History of the Nintendo Entertainment System
Encyclopedia
Nintendo
's 8-bit
video game console
, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), known as the , or in Japan, was introduced after the video game crash of 1983
, and was instrumental in revitalizing the industry. It enjoyed a long lifespan and dominated the market during the rest of the decade. Facing obsolescence in 1990 with the advent of 16-bit consoles
, it was supplanted by its successor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
, but support and production continued up to until 1995. Despite being discontinued, interest in the NES has since been renewed by collectors and emulators.
and early 1980s
. Consoles such as the Atari 2600
and the Intellivision
proved to be wildly popular, and many third-party developers arose in their wake to exploit the growing industry. Nintendo was one such development studio, and, by 1982
had found success with a number of arcade game
s, such as Donkey Kong, which was in turn ported to, and packaged with the ColecoVision
console in North America. Around this time, Nintendo announced its intentions to produce its own console hardware. Led by Masayuki Uemura
, Nintendo's R&D team had been secretly working on a system since 1980, ambitiously targeted to be less expensive than its competitors, yet with performance that could not be surpassed by its competitors for at least a year. To keep costs down, suggestions of including a keyboard
, modem
, and floppy disk
drive were rejected, but expensive circuitry was added to provide a versatile 15-pin
expansion port
connection on the front of the console for future add-on functionality such as peripheral devices.
Launching on July 15, 1983
, the Nintendo Family Computer (commonly known by the Japanese-English
term Famicom) was an 8-bit console using interchangeable cartridge
s.
The Famicom was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 for ¥
14,800. The launch title
s for the console were Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, and Popeye. The console itself was intentionally designed to look like a toy, with a bright red-and-white color scheme and two hardwired gamepads that are stored visibly at the sides of the unit.
Though selling well in its early months, the Famicom became beset with hanging
on many games and systems. After tracing the problem to a faulty circuit, Nintendo recalled
all Famicom systems just before the holiday shopping season, and temporarily suspended production of the system while the concerns were addressed, costing Nintendo significant millions of dollars. The Famicom was subsequently reissued with a new motherboard
. The Famicom easily outsold its primary competitor, the Sega SG-1000. By the end of 1984
Nintendo had sold over 2.5 million Famicoms in the Japanese market.
to release the Famicom as the "Nintendo Enhanced Video System." Though the two companies reached a tentative agreement, with final contract papers to be signed at the 1983 Summer Consumer Electronics Show
(CES), Atari refused to sign at the last minute, after seeing Coleco
, one of its main competitors in the market, demonstrating a prototype of Donkey Kong for its forthcoming Coleco Adam
home computer
system Although the game had been originally produced for the ColecoVision and could thus automatically be played on the backwards compatible Adam computer, Atari took the demonstration as a sign that Nintendo was also dealing with Coleco. Though the issue was cleared up within a month, by then Atari's financial problems stemming from the North American video game crash of 1983 left the company unable to follow through with the deal.
After the deal with Atari fell through, Nintendo proceeded alone, designing a Famicom console for release in North America under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" (AVS). One of the major causes of the market crash in the region was a glut of software products of poor quality. To keep the software market for Nintendo's console from becoming similarly oversaturated, Nintendo added a lock-out
system to obstruct unlicensed software from running on the console, thus allowing Nintendo to enforce strict licensing standards.
In the wake of the crash, many American retailers considered video games a fad
that had run its course, and had seriously cut back their sales of such products, or stopped them entirely. In an attempt to avoid the stigma of video game consoles, the AVS was fashioned as a full home computer
, with an included keyboard, cassette data recorder, and a BASIC
interpreter
software cartridge. The AVS also included a variety of computer-style input devices: gamepads, a handheld joystick, a musical keyboard
, and a light wand/gun
. The AVS used a wireless infrared
interface for all its components, including keyboard, data recorder, and controllers. The toy-like white-and-red color scheme of the Famicom was replaced with a clean and futuristic grey monochrome design, with the top and bottom portions in different shades, a stripe with black and ribbing along the top, and minor red accents. The AVS also featured a boxier design than the Famicom: flat on top, and a bottom half that tapered down to a smaller footprint. The front of the main unit featured a compartment for storing the wireless controllers out of sight.
The AVS was showcased at the 1984
Winter and Summer CES shows, where attendees acknowledged the advanced technology, but responded poorly to the keyboard and wireless functionality. Still wary of video game consoles from the crash, retailers did not order any systems.
