Skip Navigation

Alexis Madrigal & Nicholas Jackson - Alexis Madrigal is a senior editor at The Atlantic and lead technology writer at TheAtlantic.com. Nicholas Jackson is an associate editor at The Atlantic.

11 Really Weird Nintendo Games

By Alexis Madrigal & Nicholas Jackson
Oct 18 2010, 5:49 PM ET Comment

At the dawn of time, that is to say 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. Today is the 25th anniversary. For kids of all ages, things changed that day. While Atari was a great game system and computers had certain advantages over their cartridge-bound cousins, the NES brought gaming into the mainstream. More than 60 million units of the NES were sold, and a generation of kids came to know the Mario Bros. in the way their parents had known sitcom characters.

But as an early home videogame system, it wasn't immediately clear what sorts of games might be popular. And with such a large installed base, you could throw anything against the wall and garner some sales. So, there was a lot of experimentation on the NES, particularly for unlicensed games, which did not receive Nintendo's stamp of approval. Here are 11 we found particularly interesting.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Fraught Mobile Politics of the United States of Amercia [Sic] The Fraught Mobile Politics of Amercia [Sic]
This Photo Uses Every Single Instagram Filter How to Go From Kinkade to Rothko in 18 Easy Steps
Don Pettit Is About to Become Your New Favorite Astronaut Don Pettit Is Your New Favorite Astronaut
Hey Voters: The Kill List Is What Matters Hey Voters: President Obama's Kill List Is What Matters
The Rock-Mining Children of Sierra Leone Have Not Found Peace 10 Years After Civil War, No Peace for Sierra Leone's Kids

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)