NightviSion
01-06-2005, 04:47 PM
This is a dedication thread that I wanted to make to my all time favorite video game console (SNES). So as an opening, this thread will first discuss the history of this system, maybe some hardware specs and shading some light on the legal issues regarding the distribution of game ROMS, ending with the discussion of the most important releases on this system. So, feel free to give any additions as in info about a particular game, some screenshots will be nice, and why you liked it. (providing Jap game roms through this thread will be looked into :D )
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES or SNES otherwise known as Super Famicom in Japan スーパーファミコン ) is a video game console designed and built by Nintendo in the 1990s. It was Nintendo's second home console, the successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe, and was the major rival of the Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis during the 16-bit era.
Development
In 1988, Nintendo executives showed little interest in developing a rival system when Sega announced that they would release their 16-bit Sega Genesis. However when the Genesis quickly took over the market in North America and Europe due to its superior technology, Nintendo quickly decided to begin development on their own system.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Nintendo CEO at the time, had put Masayuki Uemura in charge of designing the console. They had originally planned for the Famicom/NES to be a 16-bit system. However at the time of development those components were far too expensive and so the system was developed as an 8-bit system. Since the components were much cheaper when the SNES was in development, Nintendo did not hesitate to build a more powerful system.
Release and sales
The Super Famicom was released November 21, 1990 in Japan.
Many companies who bought NES licences also purchased SNES licences due to the success of the NES such as Squaresoft, Capcom, Tecmo, Konami and Koei. This gave Nintendo an edge against its competition.
The console was released in the United States in August, 1991 with a starting price of $200. The first SNES set was packaged with Super Mario World and two controllers. The fact that it was not backwards-compatible with previous Nintendo consoles (NES) like some Atari Models, may have caused some mild consumer hesitation. In addition, the Sega Genesis had already gained some popularity, and was also about $50 cheaper than the SNES.
The hardware internals only varied depending on the TV standard in that country. With the exception of games that required the use of large amounts of text (e.g. Role Playing Games), many cartridges in Australia were imported from Europe because both used PAL systems. Likewise, games from Japan can be played in the North American consoles since they both use NTSC.
With the help of marginally superior technical capabilities, family-friendly image, icon game characters like Mario, and a larger base of developers, the SNES was fairly dominant throughout the early 1990s. By the end of the 16-bit era, Nintendo had recorded twice as many sales of its console as Sega had with the Genesis.
The SNES had a large library containing many exclusive titles. It had a number of best-selling RPGs, including Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. Some SNES games are enhanced remakes of NES games; two examples are Super Mario All-Stars and Ninja Gaiden Trilogy.
The SNES was released in the United Kingdom for 150 pounds in April 1992. The German release took place a few weeks later. The European case design was similar to that of the Super Famicom. However, Nintendo never got much of a footing in Europe due to distribution problems.
Nintendo then began development of a successor with the help of Sony. Disagreements between the two companies caused Nintendo to cancel its involvement with Sony and proceed instead with Philips.
Mid-1990s
Sales of the SNES in North America declined between 1996 and 1997, with the release of Nintendo's new console, the Nintendo 64. An SNES redesign which was lighter in weight came out in October 1997 for $99.99 in the United States to get the last few sales from people still interested in the 16-bit market. The console was packaged with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The RF ports and expansion ports did not come with this version, which was never released in Europe.
Nintendo discontinued production in North America in 1999. Production continued in Japan until September 2003.
Many of the SNES's successful games were ported to the Game Boy Advance which has similar capabilities. The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996 and officially became Nintendo's flagship product.
Emulation
Like its predecessor, the SNES has had a continued interest among its fans. It has continued to thrive on a second-hand market and later through console emulation. Many gamers discovered the SNES after its decline. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES.
Emulation projects began approximately in 1996 with projects such as "VSMC" and "Super Pasofami". None of these projects lasted past 1998. During that time, Snes96 and Snes97 emerged, the predecessors to Snes9x. Honorable mention goes to SNEeSe, an emulator that is considered to be very accurate, although of limited functionality.
In early 1998, SNES enthusiasts began programming a console emulator named ZSNES. One year later, development also began on Snes9x, its closest "competitor." From then on, these two emulators continue to offer the most complete emulation of the system and its various add-on chips like the Super FX Chip.
Nintendo took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and emulation as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented nothing but flagrant piracy. Proponents of SNES ROMs cite as arguments for their continued distribution: the discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a backup, the frailty of SNES cartridges (even though cartridges are far more durable than optical discs), and the lack of certain foreign imports. Starting in the 128-bit era, both Nintendo and emulation proponents began to have a less active stance on this issue.
Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, ROM files continue to be available on the Internet. Since the console's discontinuation, second-hand market decline, and rapid growth of the Internet, finding the files has become less of a challenge than it had been with the NES. Most general ROM sites offer files for the SNES.
Some video game critics consider the SNES era "the golden age of video games," citing the many groundbreaking games and classics made for the system. whereas others question this romanticism.
Here's a nice article taken from Nintendo Land,
The Golden era - Just for the nostalgics?
The Golden Era was a good time for video games, but is it only a good time for games of the people who played that generation of games? Perhaps the Golden Era was only a time for the people who grew up with the rise and fall of the 8 bit and 16 bit eras; and at this time, most of us we're only children. Psychologically, as children we accept many things and are pleased very easily. However due to that era's technological standards, we never really seen the powerful graphics that we see today. We were instead pleased of the simple fact that we had a console system.
Although we like to play the old games over and over again, is it only because we grew up with it and want to go back to nostalgia? Perhaps, however if one were to compare a game with a overall good rating like the infamous Zelda series; then one would have a problem. Comparing Zelda 1 the 8 bit predecessor of the almighty and extremely popular Zelda 64, a person can have a massive problem determining which is better. Zelda 1 was good for it's time but can never equal the complexity of the games of today. On the other hand, Zelda 64 is running on the same concept, but is much better because game development has evolved so much more. Kids who are just catching onto games on consoles and PC platforms, have only begun to experience of the magic of gaming. One of them just happens to be Zelda 64. Even though Zelda 64 is a better developed game, I think if one compares the standards of the generation which Zelda 1 lay and the standards of today where Zelda 64 lies, then they are both good; but only for their own time. Perhaps sometime in the future the kids of today will look back at Zelda 64 and compare it to probably Zelda 2000, while also saying that Zelda 64 seemed to be a better game. The generations of their own time seem to be liking their own generation of games because they grew up with them; and I think that is the most important thing to respect games about. When they have the ability to make someone reflect at their past and the good times, that is a game which upholds it's value. Unfortunately, many companies of today concentrate on selling their products rather than inflicting positive effects on the general gaming public. One of these advertisements to move their units is the quality of graphics. If it has good enough eye candy it will sell quite a bit; but not enough because art is so ambiguous, and many people have different tastes. Also a main fact that so many games have so much eye candy, that one or two games of these types can be waivered without noticed. The good thing is that games companies are beginning to see the end of the graphics revolution and perhaps will begin to make games of equal or better exquisite texture of the games we play today.
Source from Wikipedia.org
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES or SNES otherwise known as Super Famicom in Japan スーパーファミコン ) is a video game console designed and built by Nintendo in the 1990s. It was Nintendo's second home console, the successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe, and was the major rival of the Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis during the 16-bit era.
Development
In 1988, Nintendo executives showed little interest in developing a rival system when Sega announced that they would release their 16-bit Sega Genesis. However when the Genesis quickly took over the market in North America and Europe due to its superior technology, Nintendo quickly decided to begin development on their own system.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Nintendo CEO at the time, had put Masayuki Uemura in charge of designing the console. They had originally planned for the Famicom/NES to be a 16-bit system. However at the time of development those components were far too expensive and so the system was developed as an 8-bit system. Since the components were much cheaper when the SNES was in development, Nintendo did not hesitate to build a more powerful system.
Release and sales
The Super Famicom was released November 21, 1990 in Japan.
Many companies who bought NES licences also purchased SNES licences due to the success of the NES such as Squaresoft, Capcom, Tecmo, Konami and Koei. This gave Nintendo an edge against its competition.
The console was released in the United States in August, 1991 with a starting price of $200. The first SNES set was packaged with Super Mario World and two controllers. The fact that it was not backwards-compatible with previous Nintendo consoles (NES) like some Atari Models, may have caused some mild consumer hesitation. In addition, the Sega Genesis had already gained some popularity, and was also about $50 cheaper than the SNES.
The hardware internals only varied depending on the TV standard in that country. With the exception of games that required the use of large amounts of text (e.g. Role Playing Games), many cartridges in Australia were imported from Europe because both used PAL systems. Likewise, games from Japan can be played in the North American consoles since they both use NTSC.
With the help of marginally superior technical capabilities, family-friendly image, icon game characters like Mario, and a larger base of developers, the SNES was fairly dominant throughout the early 1990s. By the end of the 16-bit era, Nintendo had recorded twice as many sales of its console as Sega had with the Genesis.
The SNES had a large library containing many exclusive titles. It had a number of best-selling RPGs, including Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. Some SNES games are enhanced remakes of NES games; two examples are Super Mario All-Stars and Ninja Gaiden Trilogy.
