Nintendo is known as a family-friendly developer and console manufacturer, targeting this demographic with Super Mario in various games. Even before the plumber’s first appearance, Nintendo attempted to create an erotic game that never saw the light of day.
What game was it? When you watch a promotional clip from Nintendo, you almost always see families playing games like Mario Kart or Switch Sports. Even if their children do not always play perfectly, Nintendo is generally known as a kid-friendly game company, but that wasn’t always the case.
Before Nintendo produced its own home consoles, the company was known for toys and card games. Before the NES, they experimented with arcade consoles, which were fixed games that could be played in dedicated halls. You would insert coins into the machine to play a round until you died and then had to insert more money.
A major genre during the arcade era was light-gun shooters. Instead of a classic joystick, a replica of a gun was used to aim at a screen and shoot opponents. The most famous game in this genre is probably House of the Dead.
For a presentation of one of these games, Wild Gunman, a legendary developer from Nintendo envisioned a much more risqué version: Fascination.
Not risqué at all is Super Mario Bros. Wonder:
A prototype allegedly designed to impress male journalists
What kind of game was Fascination? In 1974, seven years before Mario’s first appearance in Donkey Kong, the prototype Fascination
was developed during the production of Wild Gunman. In Wild Gunman, there were recorded scenes with real actors, with which players could interact using a toy gun. A document containing the prototype can be found on the Tumblr blog of videogamesdensetsu.
Gunpei Yokoi was supposed to develop the game. The legendary developer later became responsible for the Game Boy at Nintendo. According to a quote from GoNintendo, the developer remarked about a presentation for the game:
I knew that only male journalists would be present at the presentation of Wild Gunman, so I wondered if there was a way to land a big coup by doing something unusual that would seduce them. That’s how I envisioned Fascination.
In Fascination, you did not shoot opposing cowboys. The focus of the game is a young woman dancing to the rhythm of the music. As a player, you shoot at her clothing, causing the model in the game to become increasingly revealing.
Although it was reportedly quite popular according to Yokoi’s quote, it was never properly released.
While prototypes were said to have been set up in Shinjuku, there was never a proper release. This was allegedly because the technology was too complicated and the parts were more fragile than other light-gun shooters. Since the game never appeared as an arcade game, there are also no videos or proper images of the gameplay.
Are there games for adults on Nintendo consoles? Nintendo itself did not develop any games that were classified as 16+
or 18+
afterward. However, several games aimed at an adult audience were released on their various consoles. With Resident Evil 4, they even had an exclusive deal for the GameCube.
There are also countless games on the Switch that are not just family-friendly. Mortal Kombat 1, Doom Eternal, or The Witcher 3 are just a few examples. With Catherine: Full Body, there is even a puzzle game with erotic elements from the well-known Persona developers. But of course, the current Nintendo console is primarily known for family-friendly games. In disputes with other companies, however, Nintendo is not so friendly: Palworld is currently in a legal dispute with Nintendo, changing how you summon your monsters
