Call me crazy, but I actually like the look of the US SNES. But I like the colored buttons on your controller better. 😜

Okay, look, as someone who grew up in North America. When I see this console I can see the beauty in it. Good memories.

Being of Eastern German descent before coming to the United States in 1993, I find the Eastern Block condominium aesthetic of the NA SNES comforting and a thing of beauty.

huh. it is fascinating how aesthetics can be so.... arbitrary. I always thought the _other_ snes hardware looked terrible and wondered why the US market got a so much more appealing form factor, and I was not even someone who grew up with it. To me the PAL/SFC versions always looked very generic and uninspired. I think it is also pretty in line with designs like the PS1, which was the console I spent the most time with, so it might simply be a case of 'what was in fashion for your region at one's impressionable time'.

As someone who didn't even grow up with this console, I would say that I prefer the Japanese design, but I wouldn't call the US design "ugly", in fact, it looks pretty good. I think it's the addition of purple buttons that pulls it all together for me.

I definitely prefer the blockier NA SNES. The Super Famicon kind of looks like a flat slab with some superficial curves on the edges. Compared to the NES, which was just a box, this looked like a fancy polygonal stealth tank. The raised rectangles clearly delineate the power, reset, and eject buttons while curving straight into control ports, while the raised cartridge slot is so prominent that it begs people to look at what game you're playing. Plus, there's just something great about thet contrast of purple on light gray.

Something you may not realize about the NES. In NA at the time period, a lot of people had the large blocky Wooden TV Consoles that had large flat surfaces on the top for knickknacks and other random shlock, and there were also more modern TV's that had large flat tops, where people just chucked their NES on the top and let their controllers hang off on to the side of the screen and play that way. Lego actually used this sort of TV design for their NES console set. As a kid, on a Saturday morning after watching the cartoons we wanted to, or didn't watch them, we'd jump to our NES and would promptly set our bowls of Cereal right on top of the NES and eat out of them casually as we were playing. Not the best of ideas with open vents on the top, but hay we were kids.

It's not ugly, it's iconic.

It's funny, of course I grew up with it but I find the NA version much cooler! Looks kinda like a muscle car instead of the more toy-like Super Famicom. The controller, though, love those 4 color buttons! I would miss the concave/convex buttons though.

I always loved the NA SNES look. I always thought the one abroad looked awkward and boring. Ours had the 90s flare to it.

Funny thing is I didn't think anything of it until I finally, many years later, saw a Super Famicom. I was more angry we didn't get the multi colored buttons. But I will admit pushing those oversized purple buttons is so satisfying. Like holding brand new tools with that rubber grip kind of satisfying. BUT... I was a Sega guy back then so even if we got the Japanese/European design I'd have thought the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Model 1 would have looked better anyway.

Some consider ugly, but when I had my Super Nintendo Pal version, and saw some US games in renting stores, I felt the need to get one someday, I loved the purple buttons, and the nice grey cartridges! I have one in my collection now, and not yellowed ! Mission complete ^^

I actually like the look of the SNES. But it is indeed more brutalistic than the Super Famicom. But not by a whole lot. The SNES still had these purple details and slightly lilac gray plastic that made it look very pleasing actually.

When the SNES was going through its prerelease hype, my mom was working at a rental store. Her boss imported a Japanese SNES and we got to be some of the first kids to play it in our city. I was quite shocked when the North American version came out and looked so vastly different. I still loved it though.

I never thought that the North American SNES was “hideous.” It had a less toy-like design & was simply elegant.

I honestly think its preference to what part of the world you're from. The Super N-E-S (or Super Nintendo as we called it in my neck of the woods) felt like a piece of state of the art equipment, much the N-E-S (or just Nintendo) before it. While I like the Japanese/European design, I much prefer our North American version. The Y and X buttons being different were a welcome addition as well, though I do have to agree on color choices.

The SNES is not ugly. It's quite pretty actually.

I don't know why people from outside the US think our SNES looks ugly, I think it looks nice. I lucked out and never had mine turn yellow.

I'm from the U.S and our version of the SNES was somthing i saw in magazines before it was even released. It was something i wanted so bad and obsessed over for so long..and then finally got one.. its very nostalgic for me..a thing of immense beauty.

Great video! I personally LOVE the North American SNES design and miss the days when console designs varied in different markets. I have 2 other design advantages you didn't mention. Both have to do with the cartridge design. I prefer my carts to have end labels which the non-US versions do not have and 2nd the SNES can take Super Famicom carts if you rip out the tabs but the European SNES cant fit the American carts due to them being slightly larger. Keep up the great work!

