The EVR mystery solved (sort of)

A warning up front: this post is somewhat of an anti-climax.

Nintendo EVR Race from 1975 was a video based race simulation system. It utilised the Electronic Video Recording (EVR) moving image display technology.

Two versions of EVR Race were made: horse racing and car racing.

Nintendo EVR Race cabinet - with a horse racing game

Multiple EVR Race cabinets could be linked up for multi player games (in this case car racing)

Some five years ago, I acquired two EVR Race reels in a Nintendo arcade lot. The sale included only the reels, not the EVR Race cabinet itself.

Nintendo Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ, 1978) - Leaflet #2

Some time ago, I posted a leaflet for the 1978 Nintendo arcade game Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ). I recently found a second one, shown here.

Nintendo Computer Othello (1978)

Computer Othello was Nintendo's first video arcade game, though Nintendo had created other types of arcade games before (e.g. electro-mechanical games).

Nintendo Space Fever (スペースフィーバー, 1979)

When Taito's Space Invaders burst onto the arcade scene in the Summer of 1978, it became a runaway success. Multiple other arcade manufacturers quickly jumped on the bandwagon, including Nintendo.

In early 1979, Nintendo released an arcade game that was - let's say - inspired by Taito's space shooter. It was called Space Fever (スペースフィーバー).

Space Fever was a black and white game, that was an adequate copy of the original, but with very little to distinguish itself.

Nintendo Space Fever (1979)

It was all there: the marching aliens that are dropping bombs, the ship at the bottom of the screen firing up, as well as four bunkers that provide temporary shelter.

Nintendo / Namco Bomb Bee-N (ボムビーN, 1979)

From the early 1970s, Nintendo was active in the arcade market, with electro-mechanical games and games using new video technology like EVR Race.

The Japanese arcade scene famously exploded in 1978 when Space Invaders became a nation phenomenon, allegedly leading to a temporary shortage of ¥100 coins.

Seeing the success these new micro-computer based systems had, Nintendo also started releasing a string of arcade video games, with many different titles appearing in 1978 and 1979.

Nintendo produced these games mostly in-house, but also distributed licensed games from other game makers, like Sega and Namco.

Nintendo / Namco Bomb Bee-N (1979)

The game shown here is one of the earliest examples (if not the first) of a third-party game released on a Nintendo system.

Bomb Bee was designed by Namco. A version of this game - called Bomb Bee-N (ボムビーN) - was designed to run on Nintendo arcade cabinets. The 'N' in this name indicated it was the Nintendo version.

Nintendo SF-Hisplitter (SF-ハイスプリッター, 1979)

Here is another one of these great arcade flyers from yesteryear.

Nintendo SF-Hisplitter (1979)

This one is for the Nintendo arcade game SF-Hisplitter (SF-ハイスプリッター).

Nintendo Monkey Magic (モンキーマジック, 1979)

In previous posts, we looked at early Nintendo arcade games like EVR Race (1975), Computer Othello (1978), Space Launcher (1979) and Sheriff (1979).

Over the next couple of days, we will take a look at some more of Nintendo's arcade releases from the year 1979.

Around this time Nintendo moved away from creating straight copies of other companies' successful computer arcade games (like Block Fever and Space Fever) and started developing original ideas within established formats.

Nintendo Monkey Magic (1979)

Nintendo's Monkey Magic is a game within the block breaking mould set by Atari's Breakout in 1976. Although clearly based on it, enough new ideas are added to call it a game in its own right, not a clone.

Nintendo EVR Race (EVRレース, 1975)

Recording, watching and sharing video has become so much part of our daily life, that it is hard to image a world without easy access to a 'rec' button. Of course, this has not always been so.

The first video recording and playing machines for professional use appeared in the 1950s. Since the late 1960s, electronic firms together with broadcasting companies have worked on equipement for home use.

In the mid 1970s, Betamax and VHS emerged as widely adopted competing standards, of which the latter became the ultimate victor. VHS was extremely successful, before sinking into obsolescence after the introduction of the DVD and digital video recorders around the turn of the millenium.

EVR video tape used in Nintendo arcade machines

But before the world settled on VHS, a plethora of different formats was developed. One of these was called 'Electronic Video Recording' or EVR for short.

Nintendo used this system in a number of its arcade cabinets.

Nintendo EVR Race arcade (1975)

Two different lines were created based on the EVR technology: EVR Race and EVR Baseball.

Nintendo Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング): the start of a collection

It may appear that we are going somewhat off-topic with this post. Strictly speaking, Donkey Kong, the game that is Mario's birth-ground, does not seem an appropriate subject for a blog titled beforemario.

But it is not too farfetched, to state that without Donkey Kong this blog would not exist. And it is therefore more than appropriate to put a spotlight on Miyamoto's premiere master piece; the start of my fondness for Nintendo, as well as the start of my collection.

With that in mind - let's dig in.

It is not my intention to introduce or explain Donkey Kong. That would be silly. Unlike many of the Nintendo toys and games featured on this blog, I can safely assume that you know all ins and outs of the game's origine, have played its four levels a zillion times, and watched The King of Kong more than once. Right?

What I would like to show you instead, is my first - ever - Nintendo video game. The first of what would become a mountain of games and toys. The first snowflake of an eventual collecting avalanche.

Here it is: the actual first Nintendo video game I bought, almost thirty years ago. Well, to be precise, a port of a Nintendo game. 

My collection artefact #1 - ColecoVision Donkey Kong

Let us rewind three decades of time, to the Summer of 1983. For over a year, I had been pumping quarters (well, actually, guilders) into Nintendo's arcade revelation Donkey Kong.

Nintendo Sheriff (シェリフ, 1979)

Nintendo Sheriff is a western themed arcade game from 1979, which owes more to Space Invaders than you might think after a casual glance.

Nintendo Sheriff (1979)

The Wild West is a longtime arcade favorite, starting with Taito's famous 1975 Gun Fight (called Western Gun in Japan) - the first video game to feature cowboys.

Nintendo Space Launcher (スペースランチャー, 1979) - Leaflet

Nintendo was one of first Japanese companies creating electronic arcade games. Starting in this area as early as 1973 (compare: Atari's Pong saw the light of day in 1972), they initially focussed on arcade versions of light gun games, building on the technology of the Kousenjuu SP Light-beam series.

Despite Nintendo's first innovative steps, the Japanese company that was first to be really successful in the arcade was Taito.

When Taito introduced Space Invaders in the summer of 1978, this became phenomenally successful in Japan and across the world soon thereafter. It did not take long for Nintendo (and all other arcade game manufacturers, for that mater) to follow with their own interpretations of the 'shooting aliens' theme.

Nintendo Space Launcher leaflet (1979)

Nintendo's first response to Space Invaders was Space Fever, followed by Color Space Fever and SF-Hisplitter (all from 1979).

Nintendo Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ, 1978) - Leaflet

In the mid 1970s, Nintendo started making arcade games. One of the earlier of these was Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ), which is the topic of the leaflet shown here. [A second leaflet can be found here.]

Nintendo Computer Othello (1978)

The Computer Othello arcade allowed for one person to play the game othello (also known as reversi) against a computer opponent. It was also possible for two people to play head to head.