Would videogames be what they are today without R.O.B.?

[J T]

Even as a kid, I have always thought R.O.B. was just a worthless gimmick. R.O.B. was cute, but he sucked at games, even at Gyromite. Maybe even especially at Gyromite. But I recently realized I may have been wrong about R.O.B. I may owe R.O.B. a lot more respect than I ever gave him. It doesn't matter that he sucked at games and spinning tops.

I recently read that R.O.B. was a big selling point to the toy stores of the 80's. The videogame industry had crashed after the Atari age. Toy store managers had lost faith and did not want to waste their shelf space on another hard to sell and doomed to fail home gaming system.

Enter R.O.B.

R.O.B. was there making the Nintendo Entertainment System look less like a gaming machine and more like a children's toy. This is why gamers don't like R.O.B., but it is why he appealed to toy stores. The toy companies thought kids were done with videogames, but they could be persuaded that every kid would still want his very own Robotic Operating Buddy (with a light Zapper to boot!). Robots, tops, and plastic guns have always been staples of the toy industry. It's what toy people understand. This is why Nintendo packaged R.O.B. into their launch system. He was never meant to be a great gaming peripheral. He was there to flash his eyes and spin tops so that toy companies would recognize him as a toy and would be wowed by his futuristic panache. But R.O.B. was really a trojan horse to sneak videogames back into the toy stores, and as we all know, Super Mario Bros was the secret concealed weapon he brought with him.

So next time you see an old R.O.B. somewhere, don't laugh and make fun of his lousy Gyromite skills. Blow the dust off his little red LED eyes and say "Thanks man. Without you, Mario may have never made it to the shelves. You took one for the team, and the rest is history."

[DaGamingMonkey]

:Applause:
Good way to put it. I think you may be correct.
I wish I had a R.O.B.

[Dakinggamer87]

I totally agree with you very well written. I look at R.O.B. next to my PC and think gaming is still alive and well thanks to Nintendo and peripherals like R.O.B. to revitalize the industry.

[jmanx81]

Nice! I wish I owned a R O B.

[Luke]

Very interesting theory.

[noiseredux]

[fastbilly1]

I need to repair my second ROB. He needs the vertical gear replaced. A buddy gave him to me at a Superbowl party a couple years ago. He had no idea what it was but said that when he saw it he thought of me.

[BAD PIXEL]

I'd have to agree with this.

It was a hard sell to convince toy stores to stock video games and the computer/video game system (the Nintendo AVS) that Nintendo tried to push at the 1985 CES generated zero orders.

So they decided to add R.O.B. and the Zapper gun, strip out the computer-related add ons of the AVS and position it as a toy. Nintendo even worked out a deal with Worlds of Wonder, who produced Teddy Ruxpin and Lazer Tag - two of the hottest toys at the time, to get shelf space at toy stores that weren't initially open to stocking the NES - basically saying that if the stores wanted Teddy Ruxpin, they'd have to stock a certain number of NES units as well.

I think the other factor you have to consider is the Super Mario Bros. pack-in system that came after the initial NES release with R.O.B. and the Zapper. I don't think the NES would have reached or been able to sustain the the level of popularity it received had it not been for that genius move.

But I agree that if it weren't for R.O.B., the NES wouldn't have been able to woo the toy stores and we might not have ever played the NES.

[Luke]

But how many people actually bought their NES from a Toy Store?

I got mine May 9th, 1987. Man, I remember it like it was yesterday too. What I don't remember is where my parents bought it, as they surprised my sister and I with it. I emailed my Pops to see if he remembers. I mostly remember seeing the consoles being sold at stores like Meijer, Sears, and Roses.

Once in a while we'd get games from Kay-Bee Toys, but would usually get our games from a game retailer.

Man, I'm aging myself here, but remember toy stores in malls?

[Octopod]

I remember the way Toys R US video game section used to be like 3 or 4 whole isles of video games and you would take the tag to a customer service section and they would get the game for you. This was pre-NES games when we would go and get Atari games but I think I remember is still being like that for a while after the NES came out. It seemed to me that they had everything imaginable. Toys R US was like a paradise for me back then, lol. We'd go and get a video game and then I got to pick out some toys. Usually Star Wars or He-man but I had quite a Dungeons & Dragons collection back then too.
Anyhow, ROB sucked hard. Gyromite was best played with two people and I thought it was funny as hell to smash my sister out of nowhere. I think we got my NES from Kmart but I am not sure since it was an xmas gift.