Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Found this old local news clip from KCCI in Des Moines and it captures the Nintendo 64 launch better than most retrospectives do.
Nintendo officially advertised the N64 for a September 29, 1996 release, but stores like Kay Bee Toys jumped the gun without permission and started selling it three days early, which forced Nintendo to let every retailer sell early too. Whichever day people actually got their hands on one, the console sold out its entire 300,000 unit shipment almost immediately, matching what had already happened in Japan back in June that same year. The price ended up at 199.99 dollars, cut down from an originally planned 249.99, after the Japanese launch performed so well that Nintendo felt comfortable dropping it.
What makes this clip fun is that there were only two launch games available in North America, Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64, which is exactly what you can see kids checking out on that in store demo kiosk. A third game, Cruisn USA, was actually supposed to launch alongside them but got pulled less than a month before release because it did not meet Nintendo's quality standards.
Did your local news cover the N64 launch like this back in 1996, or is this the first time you are seeing coverage like it? Let me know down below.
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#nintendo64 #n64 #supermario64 #pilotwings64 #retrogaming #90sgaming #gaminghistory #n64launch #retronews #90snostalgia #consolelaunch #vintagegaming #localnews #90skid #gameforestgf #youtubeshorts #gaming
Found this old local news clip from KCCI in Des Moines and it captures the Nintendo 64 launch better than most retrospectives do.
Nintendo officially advertised the N64 for a September 29, 1996 release, but stores like Kay Bee Toys jumped the gun without permission and started selling it three days early, which forced Nintendo to let every retailer sell early too. Whichever day people actually got their hands on one, the console sold out its entire 300,000 unit shipment almost immediately, matching what had already happened in Japan back in June that same year. The price ended up at 199.99 dollars, cut down from an originally planned 249.99, after the Japanese launch performed so well that Nintendo felt comfortable dropping it.
What makes this clip fun is that there were only two launch games available in North America, Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64, which is exactly what you can see kids checking out on that in store demo kiosk. A third game, Cruisn USA, was actually supposed to launch alongside them but got pulled less than a month before release because it did not meet Nintendo's quality standards.
Did your local news cover the N64 launch like this back in 1996, or is this the first time you are seeing coverage like it? Let me know down below.
Subscribe to Game Forest GF for retro gaming content every single day.
#nintendo64 #n64 #supermario64 #pilotwings64 #retrogaming #90sgaming #gaminghistory #n64launch #retronews #90snostalgia #consolelaunch #vintagegaming #localnews #90skid #gameforestgf #youtubeshorts #gaming
