Nintendo Entertainment System
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"NES" redirects here. For other uses, see NES (disambiguation).
"Family Computer" redirects here. For the 1977 VideoBrain product, see VideoBrain Family Computer.
Nintendo Entertainment System
Official Nintendo Entertainment System logo
Family Computer logo
Nintendo Entertainment System with controller
Nintendo Family Computer
Top: Nintendo Entertainment System with controller
Bottom: Nintendo Family Computer ("Famicom") with controller
Also known as     Family Computer/Famicom (Japan)
Hyundai Comboy (Korea)
Developer     Nintendo
Manufacturer     Nintendo
Type     Home video game console
Generation     Third generation
Release date     

    JP: July 15, 1983
    NA/KR: October 18, 1985
    EU: September 1, 1986
    EU/AU: 1987

Retail availability     1983–2003
Introductory price     ¥14,800 (Japan)
$179 (US Deluxe Set)
Discontinued     

    NA: August 14, 1995
    JP: September 25, 2003

Units sold     Worldwide: 61.91 million
Japan: 19.35 million
Americas: 34.00 million
Other: 8.56 million
Media     ROM cartridge ("Game Pak")
CPU     Ricoh 2A03 8-bit processor (MOS Technology 6502 core)
Controller input     2 controller portsc
1 expansion slot
Best-selling game     

    Super Mario Bros. (pack-in), 40.23 million (as of 1999)
    Super Mario Bros. 3 (pack-in), 18 million (as of July 27, 2008)
    Super Mario Bros. 2,
    10 million

Predecessor     Color TV-Game
Successor     Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System (commonly abbreviated as NES) is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer (Japanese: ファミリーコンピュータ Hepburn: Famirī Konpyūta) (also known by the portmanteau abbreviation Famicom (ファミコン Famikon) and abbreviated as FC) on July 15, 1983, and was later released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and 1987, and Australia in 1987. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy (현대 컴보이 Hyeondae Keomboi) and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo's platform. It was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN, in a list of 25. It was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazine's "Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time".
History
Development
Main article: History of the Nintendo Entertainment System

Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Famicom, which is short for Family Computer. Masayuki Uemura designed the system. Original plans called for an advanced 16-bit system which would function as a full-fledged computer with a keyboard and floppy disk drive, but Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi rejected this and instead decided to go for a cheaper, more conventional cartridge-based game console as he felt that features such as keyboards and disks were intimidating to non-technophiles. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, after which work began on programming tools. Because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Early Famicom games were written on a system that ran on an NEC PC-8001 computer and LEDs on a grid were used with a digitizer to design graphics as no software design tools for this purpose existed at that time.

The code name for the project was "GameCom", but Masayuki Uemura's wife proposed the name "Famicom", arguing that "In Japan, 'pasokon' is used to mean a personal computer, but it is neither a home or personal computer. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer." Meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors.

During the creation of the Famicom, the ColecoVision, a video game console made by Coleco to compete against Atari's Atari 2600 Game system in The United States, was a huge influence. Takao Sawano, chief manager of the project, brought a ColecoVision home to his family, who were impressed by the systems capability to produce smooth graphics at the time, which contrasted with the flickering and slowdown commonly seen on Atari 2600 games. Uemura, head of Famicom development, stated that the ColecoVision set the bar that influenced how he would approach the creation of the Famicom.

Original plans called for the Famicom's cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, but ultimately they ended up being twice as big. Careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, Nintendo decided to produce their own connectors in-house rather than use ones from an outside supplier.

The controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. The game pad controllers were more-or-less copied directly from the Game & Watch machines, although the Famicom design team originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even taking apart ones from American game consoles to see how they worked. There were concerns regarding the durability of the joystick design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use and caused no discomfort. Ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used.

Uemura added an eject lever to the cartridge slot which was not really necessary, but he felt that children could be entertained by pressing it. He also added a microphone to the second controller with the idea that it could be used to make players' voices sound through the TV speaker.
Release

The console was released on July 15, 1983 as the Family Computer (or Famicom for short) for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendo's successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum; a bad chip set caused the initial release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the Famicom’s popularity soared, becoming the best-selling game console in Japan by the end of 1984.

Encouraged by this success, Nintendo turned its attention to the North American market, entering into negotiations with Atari to release the Famicom under Atari’s name as the Nintendo Advanced Video Gaming System. The deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983. However, Atari discovered at that show that its competitor Coleco was illegally demonstrating its Coleco Adam computer with Nintendo's Donkey Kong game. This violation of Atari's exclusive license with Nintendo to publish the game for its own computer systems delayed the implementation of Nintendo's game console marketing contract with Atari. Atari's CEO Ray Kassar was fired the next month, so the deal went nowhere, and Nintendo decided to market its system on its own.
The proposed Advanced Video System bundle, including cassette drive and wireless accessories.

Subsequent plans to market a Famicom console in North America featuring a keyboard, cassette data recorder, wireless joystick controller and a special BASIC cartridge under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" likewise never materialized. By the beginning of 1985, the Famicom had sold more than 2.5 million units in Japan and Nintendo soon announced plans to release it in North America as the Advanced Video Entertainment System (AVS) that same year. The American video game press was skeptical that the console could have any success in the region, with the March 1985 issue of Electronic Games magazine stating that "the videogame market in America has virtually disappeared" and that "this could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part."

At June 1985's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled the American version of its Famicom, with a new case redesigned by Lance Barr and featuring a "zero insertion force" cartridge slot. This is the system which would eventually be officially deployed as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or the colloquial "NES". Nintendo seeded these first systems to limited American test markets starting in New York City on October 18, 1985, and following up with a full-fledged North American release in February of the following year. The nationwide release was in September 1986. Nintendo released 17 launch titles: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pinball, Soccer, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew, and Super Mario Bros. Some varieties of these launch games contained Famicom chips with an adapter inside the cartridge so they would play on North American consoles, which is why the title screen of Gyromite has the Famicom title "Robot Gyro" and the title screen of Stack-Up has the Famicom title "Robot Block".
For more details on this topic, see History of the Nintendo Entertainment System § North America.
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy), an accessory for the NES's 1985 launch. Although it ended up having a short product lifespan, R.O.B. was initially used to market the NES as novel and sophisticated compared to previous game consoles.

The system's launch represented not only a new product, but also a reframing of the severely damaged home video game market. The video game market crash of 1983 had occurred in large part due to a lack of consumer and retailer confidence in video games, which had been partially due to confusion and misrepresentation in video game marketing. Prior to the NES, the packaging of many video games presented bombastic artwork which exaggerated the graphics of the actual game. In terms of product identity, a single game such as Pac-Man would appear in many versions on many different game consoles and computers, with large variations in graphics, sound, and general quality between the versions. In stark contrast, Nintendo's marketing strategy aimed to regain consumer and retailer confidence by delivering a singular platform whose technology was not in need of exaggeration and whose qualities were clearly defined.

To differentiate Nintendo's new home platform from the perception of a troubled and shallow video game market, the company freshened its product nomenclature and established a strict product approval and licensing policy. The overall system was referred to as an "Entertainment System" instead of a "video game system", which was centered upon a machine called a "Control Deck" instead of a "console", and which featured software cartridges called "Game Paks" instead of "video games". To deter production of games which had not been licensed by Nintendo, and to prevent copying, the 10NES lockout chip system acted as a lock-and-key coupling of each Game Pak and Control Deck. The packaging of the launch lineup of NES games bore pictures of close representations of actual onscreen graphics. To reduce consumer confusion, symbols on the games' packaging clearly indicated the genre of the game. A 'seal of quality' was printed on all licensed game and accessory packaging. The initial seal stated, "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product". This text was later changed to "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality".
For more details on this topic, see Nintendo Entertainment System § Third-party licensing.

Unlike with the Famicom, Nintendo of America marketed the console primarily to children, instituting a strict policy of censoring profanity, sexual, religious, or political content. The most famous example was Lucasfilm's attempts to port the comedy-horror game Maniac Mansion to the NES, which Nintendo insisted be considerably watered down. Nintendo of America continued their censorship policy until 1994 with the advent of the Entertainment Software Rating Board system.

The optional Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B., was part of a marketing plan to portray the NES's technology as being novel and sophisticated when compared to previous game consoles, and to portray its position as being within reach of the better established toy market. While at first, the American public exhibited limited excitement for the console itself, peripherals such as the light gun and R.O.B. attracted extensive attention.

In Europe, Oceania and Canada, the system was released to two separate marketing regions. The first consisted of mainland Europe (excluding Italy) where distribution was handled by a number of different companies, with Nintendo responsible for most cartridge releases. Most of this region saw a 1986 release. The release in the Netherlands was in Q4 of 1987, where it was distributed by Bandai BV. In 1987 Mattel handled distribution for the second region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Not until the 1990s did Nintendo's newly created European branch direct distribution throughout Europe.
The Nintendo Entertainment System's Control Deck

For its complete North American release, the Nintendo Entertainment System was progressively released over the ensuing years in four different bundles: the Deluxe Set, the Control Deck, the Action Set and the Power Set. The Deluxe Set, retailing at US$179.99 (equivalent to $433 in 2016)[3], included R.O.B., a light gun called the NES Zapper, two controllers, and two Game Paks: Gyromite, and Duck Hunt. The Basic Set retailed at US$89.99 with no game, and US$99.99 bundled with Super Mario Bros. The Action Set, retailing in November 1988 for US$149.99, came with the Control Deck, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, and a dual Game Pak containing both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. In 1989, the Power Set included the console, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, a Power Pad, and a triple Game Pak containing Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet. In 1990, a Sports Set bundle was released, including the console, an NES Satellite infrared wireless multitap adapter, four game controllers, and a dual Game Pak containing Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup. Two more bundle packages were later released using the original model NES console. The Challenge Set of 1992 included the console, two controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Pak for a retail price of US$89.99. The Basic Set, first released in 1987, was repackaged for a retail US$89.99. It included only the console and two controllers, and no longer was bundled with a cartridge. Instead, it contained a book called the Official Nintendo Player's Guide, which contained detailed information for every NES game made up to that point.

