Re:The Rise of Nintendo: A Story in 8 Bits
by bluedino on Thursday May 15, 2014 @10:26AM
(#7749581)
Nintendo had two intents - preventing shovelware that killed the Atari 2600, and requiring royalties as well as making publishers purchase ROM cartridges from Nintendo.
It didn't quite work. There were still quite a few downright horrible games for the NES, look at any 'Worst Nintendo Games Ever' list. Two great examples were X-Men and AD&D: Heroes of the Lance.
Also, Tengen (from Atari) released their own games with their own chips, including a copied NES lockout chip. Remember those games that came in the strange black cartridge that didn't look like other NES games, notably the first Tetris, Gauntlet, and Ms. Pacman? Those were Tengen games, and they ended up in a legal battle with Nintendo.
It didn't quite work. There were still quite a few downright horrible games for the NES, look at any 'Worst Nintendo Games Ever' list. Two great examples were X-Men and AD&D: Heroes of the Lance.
Also, Tengen (from Atari) released their own games with their own chips, including a copied NES lockout chip. Remember those games that came in the strange black cartridge that didn't look like other NES games, notably the first Tetris, Gauntlet, and Ms. Pacman? Those were Tengen games, and they ended up in a legal battle with Nintendo.