The SNES was released in the United Kingdom for 150 pounds in April 1992. The German release took place a few weeks later. The European case design was similar to that of the Super Famicom. However, Nintendo never got much of a footing in Europe due to distribution problems.
Nintendo then began development of a successor with the help of Sony. Disagreements between the two companies caused Nintendo to cancel its involvement with Sony and proceed instead with Philips.
Mid-1990s
Sales of the SNES in North America declined between 1996 and 1997, with the release of Nintendo's new console, the Nintendo 64. An SNES redesign which was lighter in weight came out in October 1997 for $99.99 in the United States to get the last few sales from people still interested in the 16-bit market. The console was packaged with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The RF ports and expansion ports did not come with this version, which was never released in Europe.
Nintendo discontinued production in North America in 1999. Production continued in Japan until September 2003.
Many of the SNES's successful games were ported to the Game Boy Advance which has similar capabilities. The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996 and officially became Nintendo's flagship product.
Emulation
Like its predecessor, the SNES has had a continued interest among its fans. It has continued to thrive on a second-hand market and later through console emulation. Many gamers discovered the SNES after its decline. The SNES has taken much the same revival path as the NES.
Emulation projects began approximately in 1996 with projects such as "VSMC" and "Super Pasofami". None of these projects lasted past 1998. During that time, Snes96 and Snes97 emerged, the predecessors to Snes9x. Honorable mention goes to SNEeSe, an emulator that is considered to be very accurate, although of limited functionality.
In early 1998, SNES enthusiasts began programming a console emulator named ZSNES. One year later, development also began on Snes9x, its closest "competitor." From then on, these two emulators continue to offer the most complete emulation of the system and its various add-on chips like the Super FX Chip.
Nintendo took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and emulation as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented nothing but flagrant piracy. Proponents of SNES ROMs cite as arguments for their continued distribution: the discontinued production of the SNES, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a backup, the frailty of SNES cartridges (even though cartridges are far more durable than optical discs), and the lack of certain foreign imports. Starting in the 128-bit era, both Nintendo and emulation proponents began to have a less active stance on this issue.
Despite Nintendo's attempts to stop the proliferation of such projects, ROM files continue to be available on the Internet. Since the console's discontinuation, second-hand market decline, and rapid growth of the Internet, finding the files has become less of a challenge than it had been with the NES. Most general ROM sites offer files for the SNES.
Some video game critics consider the SNES era "the golden age of video games," citing the many groundbreaking games and classics made for the system. whereas others question this romanticism.
Here's a nice article taken from Nintendo Land,
The Golden era - Just for the nostalgics?
The Golden Era was a good time for video games, but is it only a good time for games of the people who played that generation of games? Perhaps the Golden Era was only a time for the people who grew up with the rise and fall of the 8 bit and 16 bit eras; and at this time, most of us we're only children. Psychologically, as children we accept many things and are pleased very easily. However due to that era's technological standards, we never really seen the powerful graphics that we see today. We were instead pleased of the simple fact that we had a console system.
Although we like to play the old games over and over again, is it only because we grew up with it and want to go back to nostalgia? Perhaps, however if one were to compare a game with a overall good rating like the infamous Zelda series; then one would have a problem. Comparing Zelda 1 the 8 bit predecessor of the almighty and extremely popular Zelda 64, a person can have a massive problem determining which is better. Zelda 1 was good for it's time but can never equal the complexity of the games of today. On the other hand, Zelda 64 is running on the same concept, but is much better because game development has evolved so much more. Kids who are just catching onto games on consoles and PC platforms, have only begun to experience of the magic of gaming. One of them just happens to be Zelda 64. Even though Zelda 64 is a better developed game, I think if one compares the standards of the generation which Zelda 1 lay and the standards of today where Zelda 64 lies, then they are both good; but only for their own time. Perhaps sometime in the future the kids of today will look back at Zelda 64 and compare it to probably Zelda 2000, while also saying that Zelda 64 seemed to be a better game. The generations of their own time seem to be liking their own generation of games because they grew up with them; and I think that is the most important thing to respect games about. When they have the ability to make someone reflect at their past and the good times, that is a game which upholds it's value. Unfortunately, many companies of today concentrate on selling their products rather than inflicting positive effects on the general gaming public. One of these advertisements to move their units is the quality of graphics. If it has good enough eye candy it will sell quite a bit; but not enough because art is so ambiguous, and many people have different tastes. Also a main fact that so many games have so much eye candy, that one or two games of these types can be waivered without noticed. The good thing is that games companies are beginning to see the end of the graphics revolution and perhaps will begin to make games of equal or better exquisite texture of the games we play today.
Source from Wikipedia.org