TheSmartAss.info's suite of Java emulators allows smooth, in-browser playback of literally thousands of old-school video games: 517 Atari titles, 148 for DOS, 636 Game Boy games (and 410 for Game Boy Color), 2,019 (!) NES titles, 238 GameGear games, 802 Sega Genesis titles, and 284 for the Sega Master System. Highlights include Space Invaders, Frogger, Galaga, Pitfall!, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, SimCity, Zero Wing, Duke Nukem, Sonic the Hedgehog, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Pokemon, and Metal Gear Solid. Use the search function to find your favorites! You can also register an account to save games on emulators that support it. Make sure to check the purple bar below each game for control info and links to alternate emulators in case the default one is buggy or slow.
posted by Rhaomi on Nov 30, 2009 - 54 comments

In a revelation that, to some, is on the order of realizing there is (or isn't) a god, it turns out that all the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda were part of the same enormous map. This seems to have some sort of transcendental importance that I can't quite put my finger on. [more inside]
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Oct 28, 2009 - 91 comments

Douglas Crockford, who oversaw the porting of Maniac Mansion to the NES, would like for you to know how the game changed in the porting process and why.
posted by Pope Guilty on Oct 8, 2009 - 59 comments

JNES is a Javascript Nintendo Emulator. It works shockingly well.
posted by chunking express on Sep 18, 2009 - 46 comments

Inglourious Basterds + Mario = Inglourious Plummers. [more inside]
posted by piratebowling on Aug 15, 2009 - 30 comments

50 NES Quotes Every Gamer Should Know. A full index after the break. [more inside]
posted by Afroblanco on Aug 14, 2009 - 51 comments

(NSFW) The Angry Video Game Nerd (taking a cue from seanbaby's lead) has been producing video reviews of some of the most notoriously awful NES games, from Top Gun to Bible Games. (Can't miss: The Power Glove.) Not content to go after one system, he's upgraded his range to take on other colossal failures like the Atari Jaguar, Superman 64, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (the movie). His newest series of videos, You Know What's Bullshit?, takes on everyday nuances like DVD box sets. He may be vulgar and his vignettes silly, but damn straight he's got a point. Enjoy all his archived videos here, spanning five years of obscenity-laced love/hate for his greatest passions.
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Jun 23, 2009 - 18 comments

Reinier van der Ende, an x-ray technician at the largest hospital in the northern part of the Netherlands, decided to combine his work with one of his hobbies and proceeded to x-ray his collection of video game consoles, peripherals and game cartridges. Here are the fruits of his labour. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on May 2, 2009 - 20 comments

A few years ago an old NES game called Sunman was discovered. Developed by a company called Sunsoft, it was clearly a repurposed Superman game, with the Man of Steel seemingly having been replaced at some point during the games development by a generic new superhero. This was likely done to avoid expensive licensing costs for a game that was due to be released around the end of the active lifespan for the NES (and would probably not sell well as a result) but this was purely speculation. Until now. For now a build of the original Superman game by Sunsoft has been found and you can download it for free here. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Apr 28, 2009 - 29 comments

If the 8-bit Tarot isn't low-tech enough for you, the Aecletic Mini Tarot Deck makes it look downright HD in comparison! May induce flashbacks of Taboo: The Sixth Sense, the NES' infamous Tarot simulator.
posted by hermitosis on Apr 15, 2009 - 19 comments

Thanks to the LUA scripting support in NES emulator FCEUX, you can do things like drag and drop enemies and powerups, alter gravity, give mario a jetpack, or make him shoot magic missiles. Super Mario Brothers not your thing? Perhaps you'd rather just have it play Pinball for you.
posted by Pope Guilty on Mar 20, 2009 - 14 comments

Fire up your NES emulator and get ready to ROCK, chiptune-style. 4 whole songs! It's D-Pad Hero. [more inside]
posted by tehloki on Feb 2, 2009 - 14 comments

Wonderful Nintendo art! A deviantArt user has taken action shots from NES games and placed them in real world scenes. Just a few: SMB 3, Streetfighter, and Excitebike. But be sure to check out the whole gallery.
posted by Rudy Gerner on Jan 8, 2009 - 25 comments

Who's laughing now! [more inside]
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 on Dec 19, 2008 - 9 comments

The History of Mother 1 (NES) In honor of the new fan translation of Mother 3 (or Earthbound for the GBA), I've decided to post an article explaining what ever happened to the English port of the first game in the Earthbound/Mother trilogy.
posted by AZNsupermarket on Oct 25, 2008 - 19 comments

