| Developer | Nintendo LodgeNet |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Matsushita Avionics,Rockwell Collins, andThales Avionics (airline version) LodgeNet (Hotel version) |
| Product family | Super NES Game Boy Nintendo 64 GameCube |
| Generation | Fourth Fifth Sixth |
| Released |
|
| Availability | Airlines and hotels only; not for retail sale |
| Lifespan | 1993–2012 |
| Discontinued |
|
| Controller input | Armrest controller (airline version) Special versions of SNES, Nintendo 64 and GameCube controllers (hotel version) |
| Backward compatibility | Not compatible with regular Nintendo systems |
TheNintendo Gateway System is a series ofvideo game consoles specialized forairlines andhotels. As part of a partnership betweenNintendo andLodgeNet from late 1993 up until the late 2000s, about 40,000 airline seats and 955,000 hotel rooms featured a modified version of theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System,Game Boy,[1]Game Boy Color,Game Boy Advance,Nintendo 64, orGameCube, installed on someNorthwest,Singapore Airlines,Air China,Air Canada,Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane,All Nippon Airways,British Midland International,Kuwait Airways,Malaysia Airlines,Thai Airways, andVirgin Atlantic passenger aircraft, as well as certain hotels with LodgeNet, NXTV, or Quadriga entertainment systems.
Aimed more at adults than Nintendo's core children's market,[2] it was one of the first in-seat airline entertainment services, provided byMatsushita Avionics,Rockwell Collins, andThales Avionics. The controller, or remote, for the airline version of the Gateway System had a button setup similar to the Super NES controller, and it also doubled as a remote for the movie and music aspects of the system. It was part of a much larger computer system that allowed air passengers to not only play video games, but also watch movies and shows, listen to music, talk on the phone, and even shop while in-flight, before the rise of the internet. Upon its release, there were 10 games installed in the system, which includedThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,F-Zero andSuper Mario World. Future plans for the system were to have it installed on cruise ships as well.
LodgeNet partnered with Nintendo to bring video games directly into guest hotel rooms through streaming over the LodgeNet server, with the special LodgeNet controller plugging directly into the television or LodgeNet set-top box, transmitting the game over phone lines connected to a central game server. Pricing was usually $6.95 plus tax for 1 hour of video games. After 1 hour, the game would immediately stop and prompt the user to purchase more play time. Many games were modified for single-player play only.
Its official website was discontinued in mid-2008, but units have been seen as late as 2013 for Nintendo 64 in hotels, and as late as 2012 for Game Boy and Game Boy Color on Singapore Airlines. LodgeNet was the most widespread pay-per-view system for hotels that used it.
On August 10, 1993,Nintendo of America began rolling out the Nintendo Gateway System, initially in one of Northwest Airlines' Boeing 747 andLodgeNet.[2]
In late 1993, LodgeNet launched its on-demand hospitality service, including worldwide delivery ofSuper NES games to hotel guests via its proprietary building-wide networks.[3] LodgeNet eventually reported the system being installed in 200,000 hotel guest rooms by April 1996, and 530,000 guest rooms by mid-1999. By April 1996, LodgeNet reported that its partnership with Nintendo to deliver Super NES games had yielded 200,000 worldwide hotel guest room installations. In June 1998, Nintendo andLodgeNet entered a 10-year licensing agreement for an "aggressive" upgrade to add Nintendo 64 support to their existing 500,000 Super NES equipped guest room installations.[4] LodgeNet says that within the system's previous five years to date, the system had "caused Nintendo to become the most successful new product rollout in the history of the hotel pay-per-view industry".[5] LodgeNet reported that within the middle of 1998 alone, 35 million hotel guests encountered the Nintendo name as an integral amenity,[5] and it reported sales of more than 54 million minutes of Nintendo-based gameplay.[6]
In June 1999, LodgeNet and Nintendo began expanding and upgrading their existing Super NES buildout to includeNintendo 64 support. In mid-1999, LodgeNet reported that its 530,000 hotel room installations were increasing at a rate of 11,000 rooms per month.[6] In September 2000, Nintendo and LodgeNet began delivering newly released Nintendo 64 games to hotel rooms at more than 1,000 hotel sites, concurrently with the games' retail releases, demonstrating "the capacity to updateLodgeNet's interactive digital systems with fresh content virtually overnight".[7]
Games are offered for six Nintendo platforms, theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System, theGame Boy, theGame Boy Color, theGame Boy Advance, theNintendo 64, and theGameCube, with support for theNintendo Entertainment System planned. While GB, GBC, and GBA games are exclusive to the airlines, the N64 and GC games are exclusive to the hotels, and the SNES is available for both.
There were 49 Super Nintendo Entertainment System titles available to play on LodgeNet hotel televisions and on airlines equipped with Nintendo Gateway System, which LodgeNet used for their hotel service. Some titles were not playable on airlines.
There were 38 Nintendo 64 titles available to play on LodgeNet hotel televisions.
There were 43 GameCube titles available to play on LodgeNet hotel televisions.
There were 33 Game Boy/Game Boy Color titles available to play on airlines featuring Nintendo Gateway System.
There were 13 Game Boy Advance titles available to play on airlines featuring Nintendo Gateway System.