Finally, the console was redesigned for both the North American and Japanese markets as part of the final Nintendo-released bundle package. The package included the new style NES-101 console, and one redesigned "dogbone" game controller. Released in October 1993 in North America, this final bundle retailed for US$49.99 and remained in production until the discontinuation of the NES in 1995.
Reception

By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software. Compute! reported in 1989 that Nintendo had sold seven million NES systems in 1988, almost as many as the number of Commodore 64s sold in its first five years. "Computer game makers [are] scared stiff", the magazine said, stating that Nintendo's popularity caused most competitors to have poor sales during the previous Christmas and resulted in serious financial problems for some.
Comparison of NES from different regions. From top: Japanese Famicom, European NES and American NES

In June 1989, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing Peter Main, said that the Famicom was present in 37% of Japan's households. By 1990, 30% of American households owned the NES, compared to 23% for all personal computers. By 1990, the NES had outsold all previously released consoles worldwide. The slogan for this brand was It can't be beaten. In Europe and South America, the NES was outsold by Sega's Master System, while the Nintendo Entertainment System was not available in the Soviet Union.

As the 1990s dawned, gamers predicted that competition from technologically superior systems such as the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis would mean the immediate end of the NES’s dominance. Instead, during the first year of Nintendo's successor console the Super Famicom (named Super Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan), the Famicom remained the second highest-selling video game console in Japan, outselling the newer and more powerful NEC PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive by a wide margin. The console remained popular in Japan and North America until late 1993, when the demand for new NES software abruptly plummeted. The final Famicom game released in Japan is Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV (Adventure Island IV), while in North America, Wario's Woods is the final licensed game. The last game to be released in Europe was The Lion King in 1995. In the wake of ever decreasing sales and the lack of new software titles, Nintendo of America officially discontinued the NES by 1995. Nintendo kept producing new Famicom units in Japan until September 25, 2003, and continued to repair Famicom consoles until October 31, 2007, attributing the discontinuation of support to insufficient supplies of parts.
Legacy

The NES was released after the "video game crash" of the early 1980s, when many retailers and adults regarded electronic games as a passing fad, so many believed at first that the NES would soon fade. Before the NES/Famicom, Nintendo was known as a moderately successful Japanese toy and playing card manufacturer, but the popularity of the NES/Famicom helped the company grow into an internationally recognized name almost synonymous with video games and set the stage for Japanese dominance of the video game industry. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher quality software titles, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced titles for earlier game systems.

The NES hardware was also very influential. Nintendo chose the name "Nintendo Entertainment System" for the US market and redesigned the system so it would not give the appearance of a child's toy. The front-loading cartridge input allowed it to be used more easily in a TV stand with other entertainment devices, such as a videocassette recorder.

The system's hardware limitations led to design principles that still influence the development of modern video games. Many prominent game franchises originated on the NES, including Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, Capcom's Mega Man franchise, Konami's Castlevania franchise, Square's Final Fantasy, and Enix's Dragon Quest franchises.

NES imagery, especially its controller, has become a popular motif for a variety of products, including Nintendo's own Game Boy Advance. Clothing, accessories, and food items adorned with NES-themed imagery are still produced and sold in stores.

On July 14, 2016, Nintendo announced the November 2016 launch of a miniature replica of the NES, titled Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition in the United States and Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and Australia.[68] The console includes 30 permanently inbuilt games from the vintage NES library, including the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda series. The system features HDMI display output and a new replica controller, which can also connect to the Wii Remote for use with Virtual Console games. It was discontinued in North America on April 13, 2017, and worldwide on April 15, 2017.
Discontinuation

On August 14, 1995, Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo Entertainment System in both North America and Europe.

The Famicom was originally discontinued in September 2003. Nintendo offered repair service for the Famicom in Japan until 2007.
Games
See also: List of Nintendo Entertainment System games, List of Family Computer games, and List of Family Computer Disk System games

The Nintendo Entertainment System offered a number of groundbreaking titles. Super Mario Bros. pioneered side-scrollers while The Legend of Zelda helped popularize battery-backed save functionality.
Game Pak
Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak
North American and PAL NES cartridges (or "Game Paks") are significantly larger than Japanese Famicom cartridges.

The NES uses a 72-pin design, as compared with 60 pins on the Famicom. To reduce costs and inventory, some early games released in North America were simply Famicom cartridges attached to an adapter to fit inside the NES hardware. Originally, NES cartridges were held together with five small slotted screws. Games released after 1987 were redesigned slightly to incorporate two plastic clips molded into the plastic itself, removing the need for the top two screws.

The back of the cartridge bears a label with handling instructions. Production and software revision codes were imprinted as stamps on the back label to correspond with the software version and producer. All licensed NTSC and PAL cartridges are a standard shade of gray plastic, with the exception of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which were manufactured in gold-plastic carts. Unlicensed carts were produced in black, robin egg blue, and gold, and are all slightly different shapes than standard NES cartridges. Nintendo also produced yellow-plastic carts for internal use at Nintendo Service Centers, although these "test carts" were never made available for purchase. All licensed US cartridges were made by Nintendo, Konami and Acclaim. For promotion of DuckTales: Remastered, Capcom sent 150 limited-edition gold NES cartridges with the original game, featuring the Remastered art as the sticker, to different gaming news agencies. The instruction label on the back included the opening lyric from the show's theme song, "Life is like a hurricane".

Japanese (Famicom) cartridges are shaped slightly differently. Unlike NES games, official Famicom cartridges were produced in many colors of plastic. Adapters, similar in design to the popular accessory Game Genie, are available that allow Famicom games to be played on an NES. In Japan, several companies manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom. This allowed these companies to develop their own customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as chips that increased the quality of sound in their games.
Third-party licensing
The Famicom Family mark started appearing in games and peripherals released from 1988 and onward that were approved by Nintendo for compatibility with official Famicom consoles and derivatives.

Nintendo's near monopoly on the home video game market left it with a degree of influence over the industry. Unlike Atari, which never actively courted third-party developers (and even went to court in an attempt to force Activision to cease production of Atari 2600 games), Nintendo had anticipated and encouraged the involvement of third-party software developers; strictly on Nintendo's terms. Some of the Nintendo platform-control measures were adopted by later console manufacturers such as Sega, Sony, and Microsoft, although not as stringent.

To this end, a 10NES authentication chip was placed in every console and another was placed in every officially licensed cartridge. If the console's chip could not detect a counterpart chip inside the cartridge, the game would not load. Nintendo portrayed these measures as intended to protect the public against poor-quality games, and placed a golden seal of approval on all licensed games released for the system.

Nintendo was not as restrictive as Sega, which did not permit third-party publishing until Mediagenic in late summer 1988. Nintendo's intention was to reserve a large part of NES game revenue for itself. Nintendo required that it be the sole manufacturer of all cartridges, and that the publisher had to pay in full before the cartridges for that game be produced. Cartridges could not be returned to Nintendo, so publishers assumed all the risk. As a result, some publishers lost more money due to distress sales of remaining inventory at the end of the NES era than they ever earned in profits from sales of the games. Because Nintendo controlled the production of all cartridges, it was able to enforce strict rules on its third-party developers, which were required to sign a contract by Nintendo that would obligate these parties to develop exclusively for the system, order at least 10,000 cartridges, and only make five games per year. A 1988 shortage of DRAM and ROM chips also reportedly caused Nintendo to only permit 25% of publishers' requests for cartridges. This was an average figure, with some publishers receiving much higher amounts and others almost none. GameSpy noted that Nintendo's "iron-clad terms" made the company many enemies during the 1980s. Some developers tried to circumvent the five game limit by creating additional company brands like Konami's Ultra Games label; others tried circumventing the 10NES chip.
Further information: § Unlicensed games

Nintendo was accused of antitrust behavior because of the strict licensing requirements. The United States Department of Justice and several states began probing Nintendo's business practices, leading to the involvement of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC conducted an extensive investigation which included interviewing hundreds of retailers. During the FTC probe, Nintendo changed the terms of its publisher licensing agreements to eliminate the two-year rule and other restrictive terms. Nintendo and the FTC settled the case in April 1991, with Nintendo required to send vouchers giving a $5 discount off to a new game, to every person that had purchased a NES title between June 1988 and December 1990. GameSpy remarked that Nintendo's punishment was particularly weak giving the case's findings, although it has been speculated that the FTC did not want to damage the video game industry in the United States.

With the NES near its end of its life many third-party publishers such as Electronic Arts supported upstart competing consoles with less strict licensing terms such as the Sega Genesis and then the PlayStation, which eroded and then took over Nintendo's dominance in the home console market, respectively. Consoles from Nintendo's rivals in the post-SNES era had always enjoyed much stronger third-party support than Nintendo, which relied more heavily on first-party games.
Unlicensed games

Companies that refused to pay the licensing fee or were rejected by Nintendo found ways to circumvent the console's authentication system. Most of these companies created circuits that used a voltage spike to temporarily disable the 10NES chip. A few unlicensed games released in Europe and Australia came in the form of a dongle to connect to a licensed game, in order to use the licensed game's 10NES chip for authentication. To combat unlicensed games, Nintendo of America threatened retailers who sold them with losing their supply of licensed titles and multiple revisions were made to the NES PCBs to prevent unlicensed games from working.

