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You may not realise it, but Nintendo have had a bigger effect on the world we live in than you might think. They have invented quite a few things commonly found around the world today. If it weren’t for Nintendo, control pads wouldn’t be the same, the videogame industry would not be where it is today, and we wouldn’t have Mario. What a tragedy. Read on and find out what common products were made by Nintendo over the years.
Without Nintendo, we wouldn’t have...
The ‘Ultra Hand’
In 1965, Gunpei Yokoi created device called the Ultra Hand. The Ultra Hand was basically a crisscross latticework of wood. When the two handles were pushed together, the hand would extend and close, it’s two grip parts being able to pick up objects. You may remember actually using/seeing a similar device, they are not too uncommon.
The ‘Ultra Machine’
The Ultra Machine, although having a similar name to the aforementioned Ultra Hand, was actually a baseball pitcher, which used a specially made baseball that was light and could be used indoors. There are many similar products on the market today, which resemble the original Nintendo product.
The ‘Ultra Scope’
Nintendo sure do like their "Ultra’s" Don’t they. The Ultra Scope was a device similar to a periscope, which enabled the user to look over fences, round corners, or at what was behind them. These periscope-like devices are still alive and well this very moment.
The ‘Love Tester’
Yes, Nintendo invented this now famous device. The Love Tester supposedly determined how much a boy and a girl loved each other (granted, with some scientific inaccuracy. Nintendo aren’t that amazing. Pretty close, but no cigar). A boy and girl would each grab a handle of the machine while holding hands, at which point the Love Tester would give a result. You can find such machines in many places, such as the mall, in arcades, etc.
The ‘Light Gun’
A popular Nintendo product was the Light Gun. Everyone has used one of these at one time or another. Be it in a console game, or at the arcade. The gun worked on the principle of shooting a beam of light at a solar cell, which could detect the said beam of light. This was a very popular and profitable product for Nintendo. One product that uses this idea is called ‘Lock-On’, which consists of a said light gun and a headset equipped with a solar cell, enabling consumers to play ‘cops and robbers’ if you will. Well something like that. Ironically, rival company Sega designed and manufacture this product.
The ‘Digital Pad’ (or D-Pad)
Yep. The ever-popular Digital pad. It’s been on nearly every single control pad in existence. Before it’s creation, products such as the Game & Watch (also a Nintendo product) had two buttons, one for left and one for right. When games became more sophisticated, Nintendo had to come up with something new; otherwise their product would be cluttered with buttons. What they created was a cross-shaped button, which enabled one to manoeuvre an onscreen character up, down, left and right. You can find D-Pads on almost every gaming device, as well as a few other products.
The Portable Game
The Game & Watch. The Gameboy. The Soon to be Gameboy Advance. Nintendo Created the portable gaming industry. Many other companies have since attempted to break into the market (Sega’s GameGear and Nomad, SNK’s NeoGeo and NeoGeo Color to name a few). When the Gameboy was first invented, a group working on portable entertainment devices at Sony were scolded for not coming up with it themselves. Some of the engineers were moved to other departments, while one was so ashamed he resigned. The Gameboy was the most popular of these portable devices, and while it only had a simple non-color screen with four levels of darkness, it was wildly popular. This had somewhat to do with the fact that unlike later released portable devices from competing companies; it was cheap to run, only using two AA batteries, which lasted much longer than other systems requiring 4 or eight batteries. Of course the system had great games, otherwise it wouldn’t have become such a phenomenon. The Gameboy was wildly popular, appearing in desk drawers, briefcases and compartments on first-class flights. Even today, the Gameboy is as popular as ever, and with the first real advancement (known as the Gameboy Advance) soon to be released, its popularity can only rise higher.
