Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (FC), commonly referred to as Famicom. It was redesigned to become the NES, which was released in American test markets on October 18, 1985, and was soon fully launched in North America and other regions.
Top: NES Control Deck (with detachable controllers) Bottom: Family Computer ("Famicom") main unit (with hardwired controllers) | |
| Also known as | Family Computer/Famicom (Japan) Hyundai Comboy (Korea) Samurai (India) Dendy (Post-Soviet countries) Gradiente Phantom System (Brazil) Nintendo Entertainment System Mattel Version/NES Version (PAL A) Nintendo Entertainment System - European Version (PAL B) Micro Genius (Famiclone) |
|---|---|
| Developer | Nintendo R&D2 |
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Third |
| Release date | |
| Lifespan | 1983–2003 (Famicom) 1985–1995 (US) 1986–1995 (EU) |
| Introductory price | ¥14,800 (equivalent to ¥18,365 in 2019) US$179 (equivalent to $490 in 2022) |
| Discontinued | |
| Units sold | 61.91 million |
| Media | ROM cartridge ("Game Pak") |
| CPU | Ricoh 2A03/2A07 @ 1.79/1.66 MHz |
| Display | 256 × 240 pixels standard |
| Graphics | PPU (Ricoh 2C02) |
| Sound | APU, 5 channels: 2 pulse wave, triangle wave, white noise, DPCM |
| Controller input | 2 controller ports 1 expansion slot |
| Best-selling game |
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| Predecessor | Color TV-Game |
| Successor | Super NES |
| Related | Famicom Disk System, Famicom 3D System |
After developing several successful arcade games in the early 1980s such as Donkey Kong (1981), Nintendo planned to create a home video game console. Rejecting more complex proposals, the Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi called for a simple, cheap console with games stored on cartridges. The controller design was reused from Nintendo's portable Game & Watch games. Nintendo released several add-ons, such as the NES Zapper light gun for shooting games like Duck Hunt.
The NES is one of the best-selling consoles of its time and helped revitalize the US gaming industry following the video game crash of 1983. It pioneered a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers to produce and distribute games. The NES features several groundbreaking games, such as the 1985 platform game Super Mario Bros. and the 1986 action-adventure games The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, which became long-running franchises. It was succeeded in 1990 by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2011, IGN named the NES the greatest video game console of all time.