I loved the US snes. I sold my PAL console for a US NTSC model back in 1994. Looked better, faster, and smaller borders on Street Fighter 2. Also good luck getting decent Mario Kart lap times on PAL lol.

*It’s not THAT ugly I’ve grown to love it like a lot of people now* ❤️

Im offended… as someone that bought the US Snes on release day, I think it looks good.

I actually think that the North Americaan SNES looks better than the other ones.

It makes sense, since I've been older it's like they coulda done soooo much better on style, but when I was younger I was just excited to get one never knew so much thought went into making something so ridiculous 😂

Honestly didn't mind the NA SNES, but the Super Famicom does look better Also, I really liked the use of the 4 colors on the controller

I always thought it looked that way because it was supposed to appeal to children more as it looked like kid's building blocks (Lego for example).

I’ll take “ugly”, the option to play Japanese games without a converter, and all of the games we got that the PAL regions missed out on any day. :P

I never considered that these consoles simple design could be considered brutalist, but I guess it's because brutalist design was everywhere around here

Here in the States I never heard anyone over here say that the SNES was ugly. I never thought it was ugly. Yeah the Super Famicom is more sleeker looking I can admit that. But, most people I've heard say the SNES is ugly are usually people outside of the States.

"I guess it does have a slot" .. the whole building heard me laugh! Thanks, L.D! 😂

As an Australian, I always thought America had the coolest brands + variants available to them that we didn't have. But the design of the SNES, I think that was the first thing I saw that I thought Australia (or the rest of the worlds, more accurately) had was way better

I have both versions and I still prefer the American version, It looks more like a video game system as opposed to the other version. It just looks like something you can tuck away I don't consider it ugly at all I think it looks pretty dope 🤘

Here in the States most of us had no problem with the design or look but you're entitled to your opinion!

Unusual feedback; Your videos are among the few that I don't need to speed up to keep me interested. Both great speed and just the right swing in pitch ^^

In Brazil we’ve got this one too. However (as this was Brazil), it was not uncommon coexisting with some Super Famicom imported from Japan or even Paraguay. Sometimes even moding the console in order to work in the Brazilian system (Pal-M instead of NTSC/NTSC-J)

No way! The US version looks fine to me. It's everyone else that has the weird one. Just saying.

Growing up with the US SNES, it has a certain charm... albeit a blocky-looking charm. Maybe it is just the nostalgia. It was like Brutalist architecture. The violet buttons looked kind of cool at the time. I agree the SNES/Super Famicom the rest of the world got is a much better design.

My biggest complaint about our shell was not having the Famicom logo anywhere on it! That said, I'm glad that was no longer the case when we jumped to the N64.

People don't realize it today, but one factoid that gets forgotten is the mere fact that NES games were loaded into the system like a VHS tape. Nintendo cleverly straddled the lines of "toy" and "entertainment equipment" like a VCR, and having the cartridge be inserted and then pushed-down definitely helped this.

I reckon the biggest travesty with the SNES design - wasn't the console but the games box art. The Japanese Super Famicom games looked gorgeous but where often binned for horrendous "westernised" alternatives.

C'mon, it's not that bad! And all my childhood memories regarding gaming are linked to that SNES model. For me, your model is nice. But, it's something I still consider odd.

I live in Italy. When I was a child I went to buy the SNES. The European version was identical to the Japanese version, but when I arrived at the PC shop there was this strange console (probably imported somehow via the near Sigonella base). I see on the box it was a SNES so it was ok for a child. But when I connect it to the TV set at home with the antenna cable, the image was in b/w and disturbed, because the US SNES uses NTSC standard, while in Europe there was the PAL one. But fortunately, using a SCART A/V cable the image was OK (better than my friends' SNES that used the RCA A/V cable included in the box). The main problem was that the cartridges between the EU and US versions weren't physically compatible. The US cartridges were too big to fit on the EU console. The EU cartridges could fit in the US console except for the absence of two notches on the sides of the cartridges that blocked the final insertion. But, on the plus side, I could use JPN imported Super Famicom cartridges that were identical to EU cartridges but with the notches (because they used NTSC standard as well).

Great video. Loved the Kevin & Perry Go Large ref at 17:16

I didn't mind it at the time and still appreciate it today. In later years I picked up the North American redesign. I still consider it the finest console of the cartridge generation, despite the housing

I'm from the UK but always preferred the US version, it looked the part with its sharp lines but I must admit I love more boxy retro hardware. I get why Nintendo thought a more rounded design would look more modern but it never appealed to me and I think the US version has aged much better due to its sharp, pronounced lines.

