The imaginations of youth know no bounds, and this particular eager gamer from 1991 had an idea that would some day come to fruition — partially, at least. Back when Nintendo Power (and magazines in general) found peak popularity, readers would write in with ideas, critique, and passion for the past, present, and future of gaming.
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Such was the case when Jimmy Peterford, a resident of Glen Cove, New York and avid reader of Nintendo Power. Peterford wrote in with some pretty big ideas for the future, but one held true – the naming of a future Super Mario game that went on to take the world by storm on a popular new console. While detailing his ideas for an all-new game system and controller, Peterford noted that his console’s flagship game would be the 24th installment of the Super Mario franchise, titled Super Mario Galaxy.
Here’s what Peterford wrote:
“My fantasy game system would be a 512-bit system. It could display 27,876,992 colors at one time and could play any game from any video game system that was or ever will be! There would be a miniature band inside that knew how to play any song! You could even buy a special chip that would allow you to make your own games for it! What game would come with the system, you ask: Super Mario Galaxy.”
Peterford goes on to state that his system would come with a whopping total of six controllers that each had 27 buttons. He named it the Raw Power System and set the price at an incredibly modest (for our era, at least) $259.95. While those controllers and that price seem pretty unrealistic right now, a few elements from Peterford’s dream system have come to life in some form or another: the Nintendo Wii comes with 512 MB built-in flash memory, and while the Switch can’t play every game ever, the Virtual Console opens up the playing field for classic favorites and other titles.
Not a bad prediction for something that came in the form of a fan letter.
