Game news A new NES video game, 40 years after the release of the console? No, you’re not dreaming and it’s a roguelite too!
Video games of yesteryear are on the rise. We can no longer count the reissues of old games, unavailable in stores or sold for fortunes on auction sites, which are enjoying a second life on the original consoles. So, despite its advanced age, the NES is more alive than ever!
The phone call of a lifetime
It is the autumn of 1981 and the mood is not good for Masayuki Uemura. As head of Nintendo’s second branch of research and development (R&D 2), he needs a founding project to envision a better future. And for good reason, opposite, in the R&D 1 premises, Gunpei Yokoi and his teams are enjoying immense success with Game & Watch, these little electronic games now known worldwide. It is ultimately a stroke of destiny, or rather a phone call, which will change his trajectory forever. One evening in November 1981, Masayuki Uemura heard the telephone ringing and picked up the receiver. Stunned when he heard his president’s voice, he received the mission to create a video game console that was inexpensive and more efficient than the competitors! The challenge is immense, but he could not have hoped for a better way to regain the trust of his president.
From this mission will emerge the very famous Famicom console, which will become the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System in our country). This NES amazed millions of children and teenagers of the 80/90 generation and it had a profound impact on people’s minds with its VCR look. A design which was modeled taking into account the weather conditions of the United States, and in particular Texas where the humidity level is considerable. By imagining this conceptual design (which will be readapted by Nintendo’s American teams), Masayuki Uemura wanted to prevent children from touching the connectors due to the static electricity emanating from this humidity in the air. It is for this reason, among others, that the NES has this VCR format with a cartridge that is inserted before closing the flap.
40 years later, the NES is still in our hearts
Like the Game Boy, the NES has spanned generations and symbolizes many memories and good times for millions of children and adolescents. Like multiple consoles before it, it was the subject of new projects which allowed its fans to discover completely new games on the support. Well, that’s good: a new game is almost funded (after conversion, 13,270 euros for a goal of 13,831 euros) on Kickstarter and should land in the coming months!
Considered the “first 8-bit avian roguelike platform game in the world”, Flap Happy promises to be a challenge worthy of challenge lovers! In the shoes of a chicken called Little Flappy, the player will have to escape from more than 900 procedural levels filled with obstacles: fireballs, spikes, sharks, snakes, etc. To give an overview, the developers have prepared a PC demo (but the game will of course be released for NES – but also Game Boy) and it is still possible to participate in crowdfunding to unlock new levels. If the difficulty and old-fashioned gameplay don’t scare you, now is the time to go for it!