Top 5 News Headlines In Nintendo History

This week history was made in the United States of America. Although people might disagree on politics there’s no denying the historical significance of the election.

People lined up in various places around the country to snag a newspaper with the headlines about Obama’s victory. In lieu of this event, I figured we’d take a look at the Top 5 News Headlines that have occured in the history of Nintendo. They aren’t actual newspaper headlines, but just pieces of news that Nintendo has dropped on its fans throughout the years.

5. Legend Of Zelda: OoT To Have Special Edition Gold Cartridges - When the original Legend of Zelda first launched back in the late 80’s, many were captivated by the game. It was unlike anything that anyone had played until that time, and to this day is the only game I’ve seen my mom get addicted to.

One of the great memories of the game was the gold colored cartridge that housed it. As years went by the novelty and wonder of the gold cartridge would continue to grow. Legend of Zelda was still the only game worthy to bear the distinction of the color gold. That was until Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time dropped on all of us.

It’s The Only Games I Know Of That Deserve The Mark Of Gold

I remember that before the game came out, many were extremely curious as to how Nintendo would make LoZ in 3D. The true excitement really sparked when Nintendo told the fans that a Limited Edition release of the game would come with a gold colored cartridge. Eyes lit up, and fans rejoiced that another game would come bearing the gold marker that was used a decade or so prior. Needless to say it lived up to its predecessor.

4. Super Mario Bros. 3 Announced Through The Wizard - This is one news announcement that looking back might seem kind of silly. That’s mainly because The Wizard isn’t a movie that’s held up well throughout the years.

When we were all too young to realize that The Wizard was pretty much a one and a half hour long Nintendo commercial, we were entranced. One of those reasons is because Nintendo decided it would be best to announce, and show off their latest Super Mario Bros. game.

Kids were on the edge of their seat as they watched a few minutes of the Super Mario 3. gameplay unfold on screen. No other game has ever been shown off in this manner, and that’s probably a good thing. For the time period, and the excitement level surrounding SMB 3 it was perfect. Except they thought it was a good idea to try and sell the Power Glove.

3. Legend of Zelda Launch Title For The Wii - When Nintendo announced their plans for the upcoming console, Nintendo Wii, many were already curious. This curiosity led to full blown excitement when Nintendo announced that the new Legend of Zelda game would be a launch title.

It’s hard to look back at what might have been, but would the launch of the Nintendo Wii have been different without Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess?

Although most were excited by Nintendo’s new direction, some questioned if this meant that Nintendo would abandon its core franchises. The first Legend of Zelda launch game went along way in quelling those thoughts.

2. Announcement of the Wii Remote - If you had to equate the announcement of the Wii Remote to a real life event, then I think it’s pretty close to Barack Obama winning the election. If a business is going to survive then ‘change’ is a necessity. The market and the consumers who drive it will always advance in their wants and needs. It’s up to the businesses to keep up.

Nintendo showed that with the announcement of the Wii Remote they were going to change. Not only were they going to change, but quite possibly the entire market of video games forever. With the Gamecube, Nintendo saw that it was going to be drastically hard to compete with Microsoft and Sony on the technological front for future products. Instead they went from competing with them, to creating something different entirely.

Nintendo’s Holy Grail

1. 3D Mario - Trying to decide between #2 and #1 was extremely difficult. Although the announcement of the Wii remote might shift the entire industry of video games, #1 was a piece of news that changed gamer’s lives forever.

Mario is probably the most adapted and changed character in the history of video games. He’s gone through the different eras of video games and doesn’t look to be letting up soon. Easily, Mario’s biggest change came with Super Mario 64.

The idea of a 3D console game was at the cusp of the gaming world’s mind during the mid-90’s. How long it would take before we would be able to experience such a thing was a different story. PC gaming was starting to ween the world into 3D gaming, but the console market was a different story.

It’s hard to explain in words how Nintendo fans felt when they first heard that Nintendo was going to bring us 3D Mario. Excitement, curiosity, doubt were probably the three big adjectives to describe the mood. The news really sparked something that hadn’t been seen in the video game world in awhile; something fundamentally new. How would characters be able to move about in a 3D world? Would Mario gain an extreme new look compared to his 2D models? The 3D revolution of gaming was definitely a sight to behold.

All of those questions would eventually be answered, and with a resounding response. 3D Mario ushered in a new era of gaming, and one that gamers were genuinely excited about.

So, let me hear back from some pieces of news, or moments from Nintendo that changed your gaming life. Was the Virtual Boy deserving, just because of how hard it flopped in the end?