Tengen: Atari Games vs. Nintendo

In the late 80's, Tengen (a subsidiary of Atari Games) decided to challenge Nintendo over their strict policies on 3rd party licensing. How? By suing them and releasing unlicensed video games. Learn the history behind it all.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
00:57 - Part 1: Origin of Heaven
07:49 - Part 2: The Rabbit
12:42 - Part 3: The Tiger
18:44 - Part 4: Impact
▶️ Subscribe | kzbin.info...
Follow Gaming Historian:
🐦 Twitter | / gaminghistorian
💻 Facebook | / gaminghistorian
🕹️ Twitch | / gaminghistorian
📷 Instagram | / gaminghistorian
For a list of sources, visit www.thegaminghistorian.com

[@GamingHistorian]

This is, personally, my favorite video I have ever done. It took about a month to make, but it was worth it. Hope you enjoy!

[@rabidduck22]

***** 26 min! i can see why that would take a month. great vid btw

[@reggie3819]

***** Your story telling ability is well thought out and written. Please release more content like this!

[@Faneezy]

***** Easily one of your best Norm!

[@caseymiles7486]

***** Excellent video! I knew some of this story, but not some of the finer points. I really appreciate the work you put into these videos, so little of gaming history is well documented.

[@jwt4810]

***** I think this your best video so far, & that's saying a lot because all of your content is well produced. You obviously had to do a great deal of research to obtain this amount information on the subject. It's also presented extremely well. I knew some of the Tegen history & lawsuits, but not nearly as much as I thought. I agree the battle between Nintendo & Atari/Tegen helped to shape the video game industry. Thanks for bringing this story to light.

[@wondermomo282]

Well done Norman. As you know, I worked at both Nintendo and Atari Games during many of the years this epic battle took place. Listening to your recount of the events had me feel like it happened yesterday. I’m glad that you presented Hide not only as a Nintendo “villain”, but as someone brave enough to challenge the stranglehold that Nintendo had on the console industry. What he did took major cajones. At the time, I personally questioned the judgment of taking on Nintendo. I knew what Howard Lincoln was capable of. Events like this have shaped the industry into what it is today. The history of this great industry has to be documented accurately. It’s not just fun and games. As you know, several popular books are littered with inaccuracies and omissions over events and people. You’re right about Tetris being a story for another time. I look forward to that one. And last but not least, I am equally impressed (like other viewers) in the production quality of this video. Once I started watching, I got a cup of coffee and buckled in through its entirety. I’ve gone back to look at certain pictures, read the newspaper clippings, hanging on your every word. Your voice over's, tone and timing has the precision of Ken Burns. But delivered with your own style. Excellent work Norman.

[@GamingHistorian]

Jerry Momoda Thanks so much, Jerry. After all my research / readings, I thought Nakajima was very bold for what he did, and a good leader.

[@Watcher3223]

Jerry Momoda _"I knew what Howard Lincoln was capable of."_ Indeed, considering how Mr. Lincoln helped Nintendo with their first rather major legal challenge: Music Corporation of America. And that is another great story that I wonder if the Gaming Historian has covered... UPDATE: Yep, he did! "Donkey Kong" and Universal vs. Nintendo.

[@TheShadow9380]

What did you do in both company's?

[@rdubayoo]

+Jerry Momoda Nintendo certainly wasn't nice to its third-party developers but Atari should have known better than to break the law in order to reverse-engineer the Code 10 chip. They had some good arguments on their side, but they ultimately compromised their position by their actions.

[@Watcher3223]

rdubayoo And the biggest mistake Atari made in their effort to defeat 10NES was getting patent information about it from the Federal Government under false pretenses. Obviously, the judge would not be amused with Atari.

[@boodro2122]

Judge "You guys will not interfere with each others customers" Nintendo & Atari "But we want to" Judge "Well, ok"

[@UnethicalVoxel]

Ace Attorney judge moment

[@steinmaniac7920]

@@UnethicalVoxel I love that senile, old weirdo.

[@Dowlphin]

@@steinmaniac7920 I despise him with a vengeance because I was personally on the receiving end of two of that caliber. Created years of frustration and rage and vast monetary losses and then an insider told me that stuff is happening every day. www.deviantart.com/dowlphin/art/Judge-This-450967861

[@danek_hren]

Small brain moment

[@raafmaat]

i wanted to find out what your post was about, finally at 18:00 it is explained in the video :)

[@neoasura]

Crazy, I remember renting these Tengen games at the video store many times in the late 80s. I just figured they were trying to be cool looking with the black cartridges. I didn't know anything as a kid at the time.

[@at1212b]

Yea they had a different feel too. More authentic and 'dark'.

