[Flashbacks] News Reports about Nintendo in 1988

[Refractive Reflections]

It's always interesting to get a historical perspective on cultural phenomena, and of course video games are no exception.

Came across these YouTube clips of news organizations (Inside Edition and 20/20) reporting about the unprecedented and incomprehensible success of the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1988. (Just my luck in discovering these 25 years later... ) Of course the NES was released to the U.S. in late 1985, but because in those 3 years NES simply became unavoidable to the mainstream public, which was the reason for these reports.

It's hilarious when they question people on the street who Mario, Luigi, or Nintendo is, and how adults have NO clue about them. Little do they know in the future how big they will become... And also it's adorably funny how the reporters storytell these video games like epic adventures from a novel; you don't see or hear that type of journalistic reporting nowadays about video games.

Hope these clips bring some hilarious and interesting reflections:
1. Inside Edition's Nintendo Success Story (1988 )


2. ABC's 20/20 "Nuts For Nintendo" Special (1988 )



3. (I found this clip about the arcade game craze during 1982 that was worth watching. The video is choppy though.) ABC news channel in Los Angeles report about the video game industry in 1982.

It unavoidable to think about the imminent North American video game crash of 1983 when seeing this video, and entertaining to see how a rheumatologist was consulted for "Pac-Man Wrist" [carpel tunnel syndrome], and how towns wanted to ban arcade cabinets because they caused "delinquency".

Enjoy the trip down memory lane...