At the 1985 Summer CES, Nintendo returned with a stripped-down version of the AVS, having abandoned the home computer approach. Renamed the "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES), the new version lacked most of the upscale features added in the AVS, but retained many of its design elements, such as the grey color scheme and boxy design. Purposely designed so as not to resemble a video game console, the NES replaced the top-loading cartridge slot of the Famicom with a front-loading chamber for software cartridges that placed the inserted cartridge out of view. The Famicom's pair of hard-wired controllers was replaced with two custom 7-pin sockets for detachable controllers.
Using another approach to market the system to North American retailers as an "entertainment system", as opposed to a video game console, Nintendo positioned the NES more squarely as a toy, emphasizing accessories such as the Zapper
light gun, and more significantly, R.O.B.
(Robotic Operating Buddy), a battery-powered robot
that responds to special screen flashes with physical actions. Although R.O.B. succeeded in generating retailer attention and interest for the NES, retailers were still unwilling to sign up to distribute the console. Only after an intense direct campaign by a dedicated "Nintendo SWAT team", including telemarketing
and shopping mall demonstrations, as well as a risk-free proposition to retailers, did Nintendo secure enough retailer support (about 500 retailers, including FAO Schwarz) to conduct a market test
in New York City
. Nintendo agreed to handle all store setup and marketing, extend 90 days credit
on the merchandise, and accept returns on unsold inventory.
The NES would be released in New York City on October 18, 1985 with an initial shipment of 100,000 systems. Each set would include a console, two gamepads, a R.O.B., a Zapper, and the Game Paks Gyromite
and Duck Hunt
. With encouraging sales over the holiday season, Nintendo added Los Angeles
as a test market in February 1986, followed by Chicago and San Francisco, progressively spreading out into the top 12 US markets, finally going nationwide in September. Nintendo managed to secure a distribution deal with toy company Worlds of Wonder
, which leveraged its popular Teddy Ruxpin
and Lazer Tag
products to get more stores to carry the console.
For the nationwide launch, the NES was available in two different packages: the full-featured $249 USD "Deluxe Set" as configured during the New York City launch, and a scaled-down "Control Deck" package which included two gamepads and a copy of Super Mario Bros.
To accompany this wide release, Nintendo marketed eighteen launch title
s: 10-Yard Fight
, Baseball
, Clu Clu Land
, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Duck Hunt
, Excitebike
, Golf
, Gyromite
, Hogan's Alley
, Ice Climber
, Kung Fu, Mach Rider
, Pinball
, Stack-Up
, Super Mario Bros.
, Tennis
, Wild Gunman
, and Wrecking Crew
.
, the hardware was licensed to Hyundai Electronics, which marketed it as the Comboy. After World War II
, the government of Korea (later South Korea) imposed a wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products." Until repealed in 1998, the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor, as was the case with the Comboy and its successor, the Super Comboy, a version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
.
, an unlicensed third-party hardware clone
named the Dendy was produced in Russia in the early 1990s. Aesthetically, it was an exact duplicate of the original Famicom, with the color scheme and labels altered. In addition, the hardwired controllers of the original console were omitted in favor of removable controllers which connected to the front of the unit using DE-9
serial connectors, identical to those used in the Atari 2600 and the Atari 8-bit family
of computers.
, released in 1988
in Japan, would gross well over US$500 million, selling over 7 million copies in America and 4 million copies in Japan, making it the most successful standalone home video game in history.
By 1990
, the NES had reached a larger user base in the United States than any previous console, easily surpassing the previous record set by the Atari 2600 in 1982. Reaping the benefits of that success, that year Nintendo surpassed Toyota as Japan's most successful corporation. In North America, the NES outsold its primary competitors, the Atari 7800
and the Sega Master System, by a wide margin.
, Sega
released the technologically superior 16 bit
Mega Drive (known in North America as the "Genesis") in Japan. Facing new competition from the Mega Drive, the Famicom's market share began to erode. Nintendo responded in the form of the Super Family Computer
("Super Famicom," for short; "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" in North America and Europe), the Famicom's 16-bit successor, in 1990
. Although Nintendo announced their intention to continue to support the Famicom alongside their newer console, the success of the newer offering began to draw even more gamers and developers from the original NES whose decline accelerated. However, Nintendo did continue support of the NES for about three years after the September 1991 release of the Super NES, with the last first-party
games being Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
and Wario's Woods
.
