nintendo artifacts

Nintendo should bring these back, at least for experimental purposes like the NES Knitting Machine in the 1980s that was never released, a device that would have connected to the NES and allowed players to create and print their own designs. The Nintendo Knitting Machine is just one more example of the innovative thinking that keeps Nintendo on the cutting edge of video technology.

Game Boy Sewing Machine (2000) and a retro handheld video game system all in one, was controlled using Nintendo’s 1990s handheld hardware. While the product had mixed popularity and limited success in garnering a broader sewing audience, the partnership reflects an experimental period of research and development. Given the constraints of relatively primitive digital technology at the time, video game consoles became unexpectedly adaptable devices.

Game Boy Camera (1998) was a front-facing camera accessory as a toy for user-generated content, it can be used to shoot grayscale photographs, edit them or create original drawings, and transfer images between GBC units or to the 64DD art game suite Mario Artist.

The Game Boy Printer (1998) was quite innovative for its time. Who had ever heard of a handheld gaming device that could connect to its own printer? And in a relatively small package? One of the main draws of the GB Printer was connecting it to the Game Boy Camera so people could actually print out their snapshots from the Game Boy Camera, however, many other Game Boy games later took advantage of the unit to print out pictures, scores, and other stuff like badges or certificates.

The Family BASIC keyboard (1984) was launched in 1984, to consumers in Japan by Nintendo. Family BASIC includes a dialect of the BASIC programming language enhanced for game development. Its Microsoft BASIC-derived command set is extended with support for sprites, animation, backgrounds, musical sequences, and gamepads. Several visual components seen in Nintendo games, such as backgrounds and characters from the Mario and Donkey Kong series (1984-1985), are made available as Family BASIC development or in premade Family BASIC games.