I'm beginning to think the games were not seen as children's toys back in the day, but rather designed for everyone, as someone mentioned it was family oriented in varying degrees. Only certain aspects of the marketing was targeted to kids, which may have been more commonly seen. There is a video below that states something like 35% of nes gamers in 1990 were the 18 to 44 category. I'm thinking was almost like half kids and half adults. I think the system itself was always designed for both kids and adults equally together for the following reasons:
The kid-friendly aspects still had an appeal for to adults. They weren't watered down to the point, where it was "kid only"
When you think about a huge percentage of nes games were based on arcades, arcade-style gameplay, and most arcade gamers were not toddlers to pre-teens.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
Adults could buy more games.
These are just a few reasons
Computers were not the ultimate home gaming devices, I think nintendo was probably the most cutting edge gaming system least up until 1988/early 1989 or so.
Check out these videos
The Sega Master System was released in the U.S. in 1986 and was technically superior to the NES in some ways although games were still plagued with flicker and slowdown.
If Japan counts, the PC Engine came out in 1987, and that was definitely the most advanced console at the time.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm beginning to think the games were not seen as children's toys back in the day, but rather designed for everyone, as someone mentioned it was family oriented in varying degrees. Only certain aspects of the marketing was targeted to kids, which may have been more commonly seen. There is a video below that states something like 35% of nes gamers in 1990 were the 18 to 44 category. I'm thinking was almost like half kids and half adults. I think the system itself was always designed for both kids and adults equally together for the following reasons:
The kid-friendly aspects still had an appeal for to adults. They weren't watered down to the point, where it was "kid only"
When you think about a huge percentage of nes games were based on arcades, arcade-style gameplay, and most arcade gamers were not toddlers to pre-teens.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
Adults could buy more games.
These are just a few reasons
Computers were not the ultimate home gaming devices, I think nintendo was probably the most cutting edge gaming system least up until 1988/early 1989 or so.
Check out these videos
The Sega Master System was released in the U.S. in 1986 and was technically superior to the NES in some ways although games were still plagued with flicker and slowdown.
If Japan counts, the PC Engine came out in 1987, and that was definitely the most advanced console at the time.
PC engine was in Japan. Master system was not the ultimate gaming system. Not just about graphics, that's what I implied. Amiga and Atari St had pretty advanced 16 bit graphics in 1986.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
I knew some adults who played Nintendo, but not many. I thought it was cool when I found out an adult played a game tho. Us kids grew up to make it more commonplace to the new kids. Heck, there's even games targeted at adults now. Scarface and GTA certainly ain't kids games.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
My older brother is 12 years older than me, I remember going to his apartment several times 20 years ago, when I was 10, he was 22, to play games like Twisted Metal, Tekken and Jet Moto, and my brother was a "cool" guy, he was a successful BMX racer growing up.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
My older brother is 12 years older than me, I remember going to his apartment several times 20 years ago, when I was 10, he was 22, to play games like Twisted Metal, Tekken and Jet Moto, and my brother was a "cool" guy, he was a successful BMX racer growing up.
PlayStation era is roughly when the mass market for video games was opened up to older teens and young adults.
NES was originally marketed as a kid's toy which in turn is why it was so successful at the beginning. When I had one as a kid I was in elementary school and all the kids I knew had one. Never knew of anyone older than like 12 that had one. I've heard of parents playing with their kids but it was primarily considered a kids' toy. I wouldn't say video games hit an "older" crowd til the Playstation came out, and nowadays it's a hobby for everyone. Video games were also considered "uncool" for a long time til, again, the Playstation crowd made it trendy.
I eventually converted to Sony, but when I first started hearing kids talking about their 'play station', I had no idea what they were talking about. The name itself brought imagry of a toddler playing with a little, brightly colored, toy set. I was in 3rd grade at the time, and to me, the 'Nintendo 64' sounded MUCH more adult.
Then my neighbor got a Playstation and I finally saw what the fuss was about. My first taste was a Pizza Hut demo disc. It had Crash Warped, Metal Gear Solid, MedEvil, Gran Turismo, and Tomb Raider 3 on it. I was hooked at that point.
From that point on, I started to notice that the N64 didn't have games with mature themes (not to mention ratings, because that was starting to become a thing), like Metal Gear Solid. So My opinion swung from Nintendo being THE video game company, to being just the KIDS video game company.
Before that era though, I had considered the NES and SNES to be what kids and adults both enjoyed.
Dude, I cannot "YES" this post more.
I remember a good childhood friend who was about 2 years older (big deal when you're 6 or 7), and he was talking about how the even older (by 5-6 years) neighbor kid "got a Playstation". I was immediately hit with the image of a Fisher Price toy fire station with trucks, etc. I'm glad I'm not alone on that one, lmao.
Comments
I'm beginning to think the games were not seen as children's toys back in the day, but rather designed for everyone, as someone mentioned it was family oriented in varying degrees. Only certain aspects of the marketing was targeted to kids, which may have been more commonly seen. There is a video below that states something like 35% of nes gamers in 1990 were the 18 to 44 category. I'm thinking was almost like half kids and half adults. I think the system itself was always designed for both kids and adults equally together for the following reasons:
The kid-friendly aspects still had an appeal for to adults. They weren't watered down to the point, where it was "kid only"
When you think about a huge percentage of nes games were based on arcades, arcade-style gameplay, and most arcade gamers were not toddlers to pre-teens.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
Adults could buy more games.
