The Story of the Aladdin Deck Enhancer

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  • čas přidán 20. 02. 2019
  • Learn about the history of a unique NES accessory, the Aladdin Deck Enhancer! In the early 90's, the 16-bit war between Sega and Nintendo was heating up. But one company was thinking about the past: Camerica. In January of 1993, they announced the Aladdin Deck Enhancer, a device for your 8-bit NES that played proprietary compact cartridges. Why? Watch the video to find out!
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    #AladdinDeckEnhancer #NES #GamingHistorian
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Komentáře • 3,1K

  • @thorrollosson
    @thorrollosson Před 5 lety +3731

    Haha this is a great video :) Some additional context from the inside. David Harding and Terry Hickey, the guys I dealt with mostly from the Camerica side of things, were very nice guys and probably pretty good businessmen with more traditional products. Then they hit a home run out of nowhere with that game genie, and I don't believe they ever understood the actual gaming market itself.
    I wish I had more input on the whole thing, but I was just a kid, and ultimately, a prop. As my mom was very ill after our house burning down and a heart condition/brain damage, and my dad wasn't able to find work, it fell on me to earn our roof. Micro Machines were the only toys to survive our fire in 1989, picking through the ashes. The fact that I'd later end up endorsing the video game had a certain poetic logic to it.
    The game genie and Micro Machines were my introduction to Camerica and Codemasters. Although I had very little say in the matter, being signed to do this did seem promising at first. Unfortunately, the following releases of games were a mixed bag of mostly decent to below average stuff. Worse, I absolutely knew that the 8-bit days at that time were extremely limited. I nearly begged for 16-Bit titles, and the replies I received were either vague promises or flat out ignoring the question. Seeing their plans for the Alladin made it clear they had the exact opposite idea in mind. Logical on the surface, but gamers are always looking for the next best thing, not something that played old titles on an old console.
    If it had been more ambitious, say with some of the more exotic add-on DSPs and processors, and had extensive cooperation with other devs, the prospects would have been at least hypothetically promising instead of an obvious dead end. After all, the PC Engine/TG16 is basically an 8-Bit with some hopped up features.
    Ah well, I got to meet a lot of wonderful people, and see some interesting stuff from the ground during that era. I was at the CES where Nintendo and Sony broke up their PlayStation plans and saw a great many obviously furious Japanese execs storming around. I won a New Geo by playing Fatal Fury against Chad Okada (aka The SNK Game Lord, an amazingly nice guy), I got to travel extensively and talk games with kids across the country, and of course drop by any SF2 machine I saw :)
    It just makes me a bit sad, if at least no longer outright angry, that the bulk of the games they stuck my name on were never as great as I felt Micro Machines was. And some series such as Dizzy, were in their own right pretty good games, but the US market was not really used to these in the context of NES experience. European gamers playing on 'home micros' such as Speccy, Sinclair, etc, were much more used to more involved and slower paced games. Even the dev cycle of putting out budget titles on tape or floppy at extremely low production costs and sticker price was a bad match for expensive to produce cartridges and $50-$60 game prices.
    All in all, bravo for the video. If anyone feels like they bought a bad Camerica game on my account, drop me a line when in Texas, and I'll buy you a Shiner or a Dr Pepper and apologize in person.
    Much love
    Thor

    • @Sauciflash
      @Sauciflash Před 5 lety +84

      Too many comments I guess, yours might be lost in the sea. You could try his email, gaminghistorian at the g to the mail dot com, I'm sure a Skype call would be epic ;)

    • @Xx1SailorScoutxX
      @Xx1SailorScoutxX Před 5 lety +115

      Norm should pin this comment

    • @angelsapon9894
      @angelsapon9894 Před 5 lety +63

      The legend himself.

    • @TransCanadaPhil
      @TransCanadaPhil Před 5 lety +84

      Wow, it's neat to see you on here. I remember as a kid reading magazines like EGM, GamePro, VG&CE and always seeing your name and face on so many of the ads in those days and and my 12-13 year old self was always thinking "Wow that guy must be like the best video game player in the world". This was circa 1991-93 or so. I'm 40 now and it amazes me that I can still remember your name from those days, somehow certain things stick.

    • @n64ra
      @n64ra Před 5 lety +26

      I’m in Texas and ready for that shiner 😀

  • @dataecto6135
    @dataecto6135 Před 5 lety +300

    "If the Aladdin Deck Enhancer was never released...how am I holding one right now?"
    *The box in his hands begins to fade away into dust*

    • @laineyzzz6
      @laineyzzz6 Před 5 lety +8

      Now my hard hat friend your safe from that turbo sapper

    • @jacklong6106
      @jacklong6106 Před 5 lety +5

      @@laineyzzz6 SPAH SAPPIN MAH SENTRY

    • @KRDecade2009
      @KRDecade2009 Před 5 lety +10

      Mr. Nerd I don’t feel so good

    • @parimabartender
      @parimabartender Před 4 lety +3

      Thanks obama, I mean thanos

    • @gc3k
      @gc3k Před 4 lety +2

      Great Scott

  • @titanium_rocket1505
    @titanium_rocket1505 Před 5 lety +451

    I freaked out when this was in the AVGN episode!

  • @SonicFanDU
    @SonicFanDU Před 5 lety +1429

    Had to watch this after AVGN recent episode!

    • @WWE-Fan-420
      @WWE-Fan-420 Před 5 lety +13

      same

    • @DarkMetalSpider
      @DarkMetalSpider Před 5 lety +6

      same! somehow I had missed this one.... watching this right now!

    • @PlutoniumPanda
      @PlutoniumPanda Před 5 lety +4

      Yup lol even though I'm subscribed to both I hadn't caught this video yet.

    • @dubyaw9511
      @dubyaw9511 Před 5 lety +27

      Calm and collected video game nerd

    • @trevorrandom
      @trevorrandom Před 5 lety +1

      Me too

  • @GamingHistorian
    @GamingHistorian  Před 5 lety +1187

    I bought an Aladdin Deck Enhancer back in 2015. The only thing I knew about it was that it was from the same people who made the Game Genie. It sat on my shelf for years until a few months ago, when I decided to finally dive in. The history behind this crazy accessory was way more interesting than I ever thought. Hope you all enjoy!

