History Analysis / NintendoHard

It's important to point out that the original Japanese versions of NES games are, by and large, already quite difficult in and of themselves. NOA simply increased the difficulty of many already-challenging games UpToEleven, thereby codifying this trope.

The primary reason why "Nintendo Hard" exists in the first place is rather insidious, and was born out of Nintendo's hardball business practices during the NES era.\\\

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Third-party developers in particular seemed more prone to this than Nintendo with their own first-party titles; this is understandable when evaluating the situation in perspective, warped as it may be. (A Nintendo-made game is virtually a guaranteed big seller no matter what, but the average third-party title faces stiff competition in the game market and can't risk "losing" any potential sales to rentals.) Nintendo took a firm hand in the QA process of virtually ''all'' third-party NES games, so even if a title wasn't developed or published by them, it's a sure bet that Nintendo exerted ''some'' level of influence over the finished product.\\\

When comparing the Japanese and American versions of NES games, especially ones ''not'' developed by Nintendo themselves, you can see this phenomenon quite clearly: during the early years of the NES (1985-1987), games were routinely made ''easier'' during the localization process. Around 1988, as the NES became a cultural phenomenon in the United States, the difficulty-tweaking process became ''reversed'', and "Nintendo Hard" was born.\\\

Nintendo and its licensees eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of their market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that Nintendo had fought tooth and nail to prevent the US release of the Game Genie, but only managed to delay its arrival, albeit for a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's failed crusade is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and it is the principal reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Third-party developers in particular seemed more prone to this than Nintendo with their own first-party titles; this is understandable when evaluating the situation in perspective, warped as it may be. (A Nintendo-made game is virtually a guaranteed big seller no matter what, but the average third-party title faces stiff competition in the game market and can't risk "losing" any potential sales to rentals.)\\\

Nintendo and its licensees eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of their market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that Nintendo had fought tooth and nail to prevent the US release of the Game Genie, but only managed to delay its arrival, albeit for a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's failed crusade is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo and its licensees eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of their market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that Nintendo had fought tooth and nail to prevent the US release of the Game Genie, but only managed to delay its arrival, albeit for a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful crusade is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo and its licensees eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of their market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that Nintendo had fought tooth and nail to prevent the US release of the Game Genie, but only managed to delay its arrival, albeit for a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the US release of the Game Genie, but only managed to delay its arrival, albeit for a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Third-party developers in particular seemed more prone to this than Nintendo with their own first-party titles; this is understandable when evaluating the situation in context, warped as it may be. (A Nintendo-made game is virtually a guaranteed big seller no matter what, but the average third-party title faces stiff competition in the game market and can't risk "losing" any potential sales to rentals.)\\\

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Third-party developers in particular seemed more prone to this than Nintendo with their own first-party titles; this is understandable when evaluating the situation in context, warped as it may have been. (A Nintendo-made game is virtually a guaranteed big seller no matter what, but the average third-party title faces stiff competition in the game market and can't risk "losing" any potential sales to rentals.)\\\

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Third-party developers in particular seemed more prone to this than Nintendo with their own first-party titles; this is understandable when evaluating the situation in context, warped as it may have been. (A Nintendo-made game is virtually a guaranteed big seller no matter what, but the average third-party title faces stiff competition in the game market and can't risk "losing" any sales to rental stores.)\\\

In the meantime, in what was intended as a stopgap solution, Nintendo began cranking up the difficulty of their new releases during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright. Nintendo kept its third-party developers on a very tight leash during the NES era, and their games suffered the most from this policy.\\\

The primary reason that "Nintendo Hard" exists in the first place is rather insidious, and was born out of Nintendo's hardball business practices during the NES era.\\\

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, but ultimately failed to do so. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the US market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, and not only did Nintendo ultimately fail to do so, they were forced to pay Galoob a $15 million bond to cover lost sales of the peripheral after delaying its release by a full year. When the Game Genie ''finally'' hit the market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

As the NES reached the peak of its popularity from 1988 to 1990, Nintendo of America began pushing hard to outlaw video game rentals in the United States. Seriously! Nintendo felt that rentals were robbing them of so many potential cartridge sales, they had to put a stop to it. (Since video game rentals had been successfully outlawed in Japan in 1984, Nintendo of America felt that accomplishing something similar in the US was a reasonable proposition.) Lobbyists were actually hired to advance the issue in Washington, but, shockingly, no politician seemed to be that interested in taking on the ''menace'' of video game rentals.\\\

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, and not only did Nintendo ultimately fail to do so, they were forced to pay Galoob a $15 million bond to cover lost sales of the peripheral after delaying its release by a full year. When the Game Genie finally hit the market in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, and not only did Nintendo ultimately fail to do so, they were forced to pay Galoob a $15 million bond to cover lost sales of the peripheral after delaying its release by a full year. With the arrival of the Game Genie in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, and not only did Nintendo fail to do so, they were forced to pay Galoob a $15 million bond to cover lost sales of the peripheral after delaying its release by a full year. With the arrival of the Game Genie in 1991, Nintendo must have known that the battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES circa 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. (Another, less obvious, reason is that they had fought tooth and nail to prevent the release of the Game Genie in 1990, and not only did Nintendo fail to do so, they were forced to pay Galoob a $15 million bond to cover lost sales of the peripheral after delaying its release by a full year. With the arrival of the Game Genie in 1991, Nintendo must have known that battle against game rentals was decisively lost.) Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES around 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. Nevertheless, the legacy of Nintendo's unsuccessful battle against video game rentals is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

