History of video games/Platforms/Super Nintendo Entertainment System

History Development Proceeded by the highly successful NES and Famicom, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom were highly anticipated followup systems. Technical design of the system was lead by engineer Masayuki Uemura,Masayuki Uemura, the pioneer behind the NES and SNES, passes away https://www.destructoid.com/masayuki-uemura-obituary-nes-snes-nintendo-legacy/ 9 December 2021 Destructoid 9 December 2021 en-CA who began working on the system by 1988.Moore Jared NES and SNES Engineer Masayuki Uemura Dies, Aged 78 - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/nes-snes-engineer-masayuki-uemura-dies-aged-78 9 December 2021 en The Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Famicom both featured much improved hardware over their proceeding systems. Ken Kutaragi, a talented engineer at Sony, was responsable for the design of the SNES sound chip. Initially featuring radically different designs for both systems, the system design was greatly simplified to more conventional form factors as development progressed.16-Bit Week: Super Nintendo Console Design https://www.sidequesting.com/2011/05/16-bit-week-super-nintendo-console-design/ 1 March 2021 SideQuesting 10 May 2011 Lance Barr, the designer of the previous NES, was brought back to work on the SNES.Lance Barr Interview https://web.archive.org/web/20060213124455/http://www.nintendojo.com/interviews/view_item.php?1130801472 1 March 2021 nintendojo ~ a site to see 13 February 2006 Designer Lance Barr added curved surfaces to the top of the SNES to stop gamers from placing drinks on top of the console, a relatively common risk people had taken with the original NES and a common reason for destroyed consoles when some drinks were inevitably spilled.The Thought Behind Super Nintendo's Design https://playingwithsuperpower.com/the-thought-behind-super-nintendo-s-design/ 1 March 2021 SNES HUB 18 February 2012 The controller design was also significantly different from the NES. Shoulder buttons were added to the controller accommodate fighting games while keeping face buttons minimal for simplicity. This allowed for improved control schemes for games to be developed. Before the development of playstation(PS) Launch The Super Famicom was launched on November 21st, 1990 in Japan.Happy 20th Birthday, Super Famicom! - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/11/20/happy-20th-birthday-super-famicom 14 November 2020 en To prevent robberies before launch, Nintendo shipped the Super Famicom to Japanese retailers during the night.Reeves Ben Super Powered: Charting The Lasting Legacy Of The Super NES https://www.gameinformer.com/classic/2019/10/25/super-powered-charting-the-lasting-legacy-of-the-super-nes Game Informer 30 October 2020 en The much anticipated of the Super Famicom was still chaotic enough for the Japanese Government to recommend console launches be restricted to weekends.Reeves Ben Super Powered: Charting The Lasting Legacy Of The Super NES https://www.gameinformer.com/classic/2019/10/25/super-powered-charting-the-lasting-legacy-of-the-super-nes 29 January 2021 Game Informer enStuart Keith Why Super Nintendo Is the Reason You're Still Playing Video Games https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/why-super-nintendo-is-the-reason-youre-still-playing-video-games-101649/ 29 January 2021 Rolling Stone 22 August 2016 The SNES was released in North America almost a year later, in August 1991.Parents Didn’t Just Dislike Super Nintendo 25 Years Ago—They Thought It Was a Scam https://www.wired.com/2016/08/super-nintendo-25/ Wired 14 November 2020 en-us Legacy Production of the SNES ended in 1999 and production of the Super Famicom ended in 2003.Super nostalgia: Local gamers fondly remember Super Nintendo on its 20th anniversary https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/entertainment/story/2011/aug/19/0819-e1-super-nostalgia-local-gamers-fondly/56755/ timesfreepress.com 14 November 2020 49.1 million SNES consoles were sold.Genesis vs. SNES: By the Numbers - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/20/genesis-vs-snes-by-the-numbers 13 November 2020 en The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was directly succeeded by the Nintendo 64. Nintendo partnerships with Phillips and Sony to attempt to develop an CD ROM add on for the SNES would indirectly result in competing systems including the original PlayStation and Nintendo IP for the Phillips CD-i. Notably the designer of the SNES sound chip, Ken Kutaragi, was instrumental in the development of the Sony Playstation. Despite developing a competing system, Ken Kutaragi would remain gregarious with his old partners.Doolan Liam PlayStation's Ken Kutaragi "Never" Considered Nintendo To Be A Competitor https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/03/playstations_ken_kutaragi_never_considered_nintendo_to_be_a_competitor 9 December 2021 Nintendo Life 21 March 2021 The ARC processor architecture got its start in the SuperFX enhancement chip used by some SNES games.Dahad Nitin ARC: from 3D Game Chips to Licensable RISC Processor