Episode 37 - Nintendo... a History

Picture something with me… 

You’re on a long road trip, sitting in the back seat of the car fully engrossed in the screen in front of you… headphones in, buttons being mashed, absolutely sure you’re just one more push away from beating your all-time record…

The miles and hours go by, but none of that matters because the world around you begins and ends with the pixels in front of your face. You’re lost in the game, and the experience. 

The funny part is, most of us today would complete that picture with the screen in question being your smartphone of choice, burning hours in the latest game you downloaded from someone’s app store. But in fact, this story took place decades ago in the back of a 1993 Buick rolling down the Interstate between Pennsylvania and Florida. 

The device: a Nintendo Gameboy. The game: Super Mario Land. The batteries: Double-A and someone always dead or dying…

That exact story is forever part of my personal gaming (and technology) past, and it's ones like it that I’ll remember fondly for life. Nintendo made it possible at a time when other such experiences took place tethered to a TV in the Living Room that had better be turned off by bed time. 

So this week, we’re going to give Nintendo their well-earned moment in the spotlight to talk through their distant beginnings, pivotal contributions to our present, and likely undeniable role in the future.

Found some more batteries, so lets play…