Nintendo Entertainment System

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Nintendo Entertainment System

Now you're playing with power!
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: NES/Famicom:
JP: July 15, 1983
NA/KOR: October 18, 1985
EU: September 1, 1986
AU: July 1, 1987
BRA: 1993
Famicom Disk System:
JP: February 21, 1986
Successor: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Competitors: Sega Master System
Atari 7800
Generation: Third generation


The Nintendo Entertainment System, also abbreviated as the NES and known in Japan as the Family Computer (or Famicom for short), was the very first home console produced by Nintendo. The Famicom was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 (during the North American video game crash of 1983), and was later released in the US under its more well-known name on October 18, 1985.

The Famicom also received a floppy disk peripheral called the Famicom Disk System on February 21, 1986.

Why It Plays With Power!

  1. This is the console that made Nintendo a huge name in gaming, as well as saving the North American video game industry from total collapse. Without it, North Americans wouldn't likely have any video games today.
  2. It has a huge library of games, with over 700 officially licensed ones and about 100 unlicensed ones. (Some examples of these will be listed in the sections below.)
    • Several of the games that are ports of those found in arcades (such as Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Pac-Man and Galaga, are near-perfect conversions.
    • Many franchises (both first and third-party) got a start on the NES, such as Super Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, Contra, Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden, among many others.
  3. The two-button configuration (not counting the +Control Pad, START, or SELECT) makes actions easy to learn and master; as an example, in many platform games the A button is used to jump, while the B button is used to attack, run, etc.
  4. The lock-out chip and Nintendo's strict regulations helped prevent the NES library from being loaded with shovelware (something that the Atari 2600 was guilty of), which changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party developers as well as how society viewed video games.
  5. The VCR-like front-loading cartridge slot in the original model makes it easier to use in a TV stand than other consoles of its time.
  6. Many accessories were created for this console, including the NES Zapper (also known as the light gun) that was used for several games such as Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman and Hogan's Alley.
  7. The NES was the first console to utilize an RCA (A/V) output so that users could easily connect it to an RCA TV rather than to an RF one.
  8. The hardware limitations of the NES spawned design principles that still influence modern game development to this very day.
  9. This console is easy to take apart due to it using Phillips screws, which are more common than the tri-wing screws that later Nintendo consoles (such as the GameCube) would use.
  10. The NES-101 has several improvements over the original model, including:
    • Rather than the front-loading cartridge slot that the original NES has, the NES-101 features a top-loading cartridge slot that doesn't get damaged.
    • The controller is dog bone-shaped and more comfortable to hold.
  11. The Famicom also got the Disk System to allow for better audio quality and greater storage space for features such as a save feature or large-scale open worlds.

Bad Qualities

  1. The original model's cartridge slot can get damaged from inserting and removing cartridges for a relatively long amount of time. While it is possible to repair or replace the slot, the NES-101 solves this problem by being a top-loader model.
  2. The controller that came with the original model's rectangular design can be uncomfortable to hold at times due to its sharp edges.
  3. Despite Nintendo's strict regulations, a lot of shovelware and bad unlicensed games still made it onto the NES.
  4. Due to Nintendo's stringent censorship policies at the time, and rating boards (such as ESRB and PEGI) weren't created yet, many games were censored for English releases, such as Vodka Drunkenski from Punch-Out being renamed to Soda Popinski for the NES Punch-Out.
    • Because of this, several games from Japan were never officially released in North America and/or Europe, such as Devil World (although this one was released on Nintendo Switch Online), Sweet Home, The Portopia Serial Murder Case, etc.
  5. The original American NES model cannot play European games due to the latter's cartridges using the PAL format instead of the NTSC format, which is essentially region-locking. The NES-101 can play games from any country, however.
  6. A lot of NES games were never released in Europe or Australia (only around 325 games were released in PAL regions).
  7. While the NES-101 improves upon the original model in several ways, it lacks an A/V input and can only be played on an RF TV, which has inferior quality and makes the system unplayable on a modern TV without an adapter. Nintendo responded to this by offering an official modification that included an A/V input; these models are very rare.
  8. R.O.B. was a useless peripheral, as he could only play Gyromite and Stack-Up and was packaged with the NES as a marketing tool.

Reception and Legacy

The NES is regarded as one of, if not the, greatest console(s) of all time and is heavily praised by retro gamers and game collectors. As stated above, the NES saved the North American video game market, which would have otherwise slowed to a standstill due to the 1983 video game crash the region experienced.

Good/Decent Examples of NES Games

First-Party Titles

Third-Party Titles

Bad/Mediocre Examples of NES Games

First-Party Titles

Third-Party Titles

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