The Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly abbreviated as NES or Nintendo, was an 8-bit cartridge-based console released by Nintendo in October 1985. The Japanese version of the console, released two years prior in 1983, is called the Family Computer (FC) or Famicom, which has a completely different appearance from the North American/European machine despite having the same main hardware. Although it is the first home console to be released internationally with great success, the NES is not the first system ever to be manufactured by Nintendo, as the Color TV-Game series - a Japan-only Pong clone, predates it in 1977.
One of the most important consoles ever created and part of the 8-bit era, the Nintendo Entertainment System competed against the Sega Master System and for a brief period the Atari 2600 (which was a generation prior). By far the most successful console of its age, the NES is widely known for introducing many groundbreaking Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda series, alongside Capcom's Mega Man, and so forth. The Nintendo Entertainment System is also responsible for reviving the video game industry in North America following the infamous video game crash of 1983 in spite of the previous success of the Atari 2600 and establishing the dominance of Japanese video game manufacturing. Its library is known for having ports of arcades such as Donkey Kong and perhaps notoriously, highly challenging games like Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (a FDS title), and even The Adventure of Link, leading to what older fans called such games "Nintendo Hard" and making the NES a very skeptical pick for casual gamers despite its popularity and some even claimed it didn't age well today, unlike its 16-bit successor, the Super NES.
This console, unlike other cartridge-based systems, uses a unique VCR-like mechanism to load its games rather than on the top of the console like the Famicom (or the SNES and N64), though this design, alongside its infamous 10NES chip, in recent years, although innovative, is known to have a major flaw of easily catching dirt and bending the contact points of the unit and game cartridges, causing the NES to have trouble reading games and difficult to preserve the system itself. This would lead to a compact, top-loading cost-reduced variant late in the console's lifespan in 1993 by Nintendo called the New-Style NES or NES-101 (or "NES Jr". by fans) to resolve this problem. The Japanese version is called New Famicom. The redesign did not make it to Europe, however.
The NES sold 61.91 million units worldwide and was discontinued in 1995. However, Japan would continue the support of the Famicom until 2003, twenty years after its release.
The Nintendo Entertainment System was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.
NES Classic Edition[]
The NES Classic Edition is a smaller emulated-based version of the Nintendo Entertainment System released in 2016 that does not accept cartridges.
Instead, it comes with thirty pre-installed games, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link among them.
The Legend of Zelda games[]
- The Legend of Zelda (Family Computer Disk System launch title; was later released internationally and re-released in Japan on cartridge in 1994)
- The Adventure of Link (released on Famicom Disk System in Japan; cartridge internationally)
Trivia[]
- The slogan of the NES is "Now you're playing with power!".
- The Famicom/NES had a library of over 1,000 games.
- The NES' most common bundle, the Deluxe Set, has its original retail price in 1985 of $179.99, which is the equivalent of $525.54 as of 2024.
- The original launch titles of the Famicom are Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. For the international release, this has expanded to 17 games, including Super Mario Bros., Ice Climber, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, and more.
- Many of the concepts of the NES by Nintendo were reused for the GB and SNES in official advertisements to this day.
- The NES' Japanese counterpart, the Famicom, is the longest system to have repair support by its manufacturer, as Nintendo stopped in 2007 after the company no longer have the necessary parts to replace broken units. Coincidentally, this also applied to the SNES as well.
- The original Famicom model is known to have its unique controllers hardwired to the console, making it quite difficult to replace defective units. Interestingly, its 2P controller has a microphone (at the cost of Start/Select buttons), which can be used to easily defeat enemies in The Legend of Zelda vulnerable to noise such as the Pols Voice. However, the international NES and later redesigned models for both regions lack such a feature in their controllers (therefore must use Arrows instead to quickly destroy Pol Voices).
- The two Zelda games released on the NES, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, are the system's 6th and 8th best-selling game, respectively, with 6.5 and 4.38 million sold. For comparision, its highest seller, Super Mario Bros., sold a whopping 40 million (though it is a pack-in title for the North American and European regions).
- The Famicom during its release and eventually the NES in 1989 have a TV counterpart made by Sharp, called My Computer TV or Sharp Nintendo Television. Officially licensed by Nintendo, it is a 14 or 19-inch CRT with built-in hardware of the console, making owners play the games with just the television alone and has higher image quality than the standard procedure. However, they are quite expensive and rare when new, and are extremely difficult to repair today due to the combined obsolete hardware of a CRT TV and FC/NES.
- The Super NES would also have its own called the Super Famicom Naizou SF1 (or SF1 SNES TV) in 1990, though it was exclusive to Japan.
- The intro music from the Famicom Disk System add-on for the Japanese version of the NES is reused for the menu theme of the GameCube (though played very slowly).
- The Famicom's discontinuation shares the same date as the Super NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color, in 2003.
Nomenclature[]
 Names in Other Regions 
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Meaning | |
 |
Japanese | ファミコン (Famikon) ファミリーコンピュータ ディスクシステム (Famirī Konpyūta Disuku Shisutemu) |
Famicom Family Computer Disk System |
 |
German | Nintendo Entertainment System | |
Gallery[]
The Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES
The Famicom Disk System, an add-on for the Famicom
The Famicom controllers
The NES with its top half removed, showing its VCR-like cartridge mechanism
The NES controller
The New-Style NES (US late compact model)
The New Famicom (Japanese late compact model)
The Japanese version of the Sharp NES TV
An artwork of Mario and Luigi playing the NES
Nintendo Power ad of the Mario Bros seemingly playing The Adventure of Link on the NES
An original NES (bottom) compared to the NES Classic Edition (top)
Mario as he appears on the NES (SMB)
Luigi as he appears on the NES (SMB)
Princess Peach as she appears on the NES (SMBTLL)
Bowser as he appears on the NES (SMB)
The Zelda no Densetsu FDS Disk Card
The Legend of Zelda gold NES cartridge
The Legend of Zelda, the first Zelda game released on the NES
Japanese Famicom Disk title screen of The Legend of Zelda
The Adventure of Link, the second Zelda game released on the NES
Link as he appears on the NES (TLoZ)
Princess Zelda as she appears on the NES (TLoZ)
Ganon as he appears on the NES (TLoZ)
Dark Link as he appears on the NES (TAoL)
The Bow as it appears on the NES
The Bomb as it appears on the NES
The Boomerang as it appears on the NES
The Magical Sword as it appears on the NES (TLoZ)
The Magical Shield as it appears on the NES (TLoZ)
The Silver Arrow as it appears on the NES
The Triforce as it appears on the NES (TLoZ)
