Cool Facts about the Super Nintendo Every Retro Gamer Should Know
Do you like retro games? Then, you are familiar with the legacy of the immortal Super Nintendo Entertainment System which was introduced to the public in 1990, which now seems like the dim and distant past. You probably have already downloaded a couple of Super Nintendo ROMs for your new emulator and now looking forward to your fascinating retro journey. Well, to warm up, catch some cool facts about your favorite console which even the most ardent of the classic gamers might not know.
Genesis’ Influence
The Super Nintendo was developed in response to the Sega Genesis’ growing market share. Nintendo was satisfied with the sales of NES games and had no immediate plans to develop a new console. Even after the release of Sega’ hit Sonic the Hedgehog, Nintendo wasn’t impressed and convinced their games were better. But as the Genesis grew and developers drifted to Sega, it dawned on Nintendo that their grip on the industry was slipping. The Genesis also had an impact on the Super Nintendo design. The system was called the Super Famicom in Japan and had a bright colorful presentation with a multicolored logo and buttons. But the North American branch of Nintendo did not want the system to be perceived as a toy. That’s why the Super Nintendo has a more muted color scheme and a dark grey logo.
Design
The Super Nintendo system was given a curved loading bay to help prevent the common issues from the previous console generation. Some gamers would place drinks and bowls of cereal on top of the flat NES, leading to spills through the ventilation duct and inevitable damage. This is also why the Super Nintendo’s air vent is on the back.
During the production of the early Super Nintendo units, a mixture of flame retardant chemicals was added to the plastic formula for safety reasons. But several batches added the improper mixture of the chemicals, leaving some units of the Super Nintendo susceptible to a yellow discoloration over time. Many years later, fans discovered ways to remove this problem with the combination of cleaning chemicals.
Early Stages of Development
During the early stages of development, one of the prototype designs for the North American Super Nintendo featured a crank lever mechanism to load and unload games. Many early prototypes were different in shape and size from the Super Famicom. Nintendo rejected these designs because in addition to wanting something simple to use, they didn’t want to change the internal components between the North American and Japanese versions of the console. In fact, the identical internal hardware means that Super Nintendo systems can play Super Famicom games with only a simple modification. The system’s only region locking was the fact that cartridges were shaped differently for each region. Some early concepts for the Super Famicom included backward compatibility with an additional slot from Famicom games. But this idea was scrapped to save costs. There was even a prototype unit that would connect the Super Famicom and Famicom games.
Satellaview
The Super Famicom was designed with the intention of adding expansion units on the bottom, including the ill-fated Nintendo PlayStation in the Japanese-only Satellaview add-on. The Satellaview was a meyod of digital distribution through satellite, similar in concept to Sega’s Mega Modem and the Sega channel services. The add-on featured exclusive downloadable games like F-Zero 2 and a remake of the first Zelda game with A Link to the Past graphics. It also featured a very early system of downloadable content that was stored on expansion cartridges. In addition to playing games, Satellaview players could listen to real-time radio shows and read digital magazines, all of which were accessed in an earthbound-like hub world. Nintendo continued to support their Satellaview for five years until March 2000. North America had their own network-enabled hardware called the Xband, which also had a version for the Genesis.