The original Japanese Famicom hardware featured an RF modulator
audio/video output connector, but more and more Japanese television sets had dropped RF connectors in favor of higher-quality RCA
composite video
output by the early 1990s. A revised Famicom (HVC-101 model), often referred to unofficially as the AV Famicom, was released in Japan in 1993
, largely to address this problem. It borrowed some design cues from the SNES
. The HVC-101 model replaced the original HVC-001 model's RF modulator with RCA composite cables, eliminated the hardwired controllers, and featured a new, more compact case design. Retailing for ¥4,800 to ¥7,200 (equivalent to approximately $42 to $60 USD), the HVC-101 model remained in production for almost a decade before being finally discontinued in 2003
. The case design of the AV Famicom was adopted for a subsequent North American rerelease of the NES. The NES-101 model (sometimes referred to unofficially as the "NES 2") differed from the Japanese HVC-101 model in that it omitted the RCA composite output connectors that had been included in the original NES-001 model, and sported only RF output capabilities.
After a full decade of production, the NES was formally discontinued in the U.S. in 1995
. By the end of its run, over 60 million NES units had been sold throughout the world.
-based systems on the horizon. Even though the NES was discontinued in North America in 1995
, the system had left a mark of many millions of game cartridges. The secondhand market – video rental stores
, Goodwill
, yard sales, flea market
s, games repackaged by Game Time Inc. / Game Trader Inc. and sold at retail stores such as K-Mart – was burgeoning. Parallel to, or perhaps because of this, many people began to rediscover the NES around this time, and by 1997
, many older NES games were becoming popular with collectors.
At the same time, computer programmers who were also NES enthusiasts began to develop emulators capable of reproducing the internal workings of the NES on modern personal computer
s. When paired with a ROM image
(a bit
-for-bit copy of a NES cartridge's program code), the games could be played on a computer. The illegal trade of ROM images was carried out on various bulletin board system
s around the country and, as it became more popular and accessible, on the Internet
. Despite this, ROM images were frequently hard to come by, and early emulators in particular were often plagued by computer bugs and compatibility issues – sometimes they were designed to play one specific game.
Despite these inconveniences, emulation provided access to many rare and hard to find games that otherwise might have been forgotten, and provided gamers with a wider selection of titles than ever would have been possible with the original console. Emulators also came with a variety of built-in functions that changed the gaming experience, such as save states
which allow the player to save his or her progress at an exact spot in the game and resume later at that exact spot.
On April 2, 1997, Bloodlust Software
released NESticle
version 0.2 – an emulator that was remarkably stable, compatible, and easy to use by the standards of its day (the product, according to its creator Sardu, of "two weeks of boredom"). NESticle is frequently credited with revolutionizing the console emulation scene, and its success spawned many imitators and competitors. After this, emulators quickly became more refined and ROM images more easily available, attracting more people to emulation, which in turn served as a catalyst for further development, both for NES and other console emulators.
Nintendo did not respond positively to these developments and became one of the most vocal opponents of ROM image trading. Nintendo and its supporters claim that such trading represents blatant software piracy
. Proponents of ROM image trading argue that emulation preserves many classic games for future generations, outside of their more-fragile cartridge formats.
The NES "revival" settled down, to a degree, after 2000
, once the secondhand market began to dry up or charge collector's prices, and finding ROM images no longer represented the challenge it had in the past. There is also a strong independent community of developers dedicated to producing demo
s and games for the NES.
In 2005, Nintendo announced plans to make classic NES titles available on the Virtual Console
download service for the Wii
console. Initial titles released included Mario Bros.
, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong
, with blockbuster titles such as Super Mario Bros.
, Punch-Out!!
and Metroid
appearing in the months after.
In 2007, Nintendo of Japan announced that it would no longer repair Famicom systems, due to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), known as the , or in Japan, was introduced after the video game crash of 1983
Video game crash of 1983
The North American video game crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. Beginning in 1983, the crash almost destroyed the then-fledgling industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing...
, and was instrumental in revitalizing the industry. It enjoyed a long lifespan and dominated the market during the rest of the decade. Facing obsolescence in 1990 with the advent of 16-bit consoles
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
, it was supplanted by its successor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, but support and production continued up to until 1995. Despite being discontinued, interest in the NES has since been renewed by collectors and emulators.