I owned the SNES when it first came out, and I remember seeing news on Nintendo Power GamePro, Game Players, as well as Video Games and Computer Entertainment magazines. And I remember asking "WHY CHANGE A GOOD THING?!?!?!" Mind you, I think I was about 14 years old, when I got the SNES and Genesis that year... Even then, I thought they were changing a design just for the sake of re-designing it. I can remember years later, being in Europe, and buying a German SNES on clearance, just to send home. ...Not to play PAL and SECAM games, mind you. I bought the then-clearanced DM99,99 (roughly $47USD) console, just to later tinker and place NTSC innards into it, and have the more superior color button controllers with my setup.

An oft-overlooked reason (or perhaps a side effect) of the change in design was that it was a de facto hardware region lock. While PAL and Japan had the same design, it was difficult to play import games due to the inherent differences from NTSC to PAL; but, had North America adopted the SFC design it would have likely been very easy to play import games unless Nintendo did some shenanigans with it. This side effect also applied to the NES before it, though with a bit of a twist, as now North America and PAL regions shared the design, but the difference from NTSC to PAL was the same. The Nintendo 64 would have these "shenanigans" with region locking, as a carrier piece inside the cartridge slot was shaped differently depending on the region, and each region's cartridge mold was also shaped to match. Though it also made it very easy to "region-free" your 64 by simply removing this piece or replacing it with a "region-free" piece. Interestingly, the North American Super Nintendo design would be packaged for a PAL region-- Brazil, which completed the combination matrix of video standard/chassis design hardware region locking. Of course, this is all before considering the CIC lockout chip.

Honestly, in my opinion the US SNES design is awesome. Its one of the best looking console designs during the 80's/90's. So much better looking than the boring and bland Euro version. The 2 tone grey scheme with the purple just looks good, not to mention it was sort of futuristic looking from that early 90's perspective. I really loved it

IMO, the only improvement between the Japanese NES and the US one was the detachable controllers. So many issues stemmed from the horizontal push-down mechanism of the cartridges...

“The North American snezz”. I don’t know anyone who called it that here. I most commonly heard “Super Nintendo”, and occasionally “S NES” read out as an initialism (where you’d say every character individually, with a slight pause after the “S” and before the “NES”, which was natural because we also typically said “NES” as an initialism rather than an acronym). But perhaps there were regional differences across Canada and the U.S.?

big fan of you and top hat, thanks for the great vids and please keep them up both of ya

Nah gotta disagree the American version looks way more better because it actually looks like a video game system, It stands out and When you walk into a room, you immediately know what it is without having to second guess. The other version of the Nintendo just looks pretty boring.

I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Never thought NES or SNES looked bad. If anything I thought the Japanese models looked bad.

8:21 this is Trellick Tower in West London, one of my favourite landmarks for some funny reason

I'm sorry, I died for moment after reading that "Do Not breathe under water" sign. 🤣🤣

I think opinions on all of this are biased towards which one you grew up with. Which is why I feel you may be wrong about which one is designed with less design and style. I'm not saying either looks great, bt the pal version and super famicom are kind of boring in looks and seem more form over function. While you might be right about brutalism design being inspired by the north american snes, I can't really say. I don't think either win in a beauty contest, but I would say the super famicom/pal version is the more boring and plain design. At the time, we were used to things with wood grain and had black or silver vcr's and hi fi equipment. The north american snes was a radical new design and didn't have that vcr look like the NES. So it wasn't that unreasonable to bring some fresh new concept and to people it looked cool and exciting at the time.

brutalist architecture is fantastic. polling and research even shows people were literally happier in this type of housing than they are in the unaffordable junk built today.

I'm American. I didn't have a Super Nintendo until 2007, well after it was discontinued. Being a Sega kid, my only ways of experiencing the Super NES was through visiting my older cousins and playing it with them or renting the console and games from a local video store (not Blockbuster). I'd love to have a shell swap of my unit done after seeing how much better-looking the Japanese and PAL versions are. I also always liked the Japanese controllers' button colors better than what we got in the States.

I think we almost got the U.S. style machine in the UK. I distinctly remember a teaser advert for the machine a while before it came out in the UK in which you saw the controller. The controller was the U.S. styled one with the two light purple concave buttons and the two darker purple convex buttons.

In the UK I remember the emotional rollercoaster of seeing the lovely Super Famicom design in games magazines and longing for its release over here. Then seeing the US design with its janky angles and 'parma violet' controller buttons and thinking "Oh dear lord what have they done!". There was such an overwhelming sense of relief when it was announced the UK version would go back to the Japanese design. Crazy Americans and your boxy stuff - just look at those 80s cars too!