    • @YousefCat21
      @YousefCat21 Před 5 lety +8

      Wow back then camerica really wanted the audiance...but they failed =|

    • @smallsthetimelord4066
      @smallsthetimelord4066 Před 5 lety +2

      Interesting!

    • @mrhick01
      @mrhick01 Před 5 lety +4

      Interesting piece of video game history. Thank you for this video.

    • @ObiTrev
      @ObiTrev Před 5 lety +4

      Speaking about Deck Enhancers. I've heard of an add-on for the Artari 2600 that turned it into a computer. And one that allowed it to play much more advanced games, such as an RPG.

    • @scottiejordan1064
      @scottiejordan1064 Před 5 lety +1

      And u think this is more interesting than GENREAL COMPUTER the guys who invented game modding. when I was a kid early 80s I saw super missel attack, took years to figure out what it was.

  • @TugsP
    @TugsP Před 5 lety +126

    "One of my favorite games...on the Aladdin Deck Enhancer".
    Well played, sir.

  • @marcinkuc9349
    @marcinkuc9349 Před 5 lety +45

    Fun fact: Those Camerica games were very popular in Poland in the 90s, where we could play them on Pegasus, a Famicom clone distributed here. Micro Machines is one of my favourite childhood games.

  • @craigland7349
    @craigland7349 Před 5 lety +522

    Oh DECK enhancer...I seem to have clicked on the wrong video.

  • @BlakeBaggott
    @BlakeBaggott Před 5 lety +75

    I love how the Gaming Historian makes me care about things I didn’t even know I wanted to care about

  • @SonofMrPeanut
    @SonofMrPeanut Před 5 lety +133

    I will always grin seeing that Paul Rudd SNES ad.

    • @mrhashbrown8283
      @mrhashbrown8283 Před 5 lety +10

      That man will never age I fucking swear

    • @twicethemegapower3995
      @twicethemegapower3995 Před 5 lety +4

      Cant-Man: Mom Said No

    • @austinfrazier7325
      @austinfrazier7325 Před 5 lety +2

      @@mrhashbrown8283 I was literally about to say the same thing!

    • @thestwinner680
      @thestwinner680 Před 5 lety

      I wanted to comment on the same thing, but wasn't sure/aware *it was actually HIM?!* Hahaha LOL, yeah, dude looked practically identical to today, except maybe skinnier, of course. ;D

    • @MartyM.
      @MartyM. Před 5 lety

      Did he crank up the 4D3D3D3? (Tim & Eric reference lol)

  • @gusrendell6083
    @gusrendell6083 Před 5 lety +382

    James Rolfe makes a passing remark in his latest video which I think defines the appeal of Gaming Historian.
    While describing the undoing of Camerica thanks to the Deck Enhancer™ the Nerd says ‘not even the Gaming Historian found any clear proof,’ a statement which goes by quickly but rather poignantly exemplifies the thoroughness and depth which Norman examines his topics and subjects.
    He himself mentions in a video about his own history that he saw a niche to fill with a detailed historical approach to looking at gaming, and there’s truly no one offering content on the same level as Norm. His background in education and research is bolstered by slick and utterly charming production, all of which is a means of conveyance for exceptional and compelling insight into a history that holds many interesting and critical stories. Norm’s offerings set the bar very, very high and there aren’t any contemporaries that provide content that teaches about the nooks and crannies of gaming in such an engrossing way.
    Thanks for the great content.

    • @cilonrs
      @cilonrs Před 4 lety +18

      If even the Nerd respect you, you are doing a great job

    • @funnyperson4027
      @funnyperson4027 Před 4 lety +8

      I would like to point out that even if they don’t do primarily history videos, the guys at my life in gaming and gaming quarterly are some other great retro game youtubers that give a more focused look at the hardware

    • @AllGamingStarred
      @AllGamingStarred Před 4 lety +3

      I appreciate your educated backhanding of the AVGN's comments

    • @briantaylorcloe7725
      @briantaylorcloe7725 Před 3 lety

      @@funnyperson4027 MLiG and CGQ are incredible - along with Jeremy Parish - may be my Mount Rushmore of Gaming History

    • @funnyperson4027
      @funnyperson4027 Před 3 lety +3

      BeeTeeCee _ agreed I don’t know why I watch them, I don’t even play retro games but the retrospective look at games, consoles, and a multitude of similar things in the medium really makes for a user friendly approach

  • @TransCanadaPhil
    @TransCanadaPhil Před 2 lety +31

    These were definitely available at retail in Canada for awhile when they first came out. I remember seeing them on retail shelves at places like "Zellers" back in the day.

  • @Fondoofus5542
    @Fondoofus5542 Před 3 lety +42

    11:15 “It almost feels like a sonic game.”
    Nerd: But with all the fun taken out!

  • @ricemenarq6230
    @ricemenarq6230 Před 5 lety +599

    this video already better than the upcoming Aladdin movie.

  • @hecatialapislazulli5426
    @hecatialapislazulli5426 Před 5 lety +301

    0:40 Wait a minute... He has two of them? Nobody has two!
    Who would own multiple copies of something that's shitty?

    • @gelo0894
      @gelo0894 Před 5 lety +4

      Lol

    • @Koridai011
      @Koridai011 Před 4 lety +35

      Then why does James Rolfe have Multiple Cartridges of et

    • @Koridai011
      @Koridai011 Před 4 lety +10

      Actually, the reason why he has two so he can review both different versions of it

    • @handlessuck589
      @handlessuck589 Před 4 lety +6

      AVGN has like, a hundred Intellivoice modules.

    • @supakusuta
      @supakusuta Před 4 lety +9

      @@Koridai011 It's because people kept sending copies of ET to AVGN, He even has sealed copies and some of the copies are the PAL version.

  • @JW666
    @JW666 Před 5 lety +167

    And now all the Aladdin Deck Enhancers have been blown up! ;P

    • @MonadoBoy16
      @MonadoBoy16 Před 5 lety +1

      Dr JW They’re still there in real life

    • @michaelkeehan8094
      @michaelkeehan8094 Před 5 lety +9

      @@MonadoBoy16 r/wooosh

    • @JW666
      @JW666 Před 5 lety +9

      Monando Boy 16 I guess you have no humor.

