It was released in 85 but was not really widely available at that time.
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In 1986 Larry King claimed video games were a dead fad and compared it to disco.
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It was released in 85 but was not really widely available at that time.
It wasn't a bad take for the time from my limited understanding following that market's crash prior, but I find the comparison amusing now as I'm playing Yakuza 0 which features disco prominently among the side stories...
My expectations of this thread have been satisfied.
It's still so wild to me how big mobile gaming is...I'm sure it was a popular opinion at the time. The market was heavily shrinking by 1986.
I don't think the gaming scene was that big in most counties in 1986.
The world was very different in 1986.
I was still very interested as a child in games in 1986 having an Atari, NES and loved going to the arcade but honestly amongst kids at the time I would say that the amount of people who were into games at that time was the minority. The NES really changed that but it took a few years and it just kept getting more popular every year afterwards.
But honestly even though the NES was amazing gaming was not that mainstream at the time.
Really? It's not hard to see that most people have a highly capable gaming device right in the palm of their hand would be a huge market.
The home console crash was real. Video games as a concept obviously were still alive and well at the time, the NES was taking off but not a guaranteed smash quite yet, but in a broad sense it's a good example of how things were at the time. Especially for Americans, where the all-in-one PC craze that kept home video games very strong in Europe and Japan was much less prominent. Atari was everything and then it was suddenly nothing.
It wasn't really a crazy take at the time.
No one could really foresee Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. completely altering things and how games would evolve from what people knew in 1986 -- Pac-Man, Space Invaders, etc. was all people thought about.
No one could really foresee Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. completely altering things and how games would evolve from what people knew in 1986 -- Pac-Man, Space Invaders, etc. was all people thought about.
I still find mobile controls insanely cumbersome outside of a select few specialized genres which makes it hard for me to understand how people can overcome that obstacle. Sure you can connect a bluetooth controller to your phone but then it loses its portability advantage so I doubt most people would bother doing that.
I think it's mainly for kids, and adults who are into gaming just enough to play something popular but not enough to buy a $300-500 console over it. Which is apparently a lot of people.
Things shifted very rapidly too
1985-86 - Non-arcade gaming was considered a dead fad. Transformers was the "it" toy to have, He-Man was kinda losing some steam but still popular.
1987-88 - Nintendo rose very rapidly, in 1987 to being popular, and by 1988 being the no.1 toy.
1985-86 - Non-arcade gaming was considered a dead fad. Transformers was the "it" toy to have, He-Man was kinda losing some steam but still popular.
1987-88 - Nintendo rose very rapidly, in 1987 to being popular, and by 1988 being the no.1 toy.
In addition, it took the NES until late '87 into 1988 for it to really explode in popularity.
To be fair, and as already noted, the home gaming sector was in a very dire place in the mid-80s.
80s was also the decade of the "boom fad".
In 1982 no one knew what "He-Man" was, by 1984, every kid had to have it.
In 1983, no one really knew Transformers, by 1985 it's the hottest thing ever.
In 1986, not many people knew about Nintendo or Super Mario in the West, by 1988, it's the no.1 must have Christmas item.
By about 1985, Nike and Air Jordan were just kind a specialty brand, by 1987 it was a defacto sports fashion phenomenon.
No one knew the New Kids on the Block in 1987, by 1989 they're the new Beatles apparently.
Ninja Turtles were kinda unheard of around 1987, by the end of 1989 they were the new rage.
A lot of things went from being relatively unknown or niche to red hot mass market in rapid fashion.
In 1982 no one knew what "He-Man" was, by 1984, every kid had to have it.
In 1983, no one really knew Transformers, by 1985 it's the hottest thing ever.
In 1986, not many people knew about Nintendo or Super Mario in the West, by 1988, it's the no.1 must have Christmas item.
By about 1985, Nike and Air Jordan were just kind a specialty brand, by 1987 it was a defacto sports fashion phenomenon.
No one knew the New Kids on the Block in 1987, by 1989 they're the new Beatles apparently.
Ninja Turtles were kinda unheard of around 1987, by the end of 1989 they were the new rage.
A lot of things went from being relatively unknown or niche to red hot mass market in rapid fashion.
I'm sure it was a popular opinion at the time. The market was heavily shrinking by 1986.
Some people around here routinely seem to expect VR and/or Cloud gaming to look like Mobile does, and we're going to knock Larry King for thinking Atari's downfall was the end? At least his incorrect assumption was based on evidence.
Also: this visual is great! We should have a whole thread about it. Look at that mini-crash of the console market at the 16-to-32-bit transition. I remember reading about a crash then, and even seeing companies go under, like Acclaim, which was big. But I never gave it much thought, because experiencing games translate to 3D was just amazing. And I never lacked for stuff to play.