These are just a few reasons
Computers were not the ultimate home gaming devices, I think nintendo was probably the most cutting edge gaming system least up until 1988/early 1989 or so.
Check out these videos
The Sega Master System was released in the U.S. in 1986 and was technically superior to the NES in some ways although games were still plagued with flicker and slowdown.
If Japan counts, the PC Engine came out in 1987, and that was definitely the most advanced console at the time.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm beginning to think the games were not seen as children's toys back in the day, but rather designed for everyone, as someone mentioned it was family oriented in varying degrees. Only certain aspects of the marketing was targeted to kids, which may have been more commonly seen. There is a video below that states something like 35% of nes gamers in 1990 were the 18 to 44 category. I'm thinking was almost like half kids and half adults. I think the system itself was always designed for both kids and adults equally together for the following reasons:
The kid-friendly aspects still had an appeal for to adults. They weren't watered down to the point, where it was "kid only"
When you think about a huge percentage of nes games were based on arcades, arcade-style gameplay, and most arcade gamers were not toddlers to pre-teens.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
Adults could buy more games.
These are just a few reasons
Computers were not the ultimate home gaming devices, I think nintendo was probably the most cutting edge gaming system least up until 1988/early 1989 or so.
Check out these videos
The Sega Master System was released in the U.S. in 1986 and was technically superior to the NES in some ways although games were still plagued with flicker and slowdown.
If Japan counts, the PC Engine came out in 1987, and that was definitely the most advanced console at the time.
PC engine was in Japan. Master system was not the ultimate gaming system. Not just about graphics, that's what I implied. Amiga and Atari St had pretty advanced 16 bit graphics in 1986.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
Originally posted by: pixelsmash
Originally posted by: Tulpa
Originally posted by: pixelsmash
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
My older brother is 12 years older than me, I remember going to his apartment several times 20 years ago, when I was 10, he was 22, to play games like Twisted Metal, Tekken and Jet Moto, and my brother was a "cool" guy, he was a successful BMX racer growing up.
A lot of the ultra challenging games, which make up a good portion of the library, I don't think would strictly appeal to the average 10-13 year old, but rather older players who may have more experience through playing older atari and computer games.
The NES got a lot of the computer ports because it was a successful system and everyone wanted a piece of it. But that happened deep in the retail lifespan of the NES. The first few years (1985-1989) were undoubtedly kid focused. I remember because I was a kid. I was around nine when the NES launched nationally. The lion's share and then some of the attention was definitely directed towards me and my age group. And as a kid, I spent my time hanging out at the arcade. I knew Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Spy Hunter. Loved Spy Hunter. (My local arcade's cab would give you a free game if you knew when to hit the weapons van button. )
I'm more familiar with the late 89-mid 1996 nintendo console gaming era and as I mentioned I previously thought, back then, nobody over the age of 15-16 was really into games during that era. But revisiting this, I would think that even in 1985-89 based on a number of sources, there was likely a very significant amount of 18-30 year olds who moved from atari, arcades and computers to the nes or just were just simply into it.
My older brother is 12 years older than me, I remember going to his apartment several times 20 years ago, when I was 10, he was 22, to play games like Twisted Metal, Tekken and Jet Moto, and my brother was a "cool" guy, he was a successful BMX racer growing up.
PlayStation era is roughly when the mass market for video games was opened up to older teens and young adults.
NES was originally marketed as a kid's toy which in turn is why it was so successful at the beginning. When I had one as a kid I was in elementary school and all the kids I knew had one. Never knew of anyone older than like 12 that had one. I've heard of parents playing with their kids but it was primarily considered a kids' toy. I wouldn't say video games hit an "older" crowd til the Playstation came out, and nowadays it's a hobby for everyone. Video games were also considered "uncool" for a long time til, again, the Playstation crowd made it trendy.
I eventually converted to Sony, but when I first started hearing kids talking about their 'play station', I had no idea what they were talking about. The name itself brought imagry of a toddler playing with a little, brightly colored, toy set. I was in 3rd grade at the time, and to me, the 'Nintendo 64' sounded MUCH more adult.
Then my neighbor got a Playstation and I finally saw what the fuss was about. My first taste was a Pizza Hut demo disc. It had Crash Warped, Metal Gear Solid, MedEvil, Gran Turismo, and Tomb Raider 3 on it. I was hooked at that point.
From that point on, I started to notice that the N64 didn't have games with mature themes (not to mention ratings, because that was starting to become a thing), like Metal Gear Solid. So My opinion swung from Nintendo being THE video game company, to being just the KIDS video game company.
Before that era though, I had considered the NES and SNES to be what kids and adults both enjoyed.
Dude, I cannot "YES" this post more.
I remember a good childhood friend who was about 2 years older (big deal when you're 6 or 7), and he was talking about how the even older (by 5-6 years) neighbor kid "got a Playstation". I was immediately hit with the image of a Fisher Price toy fire station with trucks, etc. I'm glad I'm not alone on that one, lmao.
What a deceptive name!