The NES – more precisely the Nintendo Entertainment System, not The Famicom celebrates its 40th anniversary today.
The console’s staggered rollout across the United States makes its launch more bittersweet than the orchestrated global launches we’re used to these days. But four decades ago, the first units were purchased in the United States and Western players began to play with power.
Europe saw similarly piecemeal launches in the years that followed. Mario also became a household name there, even if the NES was not the same, an all-conquering success on the other side of the Atlantic, where SEGA had a stronger position.
Yet with such a strong library from Nintendo itself, as well as third-party powerhouses like Capcom and Konami delivering brilliant games while British developer Rare established itself as one of Nintendo’s main partners, the gray brick box still shaped the mind. You couldn’t play Mario on a Mega Drive, could you?
For decades, the NES had a monopoly on the retro video game space in the popular sense, thanks to a mix of undeniable quality, the console’s commercial success, and the pure nostalgia that came with a system that so many people enjoyed as kids. But is the latter decreasing a little? Is the hubris of this platform being eroded by Father Time?
The years pass, new players are born and grow up, and there is now a generation of parents passionate about video games for whom the Nintendo Entertainment System was not a training console. When their kids rummage through the cabinets, they don’t find a dusty NES and a box of frayed cardboard buried at the bottom. Asking questions about this titanic, 40-year-old system might just get some quizzical looks these days, even from Nintendo fans. Do you have any NES carts in your collection? How many of you reading were born in 1985?
Naturally, over a long enough period of time, familiarity and enthusiasm wane. Not respect – there are still many. You are being deliberately obtuse in denying the transformative effect of the console and its library. But real card-carrying fans with a direct affection for the NES? It feels like they’re in decline – at least if the sympathetic shrugs from people I asked as the 40th anniversary approaches are anything to go by!
With the wealth of video games available and the enormous history of the medium to digest, it’s no wonder that people’s passions evolve as the medium ages. Anyone who controls or dismisses young players who… tsk – didn’t do their homework and play OG Super Mario Bros. before Wonder, or for whom the DS is “their” first Nintendo, needs to speak.
The NES is also probably the most discussed and dissected console in the history of video games. Every five years since the turn of the millennium, we’ve seen retrospective explosions and generational deep dives into all strata of gaming media. Haven’t we been there and done all that on the 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 35th anniversaries!?
Well, maybe. But as we move forward, it’s always helpful to review where we are – and it’s never been easier to taste the 8-bit bottle. This vintage is drinking now, so keep it up, boy!
Looking at the official options for playing NES games in 2025, there’s always room for improvement, but Nintendo does a good job of surfacing its 8-bit library with a 79-game selection of first- and third-party titles on Nintendo Switch Online, ranging from classics to curiosities to Someone bought a cheap license, huh? at Urban Champion.
However, for some of us, the possibility of access being unceremoniously revoked – which has happened with a Super NES game as of this writing – makes us wary of access through subscription services like NSO.
Luckily, there are countless ways to play NES games 40 years later. Maybe you carry an NES Classic Mini conveniently placed under the television. Perhaps you’ve gone the MiSTer route or purchased an Analogue NT or other FPGA system – or perhaps an off-the-shelf clone console. Hell, you can play these games in a browser these days. (I would say they deserve better than thatbut of course I would.)
Or do you… shock — are you still playing on your original console? Have you explored the retro rabbit hole and invested the price of a PS5 Pro in an incredible scaling setup?
Where are you coming from not playing NES games these days?
No judgment here! We just want to know how you tend to enjoy Nintendo’s 8-bit release in 2025. Let us know in the poll below and join Team NL in wishing Nintendo’s little (read: actually quite large) gray box the happiest of birthdays. Why not go retro this weekend, eh?
*goes and turns on UFO 50*
Pretty close. Look, GOTY is coming, you know!? Tick tock.
