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Hello everyone. We are moving to a new, bigger premises so website ordering will be closed for the next month while we move everything to our new building, reorganise and do a full stock take. We will not be taking any orders or able to reply to any messages during this time. We will be open again at the start of December. Many thanks. Console Passion

Nintendo NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the great success stories in video game history. To better explain the story of this console, we first have to talk about some of the history of videogames before the console was even started...

In the late seventies and early eighties, American giant Atari dominated the worldwide home video game market, with a number of other developers trying to compete but falling short. However, between 1982 and 1984, the American videogame market crashed and paved way for a new wave of consoles & manufacturers. The crash was due a number of key events which effected each of the existing video game companies at that time.

Consumer confidence in Atari had fallen after a number of highly anticipated releases failed to impress. The 2600 version of Pacman looked nothing like Namco's arcade hit, and Atari spent a fortune on the rights to produce a game for E.T. So confident were they that the game would outsell anything else ever produced that they (apparently) produced more copies of the games than there were consoles! The game was a disaster, and Atari ended up destroying millions of copies of both games, along with a slew of other games they had 'over produced'.

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The American market turned its attention to the Colecovision, made by Coleco. Not only did it boast a number of almost arcade perfect games from Nintendo, Sega & Konami but it produced an adapter to allow Atari 2600 games to be played on the Coleco console. Atari fought back by releasing the 5200, which was an improvement on their 2600 and had superior sound and graphics capability. Unfortunately the machine didn't sell very well, and Atari announced poor sales resulting in a massive stock drop for Warner Communications, its parent company.

The advent of the Commodore 64 computer, a cheap powerful alternative to video games consoles sparked Coleco to reveal its new 'Adam' computer. The company piled all its money into production of the new machine, which was a very bad move as the machines were poorly made and over half were sent back with faults. Eventually Coleco went bust, the Colecovision disappeared into the ether, and its games went with it.

Nintendo had felt some of the impact of this as they had ported a few of their successful arcade games (Donkey Kong & Donkey Kong Jr) onto the Colecovision. But Nintendo had also decided that if they were going to release their own titles onto the home video game market, they would also produce the machines to play them on...

They started producing the Family Computer, or Famicom as it is better known, and it was released in Japan in 1983. Unfortunately, its early release wasn't without its problems. The 'console' (I use this term loosely, as it was initially released as a home computer) was produced in remarkably quick time, probably as an attempt to compete with Sega's third offering - the Sega Mark III, and as such the Famicom had a number of teething problems.

Nintendo noticed that their machine had done relatively well not as a home computer, but as a games console. They had ported the same games onto their new Famicom that disappeared with the Colecovision and this seemed to be the selling point of the new machine. Nintendo had initially signed a deal with Atari, which gave the American giant the sole rights to produce the Famicom outside of Japan. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of a insider trading scandal at Atari, the Nintendo deal fell through. But as one door closed another one opened!

1984 was the most disastrous year for the American Video Game market. MB had dropped the price of the Vectrex so much it was losing money on every console sold, eventually causing it to be scrapped. As previously mentioned the Colecovision disappeared without trace, and the Intellevision also bowed out after Mattel Electronics was shut down. Finally, after a series of game flops, poor console sales and other financial scandals, Warner sells off Atari. Its new owners announce they will no longer be selling video games consoles, only producing games.

All this left a massive hole in the market - one that Nintendo was very keen to plug. They had developed a new incarnation of the Famicom, solely for playing video games. Keen to get the console onto western shores they 'tested' the console in New York stores, promising to buy back any unsold machines from the now cautious retailers. Of course there weren't any unsold machines, and within a matter of weeks the new Nintendo Entertainment System was being sold Nationwide.

Such was the demand for the new console that shops could not keep up. This was a feat that even Atari hadn't managed to achieve. The American gamers had been waiting a long time for something new, something that offered better titles than what Atari had churned out and the Nintendo had it all. Helped along by an Italian Plumber named Mario, the Nintendo Entertainment System was the must have toy for the American Youth during 1984/85.

It was the fact that Nintendo was the first to get its foot in the door that helped it keep ahead of its competitors. By the time the Sega Master System came along, every other kid already owned a Nintendo, so everyone wanted to stick together and have the same as their friends. Even though the Master System was the better of the two machines, the general consensus was to go with the majority. And the majority had already chosen the NES.

Nintendo sensing they had the upper hand started to 'lock in' game developers. Everyone wanted to make games for the NES - they had the biggest market share so by that logic more units would be sold. Fine said Nintendo - make games for us. But only us. One by one big names were being tied into Nintendo America, which effectively gave them a Monopoly over the video games market. Eventually, they would be forced to relax these ties by the US Government, but by this time they had already won round one of the Nintendo vs Sega video games war!

However, this shouldn't detract away from the fact that the Nintendo was a truly amazing machine which gave birth to some of the best known characters and game franchises. Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid & Megaman were all made household names on the NES, and Nintendo had set the standard against which all future games consoles would compete.

