Tag: nintendo
The Game Genie Generation
For an unlicensed game accessory, the Game Genie sure casts a long shadow. It reshaped the games we already owned—and had a profound effect on copyright law.
8 Bits & Still Brewin’
As the NES nears the 40th anniversary of its U.S. release, the homebrew scene around it is still putting out some killer games.
RIP Power Player
On the passing of Mark Discordia, a ’90s video game fan who got a troll’s welcome to the internet. He was a plumber who loved Mario. Nothing wrong with that.
Belated Expansion
If you haven’t heard, people are finally using the NES’ forgotten expansion port in commercial products. What took them so long?!
From Segments To Pixels
Handheld calculators saw a massive amount of innovation in the 1970s—thanks in no small part to LCD screens and a primitive form of typography.
Save Our Emulators
Nintendo’s strong-arming of the Switch emulator Yuzu shows how little the company understands its own fan base. Emulators will not die so quietly.
The Ballad Of Mark Discordia
Considering an infamous target of trolling in the early online era. Did the middle-aged Nintendo fan really deserve it?
Locked Up In Regions
The history of region-locking, a once-unintentional process of keeping devices built for one region from being used in another. (Now Apple’s doing it.)
We Beat The Machine
The story of a 13-year-old gamer crashing the NES version of Tetris in a record-setting run is one of the best stories we have going right now.
Surf Like A Shark
That time the company behind the GameShark cheating device came up with a dial-up online service for the Nintendo 64. SharkWire strangely targeted 7-year-olds.
You Know, For Kids
Pondering the uncomfortable relationship kids and parents have with technology—and making a case that kids deserve the chance to fall in love with gadgets.
Old Stories, New Eyes
A second opinion on some of Tedium’s stories throughout 2021—including an incredibly unusual coincidence involving braided nylon cables.
Turtlemania, Revisited
Looking back on the early multimedia adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a bit of nostalgia on the side.
A Requiem in Stereo(scope)
More than just a gimmicky gadget, the Nintendo 3DS was a marvel of handheld gaming in the 2010s. And now, a decade after it appeared, it’s gone for good.
A True (NES) Advantage
How the NES Advantage, thanks to its long pop-culture reach, came to define the concept of a good controller in the 8-bit console generation.
Flight Risk
The in-flight entertainment system was once a novel idea that kept passengers enthralled. Now in the COVID-19 era, it’s both outdated and a serious germ hazard.
Saved, But Not Forgotten
The evolution of saving in video games, from the password to the cloud, and nearly every obscure memory card format in-between.
In Total Control
From the arcades to the living room, how the controller has evolved—and why one tech historian, Benj Edwards, started building his own.
The Ballad of Yo! Noid
In the '80s and '90s, advertisers got the idea to market products to kids through video games. The games aren't half-bad (mostly), but they're still ads.
Absolutely Brilliant!
The British company Codemasters, best known for the Game Genie, didn’t let a pesky lack of license get in the way of creating some of the NES’ best games.
What if Tedium … Had Lyrics?
A conversation with video game music icon Brent Black (aka Brentalfloss) about his music, thoughts on YouTube, and using your words.
Nintendo Still Rocks
How music from the 8-bit video game era has inspired an entire generation of modern musicians and created new musical genres.
Not Just Nostalgia
The strange and wonderful world of homebrew games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Yes, new games are still being made three decades later.
Australian Rules Nintendo
What an Australia-only NES game secretly reveals about many of the early Nintendo games that came out in the United States.
Modem Madness
Who said they just had to make games? From answering machines to lottery prototypes, Sega and Nintendo tried weird things with modems in the early ’90s.
“It's Weird That it Didn't Seem Weirder”
Don’t Die’s David Wolinsky, a fellow traveler in the world of tech and gaming, offers his take on NESticle’s place in the broader culture of video games.
An Extra Serving
The history of NESticle is so rich that some details wouldn’t fit into Ernie's recent Motherboard piece. He’s putting some of them here.
A Warped Mindset
How the Nintendo Times, a Nintendo fan site, is covering the release of the NES in real time—three decades after its original release.
This Is My Top Secret Room
If your name is Chris Houlihan, you’re immortalized, somewhat obscurely, in The Legend of Zelda lore. Here’s why the series features some random guy.
Reverse-Engineering The Industry
Third-party developers weren't always quite so revered in the video game industry, but a pair of legal decisions helped them earn their place at the table.
What a Wonderful World
Staffed by former Atari employees and with a big hit on its hands, Worlds of Wonder tried to ride Teddy Ruxpin to the promised land. They failed, fast.
The Lost (And Found) Levels
Video games are full of unused content that developers assumed would never been seen. A group of digital archaeologists, however, are proving them wrong.
8-Bit Archaeology
Retro gaming is a culture that holds a soft spot for any kid born in the '70s or '80s. Here's a deep dive into the world of retro gaming enthusiasts.