[@WrestlingfansareCLOWNS]

i knew what was going on...i knew about it all along

[@AltCTRLF8]

@@WrestlingfansareCLOWNS i was the one who told you about it.

[@hightidekraken]

@@WrestlingfansareCLOWNS for sure man

[@WrestlingfansareCLOWNS]

@@AltCTRLF8 you told me about it but i already knew bro...i already knew

[@LGR]

This video is just top-notch!

[@raafmaat]

Lazy Game Reviews ahh man, cool to see you here! :)

[@mrcoolguy32]

Lazy Game Reviews hello :)

[@Exarian]

Lazy Game Reviews ah man I just watched your retrospective on Dell computers, then soon as I was done I saw this thing uploaded.

[@RiasGremoryIsLife]

Thanks for bringing me here, LGR!

[@sergio7D]

Lazy Game Reviews I read your message with your voice :D

[@Zeroroute]

Had no clue that's where the name "Namco" came from

[@WebVManReturns]

Namco isn't even their original company name. It was NAMCOT.

[@saysoun752]

@@WebVManReturns No it wasn't. It was always Namco but they used both Namco and Namcot to distinguish arcade games and console games. Namco stands for Nakamura Manufacturing Company and as you can see, there's no "t" on the actual name of the company. Taken from Wikipedia. Namco's first original video game was Gee Bee (1978).[9] It was Pac-Man (1980), however, that would become definitive of Namco's legacy, going on to become a fixture in popular culture.[10] Galaga (1981), a follow-up to Galaxian, was one of the most successful sequels of the era.[11] Dig Dug (1982), Xevious (1982), and Pole Position (1982) continued Namco's success in establishing iconic franchises during the Golden Age. During this period, Namco published video games for home consoles and personal computer under the Namcot brand name.[

[@jlindsey241]

I did not know that either!!!!

[@robw5741]

@@saysoun752 3:54 he says otherwise

[@user-ql2re2es9y]

@@WebVManReturns Namcot is Namcotek (Namco Technologies). Namco and Namcot is the same...

[@Bladeslingerplays]

I always heard a story that Rare managed to beat the lockout chip fair and square but rather than produce unliscenced games, they instead used their findings to just create an NES dev kit and then submitted the games to Nintendo for approval. Nintendo gave them freedom to produce as many games as they wanted to, either because they were impressed or because they feared Rare would share their secrets with the world.

[@Rabbitlord108]

That's actually legitimately interesting.

[@joshnickerson83]

But then again, Rare was a developer, not a publisher, so there really was no limit on how many games they could work on. They were also worked with Nintendo early on, Rare developed Slalom for them, so they already had dev kits early on.

[@TheNuje]

I don't know if they ever defeated the lockout chip, as the devkit they made from reverse engineering was for the original Nintendo Family Computer (apparently modifying a RAM adapter board from the system to allow them to inject their own code). Nintendo were simply confident that the Family Computer wasn't possible to reverse-engineer on its own, and were impressed when Rare had shown them their findings. As a result, they brought Rare on-board to make games.

[@altrock86]

After burner by tengen. A sega game made by atari on nintendo crazy.

[@timandshannon03]

I want to play it now! I didn't even know it existed!

[@corrosyon]

And Shinobi.

[@figment1988]

Aside from After Burner, there was Shinobi, Fantasy Zone and Alien Syndrome (which unlike the master system port, the NES port had 2 player co-op gameplay like the arcade game)

[@ricky-sanchez]

@@figment1988 Looks like tengen was in a world of their own, stealing from sega..... The whole point of licensing is to appropriate licenses. Either sounds like 2+2, or legalese.

[@edwarddeguzman3258]

There is also a port of Altered Beast for the Famicom out there

[@DrHotelMario]

This story would make a damn good movie. This is some Wallstreet level shit lol

[@851852093114208513]

They should have called their own chip the 10gen

[@mechanicalruby]

👍

[@jwil4286]

Eyyy I see what you did there

[@thelaxsoviet5922]

that was kinda painful

[@Kara_Kay_Eschel]

@@moose_in_disguise3288 It gave me Capricorn.

[@KrazyProductions]

Would be kinda obvious than naming it a code name

[@erichhudson2090]

This is one of the best documentaries I've seen. Excellent explanations from every point of view. Legal, commercial, customer, etc. We'll done!

[@Matthewsavant]

In the days of “Hey KZbin, it’s your boy” Your delivery and tone is refreshing and professional. It’s nice to actually enjoy watching stuff like this again while I learn about the stuff I love

[@jamesbevan4479]

This rings so true, even now 5 years later. "Hey guys it's ya boi (insert Chad youtuber here)"

[@bageltoo]

I love how unbiased your content is. It's just the simple story with only the facts

[@SenelsChannel]

R.I.P. Masaya Nakamura December 24, 1925 - January 22, 2017

[@fighterck6241]

RIP...