Atari Games took a different approach with their line of NES products, Tengen. The company attempted to reverse engineer the lockout chip to develop its own "Rabbit" chip. Tengen also obtained a description of the lockout chip from the United States Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming that it was required to defend against present infringement claims. Nintendo successfully sued Tengen for copyright infringement. Tengen's antitrust claims against Nintendo were never decided.

Color Dreams produced Christian video games under the subsidiary name Wisdom Tree. It was never sued by Nintendo as the company probably feared a public relations backlash.
Emulation
Further information: List of video game emulators § Nintendo Entertainment System

The NES can be emulated on many other systems, most notably the PC. The first emulator was the Japanese-only Pasofami. It was soon followed by iNES, which was available in English and was cross-platform, in 1996. It was described as being the first NES emulation software that could be used by a non-expert. NESticle, a popular MS-DOS emulator, was released on April 3, 1997. There have since been many other emulators. The Virtual Console for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U also offers emulation of many NES games.
Game rentals

As the Nintendo Entertainment System grew in popularity and entered millions of American homes, some small video rental shops began buying their own copies of NES games, and renting them out to customers for around the same price as a video cassette rental for a few days. Nintendo received no profit from the practice beyond the initial cost of their game, and unlike movie rentals, a newly released game could hit store shelves and be available for rent on the same day. Nintendo took steps to stop game rentals, but didn't take any formal legal action until Blockbuster Video began to make game rentals a large-scale service. Nintendo claimed that allowing customers to rent games would significantly hurt sales and drive up the cost of games. Nintendo lost the lawsuit, but did win on a claim of copyright infringement. Blockbuster was banned from including original, copyrighted instruction booklets with their rented games. In compliance with the ruling, Blockbuster produced their own short instructions—usually in the form of a small booklet, card, or label stuck on the back of the rental box—that explained the game's basic premise and controls. Video rental shops continued the practice of renting video games and still do today.

There were some risks with renting cartridge-based games. Most rental shops did not clean the connectors and they would become dirty over time. Renting and using a cartridge with dirty connectors posed a problem for consoles, especially the Nintendo Entertainment System which was particularly susceptible to operation problems and failures when its internal connectors became dirty (see the Design flaws section below).
Hardware
Configurations

Although the Japanese Famicom, North American and European NES versions included essentially the same hardware, there were certain key differences among the systems.

The original Japanese Famicom was predominantly white plastic, with dark red trim. It featured a top-loading cartridge slot, grooves on both sides of the deck in which the hardwired game controllers could be placed when not in use, and a 15-pin expansion port located on the unit's front panel for accessories.

The original NES, meanwhile, featured a front-loading cartridge covered by a small, hinged door that can be opened to insert or remove a cartridge and closed at other times. It features a more subdued gray, black, and red color scheme. An expansion port was found on the bottom of the unit and the cartridge connector pinout was changed.

In the UK, Italy and Australia which share the PAL A region, two versions of the NES were released; the "Mattel Version" and "NES Version". When the NES was first released in those countries, it was distributed by Mattel and Nintendo decided to use a lockout chip specific to those countries, different from the chip used in other European countries. When Nintendo took over European distribution in 1990, it produced consoles that were then labelled "NES Version"; therefore, the only differences between the two are the text on the front flap and texture on the top/bottom of the casing.
The NES-101 control deck alongside its similarly redesigned NES-039 game controller.

In October 1993, Nintendo redesigned the NES to follow many of the same design cues as the newly introduced Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Japanese Super Famicom. Like the SNES, the NES-101 model loaded cartridges through a covered slot on top of the unit replacing the complicated mechanism of the earlier design. For this reason the NES-101 is known informally as the "top-loader" among Nintendo fans.
The HVC-101 control deck alongside its similarly redesigned HVC-102 game controller.

In December 1993, the Famicom received a similar redesign. It also loads cartridges through a covered slot on the top of the unit and uses non-hardwired controllers. Because HVC-101 used composite video output instead of being RF only like the HVC-001, Nintendo marketed the newer model as the AV Famicom (AV仕様ファミコン Eibui Shiyō Famikon). Since the new controllers don't have microphones on them like the second controller on the original console, certain games such as the Disk System version of The Legend of Zelda and Raid on Bungeling Bay will have certain tricks that cannot be replicated when played on an HVC-101 Famicom without a modded controller. The HVC-101 Famicom is compatible with most NES controllers due to having the same controller port.[citation needed] In October 1987, Nintendo had also released a 3D graphic capable headset called the Famicom 3D System (HVC-031). This peripheral accessory was never released outside Japan.
Design flaws
The VCR-like loading mechanism of the NES led to problems over time. The design wore connector pins out quickly and could easily become dirty, resulting in difficulties with the NES reading game carts.

When Nintendo released the NES in the US, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The newly designed connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. Unfortunately, the ZIF connector was not truly zero insertion force. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly, as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges caused the pins to wear out from repeated usage over the years and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector. These design issues were not alleviated by Nintendo’s choice of materials; the console slot nickel connector springs would wear due to design and the game cartridge copper connectors were also prone to tarnishing. Many players would try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually hurt the copper connectors by speeding up the tarnishing.
Lockout
The 10NES authentication chip contributed to the system's reliability problems. The circuit was ultimately removed from the remodeled NES 2.

The Famicom contained no lockout hardware and, as a result, unlicensed cartridges (both legitimate and bootleg) were extremely common throughout Japan and the Far East. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES-101) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers. Tinkerers at home in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip’s mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console’s ability to play legal games, as well as bootlegs and converted imports. NES consoles sold in different regions had different lockout chips, so games marketed in one region would not work on consoles from another region. Known regions are: USA/Canada (3193 lockout chip), most of Europe (3195), Asia (3196) and UK, Italy and Australia (3197). Since two types of lockout chip were used in Europe, European NES game boxes often had an "A" or "B" letter on the front, indicating whether the game is compatible with UK/Italian/Australian consoles (A), or the rest of Europe (B). Rest-of-Europe games typically had text on the box stating "This game is not compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System". Similarly, UK / Italy / Australia games stated "This game is only compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System".

Pirate cartridges for the NES were rare, but Famicom ones were common and widespread in Asia. Most were produced in Hong Kong or Taiwan, and they usually featured a variety of small (32k or less) games which were selected from a menu and bank switched. Some were also hacks of existing games (especially Super Mario Bros.), and a few were cartridge conversions of Famicom Disk System titles such as the Japanese SMB2.

Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the console's most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly because the 10NES would reset the console once per second. The lockout chip required constant communication with the chip in the game to work.[76] Dirty, aging and bent connectors would often disrupt the communication, resulting in the blink effect.[89] Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a solid white, gray, or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, inserting the cartridge just far enough to get the ZIF to lower, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting the cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, and cleaning the connectors with alcohol. These attempted solutions often became notable in their own right and are often remembered alongside the NES. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem instead ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system.[citation needed] In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.

With the release of the top-loading NES-101 (NES 2) toward the end of the NES's lifespan, Nintendo resolved the problems by switching to a standard card edge connector and eliminating the lockout chip. All of the Famicom systems used standard card edge connectors, as did Nintendo’s subsequent game consoles, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64.

In response to these hardware flaws, "Nintendo Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across the U.S. According to Nintendo, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts only to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program. In practice, the authorization process consisted of nothing more than paying a fee to Nintendo for the privilege. In a recent[when?] trend, many sites have sprung up to offer Nintendo repair parts, guides, and services that replace those formerly offered by the authorized repair centers.
Famicom 3D System

Nintendo released a 3D headset peripheral called Famicom 3D System for 3D stereoscopic entertainment. This was never released outside Japan, since it was an utter commercial failure, making gamers experience headaches and nausea.
Famicom Modem

Nintendo released a modem peripheral called Famicom Modem. This was not intended for children. Instead, adults would use it for gambling horse races, set stocking dates, use their bank, and more.
Technical specifications
The motherboard of the NES. The two largest chips are the Ricoh-produced CPU and PPU.

For its central processing unit (CPU), the NES uses an 8-bit microprocessor produced by Ricoh based on a MOS Technology 6502 core.

The NES contains 2 kB of onboard work RAM. A game cartridge may contain expanded RAM to increase this amount. The size of NES games varies from 8 kB (Galaxian) to 1 MB (Metal Slader Glory), but 128 to 384 kB was the most common.

The NES[94] uses a custom-made Picture Processing Unit (PPU) developed by Ricoh. All variations of the PPU feature 2 kB of video RAM, 256 bytes of on-die "object attribute memory" (OAM) to store the positions, colors, and tile indices of up to 64 sprites on the screen, and 28 bytes of on-die palette RAM to allow selection of background and sprite colors. The console's 2 kB of onboard RAM may be used for tile maps and attributes on the NES board and 8 kB of tile pattern ROM or RAM may be included on a cartridge. The system has an available color palette of 48 colors and 6 grays. Up to 25 simultaneous colors may be used without writing new values mid-frame: a background color, four sets of three tile colors and four sets of three sprite colors. The NES palette is based on NTSC rather than RGB values. A total of 64 sprites may be displayed onscreen at a given time without reloading sprites mid-screen. The standard display resolution of the NES is 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.