Coming from Germany I grew up with the round, colorful design like the UK and loved it. Back in the days there was no internet and I didn't knew about the different north-american look. When I found out many years later and saw that design the first time I thougth at first it was one of these chinese ripp-offs. I still love the european design much more to this day, so I agree with you. At least they left the controller round 😊

I like how you have billy kane stage music from fatal fury playing in the background in the beginning of the video.

The thing that stands out most about the North American SNES to me is actually the power LED. On the "rest of the world" model, some time was taken into molding a stepped hole for the LED, and it wasn't just a round one, rather a proper for the time rectangular one. On the NA version however it feels like a total afterthought, like they put the console together, and then someone said "Shit!! We didn't put a power indicator on it!! Quick, get the drill and make a hole on the left side where the 2 halves meet!!"

The architecture + mental health discussion was a bit of a surprise. Also, I'm forever thankful that PAL territories like my own received the superior smoother SNES design.

I think insulting the design of snes is like insulting the US itself. What matters is the games and I liked the model as it didn't look childish like the super Famicom. I bought this as a teen and I liked the more muted look that goes well with the entertainment system

I like it. From UK. Partly nostalgia from seeing it and being very excited and us being led to believe we would also be getting the boxy purple brick version. I do like it the colours and the fact it was instantly desirable being seen in glimpses running say mario kart before the UK launch, knowing it ran at 60hz and got the games year or more earlier and in English it was the machine to have if you were hardcore. Easy to mod to play Japanese games too. I sold a mint one and a yellowed one and massive collection just back in the market for a mint super famicom and loose carts. USA price stuff is just too bonkers now.

I always thought that the US SNES set the standard by which console quality could be measured aesthetically and functionally. Might not have been a sony revolution if they hadn't directly upheld that console quality style with the og psone. The US SNES also keeps the coloring subtle which seems to be the most popular color scheme for painted rooms in this country, that crushed ice base with a smoky pastel trim color. Much like how the Victorian era favored bone or ivory white with a primary color based trim. I think Nintendo nailed it when correctly choosing the aesthetic that would appeal to the largest audience.

I guess it’s because I grew up with it, but the SNES really looks awesome to me. A big part of the design was also due to the fact that people used to place drinks on the flat system and they did not want people spilling liquid on and into the system. To answer your question…. LOTS of American kids did this, though I was not one of them. I never viewed the SNES as communistic in design. Perhaps this is in the eye of the beholder. To me, the SNES is such a great system, the design is linked (yo, Zelda!) to that greatness and I see it’s design as pretty and fun. That’s just me.

it's not ugly. it's one of my favorite consoles (aesthetically) ever. besides, you wanna talk ugly? ps5. it's an abomination. if i had one, i'd have to hide it so i'd never have to look at it. but there's no reason to upgrade to next gen consoles.

I've never heard of any system, much less the SNES, compared to Eastern Bloc construction. Actually quite hilarious, though I imagine Mr. Barr's purple accents would have sent any architect to the gulag. You mention the whole soda and cereal thing as though it were preposterous, but I can totally see it happening. I never did it myself as I always ate my cereal at the table and had my soda on the floor next to me, but I can see where someone would do that. It's worth remembering that none of the popular UK gaming systems had a flat surface like that. The micros obviously had their integrated keyboards keeping things from sitting on there, but the Master System also has those sharp angles, which serve to prevent similar indiscretions. Even the Genesis and the PAL SNES don't have any spots where you can rest a drink on. Lastly about the bread, I imagine Mr. Barr wasn't thinking about your normal loaf of sandwich slices, but some of the more artisan breads. I can see how it looks kinda like a sourdough round, but my first thought would have been a meatloaf.

The very first console I ever played on was the super Famicom with the colourful buttons and the slick design back in the late 90s in Zambia. My cousin owned it and I was in love with the curves on that thang. When I learnt that the US version of the console was blocky and fairly chunky I was shocked because at the time I was unaware of differences between console variations in different regions ( See mega drive/ genesis)

Lmao this video is so funny. I personally prefer the US SNES over the soggy soft lines of the SFC. The SFC is quite feminine. Also the N64 is so goofy and looked old even when it released. The SFC and N64 are reminiscent of the space aged prototype cars of the 1950s.

The Japanese Super Famicom is a thing of beauty, such an awesome design of shape and colour balance. The USA SNES is a Fugly mess.. I get some people like it out of nostalgia, but as far as design goes, boxy purple is not great :/

I put glitter glue and acrylic paint all over mine drizzled the paint on sometimes the buttons get stuck but it's fun, the glitter gets on your hands but that just means you're doing mario

I love the NA SNES design. Being that only all of my older cousins had an SNES in their homes (I had an N64 and PSone) I thought the purple color scheme was fitting for the “big kids’ console.”