https://www.eetimes.com/arc-from-3d-game-chips-to-licensable-risc-processor/ 27 January 2021 September 21st, 2020. In 2020 the prototype for the Nintendo PlayStation sold for $300,000 at auction.Nintendo PlayStation: Ultra-rare prototype sells for £230,000 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51628836 16 December 2020 BBC News 6 March 2020 Technology thumb|A demo of the Mode 7 effect Compute A 16 bit Rioch 5A22 CPU powers the SNES and is variably clocked from 1.79 megahertz to 3.58 megahertz depending on the operation being performed.Super Nintendo Architecture A Practical Analysis https://www.copetti.org/projects/consoles/super-nintendo/ Rodrigo's Stuff 16 December 2020 en 28 June 2019 The CPU is capable of executing about 1.7 million instructions per second. The console has 128 kilobytes of RAM,Winning The Console Wars – An In-Depth Architectural Study https://hackaday.com/2015/11/06/winning-the-console-wars-an-in-depth-architectural-study/ 28 October 2020 Hackaday 6 November 2015 a fairly sizable amount for a console at the time of launch. While compared to it's primary competitor in the Sega Genesis or MegaDrive, the SNES CPU is clocked significantly slower, but makes up for this in efficiency of what is accomplished in a clock cycle, being able to accomplish many more instructions per second. Still, other factors could give still give the Genesis or Megadrive the edge over the SNES, and comparing the two competing consoles is not easy.Making a SNES game in 2020 https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DoctorLudos/20200609/363179/Making_a_SNES_game_in_2020.php 16 December 2020 www.gamasutra.com enLinneman John Sonic the Hedgehog running on Super NES - see the tech demo in action https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-retro-sonic-the-hedghog-ported-to-super-nes 16 December 2020 Eurogamer 16 August 2020 en Hardware The SNES has two different Picture Processing Units with access to 64 kilobytes of dedicated video RAM. This allowed the SNES to display up to 128 sprites and 256 simultaneous colors from 32,768 total colors. The SNES has an Sony S-SMP Audio CPU, DSP, and 64 kilobytes of dedicated audio RAM.I’ll Never Love a Console Like I Loved the Super Nintendo https://www.vice.com/en/article/4w3q4j/ill-never-love-a-console-like-i-loved-the-super-nintendo www.vice.com 28 November 2020 enCreative Limitation And The Super Nintendo Sound Chips https://hackaday.com/2019/07/31/creative-limitation-and-the-super-nintendo-sound-chips/ 28 October 2020 Hackaday 1 August 2019 The SNES has eight audio channels.WAR! - Nintendo Vs. Sega http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/articles/features/war/ www.gamezero.com 21 November 2020 Storage SNES cartridges typically ranged from 0.23MB to 4.0MB, maxing out at 6.0MB.A Brief and Abbreviated History of Gaming Storage – Techbytes https://blogs.umass.edu/Techbytes/2014/02/10/history-of-gaming-storage/ 18 October 2020 This allowed the SNES to hold large amounts of 2D graphical content, and significant amounts of music instructions. While most consoles this generation still used cartridges as the SNES and Super Famicom did, some emerging competitors used CD-ROM technology, which gave them vastly more storage, allowing orchestral soundtracks and full motion video to be used. Furthermore, an individual CD was much cheaper to press than it was to make a high capacity cartridge. Nintendo would try and fail to bring a CD-ROM add on for the SNES and Super Famicom to market. However the inability of developers to really capitalize on the advantages of the CD-ROM format this generation allowed the SNES and Super Famicom to still perform well against CD-ROM equipped systems, while avoiding the slow access times and high upfront drive cost of the format at the time. Expansion Co-processors thumb|A demo of 3D Wireframe rendering using a Cx4 chip, an enhancement co-processor used by Capcom games like Megaman X. The SNES cold make use of co-processors included on game cartridges, and this was often used to add 3D effects.A Super FX FAQ http://www.anthrofox.org/starfox/superfx.html www.anthrofox.org 21 November 2020 Inspired by SuperFX chips, in December of 2020 an unofficial expansion cartridge containing a SuperRT system with three execution cores clocked at 50 megahertz was made to allow raytracing on the SNES.Modified Cartridge Gets Ray Tracing Working On A Super Nintendo https://kotaku.com/modified-cartridge-gets-ray-tracing-working-on-a-super-1845890256 Kotaku 16 December 2020 en-usCarter Ben SuperRT https://www.shironekolabs.com/posts/superrt/ www.shironekolabs.com 16 December 2020 en-us 13 December 2020 This shows that the cartridge based co-processor model could be taken quite far, had it been needed. Accessories The Japanese Satellaview satellite download service allowed gamers to receive content over the air temporarily.Nintendo's Forgotten Console https://www.vice.com/en/article/xywnpw/satellaview-nintendos-forgotten-console 2 May 2021 www.vice.com enIt’s time to get serious about game preservation – before it’s too late https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/opinion/its-time-to-get-serious-about-games-preservation-before-its-too-late/ 