Unboxing a Piece of Nintendo History - Inside a Test Market Nintendo Entertainment Deluxe System
70In this video, we unbox and take a look at a test market Nintendo Entertainment System Deluxe System.
Before the Nintendo Entertainment System took over North America as the gaming platform of the 1980s, Nintendo was actually not very confident at how the system would do here. The 1983 video game crash scared off many video game developers from the market. However, that crash was contained within North America for the most part, and Japan was actually seeing a boost to video games, thanks in part to Nintendo and the Famicom. So what is a manufacturer to do if they want to enter a market with a new product? Well, you launch your product in test markets, and that's what Nintendo did with the NES.
The original test market for the NES was New York City in October of 1985. There's also reports that LA & Chicago were also test markets at about the same time. In these test markets, Nintendo partnered with specific retailers to see exactly how well the NES would do. Could it push through and get past any damage remaining from the video game crash 2 years earlier? That's what they were about to find out, and as we know now, the NES became a powerhouse.
There are several things that make it easy to tell a test market system, or at least the box, from other later release NES systems. First and foremost is the artwork on the front of the box. On a regular distribution box, there is an inset on the lower right hand corner of the box that calls out this set as a Deluxe Set, and has a picture of ROB, the Zapper, controllers, and system with the words "Deluxe Set" above it in white. On a test market box, this inset simply says Entertainment System (in yellow), and while it does show everything in the box, it also shows a television powered on with a game being played. That's a pretty definitive way to be able to tell whether or not a system is test market or production.
The test market system came with two games, Gyromite and Duck Hunt; Super Mario Brothers simply wasn't out yet. The system also included ROB, your robotic operating buddy, a light zapper, and two controllers. Both Duck Hunt and Gyromite were boxed copies, and I'm seeing conflicted information where some claim that these games should have the sticker seal to them, other people report no seal. This system only has the box for gyromite, and there's no indication of a sticker seal on it. It does have the hanger tab on the back of the box, which does fit with the timeline of when it should have been produced.
The system itself is an amazing shape, there is no yellowing, discoloration, or any signs of wear and tear on the system itself. The same thing can be said for the Zapper, controllers, accessories, and of course, ROB. One of the cool facts about this box is ROB even includes his sunglasses, extra lenses that can be placed over his eyes in the event that you cannot adjust the brightness properly on your television.
On one side of the box, we discovered a price tag for a store called Federated, with a price of $147. This does not quite fit in line with the pricing of the Deluxe Set, as it was actually $249. Was it an outlet? Was it a reseller? Doing some research, I have found a Federated which became the parent company of what is now Macy's, but in the mid-80s they would have owned stores such as Bloomingdale's.
Test market NES systems are very unique because they are an indication that, while being successful in Japan, Nintendo did not know how they would play in the North American market. This was a sign of hedging their bets, especially after a deal to distribute the famicom in North America through Atari fell through. They had many reasons to be concerned about the North American market, however, the Nintendo entertainment System was a massive success here. For half a decade, no other system would challenge its popularity, it's a library of games, or capture the dreams of many of the youth of that era. You didn't play video games, you played "Nintendo".
This is a system I would personally love to have in my collection, however, it is not in the budget for me right now. This is a piece of Nintendo history, I hope whomever ends up purchasing it from Live Action Games treats it with the respect that it is fully due. I have never seen one of these before, I may never see another one again, but it was awesome to be able to unbox and check out this amazing piece of Nintendo history.
#TestMarketNES #NESLaunch #Nintendo
The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
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