Nintendo Entertainment System

ファミリーコンピュータ Famirī Konpyūta
North American model
Release dates
Japan	July 15, 1983
North America	October 18, 1985
Europe	September 1, 1986
Technical information
Display	8-bit
Media	ROM cartridge
Other information
Console generation	Third generation
Console type	Home console
Successor	Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System (Japanese: ファミリーコンピュータ Family Computer, or ファミコン Famicom), often abbreviated as the NES, is the second home video game console developed by Nintendo (the first being the Japan-only Color TV-Game series released from 1977-1980). This console is often credited with beginning the third generation of video and computer games. The first title in the EarthBound series was released for this system, though only in Japan. Sales for the Nintendo Entertainment System were high, with a strong lineup of exclusive games such as Kirby's Adventure, Metroid, and Ice Climbers. The console's best-selling titles are Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3. The Nintendo Entertainment System was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Many games for the Nintendo Entertainment System were re-released as Virtual Console titles on the Wii Shop Channel and later the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Among these titles is Mother, which was released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015. Several Nintendo Entertainment System titles are included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as Masterpieces.

History

File:FAMICOM.jpg

The Nintendo Famicom.

Since before the success of their Game & Watch line of systems and their venerable arcade games such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., the president of NCL (Nintendo of Japan) at the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, had tasked a team of engineers with creating a home computer gaming system. Due to the video game crash of 1983 in America, Nintendo had an opportunity to enter a billion-dollar industry with their console, since the crash that destroyed the console playing field over in America had not affected Japan in the slightest. One of Yamauchi's desires for the console was to keep the system's price point at around 10,000 yen, or 71.27 American dollars (worth roughly 221.03 US dollars in today's age). Their console, the Family Computer System (or the Famicom), would be based off of the Atari 2600, with upgraded computer chips and controller input to differentiate itself from Atari's console. The console eventually ended up costing 14,800 yen (105.44 US dollars, roughly 322.33 US dollars today), which, while not as cheap as Yamauchi originally wanted it to be, was still cheaper than its competitors.

The Famicom was designed around the internal architecture of Nintendo's arcade cabinets, as Nintendo wanted to to match the cabinets' powerful sprite and scrolling capabilities, with Nintendo also planning to release ports of Nintendo's popular arcade titles on the Famicom system. The Famicom was also designed to look like a toy and not like a PC system to appeal to Japanese electronic stores, as they were not favorable towards carrying video game systems in their stores as they required televisions to operate. The maroon-red and cream-white color scheme was decided by Yamauchi upon viewing a scarf and a tv antennae with the same color scheme.

The Famicom launched on July 15th, 1983 in Japan to immense critical and commercial reception, with its launch line-up consisting of home console ports of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye. Shortly after its release, multiple reports came in from all over Japan that the Famicom would freeze or crash during gameplay; a problem cause by faulty chips in each and every Famicom console that malfunctioned. In response, Nintendo recalled every Famicom system (including the non-faulty systems) in the marketplace and replaced the motherboards for each and every system, with the consumers who had the faulty Famicoms being given the choice to send in their defect Famicoms to receive a brand-new replacement console free of charge. This act of goodwill bolstered Nintendo's image in the eyes of Japanese retailers, and the Famicom would move 500,000 units for the rest of 1983, with tv manufacturer Sharp producing a commercially-available tv set with a built-in Famicom. Three million Famicom units were sold by 1984, with 19.32 million units being sold by the end of the Famicom's lifetime. The Famicom would become the most popular console system in Japan at the time, with manufacturing lasting two decades before it was finally shut down in 2003. The last published Famicom game, Master Takahashi's Adventure Island IV, was released in 1994.

File:Avs system.jpeg

The Nintendo Advanced Video System. Here, you can notice the multiple applications for the system and its accessories.

The Famicom was planned to be released in the United States; however, due to the video game crash of 1983, American retailers were adamant about not selling any video game system ever again. To alleviate this, the system was redesigned multiple times to appear more like a VCR device. The name for the American Famicom was originally the Advanced Video System, with multiple prototypes of the system being showcased throughout various electronic trade shows in 1984 and 1985. The device was conceived to have multiple applications, with several add-ons for the console being a tape deck/data recorder, a piano keyboard, a joystick, a programmable BASIC cartridge, and a typewriter keyboard. The system was touted as less of a toy and a video game console but as a high-end revolutionary entertainment system capable of "images that actually appear three-dimensional". It was also touted as being the first system to be "designed to fit in with other fine audio and video components", the first system "that allows play of music as well as games", and the first system that was "more than a toy". The Advanced Video System (or AVS) also came with two infrared wireless controllers, (the AVS was meant to have no wires for the system and its applications at all, the only wires for the AVS being the ones that would plug the "cartridge controller" into the wall and into the television. ), and a sleek and futuristic "light wand", which could be used as a "light gun" in target games such as the hit Famicom game Duck Hunt, which was also showcased at the events along with the Famicom titles Baseball, Excitebike, Golf, Tennis, and Donkey Kong Jr. Math.

File:1985 proto nes.jpeg

A June 1985 design for the Nintendo Advanced Video System.

However, the potential retailer's receptions at the various trade show events was lukewarm at best; while they enjoyed the system and its titles, they saw through the AVS being a high-end entertainment system and saw it for what it really was: another video game console that had a very high probability of crashing and burning in a market that had excised new video game consoles and titles from it only a year earlier. As such, they were extremely skeptical of its chance at success in the U.S.

Hardware

The Nintendo Entertainment System supported 8-bit graphics, whereas most consoles of the second generation of video games only supported 1-bit or 4-bit graphics. The Nintendo Entertainment System also supported 2-player games, though Mother did not utilize this feature.

EarthBound games for the Nintendo Entertainment System

• EarthBound Beginnings

Trivia

• Ninten's name is an abbreviation of Nintendo and a nod to the Nintendo Entertainment System, much like how Ness's name is a reference to the Nintendo Entertainment System or the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.