Ever confuse/get confused with classic gaming jargon?

[NeoTurboManiac]

I'm still confused about why my entire offline life I have always heard people pronounce the NES as N.E.S. and the SNES as Super N.E.S. but constantly hear them both pronounced as words on YouTube like Nes and Snes. I assume that maybe it is a geographical thing and that was how it was said in other states back in the day. But it sounds so odd to me that it triggers some kind of prejudice that is the opposite of that assumption where it feels like a new way of pronouncing them was introduced by people that never heard them pronounced the way I always have because they are posers pretending that they are talking about consoles from their youth. It sounds just as odd to me as if I started hearing people refer to the Atari VCS as the Atari Vicks or the Odyssey 2 as the Odyssey Squared(That one would kind of make sense to me though because if all I had to go on was the box then I would think it was called that).

I find it extremely cringe worthy when someone pronounces the NES and SNES as if they are words. I would say Nintendo, N-E-S, or 8-bit Nintendo and Super N-E-S or Super Nintendo.That and the word "shmup". I come from that era and I never heard anyone pronounce those two systems or the shooting game genre like that.

Edited January 16, 2016 by NeoTurboManiac

[Mayhem]

 

I don't think so. I think it started as a gamer hipster thing. If it didn't start with the gaming boom on YouTube, it started at almost the same time.

 

SNES as a word (eg. pronounced as "snez") was common in the UK on TV shows such as Bad Influence and GamesMaster, so I suspect they were some of the earliest, if not THE earliest to start the trend.

[English Invader]

I find it extremely cringe worthy when someone pronounces the NES and SNES as if they are words. I would say Nintendo, N-E-S, or 8-bit Nintendo and Super N-E-S or Super Nintendo.That and the word "shmup". I come from that era and I never heard anyone pronounce those two systems or the shooting game genre like that.

 

For me, it's the opposite. They were always called NES and SNES/Super NES and N-E-S or S-N-E-S would have sounded awkward and completely out of place.

 

In the UK, we have a tendency to turn an abbreviation into an acronym if it forms a pronounceable word (UKIP, UCAS) for the sake of clarity.

[Schizophretard]

SNES as a word (eg. pronounced as "snez") was common in the UK on TV shows such as Bad Influence and GamesMaster, so I suspect they were some of the earliest, if not THE earliest to start the trend.

It sounds like that Bad Influence show really was.

[NeoTurboManiac]

 

For me, it's the opposite. They were always called NES and SNES/Super NES and N-E-S or S-N-E-S would have sounded awkward and completely out of place.

 

In the UK, we have a tendency to turn an abbreviation into an acronym if it forms a pronounceable word (UKIP, UCAS) for the sake of clarity.

Interesting. Here in the US it's only been referred to that way in recent years.

[omegadot]

'GCN' still confuses me.

 

I recall there being some collision between the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the GameCube in common usage. If I remember right GCN is the Nintendo abbreviation for the US GameCube. A (very) brief foray to Google confirms this.

[jfitzenr]

Interesting. Here in the US it's only been referred to that way in recent years.

 

I had one friend, very American, that always pronounced them as "ness" and "sness" back in the day, so i always assumed it was just some alternate pronunciation. I have no idea where he picked it up or what now, come to think of it. This might be the most useless etymology discussion ever but I'm really, really interested now!

[Eltigro]

Everyone's experience will be different.

 

I don't remember anyone ever saying NES or SNES as words. When I was growing up it was "Nintendo". Then when the SNES came out, it was "Super Nintendo." To differentiate, the older system retroactively began being known as "The Original Nintendo" or the "Old Nintendo" or "The 8-bit Nintendo." Sometimes people would maybe say them as the letters, but I don't remember it being that often. I probably do it more now than I used to, to make it easier to know what system I'm talking about. If I just say "Nintendo" now, it could be any number of systems.

 

Saying it as a word may be a regional thing, too. Someone mentioned that people in the UK often say them as words and I know that where I hear it the most lately is when I'm watching Wood ("BeatEmUps") on youtube. He's from Australia.

[+Black_Tiger]

Growing up with "hardcore" video game friends in a town big on games, we all read game mags and used "N-E-S", "Super Nintendo", "Super N-E-S" and occasionally "S-N-E-S".

 

But what I never heard or read people describe until recently, after people started becoming gaming experts overnight and flooding youtube with educational videos... and what literally makes me physically uncomfortable and cringe is people saying any variation of "Ness". The worst being "Sness".

[BassGuitari]

In my neck of the woods it was "Nintendo" and "Super Nintendo." If you were edgy or something you might have said N-E-S or Super N-E-S. "Nezz" or "Snezz" have would have been trying too hard to be edgy, and your friends would make fun of you.

I never understood where GCN came from, either. GameCube Nintendo?

Or PSX, for that matter. Where's the X in PlayStation?

[+madman]

Or PSX, for that matter. Where's the X in PlayStation?

I don't know where that came from either, but BITD it was commonplace. Something we all just accepted and didn't really question.

 

As for NES/SNES, online I read them in my head as "nes" and "snes" pronounced like "nest" without the "T." In real life I'll usually say "Nintendo" and "Super Nintendo."

[omegadot]

Or PSX, for that matter. Where's the X in PlayStation?