Nearly a month ago jbickers made a post that mentioned the TIGsource Demakes competition. The competition is over, and the winners have been announced. All of these are playable. Most are for Windows, except for those that are Flash or something else:
1. Soundless Mountain II (Atari 2600 Silent Hill) (from previous post)
2. Gang Garrison II (Kyntt Stories-like Team Fortress 2, complete with multiplayer)
3. Aquarium (NES-ish Aquaria)
4. Little Girl in Underland (Soviet McGee's Alice)
5. House Globe (Homeworld)
6. S.T.A.C.K.E.R. (Nuclear Tetris)
7. Squish
(Crush is a PSP game where the player can switch the world between a 2D and 3D representation. Squish is a game in which the player switches between a 2D and a 1D representation. See for yourself.) 8. (tie) Fillauth and Advanced Set The Rope On Fire Cartridge (an Intellivision-like remake of this, previously mentioned)
9. Sexy Seaside Vollyball (NSFW, pixelated breasts) (Sinclair Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Vollyball)
10. Macarena of the Missing (A thematically-appropriate demake of Limbo of the Lost)

Lots more after the jump! [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Oct 7, 2008 - 29 comments

Everything you need to know about playing Nintendo.
posted by dhammond on Apr 10, 2008 - 64 comments

The only interactive Zelda overworld map you'll ever need. (Flash)
unless you're doing the second quest. Found at the ever-useful vgmaps.com
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Nov 10, 2007 - 26 comments

With the release of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, now is a perfect time to look back at the History of the Super Mario Brothers.
posted by Effigy2000 on Nov 9, 2007 - 30 comments

Super Mario Bros. in 5'32'
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Apr 22, 2007 - 44 comments

The most sadistic user-created Super Mario Bros level ever. I cried with laughter.
posted by humblepigeon on Apr 13, 2007 - 68 comments

Metroid Cubed...Squared! It was linked a couple years ago, but since then the site has undergone a major overhaul and added a bunch of cool stuff. [Flash Warning] In addition to the now classic voxel 2.5D conversion of Metroid (playable and interesting), there is now a robust Metroid world-editor, a Marble Madness-like prototype using the voxel engine, a StarFox level editor and model viewer (Spoiler: gfx not as good as you remember), and numerous others worth checking out: Hyrule Planetoids (comme Le Petit Prince) and a OpenGL Zelda room viewer, a Mario 64 Explorer, and numerous Super Mario Bros demos. It's all quite useless/amazing.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Jan 13, 2007 - 8 comments

Should you make video games from Bible stories? Or can you have fun with with video games made from bible stories?
posted by bigmusic on Dec 31, 2006 - 25 comments

Blaster Master ... Solid NES Gold. Those who remember the game do so with fondness. Though critically lauded on release, and later spawning several sequels, the game was never as big a hit as its its spiritual predecessors, Metroid and Legend of Zelda. Like Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic, Blaster Master was based on an obscure Japanese game, in this case Chōwakuseisenki Metafight although the differences in this case are limited to the story. Blaster Master was also the first (and only "canon") book in the Nintendo Worlds of Power series, in which various authors novelized third-party games using the pseudonym "F.X. Nine." Download the Blaster Master book here (MSWord zipped, "enhanced" by a fan). Lastly, some bonus links: one, two, and three (!)
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Oct 24, 2006 - 36 comments

NES Zidane A fairly accurate recreation of the World Cup final. Also, ze headbutt explained.
posted by jcruelty on Jul 10, 2006 - 63 comments

Nes Micro To go along with your portable snes, playstation, and Atari 2600 of course. Want to do it yourself? buy the book. Lots more stuff on Ben Heckendorn's home page (how quaint!). (found all this googling for pictures of NES cartages)
posted by delmoi on Apr 19, 2006 - 8 comments

Relive your roots at NESplayer.com. This site is a huge repository for all kinds of NES stuff - it has an extensive sprite gallery, a rather comprehensive list of all NES merchandise and accessories available through the years, NES ads from comics, shots and clips from Nintendo-based TV shows(no episodes- I know - but when was the last time you thought of Captain N or the Super Mario Bros. Super Show?). There are shrines, guides, interviews, this guy who paints NES scenes... in short too much to list here. Go now, be fruitless. It's Saturday.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Apr 8, 2006 - 8 comments

Witness the witlessness of Active Enterprises, who not only tried to sell their NES cartridge, Action 52, for up to $200 retail in the early 90's, but also claimed to be developing a revolutionary multimedia platform.
posted by starkeffect on Mar 12, 2006 - 10 comments

Mario Adventure - SMB3 hacked into an entirely new high-quality game
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome on Feb 17, 2006 - 20 comments

Super Mario Brothers sound effects. Boing! Boing! CRUNCH! Ding! Ding! Ding! Whoop! Boing!
posted by Robot Johnny on Feb 3, 2006 - 23 comments

NES Synth covers of classic songs by those goons at Something Awful. Previous NES music stuff: 8bitpeoples' "Axel F" and "The 8 Bits of Christmas", The Video Game Pianist and his famous videos, A Capella NES Themes, SMW Soundtrack, etc. On the Marimba, too, just a few minutes ago. (via BB...via waxy)
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Nov 21, 2005 - 35 comments

