This is an IHeart podcast.

Guess what, Mango?

What's that?

Well, all right.

So I've had this fact waiting to use it.

And I think today's episode is the right one.

So did you know that Nintendo almost came out with a knitting machine?

No, no.

Was that in its earliest days or like with the Wii?

No, no.

Like in the 1980s when they came out with the original NES system. You remember this? Yeah, yeah. I found this old trade ad for it when they were considering launching it and here's how it reads. So it says, now you're knitting with power. It's not a game, not a toy, not something a young girl can outgrow in three to six months or even a year. It actually knits sweaters.

That's so weird. And sexist? But I mean, the technology is kind of forward thinking, I guess.

Yeah, I mean, you could fashion your own patterns, yarn it up and have it knit for you, I guess. I think that's how it works.

And the guy who was asked to demonstrate it for Toys R Us called it one of his least genuinely

enthusiastic demos and it basically got zero demand. But reading about the Nintendo knitting

machine made me wonder, you know, how long has Nintendo been around? And how have they survived

for this long in such an incredibly competitive market? And just how much running and swimming is Mario doing in Super Mario Brothers.

So that's what we're going to find out.

Let's dive in.

Yeah. Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome to part-time genius.

I'm Will Pearson, and as always, I'm joined by my good friend Mengesh Hot Ticketer.

And on the other side of the soundproof glass, holding up a paper that says, up down, up down, left, right, left, right, be a start. Wow, isn't that the Konami code from Nintendo? Yeah, that's the secret code that gave you all those extra lives in Contra. That is just how thoughtful he is, sharing a top secret industry code on the air with us.

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