[@rorymadonald439]

Rest In Peace masaya

[@leastattached103]

man I'm gonna cry 😞

[@AllGamingStarred]

RIP

[@finngray1476]

Rip

[@hurdyb1]

I have been a gamer for almost 35 years of my soon to be 40 year old life. This video was sooooooo informative. Great job!

[@stuffsonanimation4262]

*TRU GAMR*

[@lucasoheyze4597]

Imagine how much more information you would have if you had read books instead.

[@hurdyb1]

@Lucas O'heyze - Try again. I'm always reading magazines and books. Been reading since i was five to now. Probably have read more than you and I'm sure much more educated than you as well as more traveled. Try again cause it seems like you have low self esteem and need a life.

[@WakanaGojoAE86]

​@@lucasoheyze4597imagine being an ass hole for no reason

[@stuporspoon]

I doubt anyone has the answer for me, but I'll throw it out into the cosmos: When the attorneys concocted the scheme to obtain the chip's copyrighted blueprint, they knew that the chip had to be the subject of a lawsuit that they had a claim in in order for that particular document to become available to them. Why did they choose to lie and say that they were defendants against Nintendo in a non-existent lawsuit? It just confused me because it sounds like they could have gotten it without getting themselves into trouble: File the lawsuit, obtain the blueprint in discovery or whatever, and go from there. Hell, apparently, they could have done both of those things on the same day, since the copyright office was willing to take people at face value instead of independently verifying their claims. Why didn't they take this route? Were they worried about being blocked or going through protracted delay during discovery? Did Atari's lawyers think that the company did not have a valid claim to the material?

[@louisantonio2462]

While your idea makes sense, I believe this is because Atari's lawyers did not want to draw any attention from Nintendo preemptively and wanted to gain the blueprints first and develop the Rabbit chip before actively pursuing their lawsuit. Besides, if they were to look at the blueprints through discovery, surely it would be more likely for Atari to be filed a preminilary injunction if they were to use the materials during their trial period. Furthermore, Nintendo would only find out about the fradulent lawsuit a bit later, knowing that it would become a sore spot for them.

[@richard5X5]

Technically speaking if you have a case against someone you are supposed to have enough evidence against them before discovery. If your entire case rests on finding something in discovery, your lawsuit should be thrown out because it wasn't worth having to begin with. That's how it's supposed to go anyway. Finding additional info is what discovery is for, but the keyword being additional, not crucial to having a case to begin with. It's the reason the GOP is in trouble across the US right now for their frivilous election cases. Most of these people will lose, or have their licenses suspended because of this. Rightfully so just based on how the law process is supposed to work.

[@theyeeter5171]

Atari:"Hey, can i want a Piraty Chip please?" Copyright:"OK" Nintendo:"I CALL THE POLICE" SEGA:"HE STOLE MY GAMES TO NINTENDO!"

[@NSFSponsor]

Atari was on that real spy shit back then. Finessed Nintendo out that chip.

[@Sparklyboiii2009_2]

Surprisingly no the most criminal game company of the time, that would be sega

[@timcrouch2415]

There is another extremely important lawsuit in the video game industry that I think would make a great video: Capcom vs. Data East, over Data East's "Fighter's History" game. It is quickly being forgotten, so it may be hard to dig up info on it. But it essentially provided the precedent that video games include scenes a faire, which lead to the video game industry being able to almost copy other games exactly, provided they changed protectable names.

[@Sparklyboiii2009_2]

Based Data East, love those guys :3

[@jayhawker03]

It's odd how Nintendo took things so seriously with the seal of quality yet shows like Angry Video Game Nerd have tons of content on the bad apples in the library.

[@locke103]

quality control was dubious, suffice to say.

[@axiorsomethin130]

Mackenzie McIntyre all of them

[@DuelmasterX3]

@@axiorsomethin130 Not all of them. Most of the Bible Games sure weren't licensed. Not to mention games like Menace Beach, Raid 2020, Secret Scout, Little Red Hood, etc weren't licensed as well.

[@axiorsomethin130]

SmugBob-Omb cool

[@TobyCowles]

According to the NES encyclopedia the seal of quality basically just meant that the game's code was not clearly broken, that the game was family friendly, and that the company had bought atleast 10,000 genuine cartridges which could not be returned if they didn't sell, which assured that the publisher was willing to put real money behind the game

[@Changetheling]

Tetris (Tengen) is still the superior NES version. Co-op modes, the arcade music and colours... Facts.

[@Savannah_Simpson]

You say that as though you are the first person to ever make that observation. It’s not something anyone disputes.

[@pokehybridtrainer]

I mean... The arcade ports are pretty damn solid, especially for the time.

[@DarkKent234]

@@Savannah_Simpson did you stretch before that reach?

