R.O.B. (universe): Difference between revisions

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Furthermore, the hardware manufacturers of this era - in stark contrast to Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Microsoft in later decades - did not have exclusive control of their platforms' supply of games, effectively meaning that any group could make a game and sell it, and there was nothing to prevent limited shelf space in stores from being overloaded by third-party publishers' material. This effectively resulted in the industry becoming flooded with games of notably low quality that were nonetheless marketed heavily and produced in high numbers.
Furthermore, the hardware manufacturers of this era - in stark contrast to Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Microsoft in later decades - did not have exclusive control of their platforms' supply of games, effectively meaning that any group could make a game and sell it, and there was nothing to prevent limited shelf space in stores from being overloaded by third-party publishers' material. This effectively resulted in the industry becoming flooded with games of notably low quality that were nonetheless marketed heavily and produced in high numbers.


The two most spectacular such game releases throughout 1982, which are popularly labeled "the games that killed gaming", were an Atari 2600 port of the landmark and popular arcade game ''Pac-Man'' and an Atari 2600 game based on the then-highest grossing film of all time, ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. Both games were high-profile titles that were adaptations of properties that were themselves extremely high-profile, and in both cases, Atari rushed their programming and development processes to make early releases, and manufactured colossal amounts of units in anticipation of huge hits. Both games were universally panned by critics and consumers alike, and while they sold very well in terms of absolute numbers, Atari grossly overestimated the number of sales they would generate, and many unsold units remained in stock at stores.
1982 would see the release of two games, both of which would later earn the dubious title of "the games that killed gaming".  ''Pac-Man'' was an Atari 2600 port of the landmark and popular arcade game of the same name, while  ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', which also saw a release on the Atari 2600,  was a video-game adaptation of the movie E.T. Both games were high-profile titles that were adaptations of properties that were themselves extremely high-profile. In both cases, Atari rushed their programming and development processes to make early releases, and manufactured colossal amounts of units in anticipation of huge hits. Both games were universally panned by critics and consumers alike, and while they sold relatively well, Atari grossly overestimated the number of sales they would generate, resulting in many unsold units.


This began a brutal chain reaction across the entire North American market, which was not at all helped by a newly soured consumer outlook on the video game concept: most stores, lacking space to carry new games and consoles, had no choice but to attempt to return surplus games to recent publishers, but since publishers had neither new products to supply nor cash to issue refunds to the retailers, many companies folded, and of those that did not, several abandoned the video game business entirely. Stores left with units that could no longer be returned to defunct publishers could only resort to offering the titles for spectacularly low bargain-bin prices. Toy retailers that controlled consumer access to games had concluded that video games were a fad that had in fact ended, and therefore became opposed to devoting shelf space to video games and consoles in favor of other types of entertainment products.
This began a brutal chain reaction across the entire North American market, which was not at all helped by a newly soured consumer outlook on the video game concept. Most stores, lacking space to carry new games and consoles, had no choice but to attempt to return surplus games to recent publishers, but since publishers had neither new products to supply nor cash to issue refunds to the retailers, many companies folded, and of those that did not, several abandoned the video game business entirely. Stores left with units that could no longer be returned to defunct publishers could only resort to offering the titles for spectacularly low bargain-bin prices. Toy retailers that controlled consumer access to games had concluded that video games were a fad that had in fact ended, and therefore became opposed to devoting shelf space to video games and consoles in favor of other types of entertainment products.


The massive recession of North America's video game market into near-complete irrelevance had, of course, by definition handed dominance in the home console market to Japan, and Nintendo's Famicom console was free to build up influence in the country and become the dominant console by far. During development of ''[[Mario (universe)|Super Mario Bros.]]'', Nintendo sought an eventual late-1985 Western release for the Famicom and its building library as the "NES", but Western retailers' long-established bias against video games and video game-playing machines was a formidable barrier to these plans. Nintendo's Research and Development Team therefore hoped to construct hardware compatible with the console that could help present the NES console to these retailers as a "toy" and "entertainment system" with compatible "Game Paks" and different toy-like peripherals, instead of being presented as merely the latest console-with-cartridges product. The NES Zapper light gun and several games associated with it were already on hand to help provide this image, but Nintendo proceeded to develop a mechanically complex, battery-powered peripheral resembling a nearly foot-tall robot that was literally named "Robot". They developed two NES cartridges compatible with the device: ''Robot Block'', released in Japan along with the Robot unit itself near the end of July 1985, and ''Robot Gyro'', released mid-August. Robot was renamed "[[R.O.B.]]" for its Western release, and its associated games ''Stack-Up'' and ''Gyromite'', respectively.
The massive recession of North America's video game market into near-complete irrelevance had, of course, by definition handed dominance in the home console market to Japan, and Nintendo's Famicom console was free to build up influence in the country and become the dominant console by far. During development of ''[[Mario (universe)|Super Mario Bros.]]'', Nintendo sought an eventual late-1985 Western release for the Famicom and its building library as the "NES", but Western retailers' long-established bias against video games and video game-playing machines was a formidable barrier to these plans. Nintendo's Research and Development Team therefore hoped to construct hardware compatible with the console that could help present the NES console to these retailers as a "toy" and "entertainment system" with compatible "Game Paks" and different toy-like peripherals, instead of being presented as merely the latest console-with-cartridges product. The NES Zapper light gun and several games associated with it were already on hand to help provide this image, but Nintendo proceeded to develop a mechanically complex, battery-powered peripheral resembling a nearly foot-tall robot that was literally named "Robot". They developed two NES cartridges compatible with the device: ''Robot Block'', released in Japan along with the Robot unit itself near the end of July 1985, and ''Robot Gyro'', released mid-August. Robot was renamed "[[R.O.B.]]" for its Western release, and its associated games ''Stack-Up'' and ''Gyromite'', respectively.
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