It’s no secret that Nintendo has had a profound impact on the history of the video game industry.
After an epic collapse of the video game industry in the early ‘80’s, which left retailers with absolutely no desire to have anything to do with any product that called itself a video game, Nintendo was able to single-handily resurrect home console gaming, through their sheer determination and moxie.
What was once an emerging art-form that was left for dead, was suddenly reforged into an activity synonymous with the name Nintendo itself; through the popularity and might of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
While those salad days didn’t last forever, as new challengers rose and eventually overtook Nintendo’s position of industry leader, the company has continued to pioneer; pushing forward our conceptions of gaming, the mechanics of games, and what products will be accepted by the consumer.
After resurrecting the home console, Nintendo was able to define gaming on the go, through the portable Game Boy line of systems. When Nintendo needed to rethink both portable and home gaming, they did so through the massively successful Nintendo DS and the Wii systems.
At this moment, we are on the cusp of Nintendo’s next console, a hybrid device between a home console and a portable unit called the Nintendo Switch. Much like the launches of the Wii and the Nintendo DS, Nintendo is once again attempting to redefine the concept of what it means to play video games.
There is a huge potential impact that the Nintendo Switch may have on the market place if they are successful in their endeavors to marry home and portable gaming.
However, as good as the Nintendo Switch may or may not be, no console is going to be worth a single dime without good games.
Fortunately, Nintendo has often been at the forefront of redefining the art of gaming itself; having published numerous games that have pioneered new mechanics and established new genre’s.
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch on the horizon (March 2017 as of this writing) I thought it would be fun to take a look back through the history of Nintendo and pinpoint the ten games that in my opinion, have been the Ten Most Important Games Nintendo Ever Published.
Throughout the month of December, we’ll be counting down the titles in Nintendo’s vast history that have pioneered standards for the entire industry and laid the foundations for Nintendo’s success.
These games were the games that were often instrumental in refining the very notion of what video games are and what they can be.
We already counted down #10, #9, #8, and #7 on our list, so you should probably take a look at those post haste.
6. Donkey Kong
It is said that every action in life is like a pebble being cast into a pond – causing a ripple effect that can accelerate and grow into a great tidal wave that effects everything around it.
Cause and effect.
It’s that simple concept that personifies the story of Donkey Kong.
While the original Donkey Kong was by no means the first game that was produced by Nintendo, it was the first game to see stratospheric success for them; laying the foundations needed for Nintendo be be built into the icon that it is today.
More importantly however, Donkey Kong was the very first game that was ever created by a young Shigeru Miyamoto.
Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto – The definition of a living legend
An artist by trade, Miyamoto was hired as an apprentice to Nintendo’s planning department as the company’s first staff-artist.
After the failure of a Nintendo arcade game, Radarscope to find an audience, Miyamoto was called upon by company president, Hiroshi Yamauchi to refit the old arcade units with a new title; something people would actually want to play.
After careful consideration of what could be achieved within the technical limitations of the time, Miyamoto and co. came up with Donkey Kong: the first mega-hit for Nintendo.
Recognizing Miyamoto’s unique outlook and talent’s for game design, it wouldn’t be long until Yamauchi put the young designer at the head of one of Nintendo’s R&D divisions; and the rest, as they say, is history.
Donkey Kong was an amazing deviation from what was considered normal in arcades during the early 80’s.
Donkey Kong was a completely different experience from what players normally got out of arcade games in the early ’80’s. But Hiroshi Yamauchi’s faith in a young Shigeru Miyamoto would pay off – and lay the foundations that would catapult the industry.
At a time when most games featured some sort of vehicle tasked with blowing-up rival vehicles, (usually space ships) Donkey Kong featured quirky, human characters that moved across the screen with lovely-at-the-time animation. The motivation for the player, guiding a stout carpenter up an increasingly difficult series of scaffolding puzzles and obsticals in an attempt to rescue his girlfriend, (who had happened to have been kidnapped by the game’s namesake gorilla) was considered by Nintendo of America’s fledgling marketing team to be completely ludicrous.
However, Yamauchi had faith in the young Miyamoto, it it wouldn’t take long for players to respond.
Donkey Kong became a sensation thanks to the most important element of its design: addictive game play. It also gave birth to a mustachioed hero named Jump Man – who would later be renamed Mario.
Miyamoto would go on to create literal icon after icon of the gaming industry as a whole; often inventing entire new styles of games that had never before been seen.
Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pilotwings, Pikmin, Mario Kart, Star Fox – these games and many more were the result of Miyamoto’s brilliance.
The original arcade machine, in all of it’s glory, at a recent arcade auction in Altoona IA.
While Donkey Kong’s financial success would give the company the prestige and capital needed to grow, it’s arguable whether or not the growth that Nintendo enjoyed after Donkey Kong would even have been possible without the talent of Miyamoto.
Today, Miyamoto’s ripple effect that started with Donkey Kong is alive and well, as this living legend of the industry helps oversee a number of new titles that will soon be revealed for the Nintendo Switch.
Upcoming games like the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild a new version of Mario Kart 8 will continue those series’ strong legacy on the Switch. We also got a glimpse of a brand new mainline Super Mario title, which is rumored to be one of the launch titles for the Switch.
We may not know yet what lies ahead for Nintendo in the future; namely, whether the Nintendo Switch will be a success or not.
However, it’s abundantly clear when looking into Nintendo’s past, that the company would not be what it is today if it had not been for Miyamoto and Donkey Kong.
I hope that you enjoy this look at the Most Important Games Nintendo’s Ever Published. Please keep an eye out at NerdBacon.com, or like our Facebook page as we continue the countdown!
We also want to know your thoughts on what games were most important to Nintendo. Have a disagreement with the list? Want to share a Nintendo memory? Just let us know in the comments section below.
Written by The Watchman
He’s also an actor, a reporter, a pro wrestling connoisseur, and some say he’s a cat whisperer.
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