As noted by 4CR and Infendo, the NES, or Nintendo Entertainment System for the clueless of you out there, has turned 20, at least in the US.

On the 18th of October 1985, when I had been at primary school for just a few months, the grey game oblonge jumped onto the scene, allowing people to play both the original Super Mario Brothers (the NES’s killer app) and Duck Hunt on a double cart in the comfort of their own living rooms, bringing the video game industry back from it’s death bed and helping to properly establish the multi billion dollar industry we have today.

I was never in a position to own a NES, but I did rent one as often as I could, mainly to play my favourite platformer of all time, Super Mario Bros. 3 (although Mario World is an impossibly close second).

Upon it’s release next year, the Revolution will be able to play NES games amoung other titles from Nintendo’s back catalog, proving that 20 years on there’s still people excited about good old fashioned gameplay. Here’s to 20 more years!