Origins (1982–1984)
The video game market experienced a period of rapid growth and unprecedented popularity in the late 1970s1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and early 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. Consoles such as the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and the Intellivision
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
proved to be wildly popular, and many third-party developers arose in their wake to exploit the growing industry. Nintendo was one such development studio, and, by 1982
1982 in video gaming
-Events:* December 27 - Starcade, a video game television game show, debuts on TBS in the United States.-Notable releases:*October 13 - Mystique releases the Custer's Revenge adult video game for the Atari 2600 home console....
had found success with a number of arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s, such as Donkey Kong, which was in turn ported to, and packaged with the ColecoVision
ColecoVision
The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware...
console in North America. Around this time, Nintendo announced its intentions to produce its own console hardware. Led by Masayuki Uemura
Masayuki Uemura
is a Japanese game hardware designer. Due to the bombing of Japan during World War II, his family was forced to move to Kyoto. Having little money, he was forced to make his own toys. His toys became more and more complex and he wanted to learn more, so he went to industrial college...
, Nintendo's R&D team had been secretly working on a system since 1980, ambitiously targeted to be less expensive than its competitors, yet with performance that could not be surpassed by its competitors for at least a year. To keep costs down, suggestions of including a keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
, modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
, and floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
drive were rejected, but expensive circuitry was added to provide a versatile 15-pin
Pin
A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together.Pin may also refer to:* Award pin, a small piece of metal or plastic with a pin attached given as an award for some achievement...
expansion port
Computer port (hardware)
In computer hardware, a port serves as an interface between the computer and other computers or peripheral devices. Physically, a port is a specialized outlet on a piece of equipment to which a plug or cable connects...
connection on the front of the console for future add-on functionality such as peripheral devices.
Launching on July 15, 1983
1983 in video gaming
-Events:* A major shakeout of the video game industry begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion.* MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong...
, the Nintendo Family Computer (commonly known by the Japanese-English
Wasei-eigo
are Japanese pseudo-Anglicisms: English constructions not used in the English-speaking world or by native English speakers, but that appear in Japanese. This should not be confused for foreign words gairaigo, which generally refer to words from European languages, especially American English...
term Famicom) was an 8-bit console using interchangeable cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
s.
The Famicom was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 for ¥
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
14,800. The launch title
Launch title
A launch game, or launch title, is a video game released to consumers synchronously with the release of its respective video game console, meaning they are the only available games at the time of the console's launch. Several of these games are also packaged with the console...
s for the console were Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, and Popeye. The console itself was intentionally designed to look like a toy, with a bright red-and-white color scheme and two hardwired gamepads that are stored visibly at the sides of the unit.
Though selling well in its early months, the Famicom became beset with hanging
Hang (computing)
In computing, a hang or freeze occurs when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs. In the most commonly encountered scenario, a workstation with a graphical user interface, all windows belonging to the frozen program become static, and though the mouse...
on many games and systems. After tracing the problem to a faulty circuit, Nintendo recalled
Product recall
A product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence and to improve or avoid damage to publicity...
all Famicom systems just before the holiday shopping season, and temporarily suspended production of the system while the concerns were addressed, costing Nintendo significant millions of dollars. The Famicom was subsequently reissued with a new motherboard
Motherboard
In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple...
. The Famicom easily outsold its primary competitor, the Sega SG-1000. By the end of 1984
1984 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
Nintendo had sold over 2.5 million Famicoms in the Japanese market.
North America
Bolstered by its success in Japan, Nintendo soon turned its attention to the larger North American market. As a new console manufacturer, Nintendo had to convince a skeptical public to embrace its system. To this end, Nintendo entered into negotiations with AtariAtari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
to release the Famicom as the "Nintendo Enhanced Video System." Though the two companies reached a tentative agreement, with final contract papers to be signed at the 1983 Summer Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
(CES), Atari refused to sign at the last minute, after seeing Coleco
Coleco
Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...
, one of its main competitors in the market, demonstrating a prototype of Donkey Kong for its forthcoming Coleco Adam
Coleco Adam
The Coleco Adam is a home computer, an attempt in the early 1980s by American toy manufacturer Coleco to follow on the success of its ColecoVision game console...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
system Although the game had been originally produced for the ColecoVision and could thus automatically be played on the backwards compatible Adam computer, Atari took the demonstration as a sign that Nintendo was also dealing with Coleco. Though the issue was cleared up within a month, by then Atari's financial problems stemming from the North American video game crash of 1983 left the company unable to follow through with the deal.