    • @AllHailKingKurt
      @AllHailKingKurt Před 5 lety +2

      I wonder what nerd wish for that to happen

    • @dereklouden7415
      @dereklouden7415 Před 4 lety +6

      @@AllHailKingKurt probably a video game nerd. An ANGRY video game nerd.

  •  Před 5 lety +142

    The Dizzy games are wonderful. Dizzy is essentially the British 8-bit Mario. His games are held in high regard by so many British retro gamers. :)

    •  Před 5 lety +5

      The SNES Man The New Zealand Story wasn’t just popular, it was an absolute craze. I recall people who didn’t even Game talking about The New Zealand Story.

    • @minibigs5259
      @minibigs5259 Před 5 lety +2

      ....the help line....

    •  Před 5 lety +5

      Mini Bigs Don’t get me started on the CodeMasters helpline. What a money-grubbing scam that was.

    • @Lost_n_Found_1
      @Lost_n_Found_1 Před 5 lety +2

      Did anyone assume that Dizzy was either the son or relative of Humpty Dumpty there? Just wondering, lol.

    •  Před 5 lety +1

      SykosymatiK Asking for a friend? ;)

  • @howiefeltersnatch8148
    @howiefeltersnatch8148 Před 5 lety +452

    Anyone else see a young Paul Rudd in the first commercial?

    • @calebreader5818
      @calebreader5818 Před 5 lety +47

      That *is* a young Paul Rudd. I had to do a double take!

    • @jacefiore6203
      @jacefiore6203 Před 5 lety +2

      @@calebreader5818 How did you that?

    • @troublemagnett
      @troublemagnett Před 5 lety +22

      God I was hoping someone would mention it

    • @SidNightWalker
      @SidNightWalker Před 5 lety +12

      I instantly recognized him, holy crap! I totally forgot about that badass commercial too.

    • @mawinstallation6626
      @mawinstallation6626 Před 5 lety +8

      Holy... it's him!

  • @DaxSchaffer
    @DaxSchaffer Před 5 lety +16

    I'm 99% sure that's Tony Jay narrating the SNES commercial at the beginning.... which basically means that Megabyte liked Nintendo games. No one else had a voice like him, it's just so iconic.
    Also, your videos are always so well researched. I'm glad there are thoughtful people like you on CZcams who don't just scream information at their audiences like a moron.

  • @darkstarx3085
    @darkstarx3085 Před 5 lety +81

    10:45
    "It's....me?"
    10:47
    **X-Files theme plays**

  • @acvieluf
    @acvieluf Před 5 lety +113

    I bought a deck enhancer once. It was not what i thought it was.

    • @DebonairOfTheWind
      @DebonairOfTheWind Před 5 lety +20

      One letter makes a difference in life

    • @Lentoron
      @Lentoron Před 5 lety +11

      I also bought a Deck enhancer. I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to enhance my Deck.

    • @Lentoron
      @Lentoron Před 5 lety

      @acvieluf you spelled I wrong

    • @DebonairOfTheWind
      @DebonairOfTheWind Před 5 lety +4

      @@Lentoron ask your boyfriend

    • @Clay3613
      @Clay3613 Před 5 lety +1

      @@DebonairOfTheWind
      Seriously dude?

  • @The_RadicalOne
    @The_RadicalOne Před 5 lety +231

    Dang, now I wish I had kept mine. Nice throwback memory though.

    • @herbderbler1585
      @herbderbler1585 Před 5 lety +5

      I feel your pain. I still regret selling my old Atari 2600 at a garage sale back in the 90s because I had a NES and SNES and didn't need that old piece of junk anymore. If only I could have foreseen what video game nostalgia would mean to us in the future.

    • @TanukidLeaf
      @TanukidLeaf Před 5 lety +3

      So it WAS released in stores?

    • @Kashmir23
      @Kashmir23 Před 5 lety +1

      No never

    • @Kashmir23
      @Kashmir23 Před 5 lety

      That’s what Norm said? So how did you get one?

    • @aguyandhiscomputer
      @aguyandhiscomputer Před 5 lety +5

      @@herbderbler1585
      I'm 38 and threw my Commodore 128 in the garbage when I was 16 or so because I didn't play it anymore. I weep a little every night.

  • @alswo9628
    @alswo9628 Před 5 lety +201

    Came from AVGN, you earned my subscription.

    • @youjuhwan9697
      @youjuhwan9697 Před 5 lety

      yessss

    • @PACKERMAN2077
      @PACKERMAN2077 Před 5 lety +2

      You mean you didn't know who the Historian was?.....
      You missed a lot of quality stuff

    • @alswo9628
      @alswo9628 Před 5 lety +8

      @@PACKERMAN2077 Don't worry; I normally don't binge-watch, but when I do it's for the occasions like this.

    • @xiaolongdrake5353
      @xiaolongdrake5353 Před 4 lety +1

      I was brought here by AVGN

  • @terraticeras4312
    @terraticeras4312 Před 4 lety +11

    Me:Draws an Mario and put in to my fridge
    Nintendo:LAWSUIT

  • @FalloutLibertyHell
    @FalloutLibertyHell Před 5 lety +253

    Paul Rudd knows gaming ;)

    • @syxx7wun
      @syxx7wun Před 5 lety +5

      Ok yea, i thought that was him lol

    • @brianm5563
      @brianm5563 Před 5 lety +8

      Was going to comment on that and looked to see if anyone else did first 👍

    • @IamSpeedyWay
      @IamSpeedyWay Před 5 lety +2

      lol imagine if he added the rudd roll.

    • @paulngo4631
      @paulngo4631 Před 5 lety +4

      Damn he aged well. I look nothing like my teenage years.

    • @captainpalsy2092
      @captainpalsy2092 Před 5 lety

      I knew it 😁

  • @UltimateTechHub
    @UltimateTechHub Před 5 lety +16

    I love this gaming history. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and loved video games.

  • @HeavenlyFloodofRegen
    @HeavenlyFloodofRegen Před 4 lety +8

    This is one of my favorite games...on the Aladdin Deck Enhancer.
    Best qualifier of all time.

