SUPER NINTENDO: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play is a great read on the history of Nintendo and their many celebrated game franchises. Author, Keza MacDonald (Games Editor at The Guardian) is a true fan of Nintendo, who isn’t afraid to call them out on their mistakes.
Many of Nintendo’s failures and big mistakes come from taking big risks, which is also their biggest strength as a company. We wouldn’t have the success of the Nintendo Switch (or Switch 2) if it weren’t for what they tried to do with the Wii U.
Keza’s Introduction mentions a Christmas morning where her stepbrother and her received a new Nintendo 64 from their parents. This brought back some memories of receiving a new Nintendo console on Christmas morning in my house (Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64). My sister and I were always ready to play, but there was the recurring theme of the missing component cable. We’d have to wait until the next day to pick one up at Radio Shack or Circuit City — Best Buy sort of combined those two concepts to create one mega store.
BIG FRANCHISES
The way Keza is able to focus on one Nintendo series (or franchise) per chapter while also going through the history of Nintendo works great. Even when I was reading about a particular series I’m not that into or familiar with, she was still able to grab my full attention. I’m now also thinking of revisiting many of the games I left behind over the years, plus trying out some series I’ve missed completely.
While reading SUPER NINTENDO I was inspired to get back into Donkey Kong Bananza. I even reached the end of the main story, though I am still collecting bananas — Oh, Banana!. I also finally popped in my Nintendo Switch cartridge of the Super Mario 3D Collection, just to go back and play some Super Mario 64. I purchased the collection mainly for the special edition Mario pin set.
Of the twelve chapters, each focusing on a separate Nintendo franchise, series, or project, I was only unfamiliar with two of them — Pokémon and Nintendo Labo. I’m aware of both of these, I just haven’t spent much time with either. I never used the Nintendo Labo, but always saw it as one of those bold Nintendo ideas.
I’m now more interested than ever in getting into a Pokémon game. I’ve been looking for a copy of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red or Pokémon Blue — because yes, I want to be one of those people who pulls out my Game Boy Color out of my pocket to play some retro Pokémon games in public. I could very easily jump into a newer Pokémon title, but I want to start from the beginning — then try something new.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Reading through SUPER NINTENDO I noticed many of the main characters over the years at the Nintendo company — and I’m not talking about Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Yoshi. I’m talking about Satoru Iwata, Masahiro Sakurai, Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, Gunpei Yokoi, and many more big names creating these games. I also learned about some new characters I wasn’t familiar with.
What really stood out is how most of these people have been at Nintendo for the long run. Many of the executive level positions at Nintendo are held by those who made the games in the early days. Many of the series with multiple titles have even been headed by the same person, or people.
In the current gaming scene of shuttering studios and mass layoffs, it’s nice to read about a company that has been around as long as Nintendo and continues to strive. Yes, there were some tough years and failed generations, but Nintendo has always been able to come back stronger.
THE BOOK
I definitely recommend reading SUPER NINTENDO: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play by Keza MacDonald to anyone who currently owns and loves their Nintendo Switch 2 (or original Nintendo Switch). Also for anyone who grew up a Nintendo kid.
As someone who has been around since the early days of Nintendo, starting my video game playing career on my sister’s NES, it was nice to learn some new things and rediscover Nintendo’s past.
It would be neat for my nephew (a teenager) to read this book. Someone who started gaming with me on the Wii U (playing Mario Kart 8). He would learn so much about the rich history of Nintendo from this book.
If humans are still reading books in twenty to thirty years, and Nintendo is still going strong, this book will be a great piece of history. The whole book, SUPER NINTENDO: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play, really captured Nintendo’s essence of FUN.