2 May 2021 VGC 23 March 2021 The third party X-Band service allowed some games to be played online.X-BANDing http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/articles/features/x-banding/ www.gamezero.com 21 November 2020 The LifeCycle Exertainment Bike was an exercise bicycle for the SNES, a version of the LifeCycle exercise bicycle which received an endorsement from Arnold Schwarzenegger.The fitness nut in me wishes I had this SNES exercise bike https://www.destructoid.com/stories/the-fitness-nut-in-me-wishes-i-had-this-snes-exercise-bike-501569.phtml Destructoid 16 December 2020 englishSchwarzenegger Makes His Pitch https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-18-me-pitch18-story.html 16 December 2020 Los Angeles Times 18 August 2003 Notable Games Qualities Platformers, especially mascot platformers, were quite popular for the system. Major JRPGs released on the system, and so the system was quite notable for the development of the genre. Many games incorporated elements to demonstrate the cutting technological capabilities of the system. In particular use of "Mode-7", enhancement chips, and pre-rendered CGI were highly regarded as a mark of technical superiority at the time. 1990 Super Mario World Read more about Super Mario World on Wikipedia. F-Zero The first game in a series of high speed futuristic racing games. This game used mode 7 pseudo 3D environments to great effect. Read more about F-Zero on Wikipedia. 1991 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Read more about The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on Wikipedia. Final Fantasy IV Released as Final Fantasy II in America, as previous entries in the series had not been released there. Read more about Final Fantasy IV on Wikipedia. 1992 Super Mario Kart Development Early in development Super Mario Kart was originally intended to be a two player version of F-Zero.Super Mario Kart Developer Interview - SNES Classic Edition - Official Site https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/interview-super-mario-kart/ 8 March 2022 www.nintendo.com Launch The first Mario Kart game. At the time of release Super Mario Kart was critically acclaimed for it's two player multiplayer and tight gameplay.Super Mario Kart: Did Critics Love This Super NES Racer in 1992? - Defunct Games http://www.defunctgames.com/reviewcrew/96/super-mario-kart-did-critics-love-this-super-nes-racer-in-1992 16 December 2020 www.defunctgames.com Decades later, the game continued to receive high marks by reviewers.Review: Super Mario Kart (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo) https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/snes/super_mario_kart 16 December 2020 Nintendo Life 24 November 2009Oxford Nadia Super NES Retro Review: Super Mario Kart https://www.usgamer.net/articles/super-nes-classic-game-by-game-7-super-mario-kart 16 December 2020 USgamer 27 July 2017 en Legacy Mario Kart would also have influences on individuals who would later join the industry. A major example of this is Shuntaro Furukawa, who's interaction with the game inspired him to get involved with the family company, and as a result would lead him to later become the 6th president of Nintendo.Damien McFerran Mario Kart Convinced Nintendo's President To Join The Company In The '90s https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/mario-kart-convinced-nintendos-president-to-join-the-company-in-the-90s 8 March 2022 Nintendo Life 21 February 2022任天堂社長 古川俊太郎氏(上) https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGKKZO78938460U2A100C2TB2000/ 8 March 2022 日本経済新聞 5 January 2022 ja Read more about Super Mario Kart on Wikipedia. Mario Paint Mario Paint would influence a number of creatives, including future game developers.The Story of Mario Paint Gaming Historian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54bXwb5DfRI 20 May 2021 en Read more about Mario Paint on Wikipedia. Dragon Quest V Widely considered to be among the best games in the Dragon Quest series, and highly ranked among Japanese role playing games in general.Oxford Nadia The Top 25 RPGs of All Time #8: Dragon Quest 5 https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-top-25-rpgs-of-all-time-8-dragon-quest-5 8 March 2022 USgamer 16 January 2019 enFontes Renan ‘Dragon Quest V’ is Everything an RPG Should Be https://goombastomp.com/dragon-quest-v-is-everything-an-rpg-should-be/ 8 March 2022 Goomba Stomp Magazine 17 October 2019The RetroBeat: Dragon Quest V is a marriage made in retro-JRPG heaven https://venturebeat.com/2021/01/08/the-retrobeat-dragon-quest-v-is-a-marriage-made-in-retro-jrpg-heaven/ 8 March 2022 VentureBeat 8 January 2021 Read more about Dragon Quest V on Wikipedia. Final Fantasy V Read more about Final Fantasy V on Wikipedia. Romancing SaGa Read more about Romancing SaGa on Wikipedia. 1993 Super Mario All-Stars An enhanced remake compilation of the NES Mario games. Among the first major series to receive such an enhanced remake compilation. Read more about Super Mario All-Stars on Wikipedia. Star Fox An on rails shooter, which leveraged the power of the SuperFX chip for polygonal 3D graphics. Read more about Star Fox on Wikipedia. Mega Man X A new Mega Man series that leveraged improved system capabilities over the NES to improve gameplay, graphics, and sound as well as a deeper story. Read more about Mega Man X on Wikipedia. 