Connecting a video game console to your TV today is a pretty straightforward process.
But that hasn't always been the case, as a group of school kids recently found out when their teacher challenged them to plug in an original Nintendo Entertainment into an old black & white TV from the 1970s.
BigBetGaming is a YouTuber, TikToker, and teacher who runs a video game club at Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio.
Recently, he posted a video on his YouTube, where he tasked a group of 7th and 8th-grade students students to connect the popular retro console up to the Panasonic TV, and it makes for an interesting watch if you've ever wondered how today's youth would have dealt with some of the challenges that older gamers had to contend with back in the 8-bit era.
The video shows BigBetGaming's presenting his students with the challenge, before letting them go through the process of working it out themselves. Surprisingly, the kids did a remarkable job, with one student, in particular, immediately working out that they would need to attach a fork to the antennae to insert the console's RF adapter, due to the TV set lacking a coax cable.
This is a step that most younger gamers typically won't have to deal with today, as most modern gaming systems are cable-ready, simply requiring you to pop in an HDMI without much thought.
Later in the video, BigBetGaming also helped his students through the process of turning the TV and using the official Nintendo Cleaning Kit to carry out some maintenance on the machine. He then joined the group in a game of Super Mario Bros. 3, after they managed to get everything up and running.
In the future, BigBetGaming plans to upload a second part, which will feature the students having to take apart the almost 40-year-old system to carry out repairs. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel here, to be alerted when that video goes live.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 8
That ridiculously pristine Challenge Set box is making me feel things.
God, gaming was magical back then.
Videos like this always make me feel angry. It's good to know this one turned out a little better.
I grew up in that era, so it was easy for me
Nowadays the hard part is to find the right TV AV to HDMI converter that does not stutter or have huge input lag to a modern TV
Well that's a much needed reassurance that The System isn't failing ALL the children. Just most of them.
What a lovely video. I wish I had classes like that when I was a kid.
@Razieluigi It still is for me thankfully. I’m sure I’ll be excited unboxing my Switch 2 later this year.
I wouldn't say it was one of the challenges back in the day as everyone at the time knew how to connect a new device to their TV and tune it in. If you are used to doing it regularly it was pretty simple and quick.
@Zenszulu agreed! Everyone knew their setup pretty well...even when the pin in the rf units coax cable inevitably bent.
In all fairness, it didn't seem like much of a challenge for those kids, or at least for the one kid who knew how to attach the forks to the screws.
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