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The year is 1991, and the hottest toy is the newly released Super Nintendo (SNES). Kids were drooling over Super Mario World, the official followup to Super Mario Bros. 3 that could only be played on the SNES. Many parents, on the other hand, felt Nintendo was simply scheming for money by limiting such a sought after title to only their newest, more expensive hardware. To be fair, the original NES only took off a few years earlier in the States, leaving many feeling burned when it seemed their costly purchase was becoming obsolete. It apparently became such a problem that many families resorted to therapy sessions to address the rift it was causing in their homes.
A local Los Angeles NBC affiliate covered the topic in a news bit titled Video Mania. It’s a bit funny to look back on now, considering how far gaming consoles have come since the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. I think even the staunchest of parents today will admit that newer gaming hardware is more capable than older machines. But the early 1990s was a different era for gaming, and this video shows that many perceived a new console generation as nothing more than a scam. There’s even a quick mention of the infamous Sega/Nintendo debate that was only beginning to brew.
Source: KNBC / Youtube | http://www.youtube.com