Countless Franchises
Mario, Luigi, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, the list goes on. Lets start with Mario. Mario. A household name, arguably better known than such icons as Mickey Mouse. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. Go outside. Find someone. Anyone. Ask them "Who’s Mario?" They’ll know. Of course, they might be confused by some stranger coming up and asking them such a question and choose not to answer, but that’s beside the point. Mario is probably the most popular videogames character on planet. From his first arcade game, Mario has been the flagship character for Nintendo, appearing in. countless games, spawned from the original classic, Donkey Kong. And his brother, Luigi, who also is quite famous, having starred alongside Mario in countless games. What about Link? The star of The Legend of Zelda, one of the greatest series ever, Link is a very popular character among the gaming community, and The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Then there’s Donkey Kong. He may be owned by Rare now, but this guy… well primate at least, helped make Nintendo who they are today. Starring in the original arcade game Donkey Kong alongside Mario, Donkey Kong changed the face of gaming. Eventually Donkey Kong was sold to Rare as part of a partnership deal and went on to appear in a series of platform games, one of which (Donkey Kong Country) again changed the face of gaming as we say it. Last but not leats, Metroid. Although not making an appearance on the N64, Metroid has appeared on the NES and SNES and will appear on the GameCube. Metroid is a scrolling shooter, and has always been a game of the highest quality. Hopefully it will be so on the GCN version.
The Single-Handed Revival of Console Gaming
Yep, you betcha. During the late 1970’s, Consoles such as the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Intellivision made their way into homes around the world. But by 1984 they were thought of as a passing fad, as computers were being introduced. But then, the light shining through the darkness, Nintendo released the NES. The games were miles ahead of anything before them, with smooth scrolling platform games. The NES became a worldwide phenomenon; in the US alone 1 in every 5 people owned one. To this day no console has had as big an effect on the videogame industry, nor enjoyed the popularity the NES enjoyed at its peak, and most likely will never again.
Well there you have it. If we didn’t have Nintendo, we wouldn’t have the D-Pad, the Light Gun, Love Testers (not that I care for them, but I digress), Portable Gaming, or the videogame industry itself as it is today. We would probably have the Atari 31200 with Pac-Man Returns Again to the Planet Dot Part-2. Well something like that. Not to mention there would be countless more youth suicides each year. Or not…
Without Nintendo, we wouldn’t have...
The ‘Ultra Hand’
In 1965, Gunpei Yokoi created device called the Ultra Hand. The Ultra Hand was basically a crisscross latticework of wood. When the two handles were pushed together, the hand would extend and close, it’s two grip parts being able to pick up objects. You may remember actually using/seeing a similar device, they are not too uncommon.
The ‘Ultra Machine’
The Ultra Machine, although having a similar name to the aforementioned Ultra Hand, was actually a baseball pitcher, which used a specially made baseball that was light and could be used indoors. There are many similar products on the market today, which resemble the original Nintendo product.
The ‘Ultra Scope’
Nintendo sure do like their "Ultra’s" Don’t they. The Ultra Scope was a device similar to a periscope, which enabled the user to look over fences, round corners, or at what was behind them. These periscope-like devices are still alive and well this very moment.
The ‘Love Tester’
Yes, Nintendo invented this now famous device. The Love Tester supposedly determined how much a boy and a girl loved each other (granted, with some scientific inaccuracy. Nintendo aren’t that amazing. Pretty close, but no cigar). A boy and girl would each grab a handle of the machine while holding hands, at which point the Love Tester would give a result. You can find such machines in many places, such as the mall, in arcades, etc.
The ‘Light Gun’
A popular Nintendo product was the Light Gun. Everyone has used one of these at one time or another. Be it in a console game, or at the arcade. The gun worked on the principle of shooting a beam of light at a solar cell, which could detect the said beam of light. This was a very popular and profitable product for Nintendo. One product that uses this idea is called ‘Lock-On’, which consists of a said light gun and a headset equipped with a solar cell, enabling consumers to play ‘cops and robbers’ if you will. Well something like that. Ironically, rival company Sega designed and manufacture this product.
