Precedents for Progress: How Nintendo’s Past Helped Shape Gaming’s Future
by Chad Lakkis on August 9, 2007 at 9:48 pm
On a normal day, you’d find me spinning around in my office chair contemplating the meaning of life, the Mayan calendar, and global warming, but today the mailman came bearing gifts. Yes, today is a good day.
See about a week ago I saw something on Ebay that I just had to have, and 35 bucks later it was all mine. What was this amazing item you ask? It was the very first issue of GamePro Magazine … from 1989.
The package arrives and I open it — nothing too exciting just yet. A cover featuring three console manufacturers: Nintendo, Sega, and Atari, of which only one is still producing consoles today. That company is Nintendo, and it got me thinking about what it was that Nintendo did right.
Did they have an unbelievable amount of luck? Was it great marketing and character development? Maybe they just had an eye for the “next great thing” and the willingness to pursue it? The answer is all of the above.
When everyone else zigged, Nintendo zagged. Sure Sega had the Light Phaser Gun and Nintendo had the NES Zapper Gun, and while many (including myself) will argue that Sega’s Light Phaser was a higher quality product, Nintendo didn’t stop there.
In 1988 Nintendo bought the rights to Family Fun Fitness (a product originally created by Bandai) and released it in 1989 as the Power Pad. The product was a grey mat with six red circles on one side and six blue on the other. Underneath each circle was a pressure sensitive sensor embedded between two thin layers of flexible plastic. Players would plug this into the Nintendo console and step on the buttons to control the game. Dance Dance Revolution anyone?
Another 1989 Nintendo licensed product allowed gamers to “slip their hand into the action”. Manufactured by Mattel in the US and distributed by Nintendo, the Power Glove was the first device capable of recreating a human hand’s movement on a television screen. The product had great initial sales in the United States; however, it was criticized for its interaction with certain games, and its lack of support in Japan hurt sales, eventually forcing the Japanese manufacturer to declare bankruptcy.
Despite all of this, Nintendo never gave up on the overall concept behind the Power Glove. Instead, its inspiration and their commitment to delivering an emmersive gameplay experience ultimately brought us the Wiimote and Nunchuck devices that fill homes across the globe today.
They may look funny now, but the Power Glove and Power Pad were ahead of their time. Sure, most of us used to mash down on the power pad with our hands instead of our feet to win at Track and Field, and the Power Glove drove us crazy as it used up all of our Super Punches in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, but thankfully Nintendo continued to pursue gameplay in a generation caught up in graphics, frame rate, and processor speed.
The Nintendo Wii is an homage to the company’s past and a glimpse into the future of gaming. “Wii” leave you with a few funny commercials showcasing the Nintendo Power Pad and Power Glove. You gotta love the 80s.
Nintendo Power Pad Commercial - Now you’re playing with body power!
Nintendo Power Glove Commercial - Everthing else is childs play!
“I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad.” - The Wizard Movie, 1989
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