The Spokesman-Review: Home Market Plays Well At Nintendo
Those of us in the dedicated video game press know how amazingly well the NES has been performing in America, and now the mainstream press is picking up on the phenomenon. The Spokesman-Review by way of the Associated Press published an article today diving into some of Nintendo’s financials and the success it has had in the western market.
There are many interesting tidbits included in the article, but we found it fascinating that about 50,000 people call Nintendo’s hint line every week. In fact, about 10% of all calls revolve around The Legend of Zelda and how to find the Tri-Force in the seventh labyrinth. There are also some slightly off facts, including calling Super Mario Bros. a “souped-up version of Donkey Kong“. Say what now? Also it’s largely misleading to say that Nintendo launched the NES at $199.95. Sure, that was the MSRP, but virtually every store in New York (where the system launched) had it for $139.99 with R.O.B. and the Zapper and two games. Still, we’ll cut them some slack – they’re not in the trenches like we are.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