After the deal with Atari fell through, Nintendo proceeded alone, designing a Famicom console for release in North America under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" (AVS). One of the major causes of the market crash in the region was a glut of software products of poor quality. To keep the software market for Nintendo's console from becoming similarly oversaturated, Nintendo added a lock-out
Lock-out chip
In a general sense, a lockout chip is a chip within an electronic device to prevent other manufacturers from using a company's device to perform certain functions....
system to obstruct unlicensed software from running on the console, thus allowing Nintendo to enforce strict licensing standards.
In the wake of the crash, many American retailers considered video games a fad
FAD
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. FAD can exist in two different redox states, which it converts between by accepting or donating electrons. The molecule consists of a riboflavin moiety bound to the phosphate...
that had run its course, and had seriously cut back their sales of such products, or stopped them entirely. In an attempt to avoid the stigma of video game consoles, the AVS was fashioned as a full home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
, with an included keyboard, cassette data recorder, and a BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
interpreter
Interpreter (computing)
In computer science, an interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language...
software cartridge. The AVS also included a variety of computer-style input devices: gamepads, a handheld joystick, a musical keyboard
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, and a light wand/gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
. The AVS used a wireless infrared
Consumer IR
Consumer IR, consumer infrared, or CIR, refers to a wide variety of devices employing the infrared electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communications. Most commonly found in television remote controls, infrared ports are equally ubiquitous in consumer electronics, such as PDAs, laptops, and...
interface for all its components, including keyboard, data recorder, and controllers. The toy-like white-and-red color scheme of the Famicom was replaced with a clean and futuristic grey monochrome design, with the top and bottom portions in different shades, a stripe with black and ribbing along the top, and minor red accents. The AVS also featured a boxier design than the Famicom: flat on top, and a bottom half that tapered down to a smaller footprint. The front of the main unit featured a compartment for storing the wireless controllers out of sight.
The AVS was showcased at the 1984
1984 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
Winter and Summer CES shows, where attendees acknowledged the advanced technology, but responded poorly to the keyboard and wireless functionality. Still wary of video game consoles from the crash, retailers did not order any systems.
At the 1985 Summer CES, Nintendo returned with a stripped-down version of the AVS, having abandoned the home computer approach. Renamed the "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES), the new version lacked most of the upscale features added in the AVS, but retained many of its design elements, such as the grey color scheme and boxy design. Purposely designed so as not to resemble a video game console, the NES replaced the top-loading cartridge slot of the Famicom with a front-loading chamber for software cartridges that placed the inserted cartridge out of view. The Famicom's pair of hard-wired controllers was replaced with two custom 7-pin sockets for detachable controllers.
Using another approach to market the system to North American retailers as an "entertainment system", as opposed to a video game console, Nintendo positioned the NES more squarely as a toy, emphasizing accessories such as the Zapper
NES Zapper
The NES Zapper, also known as the Beam Gun in Japan, is an electronic light gun accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Famicom. It was released in Japan for the Famicom on and alongside the launch of the NES in North America in October 1985...
light gun, and more significantly, R.O.B.
R.O.B.
R.O.B. , released in Japan as the , is an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in July 1985 in Japan and later that year in North America. It had a short product lifespan, with support for only two games which comprised the "Robot Series"; Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B...
(Robotic Operating Buddy), a battery-powered robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
that responds to special screen flashes with physical actions. Although R.O.B. succeeded in generating retailer attention and interest for the NES, retailers were still unwilling to sign up to distribute the console. Only after an intense direct campaign by a dedicated "Nintendo SWAT team", including telemarketing
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
and shopping mall demonstrations, as well as a risk-free proposition to retailers, did Nintendo secure enough retailer support (about 500 retailers, including FAO Schwarz) to conduct a market test
Test market
A test market, in the field of business and marketing, is a geographic region or demographic group used to gauge the viability of a product or service in the mass market prior to a wide scale roll-out...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Nintendo agreed to handle all store setup and marketing, extend 90 days credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
on the merchandise, and accept returns on unsold inventory.
The NES would be released in New York City on October 18, 1985 with an initial shipment of 100,000 systems. Each set would include a console, two gamepads, a R.O.B., a Zapper, and the Game Paks Gyromite
Gyromite
Gyromite is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Gyromite is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Stack-Up. The opening screen of the game shows the title Robot Gyro, the Japanese name of the...
and Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt
is a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
. With encouraging sales over the holiday season, Nintendo added Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as a test market in February 1986, followed by Chicago and San Francisco, progressively spreading out into the top 12 US markets, finally going nationwide in September. Nintendo managed to secure a distribution deal with toy company Worlds of Wonder
Worlds of Wonder (toy company)
Worlds of Wonder or WoW was a 1980s American toy company, founded by former Atari employees, including Don Kingsborough and Mark Robert Goldberg.Their products included:* Teddy Ruxpin, a story telling bear, in 1985...
