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 It was just a gray plastic box and, even for its time, the technology was just so-so. Don't even try comparing it to today's computers. The Nintendo Entertainment System had far less computing power than a modern rice cooker.
But there was genius in that machine.
Forget the holiday chatter about the Xbox 360, Playstion 3 and the Wii. The video game buzz you're hearing today is just the echo of an explosion created 20 years ago by what many consider the best gaming system ever.
If that claim seems far-fetched, consider its longevity. Fans of the original Nintendo can still buy restored consoles, learn how to repair their hardware and download classic games that have been doctored to run on home computers.
Web sites feature Nintendo-themed fiction written by fans. Programmers have added new levels to long-since-beaten games. College choirs and school bands have performed the most popular theme songs, which are also readily available on Web sites and can be spotted as samples in some hip-hop songs.
Such devotion doesn't immediately make sense. Sure, the games were good, but why the continued interest? The answer, like Nintendo's success itself, involves equal parts pop culture and technology.
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WE WERE GAMERS ONCE, AND YOUNG:
The leading edge of the Nintendo generation is in its mid 30s. They have jobs, mortgages, children and responsibilities. Some of them even wear ties to business meetings and, though they no longer concern themselves with how to beat "Metroid," Nintendo is something nostalgic.
"It's a coming of age of the video game generation," said Dave Berke, 35, the general manager of MobyGames, the online gaming database. "This generation grew up with video games the way people in slightly older generation grew up with rock music. It's part of their formative years."
Like their parents, who still recall that Four Seasons song from 1962, members of the Nintendo generation still remember the code to "Contra": up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start.
New Jersey filmmaker James Rolfe unwittingly discovered this when he posted a video of himself on the Internet hurling obscenities at the game Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. It was meant to be an inside joke for his friends.
"What I didn't know is that everybody would really get it," Rolfe said.
Rolfe now receives hundreds of e-mails a day and is one of the most popular filmmakers on YouTube, where he reviews his least favorite Nintendo games as "The Angry Nintendo Nerd."
YouTube is one of the biggest repositories for Nintendo nostalgia. A video from Japan shows an orchestra playing the music from "Mike Tyson's Punchout" while actors portray the boxers. A college student who obtained one of the first Playstion 3 consoles posted a video of himself hot-wiring the system to play Nintendo's classic "Super Mario Bros."
The video was viewed nearly 200,000 times. Of the 300 comments it received, a few noted the humor of using a cutting-edge machine to play a 20-year-old game.
YouTube also hosts the classic TV commercials that pitched Nintendo to eager eyes on Saturday mornings.
"It has a weird effect on you in the present," Rolfe said. "You watch it and it feels like you saw it yesterday even though it hasn't been on in 15 or 20 years."
Nobody knows this effect better than Henry Lowood, who a class on the history of video game design at Stanford. The Ivy League university is home to the largest historical collection of video games and a lab where students can study the interaction between humans and machines _ by playing Double Dragon.
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BUT IS THE MAGIC GONE?
Computer graphics have improved dramatically since the 1980s, to the point where the latest basketball game is virtually indistinguishable from televised NBA action. But with each technological development, it's harder for programmers to recreate that sense of awe inspired by the sprawling world of Hyrule or the vivid colors and 3-D effects of "Super Mario Bros. 3."
"People were more drawn into those games than they are with contemporary games because it was something surprising and unique at that time. Today, it's really quite ordinary," Lowood said. "That wow factor is probably gone."
Nintendo came about at the perfect time, technology-wise. Graphic capabilities were just good enough to make a well-made game a treat, but not good enough for programmers to rely on. That forced Nintendo to craft memorable story lines and characters for their digital worlds.
Think of the original "Star Wars." Now think "The Day After Tomorrow" or "Armageddon." Get it?
That perfect blend of characters, stories and technology helped spin Nintendo into other marketing opportunities: Nintendo cereal, television shows and the delightfully cheesy Fred Savage movie "The Wizard," which attracted kids nerdy enough to see a Nintendo film, cool enough to mock it, but still nerdy enough to point out all the video game inaccuracies.
All of this came at a time when there was nearly no competition in the video game market. That meant millions of other kids were having the same experiences rescuing the president, blowing the dust out of their game cartridges and looking for Level 7 in the "Legend of Zelda" (you had to play the flute to dry up the lake).
Things are different now, 20 years after Nintendo's first nationwide Christmas rush. Pop culture has changed. The video game market is fragmented.
Yet the little gray box lives on.
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Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo covers legal affairs in Washington D.C. and is a bad enough dude to rescue the president from ninjas.
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If Mario Brothers were on Broadway, it might look something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/fjwgv
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The original Super Mario Bros. game ported to the new Playstation 3:
http://tinyurl.com/ycn6ux
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Two early NES commercials:
http://tinyurl.com/yfburg
http://tinyurl.com/yhbjaa
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A Japanese group performs Mike Tyson's Punchout live:
http://tinyurl.com/ygfde9
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The Angry Nintendo Nerd's Web site (parental guidance is suggested):
http://tinyurl.com/yeppv4
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