1994 Donkey Kong Country - Used pre rendered 3D graphics to great effect. Final Fantasy VI - Marketed as Final Fantasy III in North America. Killer Instinct Kirby's Dream Course Super Metroid Super Metroid influenced a number of gamers and developers with it's unique and complex gameplay, level design, and environmental storytelling.Baker Chris How 'Super Metroid' Inspired a Generation of Game Makers https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/how-super-metroid-defined-an-era-and-inspired-a-generation-of-game-makers-250630/ 29 January 2021 Rolling Stone 29 August 2016 Read more about Super Metroid on Wikipedia. EarthBound EarthBound influenced a number of creative works from different creators following it, such as the television series South Park and the video game Undertale.South Park Creators Cite Earthbound as a Major Inspiration for Their Own Game https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/07/south_park_creators_cite_earthbound_as_a_major_inspiration_for_their_own_game 13 December 2020 Nintendo Life 19 July 2013Undertale creator on the games that served as inspiration, changes during development, and more https://nintendoeverything.com/undertale-creator-on-inspiration-changes-during-development-and-more/ 13 December 2020 Nintendo Everything 27 October 2018 en Read about EarthBound on Wikipedia. 1995 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Yoshi's Island Dragon Quest VI Chrono Trigger Kirby's Avalanche Tetris Attack / Panel De Pon Front Mission Clock Tower A cult horror game about surviving the Scissorman in a mansion.Clock Tower Is Creepy As Hell For A Super Nintendo Game https://kotaku.com/clock-tower-is-creepy-as-hell-for-a-super-nintendo-game-1846734718 30 April 2021 Kotaku en-us Read more about Clock Tower on Wikipedia. 1996 Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Super Mario RPG Harvest Moon Kirby Super Star Bahamut Lagoon 1997 Kirby's Dream Land 3 2000 Metal Slader Glory: Directors Cut 2010's Star Fox 2 After being shelved for over two decades, Star Fox 2 was officially released in 2017 on the SNES classic.Wright Steven T. Star Fox 2: By the numbers https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/10/24/16512492/star-fox-2-by-the-numbers Polygon 11 December 2020 en 24 October 2017 Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill thumb|The real life Socks the Cat sitting in the Oval Office in 1994. The game featured a protagonist based on President Bill Clinton's real life cat.Waller Allyson A Cat Is Said to Be Joining the Bidens in the White House https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/us/Biden-cat-dogs-German-shepherd.html 30 April 2021 The New York Times 29 November 2020 In fall 2016 a campaign was started to release the game fully after a prototype cartridge was discovered.Meslow Scott Today, Let Us Remember the Bizarre-Ass Video Game About Hillary Clinton's Cat https://www.gq.com/story/hillary-clinton-socks-the-cat-video-game 30 April 2021 GQSNES game about Bill Clinton's cat may finally get released pending crowdfunding https://www.destructoid.com/stories/snes-game-about-bill-clinton-s-cat-may-finally-get-released-pending-crowdfunding-351296.phtml 30 April 2021 Destructoid englishGurwin Gabe There’s a Kickstarter campaign to resurrect a lost SNES game about Bill Clinton’s cat https://www.businessinsider.com/kickstarter-bill-clinton-socks-the-cat-2016-10 30 April 2021 Business Insider The game was released in early 2018.Shipping starts tomorrow! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/socksthecat/socks-the-cat-the-video-game-based-on-the-clintons/posts/2103350 30 April 2021 Read more about Socks the Cat Rocks the Hill on Wikipedia. Special Editions Special editions and versions of the console. Starlight Gaming Station - Super Nintendo Entertainment System kiosk for hospital use.Announcing the Starlight Nintendo Switch Gaming Station! https://www.starlight.org/stories/announcing-the-starlight-nintendo-switch-gaming-station/ www.starlight.org 29 December 2020 en Nintendo Gateway System - In flight entertainment version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.Will the In-Flight Entertainment System Survive COVID-19? https://tedium.co/2020/06/19/in-flight-entertainment-system-covid-19-impact-history/ 29 December 2020 Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. en Bandai HET - Unreleased portable SNES with additional functions demoed at E3 1993.Six of the best: unreleased games consoles https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/09/six-of-the-best-unreleased-games-consoles 5 February 2021 the Guardian 9 November 2014 en Gallery Console Models SNES controllers SNES Accessories Technology Marketing Homebrew There is a WikiBook on SNES programming. External Resources Super Nintendo Entertainment System Super Game Boy Nintendo Gateway System Super Famicom and variants Archived websites SNES website SNES hardware website References 2100%__NOTOC__