  • @TheHeartlessAlchemist
    @TheHeartlessAlchemist Před 5 lety +58

    BTW, nice cameo on the AVGN episode about the Deck enhancer.

  • @Renebean
    @Renebean Před 5 lety +128

    I wish we had Gaming Historian when I was in school back in the day he'd be right up there with Bill Nye and LeVar Burton

    • @stevePHXD
      @stevePHXD Před 5 lety +13

      Except then he wouldn't be the gaming historian, he would just be gaming current events

    • @SomariTheAdventurerJam6
      @SomariTheAdventurerJam6 Před 5 lety

      The Super Sonic Joystick

    • @karlhans6678
      @karlhans6678 Před 5 lety +2

      @@stevePHXD the paradox

    • @technimechanical
      @technimechanical Před 5 lety +1

      Except he really wouldnt be on that level whatsoever especially considering there wouldnt be a whole lot to talk about back then considering everything was still relatively new

    • @favoritemustard3542
      @favoritemustard3542 Před 5 lety

      Butterfly in the sky..?
      *I Can Fly Twice As High !*

  • @AbbreviatedReviews
    @AbbreviatedReviews Před 5 lety +108

    I had no idea Micro Machines wasn't a licensed Nintendo game. I remember playing it and loving it and playing the more recent spiritual successor Toybox Turbos and also enjoying it as well. The original was way too difficult for me to beat as a kid though toward the end. Those super fast cars and the boats would end it for me.

    • @cattyfang4289
      @cattyfang4289 Před 5 lety

      I thought you would’ve known that if it the cartridge was different

    • @ExtremeWreck
      @ExtremeWreck Před 4 lety +1

      @@cattyfang4289 I think he didn't know that because of how good of a game it was.

    • @mancubwwa
      @mancubwwa Před 4 lety +12

      @@cattyfang4289 Zelda also came on gold cartridge and it was as official as offical gets.

    • @cattyfang4289
      @cattyfang4289 Před 4 lety

      mancubwwa but Zelda used the same cartridge design but with a different color

    • @ariel78_
      @ariel78_ Před 3 lety +5

      @@cattyfang4289 im not sure if a kid can be aware of an unlicensed game soley because of a cartidge deisgn

  • @controlcommerce
    @controlcommerce Před 5 lety +10

    Congrats on being featured on AVGN. Making KC proud!

  • @SarahLJP
    @SarahLJP Před 4 lety +29

    I just recently found out about a similar product in Japan for the Super Famicom called スーファミターボ Sufami Turbo released by Bandai. Which was actually officially licensed by Nintendo. Unlike the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. It has two slots and had a linking feature where data could be shared between cartridges. Maybe you could do a video on it sometime.

  • @GenerationGapGaming
    @GenerationGapGaming Před 5 lety +45

    The switch disabling the lockout chip is savage lol! Great video as always and love finding new bizarre NES hardware.

    • @muz426
      @muz426 Před 5 lety +3

      GenerationGapGaming really man,Savage =^\

    • @katherineberger6329
      @katherineberger6329 Před 2 lety +2

      Atari: Goes through the trouble of stealing a copy of the 10NES code to make a backward-compatible "Rabbit" chip that ends up getting them sued by Nintendo.
      Camerica: "Ha ha ha, microcurrent pulse goes brrrrr."

    • @justanotheryoutubechannel
      @justanotheryoutubechannel Před 9 měsíci +1

      @@katherineberger6329Unfortunately, the clone chip method was the only true solution, Color Dreams/Wisdom Tree were never able to get 100% reliability with a pulse-switch method despite using up to 9 different methods and configurations. A bunch of their documents got leaked and you can read about how they tried to get 100% reliability but many consoles took up to 9 attempts to work, and the last model released was so reliable that even with their best efforts 13% of their test consoles couldn’t be cracked. Camerica presumably would’ve had the same trouble.

  • @RockstarMazy
    @RockstarMazy Před 5 lety +29

    My man, I love how you've grown and your content is always quality. Thank you for your hard work and insight

  • @samuelcorreia1696
    @samuelcorreia1696 Před rokem +4

    Rewatching all the GH videos for the 2nd time, and still astonished with the quality of the content in every single video. Undoubtably one of the best channels in all CZcams. Huge thumbs up for Norman and all GH collaborators, from Portugal with love!

  • @DoctorTalon
    @DoctorTalon Před 3 lety +3

    This is always fun piece of history to revisit. Camerica products fascinated me ever since my mom got me Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy as a Christmas present 28 years ago. I hadn't seen anything like it, because it was a gold cartridge and I didn't know until about a decade ago that it was an unlicensed game. Learning about Camerica's history with The Game Genie and the curious Deck Enhancer truly made this a rabbit hole of gaming. Thank you for sharing this! Your million views are well-deserved!

  • @Munden
    @Munden Před 5 lety +14

    NES Cartridges that didn't boot correctly (yes, I too blew into cartridges) would sometimes boot more reliably when plugged into a Game Genie.

    • @catsaregovernmentspies
      @catsaregovernmentspies Před rokem +1

      That was probably because the Game Genie would put more pressure on the 72 pin connector, helping the contacts make a connection

  • @adam_wynne
    @adam_wynne Před 5 lety +72

    ...Linus, who must prove to his buddies that he discovered the planet Earth... *SPEAKING OF DISCOVERING THINGS, TODAY'S SPONSOR IS SKILLSHARE...*

  • @roflmewaffles
    @roflmewaffles Před 5 lety +56

    "that uhhh....people market things to make you spend more money..."
    oh shit we got a quick one

    • @cilonrs
      @cilonrs Před 4 lety +3

      I, for once, tried to pay my things with hugs. Never worked out. Damn greedy money-grubbers...

    • @jesselockhart1230
      @jesselockhart1230 Před 4 lety

      Boy, how'd that lesson go? lol

    • @BagOfMagicFood
      @BagOfMagicFood Před 3 lety

      Consumerism is a trap!

