Latest news with #SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem
Time of India
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Could a single uncomfortable call have changed gaming forever? How Nintendo's silent betrayal turned Sony into a rival
In the early 1980s, America's video game industry had collapsed, thanks in no small part to the catastrophic failure of the E.T. video game, a rushed tie-in that became an infamous symbol of overhyped flops. Amidst this turmoil, Japan's Nintendo saw opportunity. With the 1983 release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), they didn't just find success—they became synonymous with gaming itself. If you said 'video game,' you meant Nintendo. By the end of the decade, the NES had conquered living rooms around the globe. With the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) planned for launch in the early '90s, Nintendo was riding high. But as technology raced ahead, a new format loomed large on the horizon: the CD-ROM. Cartridges, Nintendo's weapon of choice, were fast becoming relics. Rather than risk irrelevance, Nintendo made a fateful decision. Enter Sony: A Perfect Match That Never Was In 1988, Nintendo partnered with Sony—then an electronics powerhouse best known for its Walkman and stereo systems—to develop a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. The project was dubbed the 'Nintendo Play Station.' It was to be the future of gaming: cartridges for now, CD-ROMs for tomorrow. Ken Kutaragi, a Sony engineer with a keen eye for gaming, spearheaded the design. But behind the scenes, tensions brewed. Nintendo, famously protective of its ecosystem, was uneasy about giving Sony too much control over software. And so, as the world waited for the next great innovation, Nintendo made a move that stunned even its partner. You Might Also Like: College lecturer's gaming obsession with 'Call of Duty' and 'Fortnite' lands him in hospital emergency iStock Super Nintendo console with cartridge based system. The Cold Shoulder Heard Round the World Instead of renegotiating terms or even giving Sony a courtesy call, Nintendo ghosted them—completely. In a dramatic twist, the company announced, during the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), that it would be partnering with Sony's rival, Philips, on the CD-ROM project. Sony executives, along with the rest of the world, learned the news live from the press release. It was a corporate betrayal of Shakespearean proportions. Sony had poured years of R&D and millions of yen into a joint project, only to be cast aside. But rather than walk away in defeat, Sony made a bold pivot—one that would reshape entertainment forever. — Genki_JPN (@Genki_JPN) From Scorned Partner to Market Leader What followed was perhaps the greatest revenge arc in tech history. Ken Kutaragi convinced Sony brass not to shelve their console dreams but to turn the prototype into a fully standalone system. And so, the PlayStation was born—not as a collaboration, but as a challenge. You Might Also Like: Google wanted to hire this Indian founder who hacked games and built his AI startup. Why he rejected them multiple times? Released in Japan on December 3, 1994, the original Sony PlayStation had a rocky start. It lacked a robust game library and suffered from limited visibility in traditional gaming retail spaces. Yet, with a built-in CD-ROM drive, a more powerful processor, and room for more immersive worlds, it had something Nintendo didn't: potential. — VideoGameHstry (@VideoGameHstry) Sony's aggressive pricing, focus on cutting-edge graphics, and savvy marketing soon paid off. Within months, millions of PlayStations were sold. By 1997, Sony had surpassed both Sega and Nintendo in market share. iStock Original Sony Play Station launched in 1994. The Irony of Obsolescence Meanwhile, Nintendo doubled down on cartridges with the Nintendo 64, released in 1996—a year after the PlayStation. While nostalgic millennials fondly remember Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , the N64 was commercially underwhelming, selling only 40 million units. The PlayStation? Over 102 million units. And when the PlayStation 2 launched in 2000—with a DVD player included—it became not just a gaming device, but a living room staple. To date, it remains the best-selling console of all time, with nearly 159 million units sold. It was more than a console; it was a coronation. A Legacy of Silence Looking back, it's hard to overstate the impact of that silent snub. Had Nintendo handled the disagreement with Sony more diplomatically, the PlayStation may never have been born. And yet, that very act of corporate caution—of dodging a difficult conversation—unleashed a competitor that has outpaced Nintendo in nearly every hardware generation since. In an industry defined by innovation, risk-taking, and technological brinkmanship, it wasn't a brilliant design or daring gamble that changed history. It was a missed call. Nintendo didn't just lose a deal. They created their greatest rival. And decades later, the ghost of that phone call still haunts the industry.