Video output connections varied from one model of the console to the next. The original HVC-001 model of the Family Computer featured only radio frequency (RF) modulator output. When the console was released in North America and Europe, support for composite video through RCA connectors was added in addition to the RF modulator. The HVC-101 model of the Famicom dropped the RF modulator entirely and adopted composite video output via a proprietary 12-pin "multi-out" connector first introduced for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Conversely, the North American re-released NES-101 model most closely resembled the original HVC-001 model Famicom, in that it featured RF modulator output only. Finally, the PlayChoice-10 utilized an inverted RGB video output.

The stock NES supports a total of five sound channels, two of which are pulse channels with 4 pulse width settings, one is a triangle wave generator, another is a noise generator (often used for percussion), and the 5th one plays low-quality digital samples.

The NES supports expansion chips contained in certain cartridges to add sound channels and help with data processing. Developers can add these chips to their games, such as the Konami VRC6, Konami VRC7, Sunsoft 5B, Namco 163, and two more by Nintendo itself: the Nintendo FDS wave generator (a modified Ricoh RP2C33 chip with single-cycle wave table-lookup sound support), and the Nintendo Memory Management Controller 5 (MMC5).
Further information: Memory management controller
Accessories
See also: List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories
In addition to featuring a revised color scheme that matched the more subdued tones of the console itself, NES controllers could be unplugged. They nevertheless lacked the microphone featured in Famicom controllers.
Controllers

The game controller used for both the NES and the Famicom featured an oblong brick-like design with a simple four button layout: two round buttons labeled "A" and "B", a "START" button and a "SELECT" button. Additionally, the controllers utilized the cross-shaped joypad, designed by Nintendo employee Gunpei Yokoi for Nintendo Game & Watch systems, to replace the bulkier joysticks on earlier gaming consoles’ controllers.

The original model Famicom featured two game controllers, both of which were hardwired to the back of the console. The second controller lacked the START and SELECT buttons, but featured a small microphone. Relatively few games made use of this feature. The earliest produced Famicom units initially had square A and B buttons.[95] This was changed to the circular designs because of the square buttons being caught in the controller casing when pressed down and glitches within the hardware causing the system to freeze occasionally while playing a game.

The NES dropped the hardwired controllers, instead featuring two custom 7-pin ports on the front of the console. Also in contrast to the Famicom, the controllers included with the NES were identical and swappable, and neither controller possessed the microphone that was present on the Famicom model. Both controllers included the START and SELECT buttons, allowing some NES localizations of games, such as The Legend of Zelda, to use the START button on the second controller to save the game without dying first. However, the NES controllers lacked the microphone, which was used on the Famicom version of Zelda to kill certain enemies.
The NES Zapper, a light gun accessory

A number of special controllers designed for use with specific games were released for the system, though very few such devices proved particularly popular. Such devices included, but were not limited to, the Zapper (a light gun), the R.O.B., and the Power Pad. The original Famicom featured a deepened DA-15 expansion port on the front of the unit, which was used to connect most auxiliary devices. On the NES, these special controllers were generally connected to one of the two control ports on the front of the console.

Nintendo also made two turbo controllers for the NES called NES Advantage and the NES Max. Both controllers had a Turbo feature, a feature where one tap of the button represented multiple taps. This feature allowed players to shoot much faster during shooter games. The NES Advantage had two knobs that adjusted the firing rate of the turbo button from quick to Turbo, as well as a "Slow" button that slowed down the game by rapidly pausing the game. The "Slow" button did not work with games that had a pause menu or pause screen and can interfere with jumping and shooting. The NES Max also had the Turbo Feature, but it was not adjustable, in contrast with the Advantage. It also did not have the "Slow" button. Its wing-like shape made it easier to hold than the Advantage and it also improved on the joystick. Turbo features were also featured on the NES Satellite, the NES Four Score, and the U-Force. Other accessories include the Power Pad and the Power Glove, which was featured in the movie The Wizard.

Near the end of the NES's lifespan, upon the release of the AV Famicom and the top-loading NES 2, the design of the game controllers was modified slightly. Though the original button layout was retained, the redesigned device abandoned the brick shell in favor of a dog bone shape. In addition, the AV Famicom joined its international counterpart and dropped the hardwired controllers in favor of detachable controller ports. The controllers included with the Famicom AV had cables which were 90 cm (3 feet) long, compared to the standard 180 cm (6 feet) of NES controllers.

The original NES controller has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the console. Nintendo has mimicked the look of the controller in several other products, from promotional merchandise to limited edition versions of the Game Boy Advance.
Japanese accessories
The Japanese Famicom has BASIC support with the Family BASIC keyboard.

A number of peripheral devices and software packages were released for the Famicom. Few of these devices were ever released outside Japan.

Family BASIC is an implementation of BASIC for the Famicom, packaged with a keyboard. Similar in concept to the Atari 2600 BASIC cartridge, it allows the user to program their own games, which can be saved on an included cassette recorder. Nintendo of America rejected releasing Famicom BASIC in the US because it did not think it fit their primary marketing demographic of children.

The Famicom Modem connected a Famicom to a now defunct proprietary network in Japan which provided content such as financial services. A dialup modem was never released for NES.
Family Computer Disk System
The Famicom Disk System was a peripheral available only for the Japanese Famicom that used games stored on "Disk Cards" with a 3" Quick Disk mechanism.
Main article: Family Computer Disk System
See also: Memory management controller § Famicom Disk System

In 1986, Nintendo released the Famicom Disk System (FDS) in Japan, a type of floppy drive that uses a single-sided, proprietary 5 cm (2") disk and plugs into the cartridge port. It contains RAM for the game to load into and an extra single-cycle wavetable-lookup sound chip. The disks were originally obtained from kiosks in malls and other public places where buyers could select a title and have it written to the disk. This process would cost less than cartridges and users could take the disk back to a vending booth and have it rewritten with a new game. The disks were used both for storing the game and saving progress and total capacity was 128k (64k per side).
Further information: Family Computer Disk System § Disk Writer and Disk Fax kiosks

A variety of games for the FDS were released by Nintendo (including some like Super Mario Bros. which had already been released on cartridge) and third party companies such as Konami and Taito. A few unlicensed titles were made as well. Its limitations became quickly apparent as larger ROM chips were introduced, allowing cartridges with greater than 128k of space. More advanced memory management chips (MMC) soon appeared and the FDS quickly became obsolete. Nintendo also charged developers considerable amounts of money to produce FDS games, and many refused to develop for it, instead continuing to make cartridge titles. Many FDS disks have no dust covers (except in some unlicensed and bootleg variants) and are easily prone to getting dirt on the media. In addition, the drive uses a belt which breaks frequently and requires invasive replacement. After only two years, the FDS was discontinued, although vending booths remained in place until 1993 and Nintendo continued to service drives, and to rewrite and offer replacement disks until 2003.

Nintendo of America initially planned to bring the FDS to the United States, but rejected the idea after considering the numerous problems encountered with them in Japan. Many FDS games such as Castlevania, Zelda, and Bubble Bobble were sold in the US as cartridge titles, with simplified sound and the disk save function replaced by passwords or battery save systems.
Hardware clones
Pirated clones of NES hardware remained in production for many years after the original had been discontinued. Some clones play cartridges from multiple systems, such as this FC Twin that plays NES and SNES games.
Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone

A thriving market of unlicensed NES hardware clones emerged during the climax of the console's popularity. Initially, such clones were popular in markets where Nintendo never issued a legitimate version of the console. In particular, the Dendy (Russian: Де́нди), an unlicensed hardware clone produced in Taiwan and sold in the former Soviet Union, emerged as the most popular video game console of its time in that setting and it enjoyed a degree of fame roughly equivalent to that experienced by the NES/Famicom in North America and Japan. A Famicom clone was marketed in Argentina under the name of "Family Game", resembling the original hardware design. The Micro Genius (Simplified Chinese: 小天才) was marketed in Southeast Asia as an alternative to the Famicom; Samurai was the popular PAL alternative to the NES; and in Central Europe, especially Poland, the Pegasus was available. Samurai was also available in India in early 90s which was the first instance of console gaming in India.
The RetroUSB AVS, an FPGA-based hardware clone of the NES that outputs 720p via HDMI.

The unlicensed clone market has flourished following Nintendo's discontinuation of the NES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems have gone beyond the functionality of the original hardware and have included variations such as a portable system with a color LCD (e.g. PocketFami). Others have been produced with certain specialized markets in mind, such as an NES clone that functions as a rather primitive personal computer, which includes a keyboard and basic word processing software. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so-called NES-on-a-chip.

As was the case with unlicensed software titles, Nintendo has typically gone to the courts to prohibit the manufacture and sale of unlicensed cloned hardware. Many of the clone vendors have included built-in copies of licensed Nintendo software, which constitutes copyright infringement in most countries.

Although most hardware clones were not produced under license by Nintendo, certain companies were granted licenses to produce NES-compatible devices. The Sharp Corporation produced at least two such clones: the Twin Famicom and the SHARP 19SC111 television. The Twin Famicom was compatible with both Famicom cartridges and Famicom Disk System disks. It was available in two colors (red and black) and used hardwired controllers (as did the original Famicom), but it featured a different case design. The SHARP 19SC111 television was a television which included a built-in Famicom. A similar licensing deal was reached with Hyundai Electronics, who licensed the system under the name Comboy in the South Korean market. This deal with Hyundai was made necessary because of the South Korean government's wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products", which remained in effect until 1998 and ensured that the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor (see also Japan–Korea disputes).
NES Test Station
The NES Test station (Lower Left), SNES counter tester (Lower Right), SNES test cart (Upper Right), And the original TV that came with the unit (Upper Left).

