Nintendo Entertainment System

Release: December, 1985 (New York), February 1986
aka: NES, Famicom (Japan)

In 1983, Nintendo had released the Famicom (Family Computer) videogame system in Japan. The system had sold nearly 3 million consoles and 15 million games in a year.

By 1985, the American game industry had crashed. Nintendo and INTV were the only companies interested in gaming at the time. To bring the Famicom to North America, Nintendo turned to Atari. Atari, however was uneasy about the state of the industry, and backed out of the deal. This was a huge mistake on Atari's account.

So Nintendo decided to release the Famicom overseas itself. This was difficult, because retailers were hesitant to buy video game systems. Nintendo took an approach at minimizing the video game appearance of the Famicom. They renamed it the Nintendo Entertainment System, and marketed it as a home entertainment device, like a VCR. The system was test-released in New York City for two months before its official release.

The NES was released in two sets. One included the system, two controllers, a R.O.B (Robot Operating Buddy, see below), a Zapper gun and three games: Gyromite, for the ROB, Duck Hunt, for the Zapper gun, and Super Mario Bros., the NES flagship title. The second system, naturally cheaper, included they system, controllers and Super Mario Bros. The NES was a huge sucess. The gaming industry was revived.

Nintendo learned from the failiure of its predecessors. They develloped a strict third- party policy. For starters, no game could be sold legally for the NES unless it was reviewed and permitted by Nintendo. The NES was programmed to only recognize games that had been liscenced. Also, Nintendo only gave liscences to dedicated third parties. This meant that a company that made Nintendo games only made Nintendo games.

Nintendo was the most published and commercially sold gaming company. Super Mario Bros. merchandise and cartoons were released. Nintendo Power, a magazine that has been in publication ever since, was started about the time of Super Mario Bros. 2's release. The magazine features game reviews, previews, news and a "Classified Information" section featuring cheats, passwords and codes for Nintendo games. In November 1989, The Wizard was released. The movie was essentially a really long Nintendo commercial about three kids, one of which is really good at video games, go to compete in a huge gaming competition. The movie is full of NES stuff, and towards the end, a suprise unveiling of the upcoming Super Mario Bros. 3 game was shown in the competition.

Upgrades & Accessories

Zapper/light gun

This gun works interactivly with any TV screen to shoot on-screen objects. Released with Duck Hunt at the NES debut, the Zapper is, in my opinion, the best gun accessory ever designed for gaming. Nintendo included a weight in the handle to balance the gun, giving it a more realistic feel.

Robot Operating Buddy

ROB is a small robot that interacts with the NES. Also released at the time of the NES (with the game Gyromite), The ROB can move stacks of chips, as well as rotating tops to correspond with game events.

Family Fun Fitness

Believe it or not, an attempt was made to make playing Nintendo good for you. No more wasting away with your Nintendo addiction, Bandai released an 8-button mat (similar to a Twister game) on which one or two people could move an on screen character. The point was for people to stay in shape while they played. The mat was released with the Athletic World game cartirdge.

NES Sattalite

The NES sattalite allows up to 4 players to play a single game at once. This remote unit can transmit to the NES, without wires, from up to 15 feet away. 4 controllers can be plugged into it, and games which accomodate this unit have a red sticker with a '4' on the box.

Power Glove

Mattel designed this glove, which features movement emmiters on the front and a keypad plus joypad on the top (back of hand). Sensors are placed around the TV which detect the glove's movements.

Konami LaserScope

Konami created their own alternative to the Zapper light gun: the LaserScope. The LaserScope is a headset that features a target (which is brought down in front of the face), headphones and a microphone. It's voice-activated: simply say "Fire" to shoot the "laser". This can be used with any Zapper-compatible game.

Other Controllers

Other NES controllers were released, by Nintendo and third-parties. Popular ones include the NES Max, a sleeker controller with a round control pad, and the NES Advantage, and arcade-style joystick with slow-motion and autofire.

Game Genie

This code device, similar to the GameShark you see today, alters the way the system percieves the game. This can change the way the game is played, giving you unlimited lives, infinite time, better jumps and other changes.

Multiplayer Link (Unreleased)

There is an expansion port on the bottom of the NES, originally intended for a multyplayer link system that was never released.

Disk Drive

Nintendo announced the release of a NES disk drive expansion for late 1986. The Famicom version was released in Japan, but no North American version was released. Sound familiar? Nintendo did the exact same thing years later with the Nintendo⁶⁴ and the 64DD.

Top Games

• Super Mario Bros. series.
  
• The Legend of Zelda series.
  
• Mission: Impossible
  
• Punch-Out!
  
• Blades of Steel
  
• Duck Hunt
  
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game