NES at 35

Gaming was doing fine in Japan and Europe. North America had the arcades and computers, but consoles were struggling. Although it wouldn't be nationwide until the following fall, Nintendo got the revival of the console market in the States going with the NES on October 18, 1985 in New York. Small things that would eventually convince retailers to accept gaming again along with customers who may have felt burnt out from the era of Atari.

While progression has been key for generations, Nintendo wanted to avoid the issues that plagued the earlier era that caused the game crash a couple years prior in 1983. Some of it with some meaning, but mostly an iron fist clad that resulted in an illegal monopoly. Seal of quality label, companies not overloading with so many titles. Control of production with The Big N producing carts, exclusivity (something that is a question in gaming today). But the tactics faded away when other competitors at the start of the 90s began to take over. Sega and NEC at the start of the decade and then Sony in the middle of it.

The NES had a healthy life from late 1985 up to the very end of 1994. It was where many got to see the likes of Capcom and Konami. A rise in seeing established characters and franchises from any developer and publisher. Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, you name it. Duds from companies such as THQ. Lots of unlicensed material with Tengen being the most recognized with their big Atari ports. Genres that anyone could get into. Platformers, sports, shmups, beat em ups. The list goes on. 

It holds a special place for me since it was one of the very first systems I got to play along with the Genesis in 1993-94. I'd put it in my top five of best systems ever because it has its console games and the arcade pick up and play quality that felt more special compared to future Nintendo systems. Graphics and audio that when used well was excellent. Simplicity in controls.  One of the problems being difficulty being very cheap depending on the title and the quality of it. It may have had illegal methods, but NES still is a grand system to try out. Just make sure your systems are clean and work properly. That 72 pin connector was one of their worst ideas ever.