SNES Misconceptions Over the Years

[racketboy]

So as you might have seen, I’m working on a new revision of the SNES 101 Beginners Guide. I’m trying to pull in some inspiration from Marurun’s suggestions for talking points viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52129

One suggestion was to cover common misconceptions about the console: “Cover, very briefly, any common misconceptions relevant to the scene so people can avoid getting in a cycle of arguing technicalities they don't fully understand.”

Maybe my head isn’t in the right place right now, but I’m kinda blanking on what might apply to the Super Nintendo.

Does anybody have suggestions to discuss?

Thanks!

[MrPopo]

There's the misconception you pronounce it as a word, rather than "Es-en-ee-es".

[racketboy]

There's the misconception you pronounce it as a word, rather than "Es-en-ee-es".

That seems to be a mostly European thing? I don’t think I ever heard it until certain Youtubers in the last few years.

[emwearz]

There's the misconception you pronounce it as a word, rather than "Es-en-ee-es".

I think this is mostly a regional thing not a misconception. Seems to be mostly PAL regions (UK and Australia, maybe EU). It is really a preference thing, some people say Super NES, not gonna say its a misconception, it is not really wrong, just the way they say it. If you are not saying Super Nintendo Entertainment System, you are really saying your own short hand version of it. Just because it is different to the one you grew up with, doesn't make it a misconception.

Fun fact in WarioWare Gold it says the correct way to pronounce NES is NESS, like the character in Earthbound.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/08/random_nintendo_finally_confirms_the_correct_pronunciation_for_nes

Growing up pretty much everyone said NES (NEh-ES) and SNES (SNEH-ES or SNEH-EZ), I also called the NES the Nintendo and the SNES the Super Nintendo myself, now I just pronounce the letters.

I think saying Genesis is a misconception

[MrPopo]

It was mostly tongue in cheek; every time I watch GDQ they say nes and snes and it drives me crazy.

[o.pwuaioc]

I and everyone I know grew up calling it the Super Nintendo. No one I know abbreviated consoles back in the day until the PS2.

Also, just because Gradius III was poorly coded (and a very early title), the Super Nintendo must be bad for shootemups. Later entries like Axelay, R-Type III, etc. show that shootemups can be great on the system.

[marurun]

The SNES supports multiple backgrounds, but the more backgrounds you have the fewer colors you can use for each layer. Many games used sprites or HSYNC timing tricks for some parallax to avoid having to sacrifice color counts.

[Gunstar Green]

I'm not a fan of Axelay either to be honest. It's ambitious but the Mode 7 stuff doesn't work well for me. Super Aleste/Space Megaforce is one of the most impressive ones on the console for me and I wouldn't even call that incredible or anything.

Anyway in regards to acronyms where I grew up we called the NES the "regular Nintendo" or "old Nintendo" and the SNES the Super Nintendo.

[o.pwuaioc]

Axelay isn't one of my favorite shooters either, but it is an incredible game. Just not my cup of tea. R-Type III has some great graphics, some advanced tech, and great music. I know of very few people who dismiss it outright. Super R-Type, on the other hand...

[marurun]

The reason so many shooter bog down is that the SNES just doesn’t seem to be able to perform a ton of collision calculations efficiently. Space Megaforce is one of the few SNES games where the developers (Compile, apparent masters of collision code) really figured out an approach to collision math that the SNES could do well with. Other SNES shooters are good despite slowdown.