The ‘Digital Pad’ (or D-Pad)
Yep. The ever-popular Digital pad. It’s been on nearly every single control pad in existence. Before it’s creation, products such as the Game & Watch (also a Nintendo product) had two buttons, one for left and one for right. When games became more sophisticated, Nintendo had to come up with something new; otherwise their product would be cluttered with buttons. What they created was a cross-shaped button, which enabled one to manoeuvre an onscreen character up, down, left and right. You can find D-Pads on almost every gaming device, as well as a few other products.
The Portable Game
The Game & Watch. The Gameboy. The Soon to be Gameboy Advance. Nintendo Created the portable gaming industry. Many other companies have since attempted to break into the market (Sega’s GameGear and Nomad, SNK’s NeoGeo and NeoGeo Color to name a few). When the Gameboy was first invented, a group working on portable entertainment devices at Sony were scolded for not coming up with it themselves. Some of the engineers were moved to other departments, while one was so ashamed he resigned. The Gameboy was the most popular of these portable devices, and while it only had a simple non-color screen with four levels of darkness, it was wildly popular. This had somewhat to do with the fact that unlike later released portable devices from competing companies; it was cheap to run, only using two AA batteries, which lasted much longer than other systems requiring 4 or eight batteries. Of course the system had great games, otherwise it wouldn’t have become such a phenomenon. The Gameboy was wildly popular, appearing in desk drawers, briefcases and compartments on first-class flights. Even today, the Gameboy is as popular as ever, and with the first real advancement (known as the Gameboy Advance) soon to be released, its popularity can only rise higher.
Countless Franchises
Mario, Luigi, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, the list goes on. Lets start with Mario. Mario. A household name, arguably better known than such icons as Mickey Mouse. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. Go outside. Find someone. Anyone. Ask them "Who’s Mario?" They’ll know. Of course, they might be confused by some stranger coming up and asking them such a question and choose not to answer, but that’s beside the point. Mario is probably the most popular videogames character on planet. From his first arcade game, Mario has been the flagship character for Nintendo, appearing in. countless games, spawned from the original classic, Donkey Kong. And his brother, Luigi, who also is quite famous, having starred alongside Mario in countless games. What about Link? The star of The Legend of Zelda, one of the greatest series ever, Link is a very popular character among the gaming community, and The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Then there’s Donkey Kong. He may be owned by Rare now, but this guy… well primate at least, helped make Nintendo who they are today. Starring in the original arcade game Donkey Kong alongside Mario, Donkey Kong changed the face of gaming. Eventually Donkey Kong was sold to Rare as part of a partnership deal and went on to appear in a series of platform games, one of which (Donkey Kong Country) again changed the face of gaming as we say it. Last but not leats, Metroid. Although not making an appearance on the N64, Metroid has appeared on the NES and SNES and will appear on the GameCube. Metroid is a scrolling shooter, and has always been a game of the highest quality. Hopefully it will be so on the GCN version.
The Single-Handed Revival of Console Gaming
Yep, you betcha. During the late 1970’s, Consoles such as the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Intellivision made their way into homes around the world. But by 1984 they were thought of as a passing fad, as computers were being introduced. But then, the light shining through the darkness, Nintendo released the NES. The games were miles ahead of anything before them, with smooth scrolling platform games. The NES became a worldwide phenomenon; in the US alone 1 in every 5 people owned one. To this day no console has had as big an effect on the videogame industry, nor enjoyed the popularity the NES enjoyed at its peak, and most likely will never again.
Well there you have it. If we didn’t have Nintendo, we wouldn’t have the D-Pad, the Light Gun, Love Testers (not that I care for them, but I digress), Portable Gaming, or the videogame industry itself as it is today. We would probably have the Atari 31200 with Pac-Man Returns Again to the Planet Dot Part-2. Well something like that. Not to mention there would be countless more youth suicides each year. Or not…
You may not realise it, but Nintendo have had a bigger effect on the world we live in than you might think. They have invented quite a few things commonly found around the world today. If it weren’t for Nintendo, control pads wouldn’t be the same, the videogame industry would not be where it is today, and we wouldn’t have Mario. What a tragedy. Read on and find out what common products were made by Nintendo over the years.