Scottish Sun
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Four ‘90s Nintendo games ‘now worth £3,000' each if you've still got cartridges at home – & top title could fetch £5,250
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT turns out that splashing out on those Nintendo games back in the 1990s wasn't a waste of money after all. Four fan-favourite games could now fetch £3,000 apiece – and potentially much more. 8 The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was an iconic part of '90s gaming culture Credit: Getty - Contributor 8 Brawl Brothers is a prized collectible for SNES fans Credit: Jaleco/Nintendo They were all released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), one of the titans of nineties console gaming – decades before the Nintendo Switch 2. So if you had the machine, check your drawers, cupboards, and the loft right now. You might have a fortune just waiting to be flogged. GAME #1 – Brawl Brothers (£3,718) One retro game that collectors will fork out for is Brawl Brothers. This side-scrolling beat 'em up landed in late 1992, but didn't make it to Europe until 1993. And if you have a sealed copy of the game, it has an estimated value of £3,380, according to video game collectibles tracker PriceCharting. Better yet, a sealed copy that's been professionally graded could be worth £3,718. The price is still high for an opened but "complete-in-box" copy of the game, fetching an estimated £1,300. Sadly the loose cartridge is only valued at £68 – but the box is said to be worth £276, while the manual is reportedly worth £172. These estimates are based on previous sales of the game, so you could end up receiving higher or lower offers if you decide to flog yours. And keep in mind that your old games could go up (or down) in value if you hang on to them. Everything we know so far about the Nintendo Switch 2 Brawl Brothers was notable for being the only SNES game in Europe and the US to have the Japanese version featured on the same cartridge – accessed by entering a cheat code. GAME #2 – Final Fight 3 (£3,720) Also worth a pretty penny is Final Fight 3, which – like Brawl Brothers – is a side-scrolling beat 'em up from Capcom. It came out in December 1995 on the SNES in Japan, before arriving for European gamers in March 1996. A sealed copy is said to be worth £3,382, but that rises to £3,720 if you get it professionally graded. 8 Final Fight 3 landed to mixed reception, but is now coveted by gamers Credit: Capcom 8 The side-scrolling beat 'em up title was developed by Capcom Credit: Capcom The complete (but opened) box is worth £1,301, while an empty box would reportedly fetch £520. A loose cartridge has an estimated value of £178, while the manual is worth about £89. The game received average reviews, and its side-scrolling design was scrapped for a 3D format with the sequel: Final Fight Revenge. GAME #3 – Captain Commando (£4,510) Third on our list is Captain Commando, a 1991 beat 'em up game, again developed by Capcom. 8 Captain Commando saw Earth overrun by criminals in the distant future of...2026 Credit: Capcom 8 Sealed copies of Captain Commando are set to be worth thousands of pounds Credit: Capcom It's set in the year 2026, where Earth is plagued by Super Criminals – and it's your job as Captain Commando to stop them. The game was originally created for arcades, but landed on SNES in 1995. And if you have a sealed copy if the game, it's worth an estimated £4,100 – or £4,510 for a professionally graded version. Even an opened but complete-in-box copy is worth a whopping £1,577. NINTENDO TV CONSOLE HISTORY – BY THE YEARS Here's the timeline... 1977 – Color TV-Game 1983/1985 – Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) 1990/1991 – Super Famicom / Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) 1996 – Nintendo 64 2001 – Nintendo GameCube 2006 – Nintendo Wii 2012 – Nintendo Wii U 2017 – Nintendo Switch 2025 – Nintendo Switch 2 Picture Credit: Alamy Stock Photo The box alone is valued at £630, while the manual is listed at £394. And a loose cartridge could fetch about £168. The title was later released for PlayStation in 1998 – and also featured in the 2018 Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle compilation game. GAME #4 – Pocky & Rocky 2 (£5,275) Out-pricing all of these titles is SNES shoot 'em up Pocky & Rocky 2. 8 Pocky & Rocky 2 was a shoot 'em up for the SNES that hit Europe in the mid-'90s Credit: Natsume Inc It arrived in Japan and the USA in 1994, before landing in Europe in April 1995. The game landed to very positive reviews, and featured a two-player co-op mode. If you still have an unopened Pocky & Rocky 2, it's worth an estimated £4,796. But that'll climb to £5,275 for a professionally graded unit. Sadly the complete-in-box game is only worth £301, while a loose cartridge is valued at £107. The box could fetch about £71, and the manual is listed for £74. Of course, depending on how many copies are available, the eagerness of collectors, and the quality of your game, you could end up getting higher or lower offers from SNES super-fans. The good news is, if you've got any old Nintendo consoles sitting at home, they might also be worth thousands. 8 The game featured a co-op mode that let two players battle side-by-side Credit: Natsume Inc All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any sale.