[@noteveryoneiscutout]

easily the best tetris i've ever played

[@notaidan405]

I think the Nintendo version is better but the Tengen version is pretty good

[@ChrisLeeW00]

Nintendo having a problem with supplying? Can't make enough products to meet demand? Now where have I heard that before...

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Before everyone had a problem with suply-demand, now its just that nintendo

[@bradnimbus4836]

I wish I could express how impressed I am with your production value. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this could easily stand along side any biography I've seen in years. You have a real talent homie! You can have all of my likes.

[@rasr666]

nintendo

[@Junedude433]

jaden salazar How is that a valid response?

[@rasr666]

from my yes Junedude433

[@rasr666]

ntc *****

[@rasr666]

;)*****

[@stevenhayes4292]

Wow just incredible content quality. Your voice flows so smoothly with the information and just kept me wanting to hear more and more and learn more and more. Amazing job!

[@Albert-lj5jb]

I like how Atari's plan to loosen Nintendo's stranglehold of the industry at the time, was for their own benefit, but in actuality really ended up benefiting SEGA much more and allowed the Mega Drive/Genesis to gain a massive stake in the industry. I'm sure Sony benefited from this as well later on, but really, that whole deal with the PlayStation ever becoming a thing was of Nintendo's own doing, shooting themselves in the foot, in a mad scramble to come up with something to compete with the SEGA Mega CD. Both situations were shit for Nintendo, but at least (us) the consumers won.

[@AltairEgo1]

Nintendo would have in the longrun lost on that deal. The bulk of the profits for IPs would have been siphoned to Sony. Ultimately Nintendo would no longer be able to develop consoles under the deal, as their funds for development would be in Sony's hands. The result would, in the end, be a duopoly between Sony and Microsoft, if Sega even survived in that scenario (doubtful). The consumers did end up winning, because we got a choice between Sony, Nintendo, for a time Sega, and then Microsoft, rather than an empire simply owned by two gigantic megaconglomerates competing for who can make the most powerful machine. Nintendo sacrificed third party support for autonomy, and for a time, lost out to Sony. In the longrun they gained huge profit margins with their handheld division, and made a killing on Wii. Currently they're the market leader with Switch. I imagine if they did take that deal, Nintendo would have shrunk to a smalltime developer, existing as a third party. I don't see them making hardware in that timeline. They definitely did shoot themselves in the foot with Phillips CD though. That was a terrible idea.

[@CartoonHangout]

Dang, that should be turned into a movie.

[@AdmiralBison]

it is. The book 'Console Wars' chronicles the video games in the early 90s in particular Sega vs Nintendo, but the book also chronicles what was in the video as well. It's coming as a documentary and film coming soon......the film being done by Sony :\ I strongly suggest you get the book, I definitely see things different now compared to how I saw Sega and Nintendo when I was little kid.

[@CartoonHangout]

Duane Locsin I'll definitely add it to my wishlist of things I can't afford right now.

[@diggy5884]

yes

[@EbenezerScroogeMcDuck]

don't forget cameos of video games on screen like in The Wizard xD

[@dariohc6898]

With sex scenes

[@RippahRooJizah]

Kinda funny to think that Nintendo technically invented timed exclusivity for video games

[@Keithustus]

Did they? Or did Magnavox? Or Atari? Or for Colecovision?

[@AltairEgo1]

​@@KeithustusNintendo was the start of all evils in the industry, remember that. They're the boogeyman

[@duanebonney]

Well done mate. Love these videos. Thanks for taking the time to do them. It's great to learn about the behind - the - scenes. There is so much more to the gaming world than meets the eye.

[@kurtg5405]

I always shed a tear when someone passes away in your stories :'( Keep up the good work, your channel is seriously one of the very best in KZbin or anywhere really. Even your earlier vids with much smaller budgets still tell a story in such an immense way, it's not hard to see why you've endured for so many years. :)

[@MustangDrifter]

Very professional! When using somebody else to do the voiceover on quotes, it really felt like a true documentary style video; something that I would watch on PBS. The month's effort really showed in this video, great job! BTW, I love watching PBS documentaries so keep those videos coming!

[@GamingHistorian]

MustangDrifter Thanks! I also love PBS documentaries, they are a big influence (clearly)

[@Swonke]

***** I've been watching a PBS documentary on WW2. The parallels in style of this video and those are awesome. Great work, really good video.

[@danielbeaston]

***** thank you for making these they are not many channels that go deep into history keep up the nice work :)

[@holdmybeer]

Rimone Media I hope you have your playlist on "public" cause I'm definitely checking it out.

[@gluserty]

MustangDrifter Very true; while I was watching & listening, I was thinking, "PBS".

