Remember how I said that the veneer panel on the Atari 2600 was one of the most recognisable console designs of all time? Well, it turns out that Nintendo almost made a version of the NES with that same look to rival Atari's iconic machine, and just like Charles and Terry in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, we'd have had to have had a vote for 'who wore it best' to see which one came out victorious.
This nice NES fact was unveiled at a talk with a team of veteran employees from Nintendo of America who worked on the NES's launch 40 years ago. The talk that I came across via browsing Tom's Hardware was hosted by the Video Game History Foundation to celebrate 40 years of Nintendo's iconic home console, the machine that helped to make them a global household name and one of the most important machines in gaming history.
Speaking with founder of the Video Game History Foundation Frank Cifaldi, veteran Nintendo employees Bruce Lowry (VP of Sales), Gail Tilden (Marketing & Communications Manager), Lance Barr (NES/NES Zapper Product Design) talked about how they needed to give the NES the best possible look to help the gaming industry survive the Video Game crash in the States.
It was made apparent during the speech that one of the designs the team was given for the Famicon's American counterpart had a wood veneer design just like the 2600. It also had top switches, something that Lance Barr who had an influential role in what the new console looked like wasn't too happy about. The Famicon looked like a toy - the NES needed to look like a product from the future that would change the course of gaming forever. I think the design they went for in the end more than fulfilled that brief, don't you?
But imagine an alternative world where that wood veneer NES console did come out. Would it have looked as impressive? Would it have been 'an Atari knock off', or would it have knocked the 2600 out of the history books? It's an interesting concept, and I for one would love for Nintendo to make this version as part of the NES's 40th birthday celebrations.
The almost 2-hour-long talk is incredibly interesting for anyone who loves the history of Nintendo and goes in-depth into some of the consoles' rarer peripherals and the trials and tribulations of making a console that essentially had to save the world of video gaming. There's also some mention of Toxic Waste, but I'll let you discover that out for yourself! Check out the full video below!