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We had a Colecovision with a few games. I remember it being cool at first but all the games were things you'd play for like 10 minutes then pack it up. In 86' I didn't care about video games much.
My cousin got an NES in 87' and I could tell this was something special. We got our NES Christmas 88'. That seemed about when all the kids where getting theirs.
King just called it too early. Even if Nintendo didn't succeed like it did, it was only a mater of time before games took off again.
My cousin got an NES in 87' and I could tell this was something special. We got our NES Christmas 88'. That seemed about when all the kids where getting theirs.
King just called it too early. Even if Nintendo didn't succeed like it did, it was only a mater of time before games took off again.
Considering that Atari had tanked the industry, and Nintendo was just now getting started in America, I don't think that's quite an unreasonable take to have back then.
I grew up in the 80's, and I cut my teeth on the NES back in '85, with a little Atari as well, but things didn't really kick into high gear with the NES until around '86-87. That's when things really, really took off.
I grew up in the 80's, and I cut my teeth on the NES back in '85, with a little Atari as well, but things didn't really kick into high gear with the NES until around '86-87. That's when things really, really took off.
I started gaming in 1985 when I was 3 years old. I think could've made a better prediction in 1986.
Exactly. I was 6 in 1985, so I only got to play the NES at a cousin's house who was fortunate enough to get one. It was also, at that time, pretty fucking expensive (if I remember right, it was about $150, which, for my single parent family, was a bit much, especially with games costing $50). I didn't get an NES of my own until 1988, when I was 9, and they were a little cheaper, and of course, by then, incredibly popular and widely available.
Talk of the NES in my school circles didn't really blow up until about 1986 or so, when I was 7, and entering 2nd grade. Mostly from classmates who's parents could afford to buy them one, which wasn't many. Even in my neighborhood, only a handful of us had an NES (i didn't, so we mostly played it at friend's houses).
Funnily enough, I still have that NES. It's currently in my closet. It still works too! Out of all of my old consoles, I still only have my NES, SNES, Genesis, PS3, and PS4. I think I still have my Xbox 360, but it red ringed on me, and I never got a new one lol
As for my Dreamcast, I seriously have no idea what happened to it. I might still have it, but I haven't seen it in years, and am afraid it was either lost or stolen when I moved :(
Yeah. In June 1986 when this interview was conducted it was actually a reasonable assumption for anyone living in North America. The Crash' of 83 decimated the console market, arcades weren't nearly as hot as they were earlier in the decade, and home computers were still relatively niche. Outside of Japan, the NES hadn't been released nationwide in the U.S., having only been released in test markets. Nobody would have guessed that just a year later video games would be roaring back thanks to Nintendo.
If he made that same take five years later, then it would be laughable, but the mid 80s were a rough spot for the video game industry.
If he made that same take five years later, then it would be laughable, but the mid 80s were a rough spot for the video game industry.
I never got American's sheer utter hatred for Disco or why they "killed" it (ignoring it was still popular around the world, helped influence many local genres and help make new ones due to no Disco coming from the US etc), like you do realize making pyre in football pitches, causing riots, radio presenters calling for a genre's death etc ISN'T NORMAL behaviour for not liking a genre of music right?
Quite bluntly, given how POC and LGBTQ+ friendly a lot of disco was in the US back then, it just comes across as an early example of how white supremacy was growing in the US and using it's power to shut things down it didn't like. I can't see American's making fun of "Deader then Disco" as nothing more stealth homophobia and racism because they didn't like LGBTQ+ and black people being more popular then their "Real art" rockers.
Also why I give stinkeye to 80s rockers that many of rock bands that benefited and these people trying to kill Disco moved or claim was superior music. So many times have I seen it called "real" or "true" music, yet to me it comes across as just being white and "edgy" and unoriginal (oh, you're using devil imagery, use the same types of instruments as other rock bands, like acting "edgy and dress the same how "original").
Quite bluntly, given how POC and LGBTQ+ friendly a lot of disco was in the US back then, it just comes across as an early example of how white supremacy was growing in the US and using it's power to shut things down it didn't like. I can't see American's making fun of "Deader then Disco" as nothing more stealth homophobia and racism because they didn't like LGBTQ+ and black people being more popular then their "Real art" rockers.
Also why I give stinkeye to 80s rockers that many of rock bands that benefited and these people trying to kill Disco moved or claim was superior music. So many times have I seen it called "real" or "true" music, yet to me it comes across as just being white and "edgy" and unoriginal (oh, you're using devil imagery, use the same types of instruments as other rock bands, like acting "edgy and dress the same how "original").
