offered over 5 million models and was discontinued after the tip of 2018.

There have been three totally different variations of the SNES Traditional Version as a result of there have been three totally different variations of the unique SNES in Japan, North America and Europe. 21 Tremendous NES titles had been pre-installed, together with the primary launch of Star Fox 2, which was canceled in 1995, though it is also now obtainable for the Swap.

Nintendo Swap (2017-present)

Nintendo modifications the sport but once more

And so we come to the Swap, which was launched first in March 2017. It contains a tablet-like system with a touchscreen, plus a docking station to play it at house on a TV. Now not did you must select between a console or a handheld; now you may have each. You can begin your recreation at house in your TV after which carry it on in the course of the practice experience to work.

The Joy-Con controllers are small pads that slot onto both facet of the display. They will also be slotted onto a central house controller unit so as to give a extra conventional controller really feel to proceedings, or used as particular person controllers in their very own proper, making them splendid for mulitplayer video games similar to Mario Celebration or Mario Kart.

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Nintendo’s first-party titles have been vastly profitable for the console. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Tremendous Mario Odyssey, Tremendous Smash Bros Final, Pokémon Sword and Defend, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons have offered over twenty million models every. Breath of the Wild’s observe up, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom hit greater than twenty million models in lower than a yr.

In contrast to the Wii U, the Swap has been remarkably profitable, with greater than 140 million models offered, making it Nintendo’s most profitable house console of all time. It is at the moment the third-highest promoting console in historical past, behind the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.

Nintendo Swap

The unique Swap introduced within the new world of handheld gaming efficiency and innovation that all of us get pleasure from at the moment.

Nintendo Swap Lite (2019-present)

A Swap with the Pleasure-Cons locked down

The Swap Lite is a variation of the Swap with out the removable Pleasure-cons and dock that permits the Swap to be linked to a TV. As a substitute, the unit is designed for whole portability – it has mounted controls and is at the moment obtainable in 4 colours plus particular editions, notably for Animal Crossing.

Nintendo Swap Lite

Maybe the very best moveable console ever constructed. 

Sport & Watch: Tremendous Mario Bros (2020-present)

A retro handheld taking us again to the place all of it started

The Sport & Watch was the primary console on our listing, and in 2020 Nintendo launched a retro Sport & Watch system to rejoice the thirty fifth anniversary of the Tremendous Mario collection, alongside the fortieth anniversary of the unique Sport & Watch.

This old fashioned handheld options Tremendous Mario Bros, Tremendous Mario Bros: The Misplaced Ranges, and a Mario-themed incarnation of the unique Sport & Watch recreation, Ball.

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Sport & Watch: The Legend of Zelda (2021-present)

Celebrating 35 years of the Zelda franchise

Following the success of the Sport & Watch: Tremendous Mario Bros, Nintendo launched one other retro Sport & Watch system, this time celebrating the thirty fifth anniversary of the Zelda collection. The hand held contains The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Journey of Hyperlink, The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening, and a Hyperlink-themed model of the unique Sport & Watch recreation, Vermin.

Sport & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

The Sport & Watch: The Legend of Zelda is a handheld system full of Legend of Zelda traditional video games, together with the unique Legend of Zelda, its sequel, and Hyperlink’s Awakening.