[@TheRealLazerBlazer22]

I'm genuinely very sad over Hideyuki Nakajima's death. While some of his practices aren't exactly ethical, what he strove to do, and the people he strove to protect, and how he didn't give up and got to the top is downright inspirational. Live On Hide. Live On.

[@alexandreb.1101]

@Orkhiss if anything, Nintendo trying to forcefully bulld a monopoly was unethical

[@BendApparatus]

@Orkhiss flat out lying to obtain the 10 program from copyright... That's pretty much it. Obtaining information from the other guy with ulterior motives was fair game...

[@mrborif4245]

@@BendApparatus fair game isn’t always ethical lmao, I totally agree with what he was doing though

[@BendApparatus]

@@mrborif4245 so basically you agree...lol

[@mrborif4245]

@@BendApparatus yeah essentially

[@mormacfey]

This is a well put together documentary on this little part of gaming history. Thank you so much Gaming Historian! Bravo!

[@misterbennnn]

I recently started watching every episode of The Gaming Historian to try to find the first long-form, documentary style episode. This was it, and it was great. It was also very interesting to see the AVGN inspiration slowly drop in lieu of Norm's personal, professional style, as well as watch the audio/video equipment get progressively better. Fantastic video, fantastic channel, and I'm going to keep working my way up to the present.

[@starilie]

How is this not a movie or a mini-series?? It's a great story

[@Marco-wp9kw]

don't worry, it's too brilliant to not be made into a major motion picture within the next 20 years.

[@SmaMan]

In the early days of talks over the Tetris movie (that's now going to be a trilogy about who knows what) one of the ideas that gained traction was making a docu-drama, similar in style to "The Social Network," about the creation of the game, and how its creator fought for nearly decades to actually get profit on the concept (tying into a bit of the Tetris drama that Norman brought up). They could just as easily do that here!

[@romerorosewood5846]

starilie your cute

[@sirMAXX77]

Yeah, this would make a great movie, though Nintendo would probably not want this kind of movie made since it would put them in a pretty negative light.

[@Cosmalano]

Romero Rosewood such a pointless comment

[@senseihEnRY16]

wow, this is actually a very interesting story and you tell it professionally. i would love to see a movie based on this event

[@paranormalskeptic3893]

Amazingly well done video. I could watch things like this all day. Really kept me glued to find out all about Tengen. And the mention of other subsidiaries of other large game companies was something I didn’t know. Thanks for the great video game history lesson, loved it ! Oh yeah, I immediately subscribed after finishing the video. Glad is discovered this KZbin channel.

[@barowt]

I watch all of these history videos over and over spread through the years, still love them again and again.

[@MissAshley42]

This and the story of Tetris are my two favorite bits of video game history. I never get tired of hearing about them.

[@jesseanderson7502]

I love this video. While my son (6), who found your history documentaries on Kids KZbin, showed me the channel, I was the one who ultimately fell in love with it (while he will likely have the same love as he grows in historical understanding.) My friend gave me a copy of Rolling Thunder for my birthday (Tengen edition), and my son began to ask me "Why does this look different?" Lo-and-behold, you made a documentary. This was very well done, and I very much appreciate the work you do. It not only has brought my son and I closer together, but it has explained the questions I had as a child about the games I would find in the rental shop. I love your commitment to your craft. This definitely is one of the best, and one of my favorite historical vignettes on corporate titans whose creations inadvertently structured my youth.

[@robertserna9628]

Just came across your videos and I'm impressed. Well done. I think ill be binging the rest of them now.

[@kainpwnsu]

Thank you for creating these fantastic videos! They are very well composed, detailed, and have a professional feel. I'm impressed with your visuals, which is arguably the most arduous part of composing a historical documentary.

[@ConnerTheWaffle]

Absolutely fantastic, so much information! Great job Norm, it's obvious how many hours and parts of your soul went into this ^_^

[@rahimj7701]

Conners the best

[@bigboyfilip994]

Lol

[@Ux7hfs9Fco4fkaakggaa]

Gaming Historian is a national treasure. Thank you for the stellar work. We greatly appreciate it!

[@jrmj]

This was unexpectedly FASCINATING. I remember the black cartridges from my youth but never gave them much consideration since. Thanks for putting this together. You did an excellent job!

[@NickPCage]

I just found this channel, now I'm binge watching , this guy is amazing and literally keeps me intrested in the content, thank you so much for making this types of videos.

[@PeteSkerritt]

This work was fantastic. Even though I had a pretty solid understanding of Tengen v. Nintendo, I learned a lot by watching this video... and your research shines here. The stories within the story are woven together really well. As someone who has gained much of his knowledge of the video game industry mostly through experience, that knowledge is enriched through pieces like this one.