It's not the fact that the market is big...its the fact that people are spending so much money in the market that always blows me away no matter how much sense it makes...
Not that it was big, but it certainly was alive. Home computers were quite successful in Europe (the Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum, Amiga, etc.) while consoles were massive in Japan.
1986 is when computers were still thought of as a fad, and funnily enough it was the PC fad that was often cited as killing the videogame fad. Fads killing fads.
Steve Wozniak interestingly said both PCs and videogames were a fad in 1985:
Steve Wozniak interestingly said both PCs and videogames were a fad in 1985:
Yeah, and the Commodore 64 was successful by '80s computer standards in North America, too. Even if consoles had died out, there would have always been games in the growing personal computer market.
As for arcades, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Rampage, Gauntlet, Out Run, VS. Nintendo machines, Paperboy, Commando, Bubble Bobble, etc. were all successful arcade games in that era even if they weren't Pac-Man/Donkey Kong tier popular.
Yeah, the NES was out by '86, but I don't think anyone had any reason to think it would be terribly successful at that point. You're probably still a year or two away from Nintendo being a popularly known name.
It's weird how we're looking at something in hindsight without taking any of the context of what things were like at the time to try and clown on someone for having what at the time was a reasonable interpretation of the state of things.
Home computers were successful in America too but it was definitely not mainstream in 1986. It might seem that way if your friends were into the same thing but here at least most people didn't have one.
On a related note, I miss Compucentre (it was a computer/console store in Canada). Checking out the new Nintendo and Sega machines there in 1986 was a lot of fun as they always had several screens on display. Here's a flyer from that Christmas:
On a related note, I miss Compucentre (it was a computer/console store in Canada). Checking out the new Nintendo and Sega machines there in 1986 was a lot of fun as they always had several screens on display. Here's a flyer from that Christmas:
I'm pretty sure my grandmother still has that Sharp printing calculator lol
Yeah, most of my friends bar, like 2 or 3, had personal computers, and it was because their parents were well off enough to afford one (two of my best friends at the time had fathers in the military, and another had parents that worked in the medical industry). I didn't get my first computer until I was 19, in 1998! It's easy to think that PC gaming was going to carry the torch forward if you owned a computer back then (and even then, my friends weren't allowed to use the computer for games constantly, as their parents used them for work), but for a lot of people, computers were a luxury they couldn't afford.
And like I said in my earlier post, the NES didn't become a regular topic among my classmates and friends until around '87 or so, as the NES not only became more widely available, but more affordable for many of the kids in my class.
In my specific neighborhood, only a few kids on the block had an NES, but their parents weren't overly keen on having a house full of kids gathered around the TV playing games all day. Most of the time, we were outside exploring and playing in the park, roaming the neighborhood and just doing kid stuff. Gaming was, at least in my friend circle, wasn't exactly as encouraged by parents of the time as it may be to younger people that grew up in the late 90's-2000's, after the resurgence, and gaming became more mainstream and "acceptable" in the US.
Me and my best friend often get a kick out of discussing gaming with his 9 year old, who has literally grown up in a world where, if you don't play video games, something is wrong with you. lol
Even after I got my NES when I was 9, my mom was still like, "Dude, go outside and play with your friends!" She didn't say "dude," but I like to imagine her saying it. The rest is true though XD
Another thing to consider is, many homes at the time only had one television (we did), so splitting time between my mom watching her shows, my sister watching her shows, and me getting to play the Nintendo was a big thing in our family. Affording multiple televisions, especially if you're a single income household, was another luxury many of us couldn't afford, which, probably, slowed down some of the growth home consoles were seeing in the mid-80's and that first year or so of the NES reaching America.
I was reading a transcript of Larry King's interview with Vince McMahon and the most interesting part was actually when they discussed fads. Here's what he stated to Vince McMahon.
King: Before we take our next call. Are you a little worried, that one thing Americans are, we are faddish. For example, video games are gone. They were the hottest thing in the world; they're gone. Discos. What happen to discos? Are you a little worried that one day, you're gonna wake up, and it's gone? And they like tiddywinks again.
Full interview transcript here:
Vince McMahon Interview 1986
The interview you are about to read was conducted on television live on June 30 1986, by Larry King on a program called "Home Team Sportsbeat." Home Team Sports is a regional cable network located in...mwrestlingzone.weebly.com
Wait you're telling me in an interview with Vince Fucking McMahon thats the most interesting thing to come out of it?! Damn
A play on the old quote, "Nietzsche: God is dead. God: Nietzsche is dead."