As the NES reached the peak of its popularity from 1988 to 1990, Nintendo of America began pushing hard to outlaw video game rentals in the United States. Seriously! Nintendo felt that rentals were robbing them of so many potential cartridge sales, they had to put a stop to it. Lobbyists were actually hired to advance the issue in Washington, but, shockingly, no politician seemed to be that interested in taking on the ''menace'' of video game rentals.\\\

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES around 1992, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share. The legacy of Nintendo's battle against video game renters is still felt by anyone who revisits the NES library today, and is the reason why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

As the NES reached the peak of its popularity around 1988 to 1990, Nintendo of America began pushing hard to outlaw video game rentals in the United States. Seriously! Nintendo felt that rentals were robbing them of so many potential cartridge sales, they had to put a stop to it. Lobbyists were actually hired to push the issue in Washington, but, shockingly, no politician seemed to be that interested in taking on the ''menace'' of video game rentals.\\\

Nintendo eventually hit upon a solution: they began cranking up the difficulty of their games instead during the localization process. The idea was that if a game was too difficult to beat during a weekend rental, a player would be more likely to buy the game outright.\\\

When comparing the Japanese and American versions of NES games, you can see this phenomenon quite clearly: during the early years of the NES (1985-1987), games were routinely made ''easier'' during the localization process. Around 1988, the process became reversed, and "Nintendo Hard" was born.\\\

Nintendo eventually had to stop this nonsense during the twilight years of the NES, as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis appeared and started taking away massive amounts of Nintendo's market share, which is why no console since the NES has had such a reputation for ridiculously hard games.

The game mechanics that make a game "Nintendo Hard" were often transported from arcade games that required the player to [[BribingYourWayToVictory spend more money]] to keep playing after his character was killed. Except that when they got ported over to the console, there was no coin slot, leaving you stuck with a fixed number of lives and highly limited or non-existent continues.

The concept has recently been satirized on the Internet, most famously by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, who pointed out that via SturgeonsLaw, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools most examples of Nintendo Hard games are often a result of sloppy or bad design]].

A lot of these examples are simply rookie mistakes. For a company, establishing an identity and building the fanbase takes priority over finding the proper challenge level. Often the designers will go for something highly distinctive, take a lot of time designing and making it look right, and not spend enough time on the actual gameplay and level mechanics, then realize too late that they've (completely unintentionally) made a monster. ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'' is a good example of this.

A factor that has often been considered to be into play on whether or not the game is actually NintendoHard is how huge the development staff behind it was. Many programmers tell that when you are programming a game alone, you usually get pretty good at the game's own mechanics, so much in fact that the difficulty level of your game gets adapted towards your high level of skill. When you are building a game with other people, the entire staff needs to understand the basic mechanics of the game and it is better not to scare them off with high difficulties when you want them to work together with you. This may also be a reason why many [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] games were hard, as the creative teams that made them were significantly smaller than those in the current industry.

The concept has recently been satirized on the Internet, most famously by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, who pointed out that via SturgeonsLaw, [[TropesAreTools most examples of Nintendo Hard games are often a result of sloppy or bad design]].

A factor that has often been considered to be into play on whether or not the game is actually NintendoHard is how huge the development staff behind it was. Many programmers tell that when you are programming a game alone, you usually get pretty good at the game's own mechanics, so much in fact that the difficulty level of your game gets adapted towards your high level of skill. When you are building a game with other people, the entire staff needs to understand the basic mechanics of the game and it is better not to scare them off with high difficulties when you want them to work together with you. This may also be a reason why many [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] games were hard, as the games were made with noticeably less people than those in the current industry.

A factor that has often been considered to be into play on whether or not the game is actually NintendoHard is how huge the development staff behind it was. Many programmers tell that when you are programming a game alone, you usually get pretty good at the game's own mechanics, so much in fact that the difficulty level of your game gets adapted towards your high level of skill. When you are building a game with other people, the entire staff needs to understand the basic mechanics of the game and it is better not to scare them off with high difficulties when you want them to work together with you. This may also be a reason why many NES games were hard, as the games were made with noticeably less people than those in the current industry.

The game mechanics that make a game "Nintendo Hard" were often transported from arcade games that required the player to [[AttractMode spend more money]] to keep playing after his character was killed. Except that when they got ported over to the console, there was no coin slot, leaving you stuck with a fixed number of lives and highly limited or non-existent continues.

A factor that has often been considered to be into play on whether or not the game is actually nintendo hard is how huge the development staff behind it was. Many programmers tell that when you are programming a game alone you usually get pretty good at the game's own mechanics, so much in fact that the difficulty level of your game gets adapted towards your high level of skill. When you are building a game with an entire staff the entire staff needs to understand the basic mechanics of the game and it is better not to scare them off with high difficulties when you want them to work together with you. This may perhaps also be a reason why many NES games were hard too, as the games were made with noticeably less people than those in the current industry.

A lot of these examples are simply rookie mistakes. For a company, establishing an identity and building the fanbase takes priority over finding the proper challenge level. Often the designers will go for something highly distinctive, take a lot of time designing and making it look right, and not spend enough time on the actual gameplay and level mechanics, then realize too late that they've (completely unintentionally) made a monster. ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'' is a good example of this.