[@becoders2538]

thanks

[@anneanne6001]

comment tu vas

[@Hieifireshadow]

This is such a cool topic oh my gosh. I've been watching at least one of your videos every day for a few days now! These feel like mini-documentaries and I absolutely love them! Your voice is super chill, too- these are really nice as background noise and even nicer as documentaries. I'm glued to my screen every time! Thanks for making these, lots of love from a new fan! ❤️

[@wturner6088]

Still my favorite episode of Gaming Historian after all these years. Simply amazing. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@captcorajus]

AWESOME voice over, and presentation. I've been binging on your channel. Its very addictive. Thanks!

[@driptrat]

I can understand Nintendo's desire to control the content on their machine. But with something like the NES that would be like a manufacturer making demands on what is written on the paper they print. They have the right to do it, and Tengen is in the wrong for using the patent office to steal Nintendo's technology. But I can't help feel after watching this that Nintendo's practices created the environment for Sega to thrive in. Had Nintendo been more reserved in it's policies, plumber and hedgehog may never had gone to war. Well made documentary folks.

[@lupvirga]

David Hopkins while i agree, the licensing agreement is REALLY bad. It's about as bad as the Nintendo Partners Program for KZbinrs.

[@gunsmithbasic]

Nintendo wanted to stop the total freedom that destroyed Atari. The crash mostly happened because of a lack of standards, and a general consumer perception that the main console company represented all the software on it. By the standards of today, the control over software that Nintendo did would be considered standard. The only part of their agreement that is unfair by today's standards was stopping third parties from developing for other consoles.

[@TheBrainScratcher]

gunsmithbasic yes, the average nes game quality is so high.. that totally worked... keep believing fairy tales.

[@nathenhutchison6182]

+gunsmithbasic This sentiment gets stated a lot, but I don't believe that it was the freedom that destroyed Atari. It wasn't poor-quality, third-party games that brought Atari down. It was the poor-quality games that were produced BY ATARI. What are the two games that most often get mentioned in connection with the video game crash? Pac-Man and E.T. Those weren't third-party games. They were developed by Atari. When you have sold 10 million Atari consoles and you decide to produce 12 million cartridges under the assumption that one cartridge will be sold for EVERY console in existence and that the very existence of the game will drive the sale of an additional 2 million consoles (20% of total console sales to date) and then you rush the actual game through development in a few weeks so that you can have it out in time for Christmas...........stuff like that is what killed Atari. Not poor-quality, third-party games. I'm no business executive. I don't know a lick about running a business. But even I know enough to know that is just plain idiocy. The consumer is smart enough to know the difference between a crap game put out by a third-rate developer and what should be a quality game put out by the console developer themselves or a reputable developer. But when the console developer themselves start putting out crappy games under the assumption that the consumer will buy anything that they produce, that is what kills companies.

[@GiordanDiodato]

+Nathan Hutchinson Uh... did someone forget the fact the Colecovision had an add-on that played Atari 2600 games?

[@jaradipra]

i feel like im watching discovery channel / Nat Geo documentary film. Production quality of this video is very good. You've done a wonderful job dude!

[@chibi25]

This is a game changer in you video quality. Way to go these look completely professional and something I'd expect to find on PBS or some other documentary channel.

[@TheEmery223]

No matter how many of Norman's videos I really, really like and thoroughly enjoy, I always find myself gravitating back to this one, without fail. Definitely my absolute favorite. It's a hell of a case study on Nintendo's prior business practices and Tengen's ingenuity for trying to circumvent them. Such an engrossing and masterfully crafted video on a crucial turning point of what would become the gaming industry as we now know it. *chef kiss*

[@efisherspfld]

This video is serendipitous for me in a way... just earlier today I was watching a video from Game Sack about arcade to console ports. They covered fantasy zone by tengen. I became curious about the company and looked for more videos about them. I found 2. Both were less than 10 minutes long and not quite informative. I took a nap, and by the time I woke up, I had a notification on my phone that you had just uploaded this video! Talk about timing... Great video and series over all! :)

[@GamingHistorian]

Eric Fisher Awesome! It is the circle of retro gaming.

[@ashfury]

I'm glad we have guys like Gaming Historian and Game Sack who cover topics that are truly interesting. AVGN is pretty shallow in comparison.

[@pyrotek85]

ashfury I think AVGN is good, but I think it's always been more about the comedy. His videos are usually very light on the history side of things. So I wouldn't say a direct comparison is fair.

[@arthurlarrubia]

ashfury AVGN is more like a sketchy/ comedy/ trash/ horror show.

[@davidcoaker274]

Eric Fisher kinda like what happened with me the fallout lore series

[@TheDumontShow]

***** this is one of the best videos you ever done. It was so informative and in depth. I can tell you had a great time doing this one. So well made and researched. I love what you do. I am gonna put up a KZbin channel myself and this vid has inspired me to carry on my plan. Don't let anybody stop your passion. Keep it rocking, homie

[@GamingHistorian]

Dickens Dumont Thanks! Good luck with your channel. I remember starting mine like it was yesterday.