Without Nintendo, we wouldn’t have...
The ‘Ultra Hand’
In 1965, Gunpei Yokoi created device called the Ultra Hand. The Ultra Hand was basically a crisscross latticework of wood. When the two handles were pushed together, the hand would extend and close, it’s two grip parts being able to pick up objects. You may remember actually using/seeing a similar device, they are not too uncommon.
The ‘Ultra Machine’
The Ultra Machine, although having a similar name to the aforementioned Ultra Hand, was actually a baseball pitcher, which used a specially made baseball that was light and could be used indoors. There are many similar products on the market today, which resemble the original Nintendo product.
The ‘Ultra Scope’
Nintendo sure do like their "Ultra’s" Don’t they. The Ultra Scope was a device similar to a periscope, which enabled the user to look over fences, round corners, or at what was behind them. These periscope-like devices are still alive and well this very moment.
The ‘Love Tester’
Yes, Nintendo invented this now famous device. The Love Tester supposedly determined how much a boy and a girl loved each other (granted, with some scientific inaccuracy. Nintendo aren’t that amazing. Pretty close, but no cigar). A boy and girl would each grab a handle of the machine while holding hands, at which point the Love Tester would give a result. You can find such machines in many places, such as the mall, in arcades, etc.
The ‘Light Gun’
A popular Nintendo product was the Light Gun. Everyone has used one of these at one time or another. Be it in a console game, or at the arcade. The gun worked on the principle of shooting a beam of light at a solar cell, which could detect the said beam of light. This was a very popular and profitable product for Nintendo. One product that uses this idea is called ‘Lock-On’, which consists of a said light gun and a headset equipped with a solar cell, enabling consumers to play ‘cops and robbers’ if you will. Well something like that. Ironically, rival company Sega designed and manufacture this product.
The ‘Digital Pad’ (or D-Pad)
Yep. The ever-popular Digital pad. It’s been on nearly every single control pad in existence. Before it’s creation, products such as the Game & Watch (also a Nintendo product) had two buttons, one for left and one for right. When games became more sophisticated, Nintendo had to come up with something new; otherwise their product would be cluttered with buttons. What they created was a cross-shaped button, which enabled one to manoeuvre an onscreen character up, down, left and right. You can find D-Pads on almost every gaming device, as well as a few other products.
The Portable Game
The Game & Watch. The Gameboy. The Soon to be Gameboy Advance. Nintendo Created the portable gaming industry. Many other companies have since attempted to break into the market (Sega’s GameGear and Nomad, SNK’s NeoGeo and NeoGeo Color to name a few). When the Gameboy was first invented, a group working on portable entertainment devices at Sony were scolded for not coming up with it themselves. Some of the engineers were moved to other departments, while one was so ashamed he resigned. The Gameboy was the most popular of these portable devices, and while it only had a simple non-color screen with four levels of darkness, it was wildly popular. This had somewhat to do with the fact that unlike later released portable devices from competing companies; it was cheap to run, only using two AA batteries, which lasted much longer than other systems requiring 4 or eight batteries. Of course the system had great games, otherwise it wouldn’t have become such a phenomenon. The Gameboy was wildly popular, appearing in desk drawers, briefcases and compartments on first-class flights. Even today, the Gameboy is as popular as ever, and with the first real advancement (known as the Gameboy Advance) soon to be released, its popularity can only rise higher.
