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Video
games and systems
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Nintendo classic
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Sega
Genesis
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Super Nintendo
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Nintendo64
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Nintendo Game Cube
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Sony Playstation
1, 2
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Sega Dreamcast
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X-Box
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Sega Gamegear
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Nintendo
Gameboy, color
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Gameboy Advance
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Nintendo DS
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Playstation PSP
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X-BOX
360
*This website contains only a small variety of merchandise we have
for sale. Please if you can't find what you are looking for on this
website, do not hesitate to call (604)859-2518
and speak with a representative. New inventory is shelved everyday!
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Classic video games
The Henley Trading Post is a great place to find all your favorite classic video games and systems. |
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$49.95
Sega Dreamcast game system w/1 controller (out of stock) |
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$129.95
Sony PS2 game system w/2 controlers |
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$29.95
Nintendo 64 w/ 1 Controller |
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 A brief look into First Generation
game Systems, 1972-1977
America
was introduced to the first home video game system on a Sunday night
television broadcast hosted by Frank Sinatra. Released by Magnavox
and named "Odyssey" this system was little more than a few logic
switches, and not considered a microcomputer by the industry. The
Odyssey was the result of years of negotiations between Ralph Baer
and various players in the television manufacturing industry.
This was not,
however, the first time that Americans had seen a videogame. Pong,
created by Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn (founder and first employee
of Atari), had been around for nearly a year in the arcades. Thus
videogames were not new. However, a system to play video games in
the privacy of your own home had never been seen before.
 Nolan
Bushnell was not to be outdone, and with simplicity as his motto, he
reproduced his popular arcade Pong for home use. Atari Pong, the
home version, consisted of one simple unit. It had built in paddles,
a built in speaker, and preprogrammed with Pong. Unlike Baer's
Odyssey, which had twelve games built in, separate controllers, and
graphic overlays, Atari Pong was considered concise by the video
game consumer. At this time, consumers did not feel a need to spend
more on a system simply because it had more games. It was a common
complaint among consumers that systems with multiple games only had
one or two desirable games. Thus, Atari Pong and the over sixty Pong
knock-offs, would dominate the market until 1977 when it would be
replaced by the VCS console, another Atari system.
Second Generation Systems, 1977-1981
 In the
Second Generation we see a dramatic change in the desires
of the video
game consumer. Previously, systems with only a few
games preprogrammed were all that was
necessary to surfeit the consumer's cravings. The industry wide
implementation of the microprocessor
first invented at Fairchild paved the way for more complicated
systems. These systems produced graphical and auditory effects
unlike any that had ever been experience before. While this would be
repeated again and again signaling the move from one generation to
another, it has been speculated that this first change had the most
dramatic effect on the consumer.4
Continuing their success during the Pong era, and
fueled by recent public enthusiasm about video
games, Atari's VCS/2600 would dominate
the second generation until the gaming market crash
of 1982.
Third Generation Systems, 1981-1984
The third Generation is often referred to as "the
dark ages"6
because of the crash
of the video
game market during these years. At the peak of
the previous generation, the video game
industry was grossing upwards of $3
billion in America alone. However, in 1985, at the end
of the Third Generation,
video game sales would only reach $100
million worldwide.
4
There has been a great deal
of speculation as to exactly what caused this dramatic
decline in gaming popularity. Cohen suggested that Atari spread
themselves too thinly in their attempt to diversify, and flooded the
market with too much product.13
This, however, is not the theory I subscribe to. In all fairness to
Cohen, his research was concluded during 1983 and 1984, and was a
good year away from witnessing the complete ruin that became
of the industry.
The theory I believe to be accurate is based
primarily upon my personal experience with the
video game industry since 1977, and has been validated by
several publications over the years. (The Vidiot's Club, Electronic
Gaming Monthly, GameFan, Game Over-by David Sheff.)
During the Second Generation, magnetic mediums
were implemented in the data storage used in Arcade machines. These
mediums (usually variations on the floppy disk) allowed for a higher
memory capacity than conventional ROM cartridges. (At that time, ROM
cartridges were averaging around 4-16 kilobytes as opposed to
computer disks that could store upwards of
180 kilobytes per side.) In 1982, Atari had the option to include a
disk drive built into the 5200 game console. The price difference
would have been nominal, but the memory capacity allowed would have
been significant.6
Atari was also in the process of
acquiring diskette manufacturing equipment for their upcoming
computer line.13
Thus, the leap to a magnetic medium for video
games would not have been a great
difficulty for them. Internal pressures from the industry and
external pressures from the consumer were in favor
of this higher capacity storage, and
many speculated that it would be implemented in the Third Generation
systems.7
Atari, however, had different views. In a 1982
press release Atari stated, "[Magnetic] media is entirely too
fragile for the consumer to adequately handle."7
Because Atari dominated the industry so completely at the time, few
companies opposed this decision publicly. Those that did would not
survive for long. For example, Coleco would bring out the Coleco
Vision with its tape drive, but it would be forced out
of the market due to lack
of sales.