[@emmanuelkumi8299]

I agree with Dickens Dumont

[@TheDumontShow]

***** , thank you norm. i will strive to being the same quality you bring to yours

[@Shinobi33]

Best episode I've seen so far. So informative. When it comes to historical knowledge on the video game industry you and Wrestling with video games are the best. Hands down. Great job as always man.

[@CocktailFridays]

Man, this episode is such a masterpiece. Bless you for making this epic overview of this moment in history. Also, godspeed on your way to hitting 1 million subs soon!!

[@CraigOrangeSoda]

Sorry, I just want to do this. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

[@DontpushtheBbutton]

Kristoffer Morato Row row, fight the power!

[@babybuussj4]

Dontpushthebbutton Nintendo power?

[@idnyftw]

Kristoffer Morato they sure did fight the power that time, eh?

[@sgiacomo84]

This is one of the best videos I have ever seen! So informative and very well put together! Amazing job!

[@GamingHistorian]

sgiacomo84 Wow, thank you very much!

[@paulavarela9447]

This episode is awesome. Your videos are amazing and so well done...It is a relief to watch such damn good content on KZbin this days. Please keep on going and do not lower your standards!!

[@judahosborne8868]

Your channel mixes two of my favorite things, history and video games! I love it!

[@anthonytomb8857]

they should make this story into a movie

[@julianswayze5961]

That would be awesome.

[@L1701]

Considering I have heard about a movie in the works about the Console Wars, this would be an interesting piece of video game history to see on the screen.

[@TR-cp1fo]

Best video game channel on youtube. Super informative

[@liengandriod55]

True

[@klaatu9726]

You do these type of videos better than anyone else that tries. Please don't stop!

[@jannebengtsson7338]

Wow. I had no idea that they basically we're the Robin hood of console gaming. Wish I had known this back in the 90s. Thank you for as super interesting video!

[@jcau99]

This was probably your best video to date Norm! Enjoyed the Ken Burns style voice overs.

[@nintendad8168]

That was an amazing video I'd say your best to date . I enjoy all of your work but this was perfection .

[@gamerex9378]

23:44 my goodness, I want that snes storage center.

[@forkyfork]

Right? Look how handy it is!

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

love the videos! you're answering so many questions I had as a kid

[@wastedarse]

These shows are truly television quality. Keep up the hard work!

[@BeeHatGuy]

I see that everyone defends Atari here, but it's pretty obvious that what they did was illegal as hell.

[@ShaDisNX255]

People hate Nintendo for being this strict at the time (and still are somewhat tbh) but what they don't remember is that the video game market had just crashed! If Atari had won, it would have prompted a whole other video game crash possibly. They say that the more games there are, the better for consumers. But that's exactly the same mind set they had with the crash of 83. The video game industry would probably not have survived another crash after just emerging from another one.

[@solarstrike33]

Weird. I'm seeing a lot of pro-Nintendo comments in this section.

[@Kylora2112]

I mean, Nintendo is why there is still a video game market in the US. And the NES has one of the better classic:trash ratios of any console.

[@kristophertower3476]

trolling the patent office to get your hands on someone elses property seems pretty unethical to me......but then again business is business

[@tsaotsaotherebel]

I agree. Nintendo was unaffordable as hell to. Now that I know they had monoplisitic practices, it makes sense.

[@DUARTE99]

Whaaaaaattt??? This video just blew my mind! I had NO idea all of this was playing out behind the scenes. Wow. I do remember how much as a kid I LOVED RBI Baseball and RBI Baseball 2 on NES! I even had RBI Baseball ‘93 on Genesis too. These are fantastic videos! Keep up the great work!

[@AtariLegend]

Simply amazing documentary. I am lost for words at how well this is made. Thank you.

[@aleksandrklimenko730]

I can't stress enough how good this video is. Masterpiece. Thank you so much for your hard work!

[@THEGREATMAX]

I remember I had a Tengen version of Ms Pacman on NES that let 2 players play AT THE SAME TIME and had a turbo speed/boost button and if Pac-man and Ms Pac-man hit eachother, they would bounce off eachother and fly to opposite sides of the screen It was amazing

[@l1uchill]

This is some great content! I literally watched and listened closely to the details! Nice job!

[@hasbook7156]

Another great video! Thanks for all the time and effort you spent on it.