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Super Adventure Quests

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Box: 
yes
£46.00
Manual: 
yes
£46.00

BOOMERANG KID: Amazing gameplay starring the Boomerang Kid and a host of weird creatures - snapping alligators, cute koalas, knights in armor, Toby the dog, plus castles, secret switches, crumbling platforms, hidden caves and world warps. The fun never stops! SUPER ROBIN HOOD: Adventure through Nottingham castle conquering troll guards, patrolling dwarves, vampire bats, fanged spiders, fire breathing gargoyles, spiked cannonballs and more. Discover keys, secret passages, dungeons, torture chambers and collect stolen treasures including chests, crowns, diamonds, shields, goblets and rubies.

Sword Master

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Box: 
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£40.00
Manual: 
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£40.00

Sharpen the Blade. Summon the Magic. Your Enemies Await! You are the Sword Master - the supreme warrior. Unleash your magic when a sword won't cut it. A kingdom to save... a slew of deadly levels to conquer! Huge enemies only a Sword Master would love. Razor-sharp graphics. Explosive special effects. Get airborne with the exclusive "Multi-Jump" feature.

Smash TV

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yes
£22.00
Manual: 
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£22.00

Congratulations! You're the next lucky contestant on the game show with the ultimate in prizes... YOUR LIFE! Sorry, no mindless blondes spinning your wheels here. Just deadly action, flying shrapnel, and total carnage - all in front of a live studio audience! Instead of picking vowels, you pick up 6 futuristic weapons like triple photon lasers and lethal plasma grenades. And the 2 controller action gives you 360 degree arcade firepower. Sure, you can win toasters and microwaves... after you defeat hordes of cyborg mutants, power orbs, tactical assault tanks and the 30-ton Mutoid Man!

Super Glove Ball

Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console
Box: 
yes
£12.00
Manual: 
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£12.00

Now you can really reach in and grab the action! Super Glove Ball bridges the gap between game and reality by giving you the sensation of real depth regardless of which controller you use. Throw, catch, punch, and swerve through a maze of rooms, progressing up spiraling skill levels towards your ultimate goal. Along the way you'll experience amazing dimensional effects as you ricochet the ball off walls to knock out tiles, blocks, and adversaries.

Shinobi

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Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console
Box: 
yes
£30.00
Manual: 
yes
£30.00

Shinobi. It's Japanese for stealth, the perfect description of a Master Ninja. And that's exactly what you are! Armed with throwing stars and finely-honed battle skills, you must defeat the Ring of Five. Fight your way past mercenaries and karate thugs. Take out the meanest martial artists and rescue hostages. But these dangers pale in comparison to your ultimate challenge: A fight to the death against five evil Ninja Assassins whose mastery of the deadly ancient arts may well surpass your own!

Commando

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Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console. This game is missing its instruction book
Box: 
yes
£30.00
Manual: 
no
£30.00

Super C

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Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console.
Box: 
yes
£20.00
Manual: 
yes
£20.00

Q-Bert

Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console
Box: 
yes
£18.00
Manual: 
yes
£18.00

The Tazmaniac Kings of Chaos have trapped your ol' pal Q*bert in their treacherous time warp. And, with nearly 40 perilous pyramids to escape from, he's in trouble up to his "schnoz"! Now, you're his only hope. But to secure Q*bert's safety, you'll have to be a whiz-bang player, bouncing our pug-nosed hero around like a banshee, and matching the pyramid squares with escape code colors. All the while, you'll dodge untold zillions of Whammy Balls that'll fall onto the Q*bster's punky hairdo - SPLAT!

Ghosts N Goblins

Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console
Box: 
yes
£50.00
Manual: 
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£50.00

The beautiful princess is kidnapped. Her lover, the Knight in shining armor, armed with five different weapons to fight the enemy, sets out to rescue the beautiful princess. The Knight, aided by your skill, must pass through seven different guarded gates, fighting and destroying demons, dragons, giants and zombies. There are hidden characters, too! Some friends, some foes. Ghosts 'N Goblins is exciting... challenging you and the Knight to rescue the princess, amid great danger, escaping Hades, land of the enemies!

Galaga - Demons of Death

Notes: 
This is a US NTSC game and may only work on a US console or modded PAL console
Box: 
yes
£18.00
Manual: 
yes
£18.00

Captain: ...kshhh..DAY! MAYDAY! MAY...come in base... kshhh... Base: Commander I'm picking up a faint transmission. Captain: ...repeat MAYD..kshh...under attack ...kshh...Hideous creatures. Base: Captain your signal is weak. Please retransmit...over. Captain: We've defeated thousands...kshh...sub-alpha missiles malfunction...stealth shields down...kshh...my men...desperate...kshh...horrible...kshh... Base: Captain get a hold of yourself! It's only a video game! Do you copy? CAPTAIN? Captain: ... kshhhhhhhhhhhh ...

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