The Irish Sun
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Four ‘90s Nintendo games ‘now worth £3,000' each if you've still got cartridges at home – & top title could fetch £5,250
IT turns out that splashing out on those Nintendo games back in the 1990s wasn't a waste of money after all. Four fan-favourite games could now fetch £3,000 apiece – and potentially much more. 8 The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was an iconic part of '90s gaming culture Credit: Getty - Contributor 8 Brawl Brothers is a prized collectible for SNES fans Credit: Jaleco/Nintendo They were all released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), one of the titans of nineties console gaming – decades before the So if you had the machine, check your drawers, cupboards, and the loft right now. You might have a fortune just waiting to be flogged. GAME #1 – Brawl Brothers (£3,718) One retro game that collectors will fork out for is Brawl Brothers. This side-scrolling beat 'em up landed in late 1992, but didn't make it to Europe until 1993. Read more on Nintendo And if you have a sealed copy of the game, it has an estimated value of £3,380, according to video game collectibles tracker Better yet, a sealed copy that's been professionally graded could be worth £3,718. The price is still high for an opened but "complete-in-box" copy of the game, fetching an estimated £1,300. Sadly the loose cartridge is only valued at £68 – but the box is said to be worth £276, while the manual is reportedly worth £172. Most read in Gaming These estimates are based on previous sales of the game, so you could end up receiving higher or lower offers if you decide to flog yours. And keep in mind that your old games could go up (or down) in value if you hang on to them. Everything we know so far about the Nintendo Switch 2 Brawl Brothers was notable for being the only SNES game in Europe and the US to have the Japanese version featured on the same cartridge – accessed by entering a cheat code. GAME #2 – Final Fight 3 (£3,720) Also worth a pretty penny is Final Fight 3, which – like Brawl Brothers – is a side-scrolling beat 'em up from Capcom. It came out in December 1995 on the SNES in Japan, before arriving for European gamers in March 1996. A sealed copy is said to be worth £3,382, but that rises to £3,720 if you get it professionally graded. 8 Final Fight 3 landed to mixed reception, but is now coveted by gamers Credit: Capcom 8 The side-scrolling beat 'em up title was developed by Capcom Credit: Capcom The complete (but opened) box is worth £1,301, while an empty box would reportedly fetch £520. A loose cartridge has an estimated value of £178, while the manual is worth about £89. The game received average reviews, and its side-scrolling design was scrapped for a 3D format with the sequel: Final Fight Revenge. GAME #3 – Captain Commando (£4,510) Third on our list is Captain Commando, a 1991 beat 'em up game, again developed by Capcom. 8 Captain Commando saw Earth overrun by criminals in the distant future of...2026 Credit: Capcom 8 Sealed copies of Captain Commando are set to be worth thousands of pounds Credit: Capcom It's set in the year 2026, where Earth is plagued by Super Criminals – and it's your job as Captain Commando to stop them. The game was originally created for arcades, but landed on SNES in 1995. And if you have a sealed copy if the game, it's worth an estimated £4,100 – or £4,510 for a professionally graded version. Even an opened but complete-in-box copy is worth a whopping £1,577. NINTENDO TV CONSOLE HISTORY – BY THE YEARS Here's the timeline... 1977 – Color TV-Game 1983/1985 – Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) 1990/1991 – Super Famicom / Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) 1996 – Nintendo 64 2001 – Nintendo GameCube 2006 – Nintendo Wii 2012 – Nintendo Wii U 2017 – Nintendo Switch 2025 – Nintendo Switch 2 Picture Credit: Alamy Stock Photo The box alone is valued at £630, while the manual is listed at £394. And a loose cartridge could fetch about £168. The title was later released for PlayStation in 1998 – and also featured in the 2018 Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle compilation game. GAME #4 – Pocky & Rocky 2 (£5,275) Out-pricing all of these titles is SNES shoot 'em up Pocky & Rocky 2. 8 Pocky & Rocky 2 was a shoot 'em up for the SNES that hit Europe in the mid-'90s Credit: Natsume Inc It arrived in Japan and the The game landed to very positive reviews, and featured a two-player co-op mode. If you still have an unopened Pocky & Rocky 2, it's worth an estimated £4,796. But that'll climb to £5,275 for a professionally graded unit. Sadly the complete-in-box game is only worth £301, while a loose cartridge is valued at £107. The box could fetch about £71, and the manual is listed for £74. Of course, depending on how many copies are available, the eagerness of collectors, and the quality of your game, you could end up getting higher or lower offers from SNES super-fans. The good news is, if you've got any old Nintendo consoles sitting at home, they 8 The game featured a co-op mode that let two players battle side-by-side Credit: Natsume Inc All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any sale.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
34 years later, MCU star Paul Rudd reprises the SNES role that got him into acting with an adorable Nintendo Switch 2 trailer
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. We all now know and love Paul Rudd, the MCU's good intentioned Ant-Man and a goofy heartthrob in plenty of other movies, but one of his first acting jobs that predates anything he did in TV or film was actually an ad for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System 34 years ago. And now, the beloved actor has reunited with the Mario publisher in a new commercial for the Nintendo Switch 2. Paul Rudd's original SNES ad is very '90s: high-pitched horror music introduces a boy in a black, overlong coat who enters a shadowy, foggy area to play the console on seemingly the biggest screen you can find outdoors. Silhouettes of other figures creep up from behind to watch him play F-Zero and Zelda, which isn't at all creepy. 'Now you're playing with power,' indeed. The newly-released Switch 2 ad, more than three decades later, opens in much the same way. Paul Rudd dons the same fit, but barely looks like he's aged a day, and that same eery music play as he slots the console into its dock with fog spewing into, this time, his house. The rest of it is far more wholesome and adorably corny, though, as Rudd just plays Mario kart World with some of his on-screen family. I also love how unafraid Nintendo is of showing off its extremely laggy screen-sharing Game Chat feature. Earlier this week, we learned that the Nintendo Switch 2's US pricing will be unaffected by the government's tariffs and pre-orders are set to go live on April 24, even though some accessories have seen a price increase to what was originally planned. Elsewhere, PEGI may have leaked a Switch 2 port of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Here's some more upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games to keep an eye on.