The NES Test Station was a diagnostics machine for the Nintendo Entertainment System introduced in 1988.

It was a NES-based unit designed for testing NES hardware, components and games. It was only provided for use in World of Nintendo boutiques as part of the Nintendo World Class Service program. Visitors were to bring items to test with the station, and could be assisted by a store technician or employee.

The NES Test Station's front features a Game Pak slot and connectors for testing various components (AC adapter, RF switch, Audio/Video cable, NES Control Deck, accessories and games), with a centrally-located selector knob to choose which component to test. The unit itself weighs approximately 11.7 pounds without a TV. It connects to a television via a combined A/V and RF Switch cable. By actuating the green button, a user can toggle between an A/V Cable or RF Switch connection. The television it is connected to (typically 11" to 14") is meant to be placed atop it.

At the front of the Test Station are three colored switches, from left to right: a green switch for alternating between A/V and RF connections when testing an NES Control Deck, a blue Reset switch, and an illuminated red Power switch. The system can test:
NES test station AC adapter Pass or Fail test demonstration.

    Game Paks (When set to this, the test station would run like a normal NES.)
    Control Deck and Accessories (NES controllers, the NES Zapper, R.O.B. and Power Pad)
    AV Cables
    AC Adapters
    RF Switches

Upon connecting an RF, AV, or AC adapter to the test station, the system displays a 'Pass' or 'Fail' result.

There was a manual included with the test station to help the user understand how to use the equipment, or how to make repairs. The manual came in a black binder with a Nintendo World Class Service logo on the front. Nintendo ordered the older manuals destroyed when an updated manual was issued, due to the manuals' confidential content.

In 1991, Nintendo provided an add-on called the "Super NES Counter Tester" that tests Super Nintendo components and games. The SNES Counter Tester is a standard SNES on a metal fixture with the connection from the back of the SNES re-routed to the front of the unit. These connections may be made directly to the test station or to the TV, depending on what is to be tested.

About Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System (also abbreviated as NES) is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ Famirī Konpyūta) (also known as the Famicom (ファミコン Famikon) and abbreviated as FC) on July 15, 1983, and was later released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986, and Australia in 1987. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy (현대 컴보이) and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics. It was succeeded by the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo's platform.

In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN, out of a field of 25. It was the second greatest console behind only the Sega Dreamcast in PC magazines "Top 10 video game consoles of all time".

Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Famicom. Masayuki Uemura designed the system. Original plans called for an advanced 16-bit system which would function as a full-fledged computer with a keyboard and floppy disk drive, but Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi rejected this and instead decided to go for a cheaper, more conventional cartridge-based game console as he felt that features such as keyboards and disks were intimidating to non-technophiles. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, after which work began on programming tools. Because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Early Famicom games were written on a system that ran on an NEC PC-8001 computer and LEDs on a grid were used with a digitizer to design graphics as no software design tools for this purpose existed at that time.

The code name for the project was "GameCom", but Masayuki Uemura's wife proposed the name "Famicom", arguing that "In Japan, 'pasokon' is used to mean a personal computer, but it is neither a home or personal computer. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer." Meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors.

Original plans called for the Famicom's cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, but ultimately they ended up being twice as big. Careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, Nintendo decided to produce their own connectors in-house rather than use ones from an outside supplier.

The game pad controllers were more-or-less copied directly from the Game & Watch machines, although the Famicom design team originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even taking apart ones from American game consoles to see how they worked. However, it was eventually decided that children might step on joysticks left on the floor and their durability was also questioned. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use and had no discomfort. Ultimately though, they did install a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an arcade-style joystick could be used optionally. The controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons.

Uemura added an eject lever to the cartridge slot which was not really necessary, but he felt that children could be entertained by pressing it. He also added a microphone to the second controller with the idea that it could be used to make players' voices sound through the TV speaker. Release

The console was released on July 15, 1983 as the Famicom (lit. Family Computer) for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendo's successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum; a bad chip set caused the initial release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the Famicom’s popularity soared, becoming the best-selling game console in Japan by the end of 1984.

Encouraged by these successes, Nintendo soon turned its attention to the North American market. Nintendo entered into negotiations with Atari to release the Famicom under Atari’s name as the name Nintendo Advanced Video Gaming System. The deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983. However, Atari discovered at that show that its competitor Coleco was illegally demonstrating its Coleco Adam computer with Nintendo's Donkey Kong game. This violation of Atari's exclusive license with Nintendo to publish the game for its own computer systems delayed the implementation of Nintendo's game console marketing contract with Atari. Atari's CEO Ray Kassar was fired the next month, so the deal went nowhere, and Nintendo decided to market its system on its own.

Subsequent plans to market a Famicom console in North America featuring a keyboard, cassette data recorder, wireless joystick controller and a special BASIC cartridge under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" likewise never materialized. By the beginning of 1985, the Famicom had sold more than 2.5 million units in Japan and Nintendo soon announced plans to release it in North America as the Advanced Video Entertainment System (AVS) that same year. The American video game press was skeptical that the console could have any success in the region, with the March 1985 issue of Electronic Games magazine stating that "the videogame market in America has virtually disappeared" and that "this could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part."

At June 1985's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled the American version of its Famicom. This is the system which would eventually be officially deployed as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or the colloquial "NES". Nintendo seeded these first systems to limited American test markets starting in New York City on October 18, 1985, following up with a full-fledged North American release of the console in February of the following year. Nintendo released 18 launch titles: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Mach Rider, Pinball, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew, and Super Mario Bros.. Some varieties of these launch games contained Famicom chips with an adapter inside the cartridge so they would play on North American consoles, which is why the title screen of "Gyromite" has the Famicom title "Robot Gyro" and the title screen of "Stack-Up" has the Famicom title "Robot Block".
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy), an accessory for the NES's 1985 launch. Although it ended up having a short product lifespan, R.O.B. was initially used to market the NES as novel and sophisticated compared to previous game consoles.

The system was originally targeted for release in the spring of 1985, but the release date was pushed back. After test-marketing in the New York City area in late fall, retailers had reportedly stated the system "failed miserably". Nintendo tried a second time, the system was test-marketed further beginning in February 1986, with the nationwide release occurring in September 1986. For more details on this topic, see History of the Nintendo Entertainment System § North America.

The system's launch represented not only a new product, but also a reframing of the severely damaged home video game market segment as a whole. The video game market crash of 1983 had occurred in significant part due to a lack of consumer and retailer confidence in video games, which had in turn been due partially to confusion and misrepresentation in the marketing of video games. Prior to the NES, the packaging of many video games presented bombastic artwork which exaggerated the graphics of the actual game. In terms of product identity, a single game such as Pac-Man would appear in many versions on many different game consoles and computers, with large variations in graphics, sound, and general quality between the versions. By stark contrast, Nintendo's marketing strategy aimed to regain consumer and retailer confidence, by delivering a singular platform whose technology was not in need of heavy exaggeration and whose qualities were clearly defined.

To differentiate Nintendo's new home platform from the early 1980s' common perception of a beleaguered and frivolous video game market, the company freshened its product nomenclature and positioning, and it established a rigorous product approval and licensing policy. The overall system was referred to as an "Entertainment System" instead of a "video game system", which was centered upon a machine called a "Control Deck" instead of a "console", and which featured software cartridges called "Game Paks" instead of "video games". The 10NES lockout chip system acted as a lock-and-key coupling of each Game Pak and Control Deck, deterring the copying or production of NES games which had not first achieved Nintendo's licensed approval. The packaging of the launch lineup of NES games bore pictures of a very close representation of the actual onscreen graphics of the game, which were of sufficiently recognizable quality on their own. Symbols on the launch games' packaging clearly indicated the genre of the game, in order to reduce consumer confusion. A 'seal of quality' was printed on all appropriately licensed game and accessory packaging. The initial seal stated, "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product". This text was later changed to "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality". For more details on this topic, see Nintendo Entertainment System § Third-party licensing.

Unlike with the Famicom, Nintendo of America marketed the console primarily to children, instituting a rather strict policy of censoring profanity, sexual, religious, or political content in games. The most famous case of this was Lucasfilm's attempts to port Maniac Mansion (a game with a considerable amount of unacceptable material) to the NES. NOA continued their censorship policy until 1994 with the advent of the Entertainment Software Rating Board system.

The optional Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B., was part of a marketing plan to portray the NES's technology as being novel and sophisticated when compared to previous game consoles, and to portray its position as being within reach of the better established toy market. While at first, the American public exhibited limited excitement for the console itself, peripherals such as the light gun and R.O.B. also attracted extensive attention.

In Europe and Australia, the system was released to two separate marketing regions. One region consisted of most of mainland Europe (excluding Italy), and distribution there was handled by a number of different companies, with Nintendo responsible for most cartridge releases. Most of this region saw a 1986 release. Mattel handled distribution for the other region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, starting the following year. Not until the 1990s did Nintendo's newly created European branch direct distribution throughout Europe. The Nintendo Entertainment System's Control Deck

For its complete North American release, the Nintendo Entertainment System was progressively released over the ensuing years in four different bundles: the Deluxe Set, the Control Deck, the Action Set and the Power Set. The Deluxe Set, retailing at US$199.99 (equivalent to $474 in 2014), included R.O.B., a light gun called the NES Zapper, two controllers, and two Game Paks: Gyromite, and Duck Hunt. The Basic Set, retailing at US$89.99 with no game, and US$99.99 bundled with "Super Mario Bros." The Action Set, retailing in 1988 for US$149.99, came with the Control Deck, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, and a dual Game Pak containing both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. In 1989, the Power Set included the console, two game controllers, a NES Zapper, a Power Pad, and a triple Game Pak containing Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet. In 1990, a Sports Set bundle was released, including the console, an NES Satellite infrared wireless multitap adapter, four game controllers, and a dual Game Pak containing Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup. Two more bundle packages were later released using the original model NES console. The Challenge Set of 1992 included the console, two controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Pak for a retail price of US$89.99. The Basic Set, first released in 1987, was repackaged for a retail US$89.99. It included only the console and two controllers, and no longer was bundled with a cartridge. Instead, it contained a book called the Official Nintendo Player's Guide, which contained detailed information for every NES game made up to that point.

