History of video games/Platforms/Nintendo Entertainment System

History Development Famicom Development The Famicom, and by extension the Nintendo Entertainment System, was proceeded by the Color TV-Game Series. Development was lead by noted engineer Masayuki Uemura,「ファミコン」生みの親・上村雅之さん死去 78歳｜秋田魁新報電子版 https://www.sakigake.jp/news/article/20211209OR0114/?nv=ent 9 December 2021 秋田魁新報電子版 jaMasayuki Uemura, Creator Of The NES And SNES, Dies At 78 https://kotaku.com/masayuki-uemura-creator-of-the-nes-and-snes-dies-at-7-1848184264 9 December 2021 Kotaku en-us who was asked to develop a new more competitive and advanced home gaming system by Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi during a phone call to the Uemura house.Iwata Asks https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/mario25th/1/0 9 December 2021 iwataasks.nintendo.com This was part of a larger strategy in which Hiroshi Yamauchi decided to reinvest profits from the Color TV Game and Game and watch systems into further game products. Plans for the system originally called for a 16-bit CPU but a more economical 8-bit CPU was chosen.NintendoLand - The best site for info about Nintendo's classic video games. https://web.archive.org/web/20090525223925/http://www.nintendoland.com/home2.htm?nes%2Fhistory.htm 7 December 2020 25 May 2009NES https://scf.usc.edu/~jeffcui/itp104/final/nes.html scf.usc.edu 7 December 2020 Nintendo was able to further optimize the cost of the CPU by placing a very large bulk order with Ricoh,Arsenault Dominic Super Power, Spoony Bards, and Silverware: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System MIT Press 978-0-262-34150-9 https://books.google.com/books?id=ziozDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false 20 December 2020 en who had an underutilized factory at the time.Iwata Asks https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/mario25th/1/1 9 December 2021 iwataasks.nintendo.com This technical choice had an additional unexpected effect of attracting developer Satoru Iwata to the system, who would later become a key developer at Nintendo, and later serve as its president.Lane Gavin Masayuki Uemura, The Nintendo Engineer Who Helped Define The Modern Games Console https://www.nintendolife.com/features/masayuki-uemura-the-nintendo-engineer-who-helped-define-the-modern-games-console 9 December 2021 Nintendo Life 9 December 2021 NES Development thumb|The Nintendo Advanced Video System, a prototype for the NES In 1983 Nintendo approached Atari about releasing their console in the USA, and agreed on it until a misunderstanding at CES 1983 sunk the deal.Feature: Remember When Atari Turned Down Nintendo And Sega? https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/feature_remember_when_atari_turned_down_nintendo_and_sega 23 October 2020 Nintendo Life 3 February 2020 Designer Lance Barr was charged with refining the design of the NES to make it appealing to American audiences while keeping costs low,Lance Barr Interview https://web.archive.org/web/20060213124455/http://www.nintendojo.com/interviews/view_item.php?1130801472 1 March 2021 nintendojo ~ a site to see 13 February 2006 ultimately creating an iconic design. Nintendo would attempt to make an user avatar system for the console, but this would ultimately be scrapped and shelved until the release of Miis on the Nintendo Wii decades later.GDC: Miyamoto Keynote Extend Extra https://www.wired.com/2007/03/gdc-miyamoto-ke/ 1 March 2021 Wired en-usWhy Nintendo is Bringing Back Miis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr5VgHaM9ac 1 March 2021 Launch thumb|The first NES sold in the United States on display at the Nintendo World Store Now you're Playing with Power! NES Slogan Koch Cameron Nintendo Brings Back Retro 'Now You're Playing With Power' Slogan For New NES Classic Edition Ad https://www.techtimes.com/articles/170917/20160721/nintendo-brings-back-retro-now-youre-playing-with-power-slogan-for-new-nes-classic-edition-ad.htm 2 February 2021 Tech Times 21 July 2016 en The Family Computer (Famicom) was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 at a cost of 14,800 yen.Hongo Jun Nintendo brought arcade games into homes 30 years ago https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/07/15/reference/nintendo-brought-arcade-games-into-homes-30-years-ago/ 25 October 2020 The Japan Times 15 July 2013Sottek T. C. The Nintendo Famicom turns 30 years old today https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/15/4524758/NES-famicom-30-year-anniversary 19 October 2020 The Verge 15 July 2013 en Nintendo later released the similar Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to international markets. The NES saw its American release in 1985, and European release in 1986.Nintendo Entertainment System Video Game Console