The Nintendo Entertainment System, and its Japanese counterpart the Famicom, need no introduction – if you’re reading this magazine, you’ll know that the 8-bit hardware catapulted Nintendo to a position of global leadership in the videogame business, and hosted the first iterations of countless classic series. Though marketing played an important role in this commercial and cultural success, it wouldn’t have been possible without the hardware. After all, the ColecoVision and the Atari 5200 were less than a year old when the Famicom launched in Japan in 1983, and the 3DO and Atari Jaguar were on the market by the time developers finally abandoned the NES in 1994. A machine simply can’t stay relevant for that long without hardware that’s flexible enough and capable enough to keep up with the changing tastes of gamers. But the NES wasn’t just a titan of its time – plenty of developers are creating new games for the hardware, pushing it harder than ever with modern development tools.
This story is from the Issue 248 edition of Retro Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 248 edition of Retro Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2009
Initially debuting on the PC in 1998,games began appearing on consoles from 2001 with the release of Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Ultimate Challenge for Sony's PlayStation.
ModRetro Chromatic
Meet the new handheld aiming to provide the ultimate Game Boy experience
ULTIMATE GUIDE Project Rub
OF ALL THE GAMES THAT LAUNCHED WITH THE NINTENDO DS, NONE WERE AS INVENTIVE, CHARMING, OR OVERLOOKED AS PROJECT RUB. TWENTY YEARS LATER, SONIC TEAM'S DS DEBUT REMAINS ONE OF THE SYSTEM'S MOST ENJOYABLE AND ENDEARING GAMES
Wii Balance Board
During the era of the DS and Wii, Nintendo didn't just want to sell games consoles - it wanted to sell the dream that self-improvement could be fun, whether you were exercising your mind in Dr Kawashima's Brain Training or your body with Wii Sports.
THE MAKING OF JACKIE CHAN STUNTMASTER
MOST GAMES WITH A REAL PERSON'S NAME IN THE TITLE HAVE ACTUALLY VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THEM. BUT THERE ARE SOME STARS WHOSE INFLUENCE ON A GAME GOES FAR BEYOND THEIR FACE AND VOICE. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE IS THE GREAT ACTION GOD HIMSELF: JACKIE CHAN
Future Classic
Modern games you'll still be playing in years to come
SUPER VEHICLE-001 METAL SLUG TACTICS
SNK'S METAL SLUG SERIES IS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC RUN-AND-GUNS AROUND WITH A LEGACY AS RICH AS ITS METICULOUS 2D ART. SO WHAT CONVINCED SNK TO GREENLIGHT AN ISOMETRIC TACTICAL RPG? WE SPEAK TO LEIKIR STUDIO'S CREATIVE DIRECTOR AURÉLIEN LOOS TO FIND OUT MORE
MAGAZINE CRAFT PAUL DAVIES
In the first of a brand-new series, we interview the game journalists behind the most iconic gaming magazines of the past. We kick off by speaking to Paul Davies about his time as editor of CVG. We discuss the videogames that hooked him growing up, his time in the industry, and how he became an unlikely hero in revamping the iconic multiformat mag
THE MAKING OF Wizardry PROVING GROUNDS OF THE MAD OVERLORD
THE CREATORS OF THE INFLUENTIAL 1981 RPG WHICH WENT ON TO INSPIRE COUNTLESS TITLES, FROM DRAGON QUEST TO FINAL FANTASY EXPLAIN HOW IT HAD ITS ORIGIN IN SOME OF THE EARLIEST ONLINE EXPERIENCES, AND WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COMPUTER GAMES TO COME IN A BOX
20 Years of The NINTENDODS
NINTENDO'S QUIRKY HARDWARE DESIGN MAY HAVE RAISED A FEW EYEBROWS TWO DECADES AGO, BUT THE BRILLIANT GAMES IT ENABLED DREW IN PLAYERS REGARDLESS OF AGE OR GENDER. RETRO GAMER SPEAKS TO THE PEOPLE WHO MADE, SOLD AND DEVELOPED GAMES FOR THE DS AS WE CELEBRATE THE BEST-SELLING HANDHELD EVER