Countless Franchises
Mario, Luigi, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, the list goes on. Lets start with Mario. Mario. A household name, arguably better known than such icons as Mickey Mouse. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. Go outside. Find someone. Anyone. Ask them "Who’s Mario?" They’ll know. Of course, they might be confused by some stranger coming up and asking them such a question and choose not to answer, but that’s beside the point. Mario is probably the most popular videogames character on planet. From his first arcade game, Mario has been the flagship character for Nintendo, appearing in. countless games, spawned from the original classic, Donkey Kong. And his brother, Luigi, who also is quite famous, having starred alongside Mario in countless games. What about Link? The star of The Legend of Zelda, one of the greatest series ever, Link is a very popular character among the gaming community, and The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Then there’s Donkey Kong. He may be owned by Rare now, but this guy… well primate at least, helped make Nintendo who they are today. Starring in the original arcade game Donkey Kong alongside Mario, Donkey Kong changed the face of gaming. Eventually Donkey Kong was sold to Rare as part of a partnership deal and went on to appear in a series of platform games, one of which (Donkey Kong Country) again changed the face of gaming as we say it. Last but not leats, Metroid. Although not making an appearance on the N64, Metroid has appeared on the NES and SNES and will appear on the GameCube. Metroid is a scrolling shooter, and has always been a game of the highest quality. Hopefully it will be so on the GCN version.
The Single-Handed Revival of Console Gaming
Yep, you betcha. During the late 1970’s, Consoles such as the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Intellivision made their way into homes around the world. But by 1984 they were thought of as a passing fad, as computers were being introduced. But then, the light shining through the darkness, Nintendo released the NES. The games were miles ahead of anything before them, with smooth scrolling platform games. The NES became a worldwide phenomenon; in the US alone 1 in every 5 people owned one. To this day no console has had as big an effect on the videogame industry, nor enjoyed the popularity the NES enjoyed at its peak, and most likely will never again.
Well there you have it. If we didn’t have Nintendo, we wouldn’t have the D-Pad, the Light Gun, Love Testers (not that I care for them, but I digress), Portable Gaming, or the videogame industry itself as it is today. We would probably have the Atari 31200 with Pac-Man Returns Again to the Planet Dot Part-2. Well something like that. Not to mention there would be countless more youth suicides each year. Or not…
Without Nintendo, we wouldn’t have...
The ‘Ultra Hand’
In 1965, Gunpei Yokoi created device called the Ultra Hand. The Ultra Hand was basically a crisscross latticework of wood. When the two handles were pushed together, the hand would extend and close, it’s two grip parts being able to pick up objects. You may remember actually using/seeing a similar device, they are not too uncommon.
The ‘Ultra Machine’
The Ultra Machine, although having a similar name to the aforementioned Ultra Hand, was actually a baseball pitcher, which used a specially made baseball that was light and could be used indoors. There are many similar products on the market today, which resemble the original Nintendo product.
The ‘Ultra Scope’
Nintendo sure do like their "Ultra’s" Don’t they. The Ultra Scope was a device similar to a periscope, which enabled the user to look over fences, round corners, or at what was behind them. These periscope-like devices are still alive and well this very moment.
The ‘Love Tester’
Yes, Nintendo invented this now famous device. The Love Tester supposedly determined how much a boy and a girl loved each other (granted, with some scientific inaccuracy. Nintendo aren’t that amazing. Pretty close, but no cigar). A boy and girl would each grab a handle of the machine while holding hands, at which point the Love Tester would give a result. You can find such machines in many places, such as the mall, in arcades, etc.
The ‘Light Gun’
A popular Nintendo product was the Light Gun. Everyone has used one of these at one time or another. Be it in a console game, or at the arcade. The gun worked on the principle of shooting a beam of light at a solar cell, which could detect the said beam of light. This was a very popular and profitable product for Nintendo. One product that uses this idea is called ‘Lock-On’, which consists of a said light gun and a headset equipped with a solar cell, enabling consumers to play ‘cops and robbers’ if you will. Well something like that. Ironically, rival company Sega designed and manufacture this product.