, which leveraged its popular Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin is a children's toy talking bear. The bear would move his mouth and eyes while 'reading' stories which were played on an audio tape cassette deck built into his back. It was created by Ken Forsse with later assistance by Larry Larsen and John Davies. Later versions would use a digital...
and Lazer Tag
Lazer Tag
Lazer Tag is a brand name for the infrared pursuit game generically known as "laser tag," "lasertag," or "lazertag."The brand name was created by the toy company Worlds Of Wonder in 1986, appearing at approximately the same time as the home version of the Photon brand.The Lazer Tag brand name was...
products to get more stores to carry the console.
For the nationwide launch, the NES was available in two different packages: the full-featured $249 USD "Deluxe Set" as configured during the New York City launch, and a scaled-down "Control Deck" package which included two gamepads and a copy of Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
To accompany this wide release, Nintendo marketed eighteen launch title
Launch title
A launch game, or launch title, is a video game released to consumers synchronously with the release of its respective video game console, meaning they are the only available games at the time of the console's launch. Several of these games are also packaged with the console...
s: 10-Yard Fight
10-Yard Fight
is a American football arcade game that was developed and published in Japan by Irem and published in the United States by Taito and in Europe by Electrocoin. It is the first slightly realistic American football video game ever developed and released.-Gameplay:...
, Baseball
Baseball (Nintendo game)
Baseball is a simple baseball video game made by Nintendo in 1983 for the Nintendo Family Computer, making it one of the first games released for the Famicom. It was later one of the NES's 18 launch titles when it was released in 1985 in the United States. As in real baseball, the object of the...
, Clu Clu Land
Clu Clu Land
is an arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1984 and was later released in North America on the Wii Virtual Console on September 1, 2008 and in Europe on March 6, 2009. The game was called Vs. Clu Clu Land in video arcades...
, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt
is a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
, Excitebike
Excitebike
is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 and as a launch title for the NES in 1985. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its direct sequel Excitebike 64, its spiritual successors Excite Truck and...
, Golf
Golf (video game)
Golf is a sports-simulation video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released in Japan in 1984 for the Nintendo Family Computer...
, Gyromite
Gyromite
Gyromite is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with the Robotic Operating Buddy. Gyromite is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Stack-Up. The opening screen of the game shows the title Robot Gyro, the Japanese name of the...
, Hogan's Alley
Hogan's Alley (arcade game)
Hogan's Alley is a 1984 arcade game by Nintendo. It was one of the first games to use a light gun as an input device.-Overview:"Hogan's Alley" is the FBI's training camp tool to train new recruits...
, Ice Climber
Ice Climber
is a vertical platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for release on the Nintendo Famicom in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985...
, Kung Fu, Mach Rider
Mach Rider
is a futuristic driving video game created by Nintendo. It was first released on October 18, 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as one of the 18 initial launch games. A month later, on November 21, the title was released in Japan. On March 15, 1987 it was released in Europe and Australia...
, Pinball
Pinball (video game)
Pinball is a 1984 arcade game created by Nintendo. The game is designed to simulate a game of pinball. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System later that year. In 1985 it reached North America as one of 18 launch titles. The Nintendo Entertainment System version added an alternating...
, Stack-Up
Stack-Up
Stack-Up is a video game released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, designed for use with R.O.B. the Robotic Operating Buddy. Stack-Up is one of two games in Nintendo's Robot Series, the other being Gyromite . While Gyromite was a pack-in game with the R.O.B...
, Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, Tennis
Tennis (video game)
Tennis is a sports game released in Japan for the Famicom in 1984, and in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. In North America, Tennis was one of 18 launch games for the NES.-Gameplay:...
, Wild Gunman
Wild Gunman
is a light gun shooter game created by Nintendo.-Early version:The original version of Wild Gunman was one of Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade games created by Gunpei Yokoi and released in 1974. It consisted of a light gun connected to a 16mm projection screen...
, and Wrecking Crew
Wrecking Crew (video game)
is a action game developed and published by Nintendo. It was designed by Yoshio Sakamoto and released as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System.-Gameplay:...