https://www.si.edu/object/nintendo-entertainment-system-video-game-console%3Anmah_1436726 Smithsonian Institution 18 October 2020 en In the United States the NES was a dominant player in the market, and was so popular that it began to alter how people discussed gaming, with many people using the word "Nintendo" to describe video games in general for a time, even those not made by Nintendo.Ward Cassidy Science Behind the Fiction: How Nintendo saved and redefined the game industry https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/science-behind-the-fiction-how-nintendo-saved-and-redefined-the-game-industry SYFY WIRE 20 January 2021 en 5 June 2019Why old people call my Playstation 4..... "nintendo"? - PlayStation 4 https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/691087-playstation-4/76277853?page=3 gamefaqs.gamespot.com 20 January 2021 Fearing the word "Nintendo" might become a generic trademark, Nintendo promoted the word "Game Console" instead.'Genericide': When brands get too big https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/genericide-when-brands-get-too-big-2295428.html 20 January 2021 The Independent 18 January 2019 en Internationally the NES received significant challenges from the Sega Master System particularly in South America and Europe. 1983 also saw the launch of the Sharp Game Television (Also known as the Sharp Nintendo Television or as the Sharp C1 NES TV) which integrated a Famicom with a 19 inch TV costing 145,000 yen or a 14 inch TV that cost 93,000 yen.This Nintendo Was Inside A Television Set https://kotaku.com/this-nintendo-was-inside-a-television-set-5787855 27 October 2020 Kotaku en-us Seal of Quality To avoid negative associations with video game consoles following the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo used careful wording in its marketing to brand the NES as an "Entertainment" system, rather then a game console.Cunningham Andrew The NES turns 30: How it began, worked, and saved an industry https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/time-to-feel-old-inside-the-nes-on-its-30th-birthday/ 19 October 2020 Ars Technica 15 July 2013 en-us To avoid a repeat of the poor quality games that caused the crash, Nintendo required licensed developers to limit game releases to two a year, as well as to censor overt depictions of gore and other sensitive subjects. These policies were a cause of friction between some developers and Nintendo.The Untold Story of Maniac Mansion https://www.wired.com/1993/04/nintendo-2/ 15 April 2021 Wierd Magazine-1.04 04/01/1993 Later on in the system life, an Atari subsidiary would break the lockout protection used to enforce Nintendo's licensing, though this resulted in legal challenges.That Time Atari Cracked The Nintendo Entertainment System https://hackaday.com/2018/10/22/that-time-atari-cracked-the-nintendo-entertainment-system/#more-329497 25 October 2020 Hackaday 22 October 2018 This inspired other companies to make their own bypass, though methods that used a charge pump or negative voltage spike could damage the system.How Third-Party Game Devs Reverse-Engineered Their Way Onto Your Consoles (and Into Your Heart) https://www.vice.com/en/article/9amg87/how-third-party-game-devs-reverse-engineered-their-way-onto-your-consoles-nintendo-sega-atari www.vice.com 28 November 2020 en Smash hit The NES had a limited United States of America launch in New York City and Los Angeles October 15th, 1985, with a nationwide release a year later.The NES Was Once So Rare You Could Only Get It In Two Cities https://kotaku.com/the-nes-was-once-so-rare-you-could-only-get-it-in-two-c-1686643953 27 October 2020 Kotaku en-usOct. 18, 1985: Nintendo Entertainment System Launches https://www.wired.com/2010/10/1018nintendo-nes-launches/ 27 October 2020 Wired en-us These first markets were picked to see if the NES could survive in difficult markets, and retailers were persuaded to carry the system by only needing to pay for systems sold, with unsold stock being fully returnable. The 1989 television show Captain N was used to promote Nintendo products.Weber Rachel Flashback: Nintendo's Gamer Cartoon 'Captain N: The Game Master' https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/flashback-nintendo-entertains-gamers-with-captain-n-the-game-master-cartoon-124904/ 29 January 2021 Rolling Stone 3 March 2017 The Famicom Tiler was jointly launched by Nintendo and Sharp in 1989 at a cost of 43,000 yen, and added video editing features and S-Video to improve screen captures for media outlets.The Nintendo Console From The 80s Made For Recording Gameplay Footage https://kotaku.com/the-nintendo-console-from-the-80s-that-could-record-gam-1739086864 27 October 2020 Kotaku en-us International Adoption Some regions such as India saw officially licensed versions of the NES released