Finally, the console was redesigned for both the North American and Japanese markets as part of the final Nintendo-released bundle package. The package included the new style NES-101 console, and one redesigned "dogbone" game controller. Released in October 1993 in North America, this final bundle retailed for US$49.99 and remained in production until the discontinuation of the NES in 1995. Reception

By 1988 industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software.Compute! reported in 1989 that Nintendo had sold seven million NES systems in 1988, almost as many as the number of Commodore 64s sold in its first five years. "Computer game makers [are] scared stiff", the magazine said, stating that Nintendo's popularity caused most to have poor sales during the previous Christmas and resulting in serious financial problems for some. By 1990 30% of American households owned the NES, compared to 23% for all personal computers.

Despite the system’s lackluster performance outside of Japan and North America, by 1990 the NES had outsold all previously released consoles worldwide. The slogan for this brand was It can't be beaten. The Nintendo Entertainment System was not available in the Soviet Union.

As the 1990s dawned, gamers predicted that competition from technologically superior systems such as the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis would mean the immediate end of the NES’s dominance. Instead, during the first year of Nintendo's successor console the Super Famicom (named the Super Nintendo outside Japan), the Famicom remained the second highest-selling video game console in Japan, outselling the newer and more powerful NEC PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive by a wide margin. The console remained popular in Japan and North America until late 1993, when the demand for new NES software abruptly plummeted. The last game released in Japan was Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV (Adventure Island IV), while in North America, Wario's Woods was the last licensed game. In the wake of ever decreasing sales and the lack of new software titles, Nintendo of America officially discontinued the NES by 1995. Despite this, Nintendo of Japan kept producing new Nintendo Famicom units until September 2003, and continued to repair Famicom consoles until October 31, 2007, attributing the decision to discontinue support because of insufficient supplies of parts. Legacy

The NES was released after the "video game crash" of the early '80s, whereupon many retailers and adults had regarded electronic games as being merely a passing fad, and many believed at first that the NES was another fad. Before the NES/Famicom, Nintendo was known as a moderately successful Japanese toy and playing card manufacturer, and the popularity of the NES/Famicom helped the company grow into an internationally recognized name almost synonymous with video games as Atari had been during the 2600 era and set the stage for Japanese dominance of the video game industry. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship of console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher quality software titles, which helped to change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced titles for other game systems of the day.

The NES hardware was also very influential. Nintendo chose the name "Nintendo Entertainment System" for the US market and redesigned the system so it would not give the appearance of a child's toy. The front-loading cartridge input allowed it to be used more easily in a TV stand with other entertainment devices, such as a video cassette player.

There were many prominent game franchises that originated on the NES. The system's hardware limitations led to game design similarities that still influence video game design and culture. Some of the more important franchises that debuted on the NES were Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros.,The Legend of Zelda and Metroid,Capcom's Mega Man franchise, Konami's Castlevania franchise, Square's Final Fantasy and Enix's Dragon Quest franchises. All of these still exist today.

NES imagery, especially its controller, has become a popular motif for a variety of products, including Nintendo's own Game Boy Advance. Clothing, accessories, and food items adorned with NES-themed imagery are still produced and sold in stores. Such items include hats, shirts, underwear, wallets, wrist-bands, belt buckles, tins containing mint candy, and energy drinks.

Games The Nintendo Entertainment System offered a number of groundbreaking titles. Super Mario Bros. pioneered side-scrollers while The Legend of Zelda helped popularize battery-backed save functionality. Game Pak Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak North American and European NES cartridges (or "Game Paks") are significantly larger than Japanese Famicom cartridges.

The NES uses a 72-pin design, as compared with 60 pins on the Famicom. To reduce costs and inventory, some early games released in North America were simply Famicom cartridges attached to an adapter to fit inside the NES hardware. Originally, NES cartridges were held together with five small slotted screws. Games released after 1987 were redesigned slightly to incorporate two plastic clips molded into the plastic itself, removing the need for the top two screws.

The back of the cartridge bears a label with instructions on handling. Production and software revision codes were imprinted as stamps on the back label to correspond with the software version and producer. With the exception of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, manufactured in gold-plastic carts, all licensed NTSC and PAL cartridges are a standard shade of gray plastic. Unlicensed carts were produced in black, robin egg blue, and gold, and are all slightly different shapes than standard NES cartridges. Nintendo also produced yellow-plastic carts for internal use at Nintendo Service Centers, although these "test carts" were never made available for purchase. All licensed US cartridges were made by Nintendo, Konami and Acclaim. For promotion of DuckTales: Remastered, Capcom sent 150 limited-edition gold NES cartridges with the original game, featuring the Remastered art as the sticker, to different gaming news agencies. The instruction label on the back included the opening lyric from the show's theme song, "Life is like a hurricane".

Japanese (Famicom) cartridges are shaped slightly differently. While the NES used a 72-pin interface, the Famicom system used a 60-pin design. Unlike NES games, official Famicom cartridges were produced in many colors of plastic. Adapters, similar in design to the popular accessory Game Genie, are available that allow Famicom games to be played on an NES. In Japan, several companies manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom. This allowed these companies to develop their own customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as chips that increased the quality of sound in their games. Third-party licensing

Nintendo's near monopoly on the home video game market left it with a degree of influence over the industry. Unlike Atari, which never actively courted third-party developers (and even went to court in an attempt to force Activision to cease production of Atari 2600 games), Nintendo had anticipated and encouraged the involvement of third-party software developers; strictly, however, on Nintendo's terms. Some of the Nintendo platform-control measures were adopted by later console manufacturers such as Sega, Sony, and Microsoft, although not as stringent.

To this end, a 10NES authentication chip was placed in every console and another was placed in every officially licensed cartridge. If the console's chip could not detect a counterpart chip inside the cartridge, the game would not load. Nintendo portrayed these measures as intended to protect the public against poor-quality games, and placed a golden seal of approval on all licensed games released for the system.

Nintendo was not as restrictive as Sega, which did not permit third-party publishing until Mediagenic in late summer 1988. Nintendo's intention, however, was to reserve a large part of NES game revenue for itself. Nintendo required that they be the sole manufacturer of all cartridges, and that the publisher had to pay in full before the cartridges for that game be produced. Cartridges could not be returned to Nintendo, so publishers assumed all the risk. As a result, some publishers lost more money due to distress sales of remaining inventory at the end of the NES era than they ever earned in profits from sales of the games. Because Nintendo controlled the production of all cartridges, it was able to enforce strict rules on its third-party developers, which were required to sign a contract by Nintendo that would obligate these parties to develop exclusively for the system, order at least 10,000 cartridges, and only make five games per year. A 1988 shortage of DRAM and ROM chips also reportedly caused Nintendo to only permit 25% of publishers' requests for cartridges. This was an average figure, with some publishers receiving much higher amounts and others almost none.GameSpy noted that Nintendo's "iron-clad terms" made the company many enemies during the 1980s. Some developers tried to circumvent the five game limit by creating additional company brands like Konami's Ultra Games label; others tried circumventing the 10NES chip. Further information: § Unlicensed games

Nintendo was accused of antitrust behavior because of the strict licensing requirements. The United States Department of Justice and several states began probing Nintendo's business practices, leading to the involvement of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC conducted an extensive investigation which included interviewing hundreds of retailers. During the FTC probe, Nintendo changed the terms of its publisher licensing agreements to eliminate the two-year rule and other restrictive terms. Nintendo and the FTC settled the case in April 1991, with Nintendo required to send vouchers giving a $5 discount off to a new game, to every person that had purchased a NES title between June 1988 and December 1990. GameSpy remarked that Nintendo's punishment was particularly weak giving the case's findings, although it has been speculated that the FTC did not want to damage the video game industry in the United States.

In the longer run, however, with the NES near its end of its life many third-party publishers such as Electronic Arts supported upstart competing consoles with less onerous licensing terms such as the Sega Genesis and then the PlayStation, which eroded and then took over Nintendo's dominance in the home console market, respectively. Consoles from Nintendo's rivals in the post-SNES era had always enjoyed much stronger third-party support than Nintendo, which relied more heavily on first-party games. Unlicensed games

Several companies, refusing to pay the licensing fee or having been rejected by Nintendo, found ways to circumvent the console's authentication system. Most of these companies created circuits that used a voltage spike to temporarily disable the 10NES chip in the NES. A few unlicensed games released in Europe and Australia came in the form of a dongle that would be connected to a licensed game, in order to use the licensed game's 10NES chip for authentication. In order to combat unlicensed games, Nintendo of America threatened retailers who sold them with losing their supply of licensed titles. In addition, multiple revisions were made to the NES PCBs to prevent these games from working.