.
Europe
The NES was also released in Europe, albeit in stages and in a rather haphazard manner. Most of mainland Europe (excluding Italy) received the system in 1986, where it was distributed by various companies. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand received the system in 1987, where it was distributed by Mattel. In Europe, the NES received a less enthusiastic response than it had elsewhere. Many European third-party publishers went with the technically-superior Sega Master System over the latecomer NES, and Nintendo lagged in market and retail penetration (though the console did see more success later on in its life). The NES did outsell the Master System in Australia, though by a much-smaller margin than in North America.South Korea
In South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, the hardware was licensed to Hyundai Electronics, which marketed it as the Comboy. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the government of Korea (later South Korea) imposed a wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products." Until repealed in 1998, the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor, as was the case with the Comboy and its successor, the Super Comboy, a version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
.
Soviet Union/Russia
While the NES in its heyday was never officially released in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, an unlicensed third-party hardware clone
Clone (computer science)
In computing, a clone is a hardware or software system that is designed to mimic another system. Compatibility with the original system is usually the explicit purpose of cloning hardware or low-level software such as operating systems...
named the Dendy was produced in Russia in the early 1990s. Aesthetically, it was an exact duplicate of the original Famicom, with the color scheme and labels altered. In addition, the hardwired controllers of the original console were omitted in favor of removable controllers which connected to the front of the unit using DE-9
D-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems....
serial connectors, identical to those used in the Atari 2600 and the Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
of computers.
Leading the industry (1987–1990)
The successful launch of the NES catapulted Nintendo to the forefront of the video game industry. For the remainder of the 1980s, Nintendo was the undisputed king of the home video game market. Buoyed by the success of the system, NES game packs were similarly smashing sales records: Super Mario Bros. 3Super Mario Bros. 3
, also referred to as Super Mario 3 and SMB3, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the third game in the Super Mario series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991...
, released in 1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
in Japan, would gross well over US$500 million, selling over 7 million copies in America and 4 million copies in Japan, making it the most successful standalone home video game in history.
By 1990
1990 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Bonk's Adventure is released for NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk, the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.*February 12 — Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America...
, the NES had reached a larger user base in the United States than any previous console, easily surpassing the previous record set by the Atari 2600 in 1982. Reaping the benefits of that success, that year Nintendo surpassed Toyota as Japan's most successful corporation. In North America, the NES outsold its primary competitors, the Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
and the Sega Master System, by a wide margin.
The twilight years (1990–1995)
In 19881988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
released the technologically superior 16 bit
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
Mega Drive (known in North America as the "Genesis") in Japan. Facing new competition from the Mega Drive, the Famicom's market share began to erode. Nintendo responded in the form of the Super Family Computer
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
("Super Famicom," for short; "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" in North America and Europe), the Famicom's 16-bit successor, in 1990
1990 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Bonk's Adventure is released for NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and is the first US appearance of Bonk, the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16.*February 12 — Nintendo releases the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America...
. Although Nintendo announced their intention to continue to support the Famicom alongside their newer console, the success of the newer offering began to draw even more gamers and developers from the original NES whose decline accelerated. However, Nintendo did continue support of the NES for about three years after the September 1991 release of the Super NES, with the last first-party
First-party developer
A video game development party can be one of two parties: a first-party or third-party developer.- First-party developer :In the video game industry, a first-party developer is a developer that is part of a company that manufactures a video game console, and develops exclusively for it...
games being Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II is a video game released only in North America in 1994. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System as the sequel to the 1990 game, StarTropics. It is the second to last licensed game released on the NES, Wario's Woods being the...
and Wario's Woods
Wario's Woods
is a puzzle game, developed and published by Nintendo, for both the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The NES version was released in Japan on February 19, 1994, and both versions were released simultaneously in North America on December 10, 1994...
.
The original Japanese Famicom hardware featured an RF modulator
RF modulator
An RF modulator is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal....
audio/video output connector, but more and more Japanese television sets had dropped RF connectors in favor of higher-quality RCA
RCA connector
An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
output by the early 1990s. A revised Famicom (HVC-101 model), often referred to unofficially as the AV Famicom, was released in Japan in 1993
1993 in video gaming
-Events:*March — In Sweden, the Swedish video game magazine Super PLAY starts. The original name is Super Power.*Midway Games embroiled in controversy for its game Mortal Kombat from 1992 when the game is launched for video game consoles in 1993....
