Over the years, there have been many attempts to capture the thrill of console games in a smaller, handheld package, but none have been as prolific as Nintendo’s Game Boy. But how, and why, did this asymmetrical gray brick become so popular? To find out, we have to journey to Kyoto, Nintendo’s headquarters, in the year 1989. The company was riding a giant tidal wave, the already well-selling Nintendo Entertainment System being further rejuvenated in the form of Super Mario Bros 3 and Dragon Quest. They decided to look to another frontrunner which its rivals, notably NEC’S PC Engine and the Atari 7800, had hitherto untouched; that of the handheld market. Before then, there had been a few attempts at recapturing the magic of arcades and consoles in a smaller, more versatile package; including Nintendo’s very own Game and Watch in 1980, but each could only play one single game; and each could only handle at speeds so agonizing that it was futile. But Nintendo’s R&D man, Gunpei Yokoi, who was the brains behind the Game and Watch, had a plan: using older parts to prolong battery life and keep the fun in a more endearing package. The result: a black and white rendering console with a mint-ish green screen and a layout reminiscent of a calculator, known as the Game Boy. Ok, so now the handheld was ready, but what about the games? Just like how there had been Super Mario Bros as prepackaged titles for the NES, the Game Boy needed some too. The original plan was to sell this monochromatic venture with Super Mario Land, a pale, crude imitation of the console games with a desert-like theme. But Land didn’t have the perceived ‘wow!’ factor that Nintendo desired, so they were sent back to the drawing board. It was around this time that an addictive puzzler game that recently escaped from Russia, involving stacking blocks, was attracting attention. When the dust cleared, after a meeting with the game’s original creator alongside a rival delegation from Atari, Atari won the arcade rights, but Nintendo was free to use this puzzler for its new Game Boy. That game was a little thing called Tetris. And in the end, that bargain paid off. Within the first year alone, the little console raced to the top of the charts, totaling $2.5 million. And that trend continued. An upgrade–the Pocket– released a few years later, with a bigger screen, and peripherals, including but not limited to a camera, a printer, and even fishing sonar. Sales were further boosted, in the device’s latter years, with a little monster-catching game starring a yellow mouse–Pokémon. And that was all it took, with revisions, new models, and streamlined editions, totaling, in all, around $199 million by the product line’s end in 2004. So next time you boot up a Playstation 5, or play on your iPhone before a flight, remember that even the simplest things can dazzle.
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The Story of Marvel by Schamil Saeed, 11
Superheroes, from Ancient Greece to Norse mythology, man has always been fascinated by the allure of beings possessing powers beyond human imagination. Something about gods and demigods brings awe, hope, and envy to our imagination. You may have heard of Spider-Man, The Hulk, Thor, etc. But did you ever hear about the Sub Mariner, or Street Poet Ray? Enter the imagination of the man, the myth, the legend, Stan Lee and his empire of heroes and villains in various universes. I will attempt to chronicle the humble start of Stan Lee’s comic empire to prove that it’s nothing less than the ‘super’ billing it’s given. Without further ado, let’s dive in, going back 85 years to 1939. World War II was slowly escalating, but, stateside, thanks to the so-called ‘protective bubble’ Woodrow Wilson had spread from sea to shining sea. In a country reeling from the aftermath of Prohibition and the Great Depression, with Nazi Germany a looming threat, heroes were needed, and one of the first, published in 1938’s Action Comics No.1, was a certain caped alien with a weakness to green rock. Meanwhile, a rival company, one Timely Comics, watched from afar. They had seen their rivals succeed with spandex-clad, muscle-bound heroes, so it was only natural for them to do the same. The first of these was designed by an obscure artist by the name of Bill Everett. Though his name holds little significance in history, his creation, Namor, the Sub Mariner, a pale-skinned, half Atlantean who wielded a trident, and for some odd reason, had wings on his ankles. (It is important to note, however, that this came from DC’s much more vaunted but similarly-themed Aquaman.) His first public appearance came in Marvel Comics No 1., a full year after Superman, and just a few short months after Detective Comics, which gave the world its first look at Batman, and inspired National Comics to unofficially be renamed DC. But still, in a world where superheroes were still the new fad, there was a cordial reception to the fishy fiend, which inspired Timely to work on others, like the Human Torch, an android with no relation to the Fantastic Four character that would appear 20 years later. Eventually, their big break came in 1941: a star-spangled, boot-wearing guy with underwear on the outside–Captain America. Designed by an all-star writing team, and some guy called Stan, this was the killer comic. And on the front of issue number one? Cap socking Hitler. In the noggin. This was controversial, mainly because the USA hadn’t even joined the war yet. In fact, the New York police had to intervene, and Mayor La Guardia had to issue an official statement to the enraged packs of America-Firsters trying to swarm into the Timely offices. They had struck gold; there was no doubt about it. And, save for a brief dark age in the ‘50s, that was what propelled Marvel on its road to fame. And so, in the famous words of Stan Lee, “‘Nuff Said!”
An Essay On Outrage By Schamil Saeed, 11
Have you ever heard your parents say, “Back in my day, life was so much more difficult. Kids these days are so spoiled”? You would be surprised to know that they were the spoiled hipsters of yesteryear. As long as there have been Homo sapiens, there has been a generation gap and elders frowning upon it. One can almost imagine a geriatric Neanderthal rolling his eyes as his prodigy used the wheel or even before that, a Homo erectus grandfather looking suspiciously at his children living the easy life by using a fire to cook, leaving the good old days of raw meat dinners. From the complaints of Socrates turning young men against the establishment, to the small but vocal groups of Boomers on social media, there have been many examples of elderly backlash to changing times. One of the first documented episodes of such outrage goes back to Ancient Greece, from the 5th Century BCE onwards. During this time, a population boom and plentiful sustenance inspired philosophers and thinkers to question the world around them. In fact there is a saying, “All that I know is that I know nothing.” The young Athenians were educated to question everything, and this stung the established order. The noblemen condemned this wave of change and even succeeded in poisoning the leader of a major group, whom we know as Socrates, in 399 BCE. But the die was cast, and his doctrine spread under the likes of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Despite the cry of the previous generations, change was inevitable. During the Industrial Revolution, from around 1800-1915, technology started ramping up, and new discoveries began to replace the established order. The younger generation of this period shook the world with the printing press and steam engines, as well as telegraphs. Gone were the days of horse-drawn carriages, messenger pigeons, and quill pens. As an example of such geriatric backlash, the famous Luddites smashed machines in textile plants all across southern England, but the resistance was quelled by 1815, and the rest was history. Fast-forwarding a few decades, we come to the tie-dye halcyon that was the 1960s. Their parents, who had been the brave heroes of World War II and the Korean War, with Victorian values and tough-knuckles education, had difficulty accepting what came after. Riding high on the Eisenhower economic boom, they had only one such musing: “Out with the old, in with the new.” Long hair, neon shirts, and peace signs became rife, as did the protests about war. Coming to modern times, it’s ironic that those same hippies that had run riot in the ‘60s were to become, you guessed it, just like their parents. With the rise of phones, game consoles, and computers, those very people who had once been at the forefront of change, condemned the newer generations, and all of their technology. At the risk of simplifying too much, is my generation’s addiction to social media, digital content, and video games and our iPhones, any different from our parents’ vices of television, VCRs, and Walkmans? I will leave you with a sobering thought: when we become our parents what will our generation be outraged about? It is hard to imagine, isn’t it? Perhaps this forthcoming generation will have their own addictions, as the VR, cybernetic implants, and artificial intelligence take over reality. Perhaps there will come a time when I, too, will say, “Back in my day…”