The ‘Digital Pad’ (or D-Pad)
Yep. The ever-popular Digital pad. It’s been on nearly every single control pad in existence. Before it’s creation, products such as the Game & Watch (also a Nintendo product) had two buttons, one for left and one for right. When games became more sophisticated, Nintendo had to come up with something new; otherwise their product would be cluttered with buttons. What they created was a cross-shaped button, which enabled one to manoeuvre an onscreen character up, down, left and right. You can find D-Pads on almost every gaming device, as well as a few other products.
The Portable Game
The Game & Watch. The Gameboy. The Soon to be Gameboy Advance. Nintendo Created the portable gaming industry. Many other companies have since attempted to break into the market (Sega’s GameGear and Nomad, SNK’s NeoGeo and NeoGeo Color to name a few). When the Gameboy was first invented, a group working on portable entertainment devices at Sony were scolded for not coming up with it themselves. Some of the engineers were moved to other departments, while one was so ashamed he resigned. The Gameboy was the most popular of these portable devices, and while it only had a simple non-color screen with four levels of darkness, it was wildly popular. This had somewhat to do with the fact that unlike later released portable devices from competing companies; it was cheap to run, only using two AA batteries, which lasted much longer than other systems requiring 4 or eight batteries. Of course the system had great games, otherwise it wouldn’t have become such a phenomenon. The Gameboy was wildly popular, appearing in desk drawers, briefcases and compartments on first-class flights. Even today, the Gameboy is as popular as ever, and with the first real advancement (known as the Gameboy Advance) soon to be released, its popularity can only rise higher.
Countless Franchises
Mario, Luigi, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, the list goes on. Lets start with Mario. Mario. A household name, arguably better known than such icons as Mickey Mouse. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. Go outside. Find someone. Anyone. Ask them "Who’s Mario?" They’ll know. Of course, they might be confused by some stranger coming up and asking them such a question and choose not to answer, but that’s beside the point. Mario is probably the most popular videogames character on planet. From his first arcade game, Mario has been the flagship character for Nintendo, appearing in. countless games, spawned from the original classic, Donkey Kong. And his brother, Luigi, who also is quite famous, having starred alongside Mario in countless games. What about Link? The star of The Legend of Zelda, one of the greatest series ever, Link is a very popular character among the gaming community, and The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Then there’s Donkey Kong. He may be owned by Rare now, but this guy… well primate at least, helped make Nintendo who they are today. Starring in the original arcade game Donkey Kong alongside Mario, Donkey Kong changed the face of gaming. Eventually Donkey Kong was sold to Rare as part of a partnership deal and went on to appear in a series of platform games, one of which (Donkey Kong Country) again changed the face of gaming as we say it. Last but not leats, Metroid. Although not making an appearance on the N64, Metroid has appeared on the NES and SNES and will appear on the GameCube. Metroid is a scrolling shooter, and has always been a game of the highest quality. Hopefully it will be so on the GCN version.
The Single-Handed Revival of Console Gaming
Yep, you betcha. During the late 1970’s, Consoles such as the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Intellivision made their way into homes around the world. But by 1984 they were thought of as a passing fad, as computers were being introduced. But then, the light shining through the darkness, Nintendo released the NES. The games were miles ahead of anything before them, with smooth scrolling platform games. The NES became a worldwide phenomenon; in the US alone 1 in every 5 people owned one. To this day no console has had as big an effect on the videogame industry, nor enjoyed the popularity the NES enjoyed at its peak, and most likely will never again.
Well there you have it. If we didn’t have Nintendo, we wouldn’t have the D-Pad, the Light Gun, Love Testers (not that I care for them, but I digress), Portable Gaming, or the videogame industry itself as it is today. We would probably have the Atari 31200 with Pac-Man Returns Again to the Planet Dot Part-2. Well something like that. Not to mention there would be countless more youth suicides each year. Or not…
a world without nintendo ahhhhhh dont even say things like that, it would be a world of rehashed seen a thousand times sequels. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
a world without nintendo would be........... BAD !!
Yes... it would be pretty dismal.