, largely to address this problem. It borrowed some design cues from the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The HVC-101 model replaced the original HVC-001 model's RF modulator with RCA composite cables, eliminated the hardwired controllers, and featured a new, more compact case design. Retailing for ¥4,800 to ¥7,200 (equivalent to approximately $42 to $60 USD), the HVC-101 model remained in production for almost a decade before being finally discontinued in 2003
2003 in video gaming
-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....
. The case design of the AV Famicom was adopted for a subsequent North American rerelease of the NES. The NES-101 model (sometimes referred to unofficially as the "NES 2") differed from the Japanese HVC-101 model in that it omitted the RCA composite output connectors that had been included in the original NES-001 model, and sported only RF output capabilities.
After a full decade of production, the NES was formally discontinued in the U.S. in 1995
1995 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1995. For video and console games, see 1995 in video gaming....
. By the end of its run, over 60 million NES units had been sold throughout the world.
Discontinuation and emulation (1995-present)
The NES was in popular decline from 1991–1995, with the Sega Genesis and Nintendo's own Super Nintendo Entertainment System chipping away at its market share, and next-generation CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
-based systems on the horizon. Even though the NES was discontinued in North America in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
, the system had left a mark of many millions of game cartridges. The secondhand market – video rental stores
Rental shop
A rental shop, also known as a video library, is a business that allows a consumer to temporarily obtain a reusable good or product for a specified period of time in exchange for payment, a process known as renting...
, Goodwill
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
, yard sales, flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
s, games repackaged by Game Time Inc. / Game Trader Inc. and sold at retail stores such as K-Mart – was burgeoning. Parallel to, or perhaps because of this, many people began to rediscover the NES around this time, and by 1997
1997 in video gaming
-Events:*October 4 — Gunpei Yokoi dies after a double car accident.*November – Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association launched.*3rd annual E3...
, many older NES games were becoming popular with collectors.
At the same time, computer programmers who were also NES enthusiasts began to develop emulators capable of reproducing the internal workings of the NES on modern personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s. When paired with a ROM image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
(a bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
-for-bit copy of a NES cartridge's program code), the games could be played on a computer. The illegal trade of ROM images was carried out on various bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s around the country and, as it became more popular and accessible, on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Despite this, ROM images were frequently hard to come by, and early emulators in particular were often plagued by computer bugs and compatibility issues – sometimes they were designed to play one specific game.
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
which allow the player to save his or her progress at an exact spot in the game and resume later at that exact spot.
On April 2, 1997, Bloodlust Software
Bloodlust Software
Bloodlust Software is a developer of humorous PC computer games. It was originally formed in 1992 by two high school students who were angry at the rise of movements against computer game violence...
released NESticle
NESticle
NESticle was a popular NES emulator for DOS, created by Sardu of Bloodlust Software. The name is a portmanteau of "NES" and "testicle"....
version 0.2 – an emulator that was remarkably stable, compatible, and easy to use by the standards of its day (the product, according to its creator Sardu, of "two weeks of boredom"). NESticle is frequently credited with revolutionizing the console emulation scene, and its success spawned many imitators and competitors. After this, emulators quickly became more refined and ROM images more easily available, attracting more people to emulation, which in turn served as a catalyst for further development, both for NES and other console emulators.
Nintendo did not respond positively to these developments and became one of the most vocal opponents of ROM image trading. Nintendo and its supporters claim that such trading represents blatant software piracy
Copyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
. Proponents of ROM image trading argue that emulation preserves many classic games for future generations, outside of their more-fragile cartridge formats.
The NES "revival" settled down, to a degree, after 2000
2000 in video gaming
-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
, once the secondhand market began to dry up or charge collector's prices, and finding ROM images no longer represented the challenge it had in the past. There is also a strong independent community of developers dedicated to producing demo
Demo (computer programming)
A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
s and games for the NES.
In 2005, Nintendo announced plans to make classic NES titles available on the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
download service for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console. Initial titles released included Mario Bros.
Mario Bros.
is an arcade game published and developed by Nintendo in 1983. It was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto. It has been commonly featured as a minigame in the Super Mario Advance series and other games...
, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (video game)
is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady, from a...
, with blockbuster titles such as Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, Punch-Out!!
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!!, originally known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, is a boxing video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Nintendo in 1987. It is a port of both the Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!! arcade games with some variations. It has consistently been ranked among...
and Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
appearing in the months after.
In 2007, Nintendo of Japan announced that it would no longer repair Famicom systems, due to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.