  • @atomicdeath10
    @atomicdeath10 Před 3 lety +5

    Damn I miss Micro Machines. Spent many, many hours playing that game. If I remember correctly my mom got it for me as a surprise one Friday. If a game was releasing and it was in the budget she would usually buy it before it hit the shelves. One of the few perks of working for Kmart at the time.

  • @lh9591
    @lh9591 Před 5 lety +82

    I want Paul Rudd to decide to get serious about gaming with a Nintendo Switch. Literally the same commercial but with present day Paul Rudd.

    • @rastamouse7861
      @rastamouse7861 Před 5 lety

      yes!

    • @benmalsky9834
      @benmalsky9834 Před 4 lety +2

      He's too much of a big star for that stuff. Can you imagine a Nintendo Switch commercial done in the style of the 90's commercials, and one of the guys in the commercial was in what is now the highest-grossing film of all time?!

    • @sunsolaris
      @sunsolaris Před 4 lety +1

      @@benmalsky9834 I mean I assume it's no different when you see an ad for a mobile game feature Arnold Schwarzenegger or Ryan Reynolds. And those are just crummy mobile games!

    • @0oidiedinatimemachineo024
      @0oidiedinatimemachineo024 Před 4 lety +1

      @@sunsolaris yeah exactly. if a company pays a high price many celebrities will do commercials. I mean Japan does this all the time gets big American movie actors to do commercials.

    • @KrolKaz
      @KrolKaz Před 3 lety

      dudes like 60 years old, most people under 20 don't know who he is

  • @WordsmithVG
    @WordsmithVG Před 5 lety +6

    I can confirm that this was sold on either QVC or Home Shopping in the early '90s. I had (and still have) this, though we never found any other game than Dizzy. We got our hands on the original Bignose game this way as well.
    EDIT: It was definitely '93-ish.

  • @pokehybridtrainer
    @pokehybridtrainer Před 5 lety +148

    Shoutouts to those who saw this before the nerd's video. Both still kicking after so long.

  • @chriscab8333
    @chriscab8333 Před 3 lety +1

    Man who needs cable when there's content like this. Unbeatable.

  • @Hailinel
    @Hailinel Před 5 lety +23

    This is all really interesting to hear!
    I remember renting Micro Machines when I was a kid and almost immediately returned it. It was the only unlicensed game I had ever come across and had no idea what was going on with the weird cartridge with the exposed part of the underside that just refused to work in my NES. I guess the switch was just flipped in the wrong way.

  • @JD92205
    @JD92205 Před 5 lety +22

    I found this interesting, I think their plan of selling the Deck Enhancer for one price and then sell the cartridge games for $19.99, at less than half the price of the of the Nintendo game cartridge at $49.99, to market to the working families might have worked. To put that in perspective, the Nintendo games adjusted for inflation would cost $87.07 while the Alladin cartridges would run about $30. Shame the games just weren't that good, and they poured too much of their resources into an old system in addition to their other financial problems. I think this concept would have changed the video game industry at the time

    • @Dargonhuman
      @Dargonhuman Před 5 lety +1

      When I was in middle or high school, I had a teacher that broke the class into groups and tasked us with inventing something that would drastically change some part of our lives then come up with a marketing campaign for that product to sell to our classmates.
      One of the ideas my group came up with was a SNES game cartridge that had a slot you could put a Game Boy cartridge into like the Super Game Boy, except the SNES cart contained a full RPG game and the Game Boy carts were different characters you could play as in the SNES game. The idea was that when you put the Game Boy cart in a Game Boy system, you could train the character with a series of minigames to boost their stats, then when you put them back in the main game, those stats would carry over so that you wouldn't have to grind enemies for hours in the main game. Essentially, we came up with the Pokemon N64/Gamy Boy sharing system before the N64 was even a rumor.
      We rejected that idea for the class project as we figured that wasn't quite "world changing" enough to meet the project's requirements and instead went with some kind of medical something or other but the idea of having a game where you could swap customized characters or other assets basically on the fly was still intriguing to me. Even after that class, I kept coming up with ideas for games that could utilize that kind of technology, like a space shooter where you could swap out different weapons loadouts for the ship or entirely different ships all together, or a fighting game where you could have a base selection of fighters built in to the main game then get special expansion carts to plug in to use additional fighters, things like that.

    • @IamR3D88
      @IamR3D88 Před 2 lety +2

      @@Dargonhuman sounds like your idea was similar to not only pokemon, but the dreamcast vmu and a bit of skylanders with the buy other heros separately. Way before its time!

    • @justanotheryoutubechannel
      @justanotheryoutubechannel Před rokem +2

      It’s a good idea, Sega almost did something similar with their SVP chip. In the end Virtua Racing was the only game released using it, and it bumped up the cost significantly, so they came up with an idea of using a separate SVP-cart that would use Lock-On Technology to connect future 3D games to it, meaning they wouldn’t need an SVP in every game and they could be launched at normal retail price. At one point they had prototypes of Virtua Fighter, Star Wars Arcade, and Daytona USA using this system. Unfortunately, all these plans were dropped to focus on the 32X, which in a way was an evolution of that original idea.

    • @ExtremeWreck
      @ExtremeWreck Před rokem +1

      @@Dargonhuman That actually sounds awesome, not gonna lie.

  • @jackson5116
    @jackson5116 Před 5 lety +25

    Never went on sale to the public, yet somehow it outsold the Wii U according to fanboys!

  • @LuckyBird551
    @LuckyBird551 Před 3 lety

    This channel, and Ahoy, are the best two in CZcams to find in depth information about video game history.

  • @noahwashburn1949
    @noahwashburn1949 Před 5 lety +11

    It's a great day when Gaming Historian uploads

  • @nensondubois
    @nensondubois Před 5 lety +6

    I have a second revision B Aladdin Deck Enhancer. The reason why it can damage top loader NES consoles is because it sends the voltage spike to the console instead since it was designed without the lockout chip. Sending a voltage spike to other parts of a circuit other than it;s original pin can cause damage.

  • @ScreamyngYoshi
    @ScreamyngYoshi Před 5 lety +27

    Did you survive the explosion? Tell me your computer still works...

    • @Gojiro7
      @Gojiro7 Před 3 lety +1

      is that a callback to Norms cameo in the AVGN Deck enhancer video?

