Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America

Sectorseven

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Has anyone read this?

I'm about 25 pages through, and I've noticed a few inconsistencies with what I thought I already knew. One of the most glaring so far is the book has yet to make any mention of Shigeru Miyamoto being involved in the development of Radar Scope. It talks about the game extensively and how it flopped, but no mention of Miyamoto having anything to do with it. I'm going to give the book the benefit of the doubt since it's from a reputable publisher, but Radar Scope being Miyamoto's first game feels like common knowledge among the arcade lovers here.

A few other bits of info I found interesting:

-Nintendo originally wanted Donkey Kong to be a licensed version of Popeye not just because there was a feature film in the works, but Nintendo also had some sort of food product out based on the character (Nintendo was selling food at the time).

-The Nintendo PCB was in fact designed by Ikegami Ysushinki.

-Nintendo's original US headquarters was in New York City and the first 3000 Ninty cabs were stored in a warehouse in New Jersey.

Like I said, only a fraction of the way through it, but so far it has been a fun, easy read.
 
Also, it says Galaxian (and later Galaga) were originally released by Taito...does that sound right?
 
It is certainly possible. Namco was big on licensing and selling licensed products, so it is certainly possible that Taito licensed the title. Although I certainly can't find any evidence that they did.


Also, it says Galaxian (and later Galaga) were originally released by Taito...does that sound right?
 
I'm about 25 pages through, and I've noticed a few inconsistencies with what I thought I already knew. One of the most glaring so far is the book has yet to make any mention of Shigeru Miyamoto being involved in the development of Radar Scope. It talks about the game extensively and how it flopped, but no mention of Miyamoto having anything to do with it. I'm going to give the book the benefit of the doubt since it's from a reputable publisher, but Radar Scope being Miyamoto's first game feels like common knowledge among the arcade lovers here.

It is? I've never read that or even heard that anywhere else. Everything I have ever read on Nintendo's early history in video games has stated that Miyamoto's first project was Donkey Kong.

The Amazon reviews for "Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America" are all over the place, and many of the negative reviews detail factual errors in the book as well as a stunning lack of proofreading.

For what it's worth, "Game Over" remains the most comprehensive, detailed, definitive history of Nintendo. It starts in the late 1800s when the company was first established as a playing card company and runs all the way up to 1993 when the first edition was released. The book has had different subtitles for each of its three editions, but the last, best, and most complete edition is the 1999 release "Game Over: Press Start To Continue." I've read it myself and it's well worth your time.

Chapter 5 of "Game Over" ends with the failure of Radar Scope in America and very clearly describes how after this failure Miyamoto was brought on as a game design assistant for their next last-ditch effort at coin-op in America, despite his having no prior experience with video games. His Wikipedia entry currently agrees with you, despite all the previously existing documentation to the contrary. Are there any interviews with Miyamoto out there that sheds light on this? Japanese game developers are notoriously unreachable, and someone of Miyamoto's stature even moreso.
 
Everything I have ever read on Nintendo's early history in video games has stated that Miyamoto's first project was Donkey Kong.

Same here, maybe it's romanticized more now that he's become what he has become and he did some art or something for Radarscope. Everything I've always read said that he was designing toys prior to DK.
 
From what I read on Nintendo's site wayyy back when, Miyamoto had just joined the company when they released Radar Scope, they were about to go under because of how badly it went over, and Miyamoto stepped up and said he could convert them into something good... and in a couple of days made Donkey Kong and saved the company. He didn't make Radar Scope, he saved them from it.
 
I read it, thought it was awful. Forget the specific reasons why, but I seem to recall that is was really fluffy and had a really irritating writing style.
 
There's a lot of little things that bother me in this book. The author keeps referring to the Famicom as the "Famicon." At first I thought it was a typo, but it's so consistent it seems like it wasn't fact checked. I think the Japanese kanji literally translates to Famikon, but he's not using that spelling either.

Why would it have an "n" at the end when it's a shortened form of "family computer?"

Anyway, if you want to read it just get it at the library like I did.
 
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