@atomicpoet I know that in the US, they launched the nes just after the big video game crash and so had to market themselves as "totally a toy and not a video game of any kind" to be taken seriously. (Once they had a strong market presence, they admitted that yes it's absolutely video games.)
Was it different in your country?

@madengineering I’m in Canada, and was alive for the NES release. That’s not what happened at all.

First, some context. The crash happened in 1982. During that year, something else significant happened: the release of the Commodore 64. This was a major success. It sold between 12-16 million units in North America despite costing $595 (appr. $2,000 in today’s money).

Now why do I bring that up? Because, back then, there wasn’t a big division between console and computer. Odyssey 2 came with keyboard built into the case. Intellivision and ColecoVision were advertised with the ability to expand into full-fledged computers with keyboards.

This was even the case with the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES (released in 1983). You could plug a keyboard into it and program BASIC.

Once again, the C64 wasn’t all too removed from an Oddyssey2, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Famicom, etc. You could plug it into a TV. It had a cartridge slot and joystick ports. When you turned it on, it could boot directly into a game. Which makes it more console-like than current consoles.

My point? What we regard as console games crashed in 1982, computer games were thriving. And back then, computers were not that different from consoles.

However, the NES was released on 1985. That’s three years after the video game crash happened. And in that year it was only available in test markets. Wide availability of the NES didn’t happen till 1986, four years after the crash.

1986 was also the year Legend of Zelda and Castlevania were released, which contributed greatly to the NES’ popularity.

But what else happened in 1986? The PC ecosystem, as we know it, started to take over. Marketshare for IBM PC and clones overtook 50% marketshare for the first time.

What’s more, the Compaq Deskpro 386 was released, and this triggered the end of IBM’s dominance on the market they created.

What does this have to do with the NES? Well, the transition to modern PC ecosystem dominance has a big hand in NES success in that, when it took over the home, it was not a good gaming machine. Nowhere near as good as the C64. Laughable compared to the NES.

Because you got to remember that most PCs during the 80s could only do CGA graphics, which could only display four colours. And it struggled to scroll. Sound was even worse, with PC speakers only able to do glorified chirps.

It’s no accident that the NES’ true dominance was between 1987-90 when PCs weren’t yet good gaming machines. God, they tried. Despite the drawbacks, some genuinely good games came out. But compare Castlevania on NES and PC, no question NES was better.

The adoption of VGA and Soundblaster changed everything. Suddenly, PC was capable of amazing feats. Just look at Wing Commander, released in 1990. From here on out, PC became the premiere gaming platform.

So it’s not so much that NES “saved” gaming. The timeline doesn’t actually align for that.

Again, in the 80s, consoles that weren’t also advertised as home computers were oddballs. The fact that the NES arrived without a keyboard and resembled a VCR, that was a little odd.

Yet the NES also benefitted from that one moment where a console could technically, in terms of gameplay, be superior to a computer.

Because in 1982, the Commodore 64 was clearly better at gaming than console equivalents. And in 1990, PC was better than console equivalents.

But in 1986, when it came to graphics and sound, the NES clearly was superior to the best IBM PC and compatibles. And it wasn’t close.

So the popularity of the NES was less about “saving” gaming, more about exceptional—perhaps lucky—timing.