NES 40 Years of The Nintendo Entertainment System!

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Not part of the launch, but store setups for the NES wouldn’t be complete without these guys:

These are the ACME Mario plushes. Not the first Mario plushes, not even the first in the NA region, but they ARE the first widespread NA Mario plush releases. I think their appearance is charmingly off model, while also being a LITTLE creepy thanks to the facial proportions and the eyes.

From some angles, they look genuinely friendly! However, this display does demonstrate one thing: they came in a variety of sizes, and they could get HUGE.

Here is a Luigi the size of a six year old.

By the time of Super Mario Bros. 3, ACME had gotten better at plush design. This resulted in this lovely fellow!

He’s still imperfect (you can’t see in this image, but he has a baseball cap with a yellow button on top. Also he has very bushy eyebrows), but this guy is much more charming and lovely. He looks friendly! And he’s so floofy! He’s the “Raccoon Mario” design, so he has a big bushy tail and ears.

 

[PhrawzT]

Got my NES for Christmas in 1987 and still have it along with 50+ games at this point. I repinned it back in 2002, but wish I hadn't as now the cartridges are a pain to move in an out.

 

[χKai]

The best system, as a kid I don't remember ever not having a Nintendo; my parents put the controller in my hands as soon as I was old enough to sit up on my own, and it's been there ever since.

There are games I remember from my childhood that I never remember 'getting', only having, and always having had; things like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania II - Simon's Quest, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Wizards & Warriors, Final Fantasy.

I wouldn't remember having a childhood without these and other games we had as not only part of the household, but part of my family; memories shared together of overcoming challenges on the games we conquered and were defeated by on a regular basis, always interested in what the next thing my mom or dad was gonna play through next as I watched.

The Nintendo Entertainment System made me who I am today, and without it, there are many lessons with life I would have had found some other way, if at all, but it was these early games that shaped who I am and the individual I became, the imagination that it brought out of me is irreplaceable.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Hell yeah!
I still remember receiving one as a child.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

As part of the celebration, here’s a man beating Ninja Gaiden while running a 5k.

Post automatically merged: Oct 20, 2025

They’re literally balancing a big tube on the back of a bicycle to make this possible. This is showing an insane amount of effort.

 

[Dyne]

ah, the NES. My first video game love.
No need for me to list all the great games, you guys know them.
The good, the bad, the legends.

I got one for my 6th birthday in 1987 along with Mario/Duck Hunt.
I had begged and begged but my parents said "no. it's too expensive".
Then, Surprise! -- they got me one.

Such great memories... we would go to the video store on weekends and my mom & dad would let me pick out a game to rent. I only ever owned a handful of NES games but I got to play so many more thanks to renting. The games were so hard and I was so young, but I would just have a blast trying and dying over and over lol. Every once in awhile my dad would play one with me, and those are the extra special memories.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

ah, the NES. My first video game love.
No need for me to list all the great games, you guys know them.
The good, the bad, the legends.

I got one for my 6th birthday in 1987 along with Mario/Duck Hunt.
I had begged and begged but my parents said "no. it's too expensive".
Then, Surprise! -- they got me one.

Such great memories... we would go to the video store on weekends and my mom & dad would let me pick out a game to rent. I only ever owned a handful of NES games but I got to play so many more thanks to renting. The games were so hard and I was so young, but I would just have a blast trying and dying over and over lol. Every once in awhile my dad would play one with me, and those are the extra special memories.

Nothing like the ol’ “it’s to expensive” excuse to throw you off! My parents did that sometimes too, and it became hard to tell when something was legitimately too expensive, or if them telling me that was code for “we already got it for your birthday but we can’t tell you”.

Also, yeah, memories when playing with the family are some of the best! Some of my best memories in general come from times when the whole family could unite over doing a single activity!