[@MrSweeperUSA]

it's funny how the chip shortages excuses still continue even today with the NES classic and Nintendo switch

[@Doommaster1994]

Great work, Norman! Here's a couple things you may have wanted to add to the video. One thing is that the NES used 6502 assembly programming, which I heard was very hard compared to the Master System's Z80 and the Genesis's 68000 programming. Also, American/European game developers apparently had no support/documentation from Nintendo. Maybe you can cover this in another video. I really enjoyed this video though. Very informative, and a lot of stuff I didn't know about. Thanks!

[@tiksman17]

Wow, that was an amazing documentary! Such a wealth of information, really impressed! Keep it up

[@TexasGuitarist]

Man, I never knew video game history could be so riveting! This could be a movie!

[@metalmat3651]

I remember renting those odd looking Tengen games back in the day, I really liked RBI Baseball and Klax

[@andreumarti3216]

Norman, I've been a fan of your work since a few years by now, and I've recently discovered you also write articles, and I liked them almost as much as your videos. Then I thought, have you ever thought about writting a book about videogame history, like some sort of encyclopedia or something? If you made a Kickstarter page to found it, I would definitely support it and purchase a copy of the book. Though I'm sure you have thought about it in some point, I personaly encourage you to do it. Great video, as always. Keep working that good :) Greetings from Spain

[@chrisd6287]

This video is UhhhMayyyZinggg! Great job man, unbelievably interesting and informative! Keep up the great work.

[@gevdarg]

I'm so HAPPY I discovered your channel. This is GOOD stuff!!

[@thematurepotato6457]

You make the best videos on youtube i seriously mean it please dont ever stop making videos :)

[@kniferaffe]

Shit, Norm, this belongs on tv. Awesome job.

[@sharazjek338]

brilliant stuff, great detail, new subscriber here going through all your archive, thanks for the great content

[@kodiak015]

So glad I found thew vids! Great job! Reminds me of historical videos I see on TV

[@ilexgarodan]

I lit up at 18:44 when Kerbal Space Program music started playing!

[@chrispacheco8590]

I was always mystified by those black Tengen cartridges when I was a kid and wanted practically all of them, they where some really good games at the time, I recall really wanting After Burner, and was just amazed to see Shinobi a very popular SEGA game on the NES come on one of these sleek black cartridges, it was sad to see them slowly disappear.., great piece btw I appreciate the level of quality, it held my attention 100% of the time, very well put together, very appreciative of all your hard work and passion, thank you.

[@ataubjr]

Dude, your videos are great! Greetings from Brazil! Keep retrogaming alive with this quality!!!! :)

[@Gilly209x]

Brilliant video!! I love watching these stories!!! I’m on a gaming historian binge! I definitely want to support via patereon for sure!

[@markhunt9643]

Atari: Better deal? We are Atari, we pretty much created the video game industry Nintendo: Wasn't it a game on your systems that caused the crash in the first place? Sega and other gaming companies: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@sirnubless]

......

[@DrGreenThumbNZL]

Stfu newb

[@LUCKO2022]

1) That was a different Atari, to start with. That Atari was under the management of Warner Communications being run by Ray Kassar. Atari Games was the result of Atari being split into 2 and both sold off (well actually 3, Warner retained the telecomunications part of Atari). 2) ET DID NOT CRASH THE INDUSTRY. It goes deeper than just 1 game. The problem was Atari didn't have control on who makes games for the 2600. So everyone and their dog started to make games for it and resulted in allot of shitty games getting out there. That is what caused the market to crash, not just 1 game.

[@windowsme2327]

Nec:bup bup bup Sega:ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@nicholastosoni707]

@@LUCKO2022 It was also that Sears, Radio Shack, etc. had their own game consoles which were compatible with Atari. Result: A hot mess for consumers--nobody knew exactly _what_ to buy. I think Colecovision and Intellivision were also Atari-friendly, adding to the headache. Correct me if I'm wrong and don't quote me on it.

[@patrickmcdaniel2048]

I never knew about any of this. I've always seen the tengen games for NES but I never gave them much thought because they always had those funny looking cartridges. I always felt like the funky cartridge was offputting and, while I do still have many titles for my old NES, I don't have any from tengen. Cool story

[@RonsClassicRVs]

Very nice video. Well put together, good information. I subscribed, liked and commented as soon as I was done watching. Thank you for this effort

[@winstonscott1223]

Damn, your videos are well made! I'm in the middle of a full binge. Haha

[@KiljiArslan]

This could make a great movie.

[@Michirin9801]

Wow, I just learned about a bunch of stuff that I didn't know happened... I thought that Jack Trameil had bought all of Atari, I didn't know the Atari Games division even existed!

[@therealskrubby712]

Totally realized that I haven't suscribed to your channel yet, even after seeing all of your content and liking everything. Suscribed, keep up the great work.

[@fastdraw30]

Wow... amazing info, a whole documentary would be awesome on the NES and it's counterparts..you are a natural at narrating!