However Atari's "concern" for the customer
backfired on them. In the previous years, there had been a very fine
line separating arcade game quality from home game quality. With
arcades utilizing storage capacities ten to forty-five times larger
than home systems, that fine line became a chasm. Arcade
games seemed to be evolving
exponentially, while home systems seemed "stuck in a time warp."6
The public quickly became uninterested in
video game specific consoles, and sales
plummeted.
This would mark the end of
Atari's reign of the
video game market. To this day, Atari
has not produced any significantly popular systems apart from their
original Pong and the VCS/2600. Since 1985, they have slowly been
picked apart by the industry. Splinter companies can be seen
everywhere. One of which, known as
Tengen, would play a crucial role in the Fourth Generation during
some heated legal actions involving Nintendo
of America.
Fourth Generation Systems, 1985 -1989
Two innovations in the computer electronics
industry had to occur before home video
games could achieve similar popularity
as in the Second Generation. Both transpired in 1984. The first was
the reduction in cost of Dynamic RAM
(DRAM) chips that allowed programmers more memory than conventional
RAM and accessed at much higher transfer rates than magnetic disks.
The second was the production of higher
power 8-bit processors, which lowered the prices
of the pervious chips. This made the
two technologies easily accessible to video
game companies.
These innovations were ideal for the production
of home game consoles that could
compete with the ability of arcade
machines. Several companies from the previous generations (Atari,
Mattel, and Magnavox) tentatively tested the gaming market. However,
they simply released updated versions of
their older systems. The successes of
the Fourth Generation would come from unknown companies with fresh
consoles.
Sega was the first of
the Japanese companies to try a new system. Created in 1954 in Japan
by an American David Rosen, Service Games
originally produced coin-operated mechanical
games. In 1965, Rosen purchased a Tokyo jukebox and
slot-machine maker and adopted a shortened version
of Service Games,
Sega. During the Pong era, Sega was busy making very popular pinball
games. Later, under the direction
of Gulf & Western, Sega entered into
the video game market with the arcade
game "Periscope." They would be an integral player in the industry,
eventually suffering during the gaming market crash in the Third
Generation. When DRAM chips and inexpensive 8-bit processors became
available in 1984, Sega, being headed by Hayao Nakayama at the time,
entered the home console market with their Master System.2
The Sega Master system would sell very well, but its success would
be short lived.
Nintendo of Japan,
was originally founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, an artist and
craftsworker during the Meiji period. Founded as a playing card
company, Nintendo virtually meant "leave luck to heaven."1
Entering into the video game market in
the seventies by joining with Coleco, an American
video game company, Nintendo would
achieve moderate success through such arcade
games as Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers. They would also
produce a majority of
games for the Third Generation system
Coleco Vision. But the gaming market crash at that time would
destroy several companies, including Coleco, leaving Nintendo's
future in video
games uncertain. Teaming up with Mitsubishi to produce
watches with simple LCD games built in,
Nintendo would tread water for a few years, unable to truly achieve
any kind of lasting prosperity.2
Upon learning of the success that other
companies, such as Sega, were having in the U.S. Hirosi Yamauchi, a
descendant of Fusajiro's, pressed
Nintendo engineers to design their own home console. Yamauchi told
his engineers to leave out all extraneous frills to save money and
speed up production.3
The system was rushed by the pressures Yamauchi placed on his
designers, and was released no more than six months since the
release of the Sega Master System. The
first shipments were riddled with defects because
of the short design period, thus making
many retailers very upset.8
However, using the marketing data already
established by competing companies, Nintendo executives channeled
nearly all of the company's resources
into advertisements. These advertisements hit the American and
Japanese consumers at the exact right time, because sales for the
Nintendo Entertainment System would skyrocket over the next few
months, and Nintendo would not be able to manufacture enough systems
to keep the stores stocked.8
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) would
become the highest selling system in history,
and also the most notorious. Nintendo would be involved in the
intimidation of retailers, competing
companies, and even licensed "partners." They would have countless
lawsuits brought up against them, and fill the gaming community with
inaccurate rumors and "vapor-ware" for the sole purpose
of detracting public attention away
from competitors. Ultimately, Nintendo would be brought up on
charges of monopolizing, price fixing,
and anti-trust violations by District Attorneys from all fifty
states, and lose. However, most will agree, that the real loser in
all of these battles, was the customer.
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