Atari Games created a line of NES products under the name Tengen and took a different approach. The company attempted to reverse engineer the lockout chip to develop its own "Rabbit" chip. However, Tengen also obtained a description of the lockout chip from the United States Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming that it was required to defend against present infringement claims in a legal case. Nintendo sued Tengen for copyright infringement, which Tengen lost as it could not prove that the legally obtained patent documents had not been used by the reverse engineering team. Tengen's antitrust claims against Nintendo were never finally decided.

Color Dreams produced Christian video games under the subsidiary name Wisdom Tree. They were never sued by Nintendo as the company probably feared a public relations backlash. Emulation

The NES can be emulated on many other systems, most notably the PC. One of the earliest emulators—NESticle—offered its initial release as NESticle v0.2 on April 3, 1997. There have since been many other emulators. The Virtual Console for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U also offers emulation of many NES games. Game Rentals

As the Nintendo Entertainment System grew in popularity and entered millions of American homes, some small video rental shops began buying their own copies of NES games, and renting them out to customers for around the same price as a video cassette rental for a few days. Nintendo received no profit from the practice beyond the initial cost of their game, and unlike movie rentals, a newly released game could hit store shelves and be available for rent on the same day. Nintendo took steps to stop game rentals, but didn't take any formal legal action until Blockbuster Video began to make game rentals a large-scale service. Nintendo claimed that allowing customers to rent games would significantly hurt sales and drive up the cost of games. Nintendo lost the lawsuit, but did win on a claim of copyright infringement. Blockbuster was banned from including original, copyrighted instruction booklets with their rented games. In compliance with the ruling, Blockbuster produced their own short instructions—usually in the form of a small booklet, card, or label stuck on the back of the rental box—that explained the game's basic premise and controls. Video rental shops continued the practice of renting video games and still do today.

There were some risks with renting cartridge-based games, however. Most rental shops did not clean the connectors and they would become dirty over time. Renting and using a cartridge with dirty connectors posed a problem for consoles, especially the Nintendo Entertainment System which was particularly susceptible to operation problems and failures when its internal connectors became dirty (see the Design flaws section below). Hardware Configurations

Although the Japanese Famicom, North American and European NES versions included essentially the same hardware, there were certain key differences among the systems.

The original Japanese Famicom was predominantly white plastic, with dark red trim. It featured a top-loading cartridge slot and grooves on both sides of the deck in which the hardwired game controllers could be placed when not in use. The Famicom featured a top-loading cartridge slot, a 15-pin expansion port located on the unit’s front panel for accessories (as the controllers were hard-wired to the back of the console) and a red and white color scheme.

The original NES, meanwhile, featured a front-loading cartridge covered by a small, hinged door that can be opened to insert or remove a cartridge and closed at other times. It features a more subdued gray, black, and red color scheme. An expansion port was found on the bottom of the unit and the cartridge connector pinout was changed.

In the UK, Italy and Australia which share the PAL A region, two versions of the NES were released; the "Mattel Version" and "NES Version". When the NES was first released in those countries, it was distributed by Mattel and Nintendo decided to use a lockout chip specific to those countries, different from the chip used in other European countries. When Nintendo took over European distribution in 1990, they produced consoles that were then labelled "NES Version"; therefore, the only differences between the two are the text on the front flap and texture on the top/bottom of the casing. The NES-101 control deck alongside its similarly redesigned NES-039 game controller.

In 1993, Nintendo redesigned the NES to follow many of the same design cues as the newly-introduced Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like the SNES, the NES-101 model loaded cartridges through a covered slot on top of the unit replacing the complicated mechanism of the earlier design. For this reasion the NES-101 is known informally as the "top-loader" among Nintendo fans. Design flaws The official NES Cleaning Kit was intended to address flaws in the NES design that caused cartridge connectors to be particularly susceptible to interference from dirt and dust.

When Nintendo released the NES in the US, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The newly designed connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. Unfortunately, the ZIF connector was not truly zero insertion force. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly, as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges caused the pins to wear out from repeated usage over the years and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector. These design issues were not alleviated by Nintendo’s choice of materials; the console slot nickel connector springs would wear due to design and the game cartridge copper connectors were also prone to tarnishing. Many players would try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually hurt the copper connectors by speeding up the tarnishing. The 10NES authentication chip contributed to the system's reliability problems. The circuit was ultimately removed from the remodeled NES 2. Lockout

The Famicom contained no lockout hardware and, as a result, unlicensed cartridges (both legitimate and bootleg) were extremely common throughout Japan and the Far East. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES-101) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers. Tinkerers at home in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip’s mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console’s ability to play legal games, as well as bootlegs and converted imports. NES consoles sold in different regions had different lockout chips, so games marketed in one region would not work on consoles from another region. Known regions are: USA/Canada (3193 lockout chip), most of Europe (3195), Asia (3196) and UK, Italy and Australia (3197). Since two types of lockout chip were used in Europe, European NES game boxes often had an "A" or "B" letter on the front, indicating whether the game is compatible with UK/Italian/Australian consoles (A), or the rest of Europe (B). Rest-of-Europe games typically had text on the box stating "This game is not compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System". Similarly, UK/Italy/Australia games stated "This game is only compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System".

Pirate cartridges for the NES were rare, but Famicom ones were common and widespread in Asia. Most were produced in Hong Kong or Taiwan, and they usually featured a variety of small (32k or less) games which were selected from a menu and bank switched. Some were also hacks of existing games (especially Super Mario Bros.), and a few were cartridge conversions of Famicom Disk System titles such as the Japanese SMB2.

Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the console's most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly because the 10NES would reset the console once per second. The lockout chip required constant communication with the chip in the game to work. Dirty, aging and bent connectors would often disrupt the communication, resulting in the blink effect. Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a solid white, gray, or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, inserting the cartridge just far enough to get the ZIF to lower, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting the cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, cleaning the connectors with alcohol. These attempted solutions often became notable in their own right and are often remembered alongside the NES. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem instead ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system. In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.

With the release of the top-loading NES-101 (NES 2) toward the end of the NES's lifespan, Nintendo resolved the problems by switching to a standard card edge connector and eliminating the lockout chip. All of the Famicom systems used standard card edge connectors, as did Nintendo’s subsequent game consoles, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64.

In response to these hardware flaws, "Nintendo Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across the U.S. According to Nintendo, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts only to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program. In practice, the authorization process consisted of nothing more than paying a fee to Nintendo for the privilege. In a recent trend, many sites have sprung up to offer Nintendo repair parts, guides, and services that replace those formerly offered by the authorized repair centers.

The NES plastic also had a tendency to yellow over time. Technical specifications Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System technical specifications

For its central processing unit (CPU), the NES uses an 8-bit microprocessor produced by Ricoh based on a MOS Technology 6502 core.

The NES contains 2 kB of onboard work RAM. A game cartridge may contain expanded RAM to increase this amount. The size of NES games varies from 8 kB (Galaxian) to 1 MB (Metal Slader Glory), but 128 to 384 kB was the most common.

The NES uses a custom-made Picture Processing Unit (PPU) developed by Ricoh. All variations of the PPU feature 2 kB of video RAM, 256 bytes of on-die "object attribute memory" (OAM) to store the positions, colors, and tile indices of up to 64 sprites on the screen, and 28 bytes of on-die palette RAM to allow selection of background and sprite colors. The console's 2 kB of onboard RAM may be used for tile maps and attributes on the NES board and 8 kB of tile pattern ROM or RAM may be included on a cartridge. The system has an available color palette of 48 colors and 6 grays. Up to 25 simultaneous colors may be used without writing new values mid-frame: a background color, four sets of three tile colors and four sets of three sprite colors. The NES palette is based on NTSC rather than RGB values. A total of 64 sprites may be displayed onscreen at a given time without reloading sprites mid-screen. The standard display resolution of the NES is 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.

Video output connections varied from one model of the console to the next. The original HVC-001 model of the Family Computer featured only radio frequency (RF) modulator output. When the console was released in North America and Europe, support for composite video through RCA connectors was added in addition to the RF modulator. The HVC-101 model of the Famicom dropped the RF modulator entirely and adopted composite video output via a proprietary 12-pin "multi-out" connector first introduced for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Conversely, the North American re-released NES-101 model most closely resembled the original HVC-001 model Famicom, in that it featured RF modulator output only. Finally, the PlayChoice-10 utilized an inverted RGB video output.

The stock NES supports a total of five sound channels, two of which are pulse channels with 4 pulse width settings, one is a triangle wave generator, another is a noise generator (often used for percussion), and the 5th one plays low-quality digital samples.

The NES supports expansion chips contained in certain cartridges to add sound channels and help with data processing. Developers can add these chips to their games, such as the Konami VRC6, Konami VRC7, Sunsoft 5B, Namco 163, and two more by Nintendo itself: the Nintendo FDS wave generator (a modified Ricoh RP2C33 chip with primitive wavetable support), and the Nintendo Memory Management Controller 5 (MMC5). Further information: Memory management controller Accessories See also: List of Nintendo Entertainment System accessories In addition to featuring a revised color scheme that matched the more subdued tones of the console itself, NES controllers could be unplugged. They nevertheless lacked the microphone featured in Famicom controllers. Controllers

The game controller used for both the NES and the Famicom featured an oblong brick-like design with a simple four button layout: two round buttons labeled "A" and "B", a "START" button and a "SELECT" button. Additionally, the controllers utilized the cross-shaped joypad, designed by Nintendo employee Gunpei Yokoi for Nintendo Game & Watch systems, to replace the bulkier joysticks on earlier gaming consoles’ controllers.