under other names.Patil Siddharth Nintendo And India :: A complicated Love Story https://gameffine.com/nintendo-india-complicated-love-story/ Gameffine 10 December 2020 12 May 2016Ghoshal Abhimanyu Why has Nintendo ignored India for 30 years? https://thenextweb.com/in/2017/12/30/why-has-nintendo-ignored-india-for-30-years/ The Next Web 10 December 2020 en-us 30 December 2017The NES Samurai boxed! https://consolevariations.com/blog/the-nes-samurai-boxed Consolevariations 10 December 2020 en Other clones were unlicensed, like the Dendy console, made in Taiwan for the newly accessible Russian market where it was legal due to a lack of Intellectual property laws at the time.Calvin Alex How a counterfeit NES console opened up the Russian games market https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-12-17-how-a-counterfeit-nes-console-opened-up-the-russian-games-market Eurogamer 10 December 2020 en 17 December 2017 This later led to an official partnership between Dendy and Nintendo.Muradov Roman Dendy’s Dream Debased https://medium.com/@bluebed/dendys-dream-debased-a3c35f9e173a Medium 10 December 2020 en 23 October 2017 NES 101 In 1993 the NES 101, a cost reduced version of the NES was released, removing the composite output and lowering the price to $49.99.Byford Sam A brief history of cutdown game consoles https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/7/11/20690011/nintendo-switch-lite-game-console-redesign-xbox-playstation 19 October 2020 The Verge 11 July 2019 en Legacy 61.91 million NES and Famicom consoles were sold.Genesis vs. SNES: By the Numbers - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/20/genesis-vs-snes-by-the-numbers 13 November 2020 enIR Information : Sales Data - Dedicated Video Game Sales Units https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/ Nintendo Co., Ltd. 14 November 2020 en The Nintendo Entertainment System and the Famicom was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Famicom. Nintendo stopped producing new NES units in 1995, new Famicom systems in 2003, and stopped repairing Famicom systems in 2007. Technology Compute The NES CPU was a reduced feature version of the MOS 6502, a Rioch 2A03.NES Programming - Wikibooks, open books for an open world https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/NES_Programming en.wikibooks.org 25 October 2020 The CPU was clocked at 1.789773Mhz in NTSC regions, and at 1.773447Mhz in PAL regions. The NES had two kilobytes of RAM and two kilobytes of video RAM.Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) Teardown https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Family+Computer+(Famicom)+Teardown/3199 iFixit 29 October 2020 en 1 July 2010 Graphics The NES had a Rioch 2C02 Picture Processing Unit (PPU) for graphical output, supporting up to 52 colors and 64 sprites. The PPU was clocked at 5.37 megahertz. The PPU had 256 bytes of memory located directly on chip, which was known as Object Attribute Memory.Cunningham Andrew The NES: How it began, worked, and saved an industry https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/time-to-feel-old-inside-the-nes-on-its-30th-birthday/ 10 December 2021 Ars Technica 9 December 2021 en-us The PPU had a number of limitations on what it could do simultaniously, notably limiting sprites to use only 3 colors at a time, with an additional transparency color.How The NES Displayed Large Enemies https://pixelvision8.substack.com/p/how-the-nes-displayed-large-enemies-7007aa5acfd5 10 December 2021 The Fantasy Console Club Pixel Vision 8 9 June 2020 However, clever programmers and artists often found ways to lean into or even subvert these limitations through guile and wit. The PPU of the NES was quite capable for it's time, and gave the system a graphical edge over much of it's competition. Audio Chiptune2.ogg Chiptune music Chiptune music designed to be similar to typical music on the NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System had 2 pulse wave channels, 1 triangle wave channel, 1 noise channel, and 1 DPCM channel. Games for the Famicom often featured much better audio then on the Nintendo Entertainment System, as the Famicom has additional pins for cartridge based sound chips.Famicom vs NES http://www.1morecastle.com/2014/05/famicom-nes/ 1 More Castle 7 December 2020 16 May 2014 A number of different additional audio chips were used in Famicom cartridges.Nerdly Pleasures: Famicom Expansion Audio Overview https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2017/08/famicom-expansion-audio-overview.html Nerdly Pleasures 7 December 2020 4 August 2017 Controllers NES Hands Free Controller Nintendo of America developed a hands free controller for disabled gamers, among the earliest of it's kind.Nintendo Made a Disability Friendly NES controller in the 80's - Access-Ability https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mbr0-mE4RQ 11 October 2021 en A chin mounted joystick and breath tube served as input. The controller was chest mounted and weighed 2.5 lb kg. A prototype was tested at the Children's Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle, Washington,Now you're playing with ... no hands https://www.engadget.com/2007-05-23-now-youre-playing-with-no-hands.html 11 October 2021 Engadget near where Nintendo of America was headquartered. Notable Games thumb|The retro section of a shop in Akihabara, selling Famicom cartridges in 2015. Dates are for the earliest release on the Famicom or NES. International releases often occurred one or two years later. 1983 Donkey Kong Jr. Mario Bros. A recreation of the arcade game. Read more about Mario Bros. on Wikipedia. 1984 Duck Hunt Excitebike Clu Clu Land 1985 Bomberman Ice Climber Super Mario Bros First version of Mario as an adventure platformer. From here on, designers Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, developer Toshihiko Nakago and musician Koji Kondo would typically work together as a unit on future projects, to great success.Davison John Shigeru Miyamoto on Mario, 'Minecraft' and Working With Apple https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/shigeru-miyamoto-on-mario-minecraft-and-working-with-apple-106277/ 29 January 2021 Rolling Stone 12 December 2016 Read more about Super Mario Bros 1 on Wikipedia. Wrecking Crew An early Mario puzzle-platformer. Read more about Wrecking Crew on Wikipedia. 1986 Dragon Quest - Popular RPG Kid Icarus Ghosts 'n Goblins The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda (video game) thumb|upright=2|The iconic The Legend of Zelda NES cartridge. The Legend of Zelda is one of the most iconic Famicom and NES games, mainly because of the expansive multimedia franchise it started. Sigeru Miyamoto was inspired to make this game by his personal experience of exploring the countryside and caves as a child.Sheff David Sheff David Mario's Big Brother: Sigeru Miyamoto https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/marios-big-brother-sigeru-miyamoto-198593/ 29 January 2021 Rolling Stone 9 January 1992 Metroid Metroid is noted for being an early game with a female protagonist.Tappin Steve 30 years of Samus Aran: a feminist icon? https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/39a1b88f-79dc-4602-8207-f86918afd457 14 December 2020 BBC Three 5 August 2016 Read more about Metroid on Wikipedia. 1987 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - 2D scroller adaptation of the Zelda format. Mega Man - Known as Rockman in Japanese markets. Rad Racer Punch-Out!! Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School Final Fantasy thumb|Hironobu Sakaguchi was a developer on the original Final Fantasy, seen here at Tokyo Game Show 2006. The first game in the popular RPG series. The game was named Final Fantasy because the developers thought it would be their final game before Square went bankrupt.Why's It Called 'Final Fantasy'? Uematsu Explains https://www.wired.com/2009/07/final-fantasy/ Wired 2 November 2020 en-us Many elements of Final Fantasy appear to be inspired by Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.Dungeons & Dragons Classes Inspired The Final Fantasy Jobs https://screenrant.com/dungeons-dragons-classes-final-fantasy-jobs-dnd-ff/ ScreenRant 2 November 2020 16 July 2020» Discussion: Final Fantasy’s D&D Origins http://finalfantasy.istad.org/2013/01/final-fantasy-vs-dnd/ 2 November 2020 Read more about Final Fantasy I on Wikipedia. Metal Gear Early popular stealth game. The NES port of Metal Gear was made without the involvement of Hideo Kojima, who disliked the NES version.Turns Out Hideo Kojima HATES Metal Gear On the NES https://kotaku.com/turns-out-hideo-kojima-hates-metal-gear-on-the-nes-5811630 Kotaku 8 November 2020 en-us Read more about Metal Gear on Wikipedia. 1988 Super Mario Bros. 2 - Remake of the Japanese game Doki Doki Panic. Super Mario Bros. 3 Mega Man 2 - The best selling Mega Man game.Mega Man 11 Now Third Best-Selling Game In The Franchise At 1.3 Million Units Sold https://nintendosoup.com/mega-man-11-now-third-best-selling-game-in-the-franchise-at-1-3-million-units-sold/ 15 April 2021 NintendoSoup 12 November 2020 Contra Ninja Gaiden Famicom Detective Club The Missing Heir Volumes 1 and 2 thumb|Yoshio Sakamoto, a key figure in the development a number of games for the platform, including Metroid, Kid Icarus, Balloon Fight, and the Famicom Detective Club. An Japan only primeval visual novel that notably strayed from adventure game conventions to make a more story focused game.Before visual novels, ’Famicom Detective Club’ writer recalls the genre’s limitations https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/05/26/famicom-detective-club-yoshio-sakamoto/ 28 May 2021 Washington Post Character Ayumi Tachibana would later be considered as a Super Smash Brothers Melee character.Famicom Detective Club: One of the first visual novel series resurrected on Switch https://apptrigger.com/2021/05/16/famicom-detective-club-switch/ 28 May 2021 App Trigger 2021-05-16Gordon Justin A character from Famicom Detective Club was briefly considered as a character on the roster by Masahiro Sakurai for Super Smash Bros. Melee https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2021/may/05/famicom-detective-sakurai-roster-ssbm/ 28 May 2021 EventHubs 2021-05-05 en Read more about the Famicom Detective Club series on Wikipedia. 