Ooh what is it? What's in this exciting package I've been waiting for? And am I really going to live tweet things about it? Yer damn right I am.pic.twitter.com/UeT5K2b7Iw
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Is it sinking in yet? He plays GAMES. For his JOB. They pushed this story really hard. We know at least one local news station picked up the story, here's a news broadcast I'm really thankful someone taped and saved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qXxnSLJAY4 …pic.twitter.com/wEbrTvCaKb
In 1987, we still weren't sure yet if video games post-crash were going to become viable again, if they would "rise from the ashes" like "the fabled Phoenix." This kit has *8 PAGES* on why the crash happened and how Nintendo's licensing program will make sure it never does again.pic.twitter.com/CSSYehTcQF
Moving on: I'm excited to dig into this red folder, this Squoon flyer tells me we're in extremely early third-party game territorypic.twitter.com/5nHM9bZSNq
This Sqoon flyer RULES. These really early pieces of ephemera are now crazy rare, I only know of one other copy of this one.pic.twitter.com/X0cApP3JbF
Okay, the press releases in the red folder confirm Summer CES 1987, the E3 of its time. Nintendo's line-up that show was wild: Kid Icarus Metroid Zelda II Punch-Out!! Rad Racerpic.twitter.com/VM5zP8Uknh
No, and it's not crazy to say this might be the last surviving copy of it. I can't stress how rare it is for something this early to surface.https://twitter.com/mdoerty/status/1230580609204072448?s=19 …
NOA showed off what appears to be a US version of the Famicom 3D glasses, which never materialized. I thought this was also the show where they had the knitting machine, but maybe that was Winter CES in January...pic.twitter.com/2DIlA3zI5e
Very cool, a pristine example of the brochure you could have gotten at a shop during the 1986 launch. You don't see these too often (we didn't have one before now, and we focus a lot on Nintendo paper since so many people research the company)pic.twitter.com/9JwQaRtDuX
Okay here's the fun stuff: UNRELEASED GAMES. The highlight here is Irem's 1987 version of Kung-Fu II, a home version of the arcade Kung-Fu Master II...which ALSO was never released. Don't confuse this with the also-unreleased 1991 version of Kung-Fu II, a totally different game!pic.twitter.com/HuhtfaqU2P
Two VERY early Sunsoft flyers I've never seen before. The Sky Kid art is from the arcade game and I love it.pic.twitter.com/iAG5qQOnvT
This might be the first 3rd party directory for NES, which became a staple in every media kit at every show. Unreleased games: Makai Island (Capcom, dumped) Speed Rumbler (Capcom, lost) Side Arms (Capcom, lost) Kung-Fu II (Irem, lost) Psycho Soldier (SNK, lost)pic.twitter.com/A0PkdOrWwO
That's about it for 1987, other than corporate info and sales figures and stuff. Moving on to 1989, which looks to be mostly photos and fact sheets.pic.twitter.com/DWEBk5T92u
Lots of product photos with fact sheets in here, mostly just for the NES and Game Boy systems. The one obscurity here is the Hands-Free Controller, a really cool early example of a game company taking accessibility seriously.pic.twitter.com/ocApCHON3Z
So this kit is also from Summer CES, this time 89. So what was Nintendo's line-up at "E3" 21 years ago? Kind of an odd year, as internal dev was moving on to Super Famicom: Dragon Warrior Tetris Short Order/Eggsplode Barker Bill Faxanadu Play Action Football To the Earthpic.twitter.com/lRBKQnQ0F9
Corporate headshots, including rare appearances from Bruce Donaldson and Bill Whitepic.twitter.com/CSnsfO0KOY
Two years later Nintendo was still pushing "plays games for a living!" in its PR, but was now spotlighting the newly formed Gameplay Counselor group instead of Phillips as a solo act.pic.twitter.com/lemWqtdejg
Okay! That's it from me, the rest is just pages and pages of corporate number-gloating.
If you liked this thread and the idea of material like this being study-able by historians, maybe consider tossing a donation (or Patreon sub!) to @GameHistoryOrg, the non-profit I run.
For those asking if Kung-Fu II was actually based on Vigilante...maybe? Here's a comparison, I think his color scheme more closely matches the Kung-Fu Master II prototype in the centerpic.twitter.com/rF1TcvAI15
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