  • @gideonwaxfarb
    @gideonwaxfarb Před 5 lety +1

    I've been watching these kind of videos for years, and never heard of this thing. Thanks, Gaming Historian :)

  • @beemer9108
    @beemer9108 Před 5 lety +3

    This is one of the first times I've seen a video by the Gaming Historian, and I can say that I'm impressed by the quality of the video. It was very, very well produced and written. Easy to follow and informative, while also being entertaining. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this channel sooner.

  • @acebharath
    @acebharath Před 5 lety +44

    A new Gaming Historian video. Wooohooooo !!!

    • @Bwianman85
      @Bwianman85 Před 5 lety +3

      Right?! Get so excited when I get the notification!

    • @15-Peter-20
      @15-Peter-20 Před 5 lety

      Indian 😥

    • @acebharath
      @acebharath Před 5 lety +1

      SkyBlue 1988 Indian Nintendo fans are rare right?

  • @hhjohn2766
    @hhjohn2766 Před 5 lety +35

    Rip aladin deck enhancer
    Reason of death: explosions

  • @falondonahue8457
    @falondonahue8457 Před 3 lety +1

    0:40 Little did Norman know he has owned two Aladdin Deck Enhancer's.

  • @HelloKittyFanMan.
    @HelloKittyFanMan. Před 5 lety +8

    13:57: "...and then forms Linus Tech Tips!"

  • @sammichu1906
    @sammichu1906 Před 5 lety +30

    Aladdin deck enhancer sounds like a mod for an aladdin card game lol

  • @AssociationAdmirer
    @AssociationAdmirer Před 5 lety +2

    Very interesting. Codemasters/Camerica's Firehawk is one of my all-time favorite NES games; I had so many hours of fun with it. It's good to hear some of the story of the company behind it.

  • @rickyj3034
    @rickyj3034 Před 2 lety +1

    gaming historian is like a drug to collectors ( well for this collector)...after every video I find myself at the local retro video game shop or ebay. cant help but feel that my bank account hates you but my heart loves you

  • @ElComanche
    @ElComanche Před 5 lety +3

    Your stuff really is amazing. I WISH you did stuff more frequently. But I bet it’s a ton of work to get all the info properly and all that. Keep up the good work!

  • @Teidi
    @Teidi Před 5 lety +103

    Is that Paul Rudd??

    • @wtsyrdeal
      @wtsyrdeal Před 5 lety +3

      Looks like it!

    • @psyents_8150
      @psyents_8150 Před 5 lety +2

      I was wondering the same thing. It has to be!

    • @420Ruger
      @420Ruger Před 5 lety +6

      Yes, yes it is

    • @ordoveritas
      @ordoveritas Před 5 lety +2

      According to google it is. Could be fake news.

    • @420Ruger
      @420Ruger Před 5 lety +7

      @@ordoveritas your life is fake news

  • @jrjard
    @jrjard Před 5 lety +10

    This is crazy! I got the 4-in-1 with Super Robin Hood when I was 5 or 6 at some thrift shop and could never remember what it was. I couldn't find it on ROM sites, and this would explain it. It's like a veil of Mandela Effect just lifted from my life!

  • @jojoface4940
    @jojoface4940 Před 5 lety +11

    Thank you, Gaming Historian. I appreciate your informative content.

  • @h347h
    @h347h Před 5 lety +32

    Tommorow Ebay will be full of Deck Enhancer listings...

    • @Dikwili
      @Dikwili Před 5 lety +1

      They’ve been on there for ages. You can get a decent packaged deal if you’re a smart shopper.

  • @ErnestJay88
    @ErnestJay88 Před 5 lety +52

    I don't even know that Linus Sebastian is an alien looking for planet earth.
    so shocking !

  • @MITOMANOx
    @MITOMANOx Před rokem

    So glad I've discovered your channel! Love your careful research and narrative style! Super duper enjoyable and mind tingling! Thanks for sharing!

  • @MrPhange
    @MrPhange Před 5 lety +2

    I actually had a game for Sega Genesis called Cosmic Spacehead, and it came out of cartridge that looked almost exactly like a standard Camerica cartridge. The difference was that this version of the game was more of a point-and-click adventure game, with occasional side-scrolling elements that were rare and kind of broken. It actually wasn't that bad of a game, and the art design was the most 90s looking thing you've ever seen.

  • @JustinHarrisTV
    @JustinHarrisTV Před 5 lety +6

    I never knew about this. That's why I love your channel! It teaches me cool things. 👍🏿

  • @FrancesBedoya89
    @FrancesBedoya89 Před 5 lety +7

    LOVED this episode!! I never knew this thing existed and tbh when I read the title of this video in my subscriptions I assumed it was about a version of the Game Genie. Keep creating great educational content like this! ❤️

  • @MikeCantGame
    @MikeCantGame Před 5 lety +8

    Love how you were featured on AVGN. 2 of my favorite youtube channels coming together. i would love to see more projects in the future. It would be really cool to see both of your styles clash on an AVGN episode side by side

  • @vincea2996
    @vincea2996 Před 4 lety +10

    It did release. I remember seeing the Aladdin boxes every where never knowing what it was. I remember thinking it was a cheap Aladdin game ripoff.

  • @weasel2htm
    @weasel2htm Před 5 lety +4

    I actually have the Aladdin Deck Enhancer / Dizzy game, along with the Quattro Adventure cartridge. My parents bought them from QVC around when the SuperNES came out. I recall enjoying the Dizzy games, but not caring much for the others. The video makes me want to pull out the NES and play it, but I took my NES and games to my dad after he mentioned wanting to play some of the NES games again.

  • @GregsGameRoom
    @GregsGameRoom Před 5 lety +21

    This is fascinating. Great work as always Norm! It's a wonder more companies didn't try this to cut costs, but I guess since Nintendo was manufacturing all the cartridges, it would have meant they were unlicensed...

    • @mileskay7566
      @mileskay7566 Před 5 lety +2

      Central planning (Nintendo's Monopoly on NES cartridges) kills innovation, but what else is new.