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mendel Palace / Quinty A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger! Mother The first game in the Mother series. A documentary was produced about an unreleased prototype english cartridge.Mattise Nathan Mother to Earth: When an NES prototype lands on eBay and inspires a documentary https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/03/mother-to-earth-when-an-nes-prototype-lands-on-ebay-and-inspires-a-documentary/ 26 March 2021 Ars Technica 14 March 2021 en-us Read more about Mother on Wikipedia. Tetris Popular game from the Soviet Union, licensed to Nintendo for home consoles in the west. In 2021 a new technique for the NES version of the game was discovered where pressure was applied to the back of the controller to allow for faster inputs, allowing world records to be broken.NES Tetris Players Are Using a Special Technique Called Rolling to Set New World Records - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/tetris-players-are-using-a-special-technique-called-rolling-to-set-new-world-records 30 April 2021 enNES Tetris Players Call It 'Rolling,' And They're Setting New World Records https://kotaku.com/nes-tetris-players-call-it-rolling-and-theyre-setting-1846767518 30 April 2021 Kotaku en-us Read more about Tetris on Wikipedia. Famicom Detective Club The Girl Who Stands Behind Volumes 1 and 2 The second entry in the then Japan exclusive Famicom Detective Club series. Series director Yoshio Sakamoto was able to better work around system limitations to his satisfaction in this entry. Read more about the Famicom Detective Club series on Wikipedia. 1990 Dr. Mario Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Mega Man 3 Final Fantasy III Not to be confused with the North American Final Fantasy III for the SNES, which was Final Fantasy VI in other regions but had its name changed in North America to avoid skipping missed releases.Statt Nick Nintendo’s SNES Classic has a confusingly named Final Fantasy game https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/26/15874710/nintendo-snes-classic-final-fantasy-vi-rpg-classic The Verge 25 November 2020 en 26 June 2017 This was done to avoid confusion at the time, though it caused some confusion later. Final Fantasy III was the first Final Fantasy series game to break a million sales.FINAL FANTASY III - new patch released today Square Enix Blog https://square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/final-fantasy-iii-patch square-enix-games.com 25 November 2020 en Read more about Final Fantasy III on Wikipedia. 1991 Yoshi Metal Slader Glory 1993 Kirby's Adventure The second game in the Kirby series. It introduced a mechanic allowing the player to copy enemy abilities,Kirby: 10 Copy Abilities You Forgot Existed https://www.thegamer.com/kirby-copy-abilities-forgot-existed/ 11 October 2021 TheGamer 10 March 2020 becoming a series staple from there onward. The game is considered by many to be make good use of the technical capabilities of the NES, having good graphics given the system limitations.Review: Kirby's Adventure (Wii Virtual Console / NES) https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nes/kirbys_adventure 11 October 2021 Nintendo Life 13 February 2007 Read more about Kirby's Adventure on Wikipedia. Gallery Famicom NES NES 101 AV Famicom Sharp Twin Famicom Other Console Variants Controllers Accessories Games Motherboards Development Marketing Clone Consoles Trivia A third party company, Power 10 Inc., made a early motion controller for the NES that used mercury switches called the Hot Stik.The Original NES Console Had a Motion Control Joystick 15 Years Before the Nintendo Wii Did https://gizmodo.com/the-original-nes-console-had-a-motion-control-joystick-1835626330 25 October 2020 Gizmodo en-us Further reading There is a WikiBook on NES programming. External Resources Nintendo Entertainment System Famicom Famicom and variants Video Game Console Library - Famicom/NES page. Nintendo UK Blog - Post showing design documents for the original Legend of Zelda. References 2100%__NOTOC__