Every wonder how the United States came out on top in the Cold War? Could it be superior intelligence? Diplomacy? Sheer military force? Cold be. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the video games.

Wired has a nice slideshow of newly-repaired Cold War-era video games. According to the story, "[f]rom the late '70s to the early '90s, Soviet military factories produced some 70 different video game models." If the selected photos are any indication, the state of gaming behind the iron curtain was sad indeed.

Fortunately for teens in the area, the end of communism meant liberation, Super Mario style, with Nintendo and PC games making their way across the border. God bless America, indeed (and you, know, Japan, too).