    • @TheRezro
      @TheRezro Před 5 lety +2

      @@mileskay7566 Well, hipsters who pretend that they know what talking about, because they complain about big business presuming that it is "always wrong", also aren't anything new 0_0
      If you wouldn't be dense, you would notice that all those were expansion chips and lockout chip needed for practical reasons (what was primarily quality control). Beside security chip what prevent shuffleware from diminishing value of console, most of those chips were result of the innovation exactly. Camerica could use standardized parts exactly because they didn't give a shit about quality and innovation. And I'm not saying that Nintendo wasn't monopolistic bastard at the time, but you accusations regard them are obviously false in case of innovation or them knowing what they are doing. So go away 0_0

    • @mileskay7566
      @mileskay7566 Před 5 lety +2

      @@TheRezro My point flew way over your head. Think before you attack people. In short, if anyone wanted to make a NES cartridge legally, they had to get Nintendo itself to do it. There was no, "Hey Nintendo, can we design them like this?" because Nintendo, long past the point of being reasonable when the '83 crash was in the rear view mirror, wanted a homogeneous brand for their NES.
      Nintendo did this with selfish intension. They hid behind the idea they were protecting the game industry with their monopoly, when really their impractically expensive cartridges (in effect artificially set prices rather than market equilibrium) were hurting other companies, such as Naughty Dog who were just a start-up.
      Central planning by definition kill innovation. Sorry, comrade. If one person sits in the brainstorming room instead of it being public access, less innovation happens. Gasp!

    • @TheRezro
      @TheRezro Před 5 lety +1

      @@mileskay7566 Ironic quote: My point flew way over your head. As it is in fact exact hipster nonsense you said it is giving you full reason to lough in my face. As Nintendo is wrong for doing something they have absolutely right to do and not something what oblivious hippies would like.
      PS: In order to have monopoly Nintendo would need stop other companies from releasing they own consoles. Idea of monopoly don't apply to your own property after all. What is most basic logic you clearly don't posses 0_0

    • @ExtremeWreck
      @ExtremeWreck Před 2 lety

      @@mileskay7566 I think it's sort of a mix: yes, Nintendo was a bit selfish in some regards definitely, but their way of licensing meant that outright broken games wouldn't be published on the NES. Didn't stop terrible shovelware from being put on those systems though. Remember that terrible Home Alone game on the NES?

  • @HellOnWheel
    @HellOnWheel Před 2 měsíci

    AVGN's Aladdin episode randomly came into my feed today, which is how I first learned about your channel 4 years ago! I know you're working on something big right now, so I'll just watch some classic episodes to help keep your views up 😉

  • @Koridai011
    @Koridai011 Před 4 lety +5

    8:35 well I learned that the hard way - Avgn

  • @EYTPS
    @EYTPS Před 5 lety +61

    First the Game Genie, then the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. What next, the Magic Game Carpet?

  • @MegaJoojee
    @MegaJoojee Před 5 lety +6

    "jumping on mushrooms reveals powerups" hmm I have to try that next time I take mushrooms.

    • @thehoodybadger3402
      @thehoodybadger3402 Před 5 lety

      Beware of accidentally picking up the Debuff "Existential Crisis" however. MND and DEX was reduced by three after that and the entire game became unplayable.

  • @Electromancer1
    @Electromancer1 Před 5 lety

    I had Bee 52. This video brought back a bunch of memories of being completely lost as to what that A/B switch was for.

  • @fronttowardsenemy1332
    @fronttowardsenemy1332 Před rokem +1

    Thank you so much for this video! I remember getting the 4 in 1 adventure pack when I was a kid and never knew why the cartridge was so weird looking!

  • @Movie_Games
    @Movie_Games Před 4 lety +74

    Why didn't Nintendo build whatever hardware that was in the Aladdin deck enhancer into the NES itself? Then sell carts for $20?
    EDIT: He just said exactly what I was thinking at 18:20

    • @taylord5381
      @taylord5381 Před 3 lety +10

      Probably would of made the actual consoles more expensive.

    • @CaptainCat101
      @CaptainCat101 Před 3 lety +9

      Don't you love it when you write a comment that asks a question, then it's immediately answered a few minutes later?

    • @paradoxzee6834
      @paradoxzee6834 Před 3 lety +10

      Well it was about piracy, it was harder for unofficial 3rd party support and pirates to get acess to the chips than just to get the rom cards

    • @CaptainCat101
      @CaptainCat101 Před 3 lety +11

      @@paradoxzee6834 most of their anti-piracy measures don't work. Famicom Disk System's embedded slots, the lock-out chips, the N64 using cartridges, the GameCube using mini-disks, and Super Mario Run needing to be online. It either doesn't work, or it backfires.
      Even Sony imitated them by using proprietary memory cards for the PSP and Vita.
      They need strategies that will work, but not hurt them in the long run.

    • @outtrigger
      @outtrigger Před 3 lety +2

      Greed

  • @AVUltra
    @AVUltra Před 5 lety +3

    This was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Amazing.
    I’d love to talk about the origin of Nintendo as a thing for nec etc.

  • @DarkmanPoe
    @DarkmanPoe Před 5 lety +2

    Funny you should mention people returning Camerica products. I actually bought “Quattro Adventure” back when it was new (I fell for the hype from all the magazine adverts) and did indeed return it after I couldn’t get it to work on my NES (I could only see half the screen). I got store credit for it and got “F-Zero” for the SNES instead. Major upgrade.

  • @davehedgehogUK
    @davehedgehogUK Před 5 lety

    Brilliant vid. I remember this and have been waiting for someone to post a decent video about it. Top marks, subbed.

  • @fatmanjumprope
    @fatmanjumprope Před 5 lety +9

    Young Paul Rudd made the entire video worth it within the first 10 seconds.

  • @LordBarros
    @LordBarros Před 5 lety +11

    I had both the Quatro 4 in 1 games for NES. Not the Aladdin version but the regular games. The BMX game is actually fun once you learn the physics. And Super Robin Hood is a lot of fun, but very challangeing.

  • @McdonaldeS1986
    @McdonaldeS1986 Před 5 lety

    The dizzy the adventure music is unbelievable! So damn jolly

  • @mach1mustangguy992
    @mach1mustangguy992 Před rokem +1

    You’re the not angry video game nerd!
    Very friendly and informative. Cheers!

