Sheff, Game Over (1999)

Cite as: Sheff, Game Over (1999)
Original: https://archive.org/details/0966961706
sha256: 9c10ac44c4f4a985df41b63fe77492ef5ed7f6796c55ed4b12aee845a7e90b50
Archived: https://archive.org/download/0966961706/0966961706_djvu.txt
Accessed: 2026-10-26
Licence: © David Sheff; Internet Archive scan
Credit: David Sheff, with research by Andy Eddy; the Internet Archive copy is the 1999 updated edition, "Game Over, Press Start to Continue".
Notes: Secondary history by a journalist, with named figures and dates; good for the North American launch and the film tie-in. The prologue gives the US/Japan sales (7 million and 4 million) and The Wizard's use as a 100-minute advertisement. "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" (pp. 190-191) gives the Universal deal and says the film was ready four months before the game launched. The 1993 edition's p. 222 (ROM-chip shortage) is not in this copy; the Wikipedia citation to it is a lead only.

Cited on

David Sheff's book Game Over says the game sold 7 million copies in the United States and 4 million in Japan, more than any video game until then.	`Prologue, pp. 4-5Prologue, pp. 4-5`	Book
Universal's film The Wizard, released on 14 December 1989, ends in a tournament played on Super Mario Bros. 3, two months before the game's North American release; Nintendo Power promoted it as a preview of the game. Sheff writes that Nintendo was paid a licensing fee and approved the script and the game footage.	`"The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", pp. 190-191`	Magazine
Sheff writes that Nintendo of America's television commercial for the game showed no game footage, only crowds of children chanting "Mario".	`"The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", p. 191`	Book