I like the snes design.

I love!! The design of it. The grey and purple was and is am awesome color scheme and the design..perfect

This is the official format in all America, including being officially launched here in Brazil and in other countries in South America, I think both formats are very beautiful.

Now explain what's up with the weird layout of the SNES "X" and "Y" buttons. Do those letters mean anything? On both the GameCube and the Microsoft Xbox the "Y" button is near the top of the controller because it is raised on the Y-axis while "X" is moved off to the side because it's been moved along the x-axis (left on the Xbox right on the GameCube). On the SNES Y and X are reversed. Switch Pro copies the SNES layout so there's bound to be some reason it's laid out that way with Y and X being the buttons that they are.

I think the us version is gorgeous, click bait :(

I think that called SNES US design ugly is exagerated, I love the Japanese/European design more, but the US design I don't find it ugly, the problem with the US design is that it looks like a Lego toy, which isn't necessary ugly, but yeah the Super Famicom design is much better in that regard, and another thing that I think the americans did great design was with controller cables, which are longer than the super famicom ones, and also I prefer the american design of the catridges, the japanese and european are beautiful, there aren't ugly or questionable designs there, but the american ones are easy to organize so that's a win for me, still is interesting discuss console redesigns, I like that topic, which is curious is aside the outside design the inside one is the same as the Super Famicom, just a little sticks between the catridge slot avoid to play super famicom games, anyway greetings and good video.

I bought an NES on eBay maybe 10 years ago now. It was advertised as working, but the unit I received was super corroded inside to the point of being completely dead. The seller apparently switched units accidentally and I got the damaged one. Luckily I got a refund but kept the NES. The edge connector on the PCB that inserts into the cartridge connector was very corroded with a lot of broken traces, but luckily I was able to solder in some wires to repair the connections. The cartridge connector itself was corroded green so I had to get a new one, but ended up getting it working. Now I'm wondering whether that NES died because some idiot poured their Mountain Dew into it.

@ 4:11 what's up with the cursor on duck hunt?

Yes thank you for saying this out loud. I always loved the SNES but there was that nagging feeling that it was annoying looking.

When my mother surprised me & brother with the SNES in 93, I didn’t give a frog’s fat ass how it looked, To me this is just more Passive/Aggressive Anti-American Bias

I always liked look of US SNES more. I'd chosen a different color scheme but looks more interesting to me. I like the colorful buttons on the international versions more though

I think the NES and SNES styles look better then the Famicom and Super Famicom but I wish they were both made in the beautiful charcoal grey color like the N64 and by doing so there wouldn't be any ugly yellowing effect on those consoles.

Now do one on why the Super Famicom is ugly.

I honestly think the SNES is BEAUTIFUL and the Super Famicom is BUTT ugly. Always has been, always WILL BE. But that's me😊👍

I'd love to see a British SNES. Oak with green Velvet wrap. Like a pool table but shaped like a grand clock!

XD i like that u made mana zelda and chrono trigger stand out in the background my favorite games of all time

I disagree with the Video

NA SNES look fine. Are you jealous that the SNES have a better game library and decided to do a cringe video.

When it came out it looked awesome! So futuristic and clean in that light gray with the purple accents. I still think it looks great! It looks more modern and high tech than the computers ghat cam out all Through the 90s and early 2000s!

Are there any photographs of that early NES design that was shown before the redesign?

I prefer the look of the Super Famicom but the concave/ convex buttons on the SNES. Funny story, I had a cousin who thought my NES was thirsty so she flipped the lid and poured in a glass of lemonade. 2 days later it worked as good as new. Those things were built to last.

Actually function over form was orginated in the german Bauhaus style in the early 20th century, but they did not go for brutalism of the eastern block but wanted to get rid of pointless decorations and to find a new style more down to earth! There are quite nice Bahaus buildings! Actually one of the bauhaus design principles was that form has to follow function, which found its pinnacle in the Braun designs. The antithesis was Apple under Ive which broke regularily function (aka heating problems unusability) because they shoehorned design in in a way that it broke pysical laws!

My NES under its name printed on the cartridge door flap is written _Mattel* Version_

NEC showed us how to design a proper console (PC Engine). Somehow that design was ruined as well in the US market with the other big chunk of fugly plastic: the TG16. You would expect that the HuCard set the standard for cartridges, but no, Nintendo wanted to do buly boxes with crappy stickers again. Today they make the cartridges too small. We lost quite some DS/Swtich games between car seats of rental cars. The HuCard is the best form factor, back in 1987, but also today. Being credit card size there are many nice options to carry them.