  • @FoolsGil
    @FoolsGil Před 5 lety +3

    This was quite bittersweet. I'm a business oriented person myself, it's sort of sad to hear when someone makes such a big hit, or several, make a wrong turn and they're done.

  • @MikeDijital
    @MikeDijital Před 5 lety +10

    Am I the only one who noticed he doesnt push the games down in the toaster, he just slides them in .. OCD is a hell of a drug

    • @TooCooFoYou
      @TooCooFoYou Před 5 lety +5

      He modded his NES by switching the original push-down component with the Blinking Light mod.

    • @3MenAndALetsPlay
      @3MenAndALetsPlay Před 5 lety +4

      Its probably an NES with a replacement 72 pin connector, the NES would have you push the game down so the pins would line up, but over time this can cause damage to the pins, so the newer made 72 pin connectors often times don't require being pushed down to work. I only found out when I had to fix mine and pushing it down causes it to not work and I thought I broke it. -Pierce

    • @branaa09
      @branaa09 Před 5 lety +1

      Yep he has Blinking Light Win installed, I have it too.

    • @DiamandiL
      @DiamandiL Před 5 lety

      @@TooCooFoYou I wonder if the Aladdin Deck Enhancer works with Blinking Light Win, as it's meant to bypass the 10NES chip.

  • @enthusiasticgamer88
    @enthusiasticgamer88 Před 5 lety +7

    I'm so glad we're finally getting to the point where backwards compatibility is all but guaranteed for all next gen consoles. I've always felt it should be mandatory and see what Microsoft has done with One X back compat enhancement just makes me even more excited for the future. I hope this keeps going in this direction so that it's more like PC gaming where it's just upgrading hardware and all your old games still work on the new console out of the box. Regardless gaming in 2019 (retro particularly) is incredible, truly the golden age of gaming.

    • @MrMarinus18
      @MrMarinus18 Před 4 lety +3

      The thing with older consoles though is that technology was still developing. So one system was drastically different from what came before. PC's also have that. You can't really play most 90's games on a modern PC without a good emulator. There are some that you can but the majority of them you can not.
      Building in backwards compatibility either requires reusing parts and having a weaker console as was the case with the Wii. Or requires dedicated hardware in addition to the current hardware, pushing the price up significantly as in the PS3.

  • @huzzahhelicopter2433
    @huzzahhelicopter2433 Před 5 lety +3

    10:46 this is why i love the Gaming Historian

  • @brycevo
    @brycevo Před 5 lety +128

    This would have been cool. It's sad they folded so quick.

    • @rurounikeroro7540
      @rurounikeroro7540 Před 5 lety +8

      It seems like a brilliant idea for the time to bring the cost of game production down.

    • @LetTheWritersWrite
      @LetTheWritersWrite Před 5 lety +8

      They just came up with it too late.

    • @Lentoron
      @Lentoron Před 5 lety +6

      it's sad Samsung galaxy fold so quickly

    • @RhythmGrizz
      @RhythmGrizz Před 5 lety

      I think it's pretty inconsequential honestly

    • @DavidLee-df888
      @DavidLee-df888 Před 5 lety +2

      The actual inventor, Codemasters, are still going strong. Camerica were only the distributor. But agree, would have been interesting, prolonging the life of the NES

  • @NunofYerbizness
    @NunofYerbizness Před 5 lety +90

    AVGN Squad? I dunno, does anyone else think #NerdSquad rolls off the tongue better?

    • @jedispartan117
      @jedispartan117 Před 5 lety +3

      Lets go for #NerdSquad. It does sound better in my opinion.

    • @cardgamecoffin1087
      @cardgamecoffin1087 Před 5 lety +2

      It does but that just makes you sound like normies who watched star wars through once and wanna seem different

    • @jedispartan117
      @jedispartan117 Před 5 lety

      @@cardgamecoffin1087 Ok...

    • @user-rg4wl4ex3h
      @user-rg4wl4ex3h Před 5 lety

      @CardGameCoffin ok

    • @mrwassef
      @mrwassef Před 5 lety +1

      But then it kinda sounds too similar to/parodying Geek Squad.
      #NerdNation maybe?

  • @templet45
    @templet45 Před 5 lety

    Excellent video as always and I truly love and appreciate your content and the time you spend on every video. I have a quick suggestion...I think a history/life of (or at least career of) Reggie video would be excellent since he is now retired and has been instrumental in Nintendo's history. We could all pay tribute to the man and get to learn more about him and I think that would be excellent!

  • @VenomStryker
    @VenomStryker Před 2 lety +1

    Looked like Thor was trying to hold back a giggle when he was saying that the Baseball game was the best ever. :-)

  • @Sly88Frye
    @Sly88Frye Před 5 lety +3

    4:34 look at that kid? The original gaming Death Stare! Eat Your Heart Out Luigi!

  • @AbbreviatedReviews
    @AbbreviatedReviews Před 5 lety +38

    8:54 You... you didn't push the cartridge down... why didn't you push the cartridge down...
    *I now know what Blinking Light Win is, if you don't, check it out it's pretty neat.

    • @thestwinner680
      @thestwinner680 Před 5 lety +1

      TIME SAVER *lmao ;D*

    • @sol2544
      @sol2544 Před 5 lety +2

      *NES screeching noises*

    • @baruchjn
      @baruchjn Před 5 lety

      Makes better connection that way

    • @beware_the_moose
      @beware_the_moose Před 5 lety

      what? No it doesn't make better connection if you don't push it down. It might work better if it's contacting a different part of the spring pins because the usual ones are worn or corroded but that's just a fluke, and you'd be better off taking out the 72 pin and replacing it or repairing it!

    • @WMSchoenhofer
      @WMSchoenhofer Před 5 lety +3

      This is common on systems that had the 72pin connector replaced, and does make a better connection that way. Its actually pretty silly if you think about it that they even needed to be pushed down in the first place.

  • @jaygrillmagic
    @jaygrillmagic Před rokem +1

    Big nose the Caveman by Code Masters was one of my favorites!

  • @Yagamiar15
    @Yagamiar15 Před 5 lety

    Love your insanely high Quality content. Watching all of your vids