It’s the 41st Anniversary of the NES and I made an NES dress! 🥳 Redesigned from Nintendo’s 1983 Famicom, the NES hit U.S. test markets on October 18, 1985. Nintendo brilliantly outsmarted the US retail market to get the NES into stores with R.O.B., this little Robotic Operating Buddy that I’m holding here! 🤖 Following the video game crash of 1983, which resulted in declining sales and slashed prices of home consoles like Atari, Intellivision, ColecoVision, and Fairchild, retailers were hesitant to embrace home video game systems. Nintendo knew they had a hit on their hands with the Famicom and wanted to bring it West. To do so, they needed to pry their way back into the US market. Part of the plan was redesigning the console to resemble a front-loading VCR, which was incredibly popular in the West. Another component was marketing the NES as an “Entertainment System” rather than just a video game system. R.O.B., a robot who “played” games alongside players, was key to that plan and was sold individually or alongside the NES in Deluxe Sets with the original gray Zapper. (I have the blaze-orange Zapper and Action Set from 1989, pictured here! ❤️) Interest in robots was high in the mid-1980s, thanks in part to cartoons like Transformers and the growing popularity of robots in movies and toys. Although there were only two compatible R.O.B. games, Gyromite and Stack-Up (not Mario, though that’s on screen here 🤭), his novelty helped convince reluctant retailers to open their doors to Nintendo. The initial 17-game lineup included: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung-Fu Master, Pinball, Soccer, Stack-Up, Super Mario Bros., Tennis, Wild Gunman, and Wrecking Crew. The NES was my first console. After falling in love with Mario and Zelda at my daycare, my grandparents bought me this console for Christmas. I was very fortunate to grow up on a street of gamers, where seemingly every family in my neighborhood, boys or girls, had a Nintendo! Kids who came to my house usually played Zelda I and II. I played Mario 1–3, Castlevania, and Metroid with my babysitter’s sons, and whenever I visited my dad, Contra, Tetris, TMNT, and more were waiting for me. It was a magical time, and I still love the NES. ✨ What was your first Nintendo system? ❤️