Bisqwit's NES Time attack videos site has been mentioned before, but the site and the time attack community have both grown quite a bit and the redesigned wiki-style site deserves another look. The site now has tool-assisted runs of SNES, Genesis/Megadrive, and GB/GBA games in addition to the rather comprehensive NES collection. You can now check out and vote on submissions, view works in progress, or learn the motivations and methodology, and dare I suggest, make one yourself - but be you aware, it is both difficult and addictive. For "speed runs" - as opposed to time attacks - of newer games and older games without using emulators, check out the Speed Demo Archive (runs listed here) . And you thought you could beat Contra fast...
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Jul 1, 2005 - 15 comments

Michael Jackson is guilty of being totally excellent in this fantastic whirlwind tour of NES games (a la Sega Fantasy VI); MJ herein imposes his 16-bit self on a huge amount of games including but not limited to Megaman, Kung Fu, Ice Climber, Super Mario Brothers 1 and 3, Dragon Warrior, Arkanoid, Track and Field, Spelunker, Final Fantasy and more. If you know the Japanese language + games, clue us in. (Flash and hardcore midi dance music warning)
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Jun 30, 2005 - 24 comments

I am 8 bit is a celebration of the pixelated graphics of 80s videogames, at LA's Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight. A hundred artists have produced paintings, sculptures and designs inspired by the two-dimensional imagery of the pre-PlayStation era. The exhibition runs from April 19 until May 20. More information, including highlights from the gallery, appear at Game Informer. It remains to be seen if the other ninety-nine artists can match the quality of Sean Clarity's exceptional reworking of the cover to NES classic Excitebike.
posted by nthdegx on Apr 3, 2005 - 18 comments

Was Mario some Communist propaganda? "If anything can be said about Mario, it is that he seems to wear quite a bit a red . It’s on his name, it’s the color of his suspenders, his super mushrooms, his flag, even his hat." He does kinda look like an 8-bit Stalin, but a more important question must be asked: "Is Mario a drug pusher?"
posted by StephenV on Dec 24, 2004 - 20 comments

GrandTheftTendo For those of you still rockin' the 8-bit NES, but want to play GTA III on it.
posted by mathowie on Nov 16, 2004 - 19 comments

The Nintendo Controller Belt. (via waxy)
posted by Ufez Jones on May 6, 2004 - 13 comments

Norbert's Online NES emulator and the Online Arcade game emulators.
posted by Espoo2 on Dec 11, 2003 - 7 comments

Mario in the News A Japanese person (cannot translate the name, sorry) has completed the classic NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in just over 11 minutes. Fortunately he recorded it for posterity. (uses Windows streaming video.) Speed runs have been gaining in popularity lately. What game would you like to see abused in such as fashion?
posted by patgas on Dec 2, 2003 - 18 comments

His name is Mr Freetime, he has 2,967 copies of Moero!! Pro Baseball for the Famicom. He knows how to use them.
posted by nthdegx on Aug 6, 2003 - 11 comments

The 20 worst NES games of all time. Rube: It is very much revengeful towards Jack, and it pursues him endlessly.
posted by angry modem on Mar 15, 2003 - 19 comments

Interested in video game emulators? Yearning for the games of yesteryear? There is probably an emulator for any 'classic' game that you could wish to play. General arcade emulators, SNES, NES, Genesis, Atari 2600, et al. For the truly curious, listen to the story of the emulator that almost was, Silhouette, the emulator Nintendo almost released.
posted by patrickje on May 13, 2002 - 32 comments

What happens when you combine an Atari 2600, an 8-bit NES, an X-Box, a PS2, a GameCube, and a PC?
posted by emptybowl on Apr 24, 2002 - 8 comments

Do you miss the music from your old NES games? Well if you do, be sure to check out the minibosses. They're a band that only plays the songs to classic video games from the Nintendo Entertainment System. Great stuff. I particularly enjoyed the Wizards & Warriors track amusing, since I was addicted to that game when I was younger. Also, am I the only one who thinks there should be a new console system DEDICATED to only 2D games? 3D games are neat 'n all, but I don't think enough good 2D games are being made anymore. The Gameboy Advance is probably the only system doing that sort of thing right now, but it's just a portable.
posted by kingmissile on Oct 3, 2001 - 22 comments

Every once in a while I get a bad case of 8-bit nostalgia, and I remember fondly my many hours of joy with my Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the most fun games on the NES had to be Tetris, and this history of the game is a neat read. TSR's NES Archive is another cool site dealing with the NES. Of course, the original Legend of Zelda is the best game of all time, but that's another thread entirely.
posted by tdecius on Sep 20, 1999 - 0 comments