Christina Davis (Henson)
1980’s Video games
I have picked the 1980’s more
specifically 1985 when the original Nintendo was released and came with Super
Mario Bros. This artifact represents the new age in gaming. Yes we had Pong and
Atari but Nintendo was a game changer in the video game market and Super Mario
Bros. led the way. This game is well known around the world and the Mario Bros.
franchise is the backbone of the Nintendo brand.
Super Mario Bros. shows the first in
8-bit gaming technology and how far gaming has come. You had 8 worlds with many
different boards in those worlds. The graphics at that time were mind blowing
and we thought they were the best they could ever get (Boy, were we wrong)
Super Mario Bros. represents the
first affordable at home gaming system the most people owned. It was something
people could do in their homes without having to visit the local arcade. It
changed the way people viewed video games and was a new activity families could
do together without spending a ton of money. The original NES games cost around
$50 which is crazy to think the new games today range from $50-$60. The cost of
the games has not changed much but the consoles sure have. The original
Nintendo console was $89.99 without a game or you could buy it with Super Mario
Bros. for $99.99. That is the one my mom got us.
The original Super Mario Bros.
represents to me my childhood, the turning point in gaming, and when games were
simpler. However, in today’s culture if you put any of the original 8-bit games
that I thought were ground breaking in for a child of TODAY'S society they would
become bored. I tried to show my kids how awesome games were in my day by
breaking out the original Nintendo and playing with them. After about 10
minutes they had enough and haven’t wanted to play since. The graphics have
evolved so much that games look realistic almost but wee must never forget the
game that changed it all which is Super Mario Bros. on NES.