Even worse, there was a PSX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSX_(video_game_console)

 

I've read that PSX was an early codename for the PlayStation and it just sort of stuck.

[Osgeld]

when you read magazines (outside of nintendo power and sega visions) they often would refer to it by PSX, the x being experimental or experiment or Xtra tasty dunno, kind of hard to pin down exactly what the X was

 

then yea they xboned it with the PSX media box thingie (seriously you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to look stuff up for XBOX once they released the 3rd system as one, gah!)

Edited January 25, 2016 by Osgeld

[+madman]

I've read that PSX was an early codename for the PlayStation and it just sort of stuck.

Yeah, I think it was an early name or something, that was over 20 years ago so my mind isn't quite that sharp on that subject.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I'll admit it, I get confused whenever someone starts talking about higher end audio/video connection setups like SCART and RGB systems for connecting their consoles to a TV. I understand coaxial and composite connections but anything past that just makes my brain glaze over a bit.

[CatPix]

It's probably just because you don't have them.

 

Here is the back of a mid-range LCD TV here (in Europe)

(tho more and more, they is only one SCART)

 

French Intellivision and Atari 7800 with SCARt, and a 36cm TC with SCART as well :

 

What makes me go WTF is on the opposite end, people that connect everything on RF because it's supposed to be "more authentic".

[BassGuitari]

What makes me go WTF is on the opposite end, people that connect everything on RF because it's supposed to be "more authentic".

I use RF because modding all my consoles would be a Herculean task.

[mbd30]

I use RF because modding all my consoles would be a Herculean task.

 

I've considered getting my NES toploader modded to reduce the jailbars, but I've become so accustomed to the bars that I almost consider them part of the console's quirky charm, and they're not always noticeable anyway. I might not get it modded.

[Csonicgo]

I'll admit it, I get confused whenever someone starts talking about higher end audio/video connection setups like SCART and RGB systems for connecting their consoles to a TV. I understand coaxial and composite connections but anything past that just makes my brain glaze over a bit.

RCA tried their best to bring SCART over to the states, touting it as "high definition" or some nonsense, instead of saying "this reduces wire clutter". Else, people would have bought it. My dad actually bought into the "hype" and bought a Sylvania, which weighs as much as a cartoon bank safe. Could I tell a difference in quality? Barely. By the time I could get SCART cables for my consoles, the TV was already obsolete. Plus, none of the Hi-Fis supported that kind of audio.

 

You know what consumers like though? Coax-like connectors. The less cables and plugs, the better. SCART was an attempt at that but failed in the states due to poor marketing, plus coax connections still being king, as stereo was still not even supported by most cable boxes - it took Miami Vice for people to finally complain about audio quality!

 

HDMI was a smash hit - one cable provides audio and video, just like the cable box. Who needs to worry about RGB, Yr/PBR/Schlitz connectors, when just one cable does all that mess? I couldn't care less about the "high definition" bit! going from 5 inputs to just ONE saves so much hassle that I wish we had SCART back in the day, because wow, I can finally get behind my TV and not get stuck in a ball of RCA cables!

[CatPix]

I use RF because modding all my consoles would be a Herculean task.

I was more thinking about peopel that use RF boxes on their NES, Super Nintendo and Genesis systems. I mean, just, please, why?

[Eltigro]

Yr/PBR/Schlitz connectors

Ha!

[+madman]

SCART/RGB was indeed not very popular in the states except for hardcore gamers (and arcade cabs) who either got an RGB monitor like the Sony PVM/BVM series or more commonly these days, folks using an upscaler like the xrgb-mini, though technically it's JP21 by default and not the Euro SCART standard, but that's kind of splitting hairs.

[+save2600]

I was more thinking about peopel that use RF boxes on their NES, Super Nintendo and Genesis systems. I mean, just, please, why?

 

I agree... if your system has composite or better natively out, then that's the way to go. But when it comes to the A/V mods on systems such as the 2600 and 7800, not a day goes by where I don't read someone complaining about their modded Frankenstein system. Jail bars, artifacts, incorrect colors that can't be dialed in, ghosting/bleeding, a sound channel too quiet, stereo mod buzzing, or the mod itself just plain failing and producing no picture at all!

 

'Course, some peoples setups look great with S-video and I too have had modded systems in the past (unhappy with ALL the ones I've tried and ultimately sold them), but think I'll be leaving my RF native systems as RF for as long as I possibly can.

[Osgeld]

Jail bars, artifacts, incorrect colors that can't be dialed in, ghosting/bleeding, a sound channel too quiet, stereo mod buzzing

 

all those are probably present on RF, you just cant see / hear any of it due to the thick blanket of junk and noise inherent in the delivery method, and A lot of people dont understand that, they think "av modded its going to look like my HDMI computer monitor"

 

main reason I tend to shy away from doing other peoples mod's, got tired of hearing stupid crap like "but the screen is still blury" after recapping a game gear, or the before mentioned colors on a 2600 not being right, the probably are more technically correct than anything, but combined with NTSC and all the narfing of the signal to get it to a point where it can be vomited out a RF signal meant for a 300ohm input, but plugged into a 75ohm input produces a totally different image.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Osgeld

[mehguy]

(as in the computer itself) a "hard drive" and it stuck.

 

I hear teachers all the time call computers a "hard drive". Make me cringe every time I hear it.