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feature :: the history of competitive gaming - part 1

The History of Competitive Gaming - Part 1

Starks gives us a in depth feature on the history of competitive gaming. This is Part 1 of a two part series.

Introduction | The Past | Walter Day Interview | The Rise of Nintendo | Conclusion

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The Rise of Nintendo...

The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, could probably go down in history as one of the most famous consoles in history alongside the Atari 2600, the Sega Mega Drive and the Playstation. The stream of games in the 80’s that encouraged and conducive to competitive gaming on the NES are extensive, but the main four were as follows:



  • Super Mario Brothers series
  • Donkey Kong (Although admittedly a port from the original Nintendo Arcade machine)
  • Tetris
  • Rad Racer

A movie released in 1989, The Wizard, exposed the general public, albeit pretty terribly, to the possibilities competitive gaming holds, and in 1990 one of the most significant competitions occurred - The Nintendo World Championships, also known as Powerfest 1990.




The Nintendo World Championships saw 30 local competitions around the United States holding qualifiers using a special timed cartridge of the games Super Mario Brothers, Rad Racer and Tetris. Using a fairly simple multiplier, players were given exactly 6 minutes and 21 seconds to gain the highest score possible. Contestants were split by age - 11 years old and younger, 12 - 17 years old, and an over 18 years old category.

The winners of the local competitions gained entry to the finals of the Championships, which was held in the Universal Studio’s at Los Angeles. The 90 competitors battled it out to win their age division, with Jeff Hansen winning in the 11 and under category, Thor Aackerlund taking out the 12-17 category and Robert Whiteman victorious in the 18 and older category. The three played off to see who the best of all the divisions, was with Aackerlund taking first, Whiteman taking second and Hansen taking third in this final competition.



Some real footage of the Championships, showing Thor Aackerlund in his quest for 1st place.


All the competitors took home one of the 90 cartridges used in the competition, which are regarded these days by games collectors to be one of the most rare and valued pieces of ‘gaming history’. eBay has seen prices of US $4000 fetched for these rare items; however the real ‘Holy Grail’ is one of the gold cartridges given out in one of the Nintendo Powers competitions held.

Prices of up to US $8000 have been reached for these cartridges as Nintendo and gaming enthusiasts alike believe it to be one of the most sought after collector’s items.

The competition itself was rudimentary by today’s standards, yet it set the benchmark for what was to come. The media coverage was reasonably extensive, attendance was high from a spectator point of view, competition was reasonably tough and the event itself was run by standards that would give later tournaments a framework by which they could plan to.

I’d class this as Nintendo at the peak of their powers. The games they released were addictive, they encouraged replay ability and they brought out the competitive spirit in players that still to this day is flowing. Indeed, speed runs on Super Mario World are considered in Japan to be a mark of skill. This type of ‘pride related’ competitive spirit is what has forged niche communities around the world.

Nintendo later held another Championship in 1994, click here to get some idea of how the event went.

Again using local qualifiers, Nintendo offered the 132 of the best players in the States a trip to Sea World San Diego. Prizes, including $5000 cash, a car, home entertainment systems and more.

Nintendo, building upon the success of the 1990 tournament, slightly altered the tournament structure by dividing the contestants into four teams (The Cyclones, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Typhoons) and requiring the squads to work together to score the highest points. The winning team was the Tornadoes. From there, the players were made to go through an elimination style bracket play, where the final winner and runner up were Mike Iarossi and Brandon Veach respectively.

The games played were Super Mario Lost Levels, Super Mario Kart and Ken Griffey Jnr Home Run Derby. Differing from the previous tournament, the skill was found in completing the first two games in the quickest time possible before seeking to hit as many home runs as possible. Click here to see scores for these finals.

From here, I would suggest that the ‘Nintendo’ era for competitive gaming comes to an end. Powerfest ’94 was the last Nintendo sanctioned tournament, and essentially saw the end of ‘High Score’ competitive gaming. In the years following, games such as Quake, Counterstrike and a host of RTS games saw the evolution of competitive gaming take a new path.




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