I'd like one of each, please.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever bought a piece of Nintendo-licensed merchandise? Do tell!

I see great things in your future.

I recently scanned this lovely Nintendo-sponsored Christmas greeting off the back of a 1988 issue of Nintendo Power. You can see the complete magazine back in the full-sized version of the scan (click the image above to see it). In that larger scan, names and addresses have been changed to protect the innocent.

Kinda gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, doesn't it?

Discussion Topic of the Week: Did you ever receive a NES (or even a NES game) for Christmas? Tell us about your memories of the occasion.

Tecmo Games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Now that it's football season, Tecmo Bowl fans out there may appreciate this 1988 group advertisement for Tecmo brand NES games. Tecmo published quite a few high quality titles for Nintendo's 8-bit console, some of which are seen here. Three of my personal favorite Tecmo titles are Rygar, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Ninja Gaiden II.

I was always impressed with Tecmo's box art illustrations and logo designs as a kid — they really jumped out at me when browsing NES games at a local rental store. You can see examples of Tecmo's eye-catching cover designs near the bottom of the ad.

It's interesting to note the presence of "Dragon Ninja (Tentative Title)" in this ad. From what I can tell, it appears to be an early version of Ninja Gaiden.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What are your favorite Tecmo NES games?

I think he's going to miss the dragon.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What's your favorite martial arts-themed video or computer game?

Gather 'round the fire, kids, and let me tell you about some cool robotic toys from the 1980s. On second thought, just look at this slideshow instead.

Don't forget to pack your high-jump goggles and night vision boots.

As a young NES fan, I absolutely loved this ad. I remember studying it from top to bottom many times, excited by large amount of fancy equipment lavishly depicted in this ad for Ultra's Metal Gear on the NES. I was never a huge fan of playing Metal Gear myself (I found it too hard as a kid), but I loved to watch my brother play through this depthy stealth-action title.

Fans and critics considered the first NES Metal Gear a classic in its own time, so perhaps I should dust off my cartridge and give it another shot.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What's your favorite title in the Metal Gear series?

Retail price? $7.99. For you? Fifty cents.

In the early-mid 1990s, I regularly made trips to Toys 'R' Us to pick through their video game clearance section. It was then that I built up the foundations of my fast-growing vintage game collection.

I had a blast when they started clearing out their NES items — for example, I picked up Kirby's Adventure for $10 and a whole bunch of unopened NES accessories like controllers and cleaning kits from that time for a mere pittance (I still have about four new-in-box NES Advantages from that time that I bought for $2 a piece). This is the same place where I bought the Virtual Boy and Sega 32X new in their boxes for about $30 a piece. Man, those were the days.

One day while browsing the store's video game strategy guide rack, I noticed this forlorn and chronically passed-over hint book for Ultima: Exodus, a poorly received port of the PC classic Ultima III for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The copyright date in the back said 1989, and by the look of the discount stickers on the front, it appeared the booklet had been sitting on the shelf since that time. After five years of neglect, its cover had become scuffed, dirty, and mysteriously ink-stained on one corner.

The book's binding was off-kilter when I bought it for the low low price of 50-cents, which may be why consumers passed it up in favor of non-defective printings of the same book. On the other hand, they may have simply passed it up because the associated game wasn't too popular.

Discussion Topic of the Week: When's the last time you bought a physical paper hint book for a video game?

If you've ever had half a heap'a wunderin' about the history of stereoscopic displays in the computer and console gaming realm, mosey on over to PC World to check out my latest slideshow. There you will find 21 lovingly-crafted slides that tell the long and varied story of 3D stereoscopy in video and computer games.

Writing about video game history for a computer-centric publication has its ups and downs. While the publication is top-notch, sometimes I think video game fans miss out on the best of my work. So if you think you know someone who might like this piece, please spread the word.

After this yet-another lengthy visual article, I'm thinking about wrapping it up in regards to epic slideshows. Sure, I'll still do slideshows, just not ones so very, very long and involved.

After you're done checking it out, I'd love to hear about your personal history with stereoscopy in video and computer games.

And don't forget: the Nintendo 3DS comes out in the US on March 27th.

In honor of The Legend of Zelda's 25th anniversary, I dug through the historical record and came out with a dozen Zelda oddities for you to enjoy. The result is over at Technologizer with an intro slide designed by Harry McCracken.

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Previous entries in Benj's "Oddities" series:
Super Mario Oddities
Nintendo Entertainment System Oddities
Game Boy Oddities
Windows Oddities

Click above for double page scan.

The Legend of Zelda turns 25 today, having been released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan way back on February 21st, 1986.

Here's a page (two if you click above) from the lengthy "Tips & Tactics" instruction manual that shipped with every copy of Nintendo's famous adventure game (at least in the early days). This booklet contained maps and hints to help players navigate through a wholly new gaming experience in the video game console realm at the time.

It is hard to relate today — to those who did not experience it first hand — the feeling when we first encountered The Legend of Zelda upon its release in 1987 (over here in the 'States). It was epic. Magical. Awe-inspiring. Zelda continued a trend of groundbreaking NES gameplay that started for many with Super Mario Bros. a year or two before.

Those first gaming experiences on the NES — rounded out by titles like Metroid and Kid Icarus — are what won Nintendo's first console a place in the hearts of an entire generation of kids around the world.

For more on the anniversary, check out my The Legend of Zelda Oddities slideshow over at Technologizer.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Tell us about the first time you played The Legend of Zelda. What was the experience like? How old were you at the time?