The original model Famicom featured two game controllers, both of which were hardwired to the back of the console. The second controller lacked the START and SELECT buttons, but featured a small microphone. Relatively few games made use of this feature. The earliest produced Famicom units initially had square A and B buttons. This was changed to the circular designs because of the square buttons being caught in the controller casing when pressed down and glitches within the hardware causing the system to freeze occasionally while playing a game.

The NES dropped the hardwired controllers, instead featuring two custom 7-pin ports on the front of the console. Also in contrast to the Famicom, the controllers included with the NES were identical to each other—the second controller lacked the microphone that was present on the Famicom model and possessed the same START and SELECT buttons as the primary controller. Some NES localizations of games, such as The Legend of Zelda, which required the use of the Famicom microphone in order to kill certain enemies, suffered from the lack of hardware to do so. The NES Zapper, a light gun accessory

A number of special controllers designed for use with specific games were released for the system, though very few such devices proved particularly popular. Such devices included, but were not limited to, the Zapper (a light gun), the R.O.B., and the Power Pad. The original Famicom featured a deepened DA-15 expansion port on the front of the unit, which was used to connect most auxiliary devices. On the NES, these special controllers were generally connected to one of the two control ports on the front of the console.

Nintendo also made two turbo controllers for the NES called NES Advantage and the NES Max. Both controllers had a Turbo feature, a feature where one tap of the button represented multiple taps. This feature allowed players to shoot much faster during shooter games. The NES Advantage had two knobs that adjusted the firing rate of the turbo button from quick to Turbo, as well as a "Slow" button that slowed down the game by rapidly pausing the game. The "Slow" button did not work with games that had a pause menu or pause screen and can interfere with jumping and shooting. The NES Max also had the Turbo Feature, but it was not adjustable, in contrast with the Advantage. It also did not have the "Slow" button. Its wing-like shape made it easier to hold than the Advantage and it also improved on the joystick. Turbo features were also featured on the NES Satellite, the NES Four Score, and the U-Force. Other accessories include the Power Pad and the Power Glove, which was featured in the movie "The Wizard."

Near the end of the NES's lifespan, upon the release of the AV Famicom and the top-loading NES 2, the design of the game controllers was modified slightly. Though the original button layout was retained, the redesigned device abandoned the brick shell in favor of a dog bone shape. In addition, the AV Famicom joined its international counterpart and dropped the hardwired controllers in favor of detachable controller ports. However, the controllers included with the Famicom AV had cables which were 90 cm (3 feet) long, as opposed to the standard 180 cm(6 feet) of NES controllers.

In recent years, the original NES controller has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the console. Nintendo has mimicked the look of the controller in several recent products, from promotional merchandise to limited edition versions of the Game Boy Advance.

Japanese accessories[edit] A number of peripheral devices and software packages were released for the Famicom. Few of these devices were ever released outside of Japan.

Family BASIC is an implementation of BASIC for the Famicom that came with a keyboard. Similar in concept to the Atari 2600 BASIC cartridge, it allowed the user to program their own games, which could be saved on an included cassette recorder. Nintendo of America rejected releasing Famicom BASIC in the US because they did not think it fit their primary marketing demographic of children.

The Famicom Modem is a modem that allowed connection to a network which provided content such as financial services, but it was only available in Japan. A modem was, however, tested in the United States, by the Minnesota State Lottery. It would have allowed players to buy scratchcards and play the lottery with their NES. It was not released in the United States because some parents and legislators voiced concern that minors might learn to play the lottery illegally and anonymously, despite assurances from Nintendo to the contrary.

Disk System The Famicom Disk System was a peripheral available only for the Japanese Famicom that used games stored on "Disk Cards" with a 3" Quick Disk mechanism. Main article: Family Computer Disk System

In 1986, Nintendo released the Famicom Disk System (FDS) in Japan, a type of floppy drive that uses a single-sided, proprietary 5 cm (2") disk and plugs into the cartridge port. It contains RAM for the game to load into and an extra wavetable sound chip. The disks were originally obtained from kiosks in malls and other public places where buyers could select a title and have it written to the disk. This process would cost less than cartridges and users could take the disk back to a vending booth and have it rewritten with a new game. The disks were used both for storing the game and saving progress and total capacity was 128k (64k per side). Further information: Famicom disk system § Disk Writer and Disk Fax kiosks

A variety of games for the FDS were released by Nintendo (including some like Super Mario Bros. which had already been released on cartridge) and third party companies such as Konami and Taito. A few unlicensed titles were made as well. However, its limitations became quickly apparent as larger ROM chips were introduced, allowing cartridges with greater than 128k of space. More advanced memory management chips (MMC) soon appeared and the FDS quickly became obsolete. Nintendo also charged developers considerable amounts of money to produce FDS games, and many refused to develop for it, instead continuing to make cartridge titles. Many FDS disks have no dust covers (except in some unlicensed and bootleg variants) and are easily prone to getting dirt on the media. In addition, the drive use a belt which breaks frequently and requires invasive replacement. After only two years, the FDS was discontinued, although vending booths remained in place until 1993 and Nintendo continued to service drives, and to rewrite and offer replacement disks until 2003.

Nintendo of America initially planned to bring the FDS to the United States, but rejected the idea after considering the numerous problems encountered with them in Japan. Many FDS games such as Castlevania, Zelda, and Bubble Bobble were sold in the US as cartridge titles, with simplified sound and the disk save function replaced by passwords or battery save systems. Hardware clones Pirated clones of NES hardware remained in production for many years after the original had been discontinued. Some clones play cartridges from multiple systems, such as this FC Twin that plays NES and SNES games.

A thriving market of unlicensed NES hardware clones emerged during the climax of the console's popularity. Initially, such clones were popular in markets where Nintendo never issued a legitimate version of the console. In particular, the Dendy (Russian: Де́нди), an unlicensed hardware clone produced in Taiwan and sold in the former Soviet Union, emerged as the most popular video game console of its time in that setting and it enjoyed a degree of fame roughly equivalent to that experienced by the NES/Famicom in North America and Japan. A Famicom clone was marketed in Argentina under the name of "Family Game", resembling the original hardware design. The Micro Genius (Simplified Chinese: 小天才) was marketed in Southeast Asia as an alternative to the Famicom; Samurai was the popular PAL alternative to the NES; and in Central Europe, especially Poland, the Pegasus was available. Samurai was also available in India in early 90s which was the first instance of console gaming in India.

The unlicensed clone market has flourished following Nintendo's discontinuation of the NES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems have gone beyond the functionality of the original hardware and have included variations such as a portable system with a color LCD (e.g. PocketFami). Others have been produced with certain specialized markets in mind, such as an NES clone that functions as a rather primitive personal computer, which includes a keyboard and basic word processing software. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so-called NES-on-a-chip.

As was the case with unlicensed software titles, Nintendo has typically gone to the courts to prohibit the manufacture and sale of unlicensed cloned hardware. Many of the clone vendors have included built-in copies of licensed Nintendo software, which constitutes copyright infringement in most countries.

Although most hardware clones were not produced under license by Nintendo, certain companies were granted licenses to produce NES-compatible devices. The Sharp Corporation produced at least two such clones: the Twin Famicom and the SHARP 19SC111 television. The Twin Famicom was compatible with both Famicom cartridges and Famicom Disk System disks. It was available in two colors (red and black) and used hardwired controllers (as did the original Famicom), but it featured a different case design. The SHARP 19SC111 television was a television which included a built-in Famicom. A similar licensing deal was reached with Hyundai Electronics, who licensed the system under the name Comboy in the South Korean market. This deal with Hyundai was made necessary because of the South Korean government's wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products", which remained in effect until 1998 and ensured that the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor (see also Japan–Korea disputes).

NES Test Station The NES Test station (Lower Left), SNES counter tester (Lower Right), SNES test cart (Upper Right), And the original TV that came with the unit (Upper Left).

The NES Test Station was a diagnostics machine for the Nintendo Entertainment System introduced in 1988.

It was a NES-based unit designed for testing NES hardware, components and games. It was only provided for use in World of Nintendo boutiques as part of the Nintendo World Class Service program. Visitors were to bring items to test on the station, often with assistance from a technician or store employee.

The NES Test Station features a Game Pak slot and connectors for testing various components (AC adapter, RF switch, Audio/Video cable, NES Control Deck, accessories and games) at the front, with a knob selector in the center to select the component to test. The unit itself weighs approximately 11.7 pounds without the TV. It securely hooks up to the television through both AV Cables and RF Switch in one cable. The user can choose which output to use for gameplay by pressing the RF/AV for Audio/Video Cable connection, or leave it unpressed for RF Switch connection. The television it's hooked up to (normally 11 to 14 inches) is meant to be placed on top of it. On the front edge are three colored button switches: an illuminated red Power switch, a blue Reset switch and a green switch for alternating between AV and RF connections when testing an NES Control Deck. This system can test: Nes test station AC adapter Pass/Fail test demonstration.

Game Paks (When set to this, the test station would run like a normal nes.) Control Deck and Accessories (NES Controllers, the NES Zapper Gun, R.O.B. and Power Pad) AV Cables AC Adapters RF Switches

The testing of the RF, AV, and AC adapters simply displays the selected output's results as either 'Pass' or 'Fail' when plug in to the test station.

There was a manual included with the test station to help the user understand how to use the equipment or to make repairs. This manual came in a black binder with the Nintendo world class service logo on the front. Nintendo ordered the older manuals destroyed when an updated manual was sent out to the repair centers due to these manuals being an in house secret.

Nintendo later provided an add-on in 1991 for testing Super Nintendo components and games, named the Super NES Counter Tester. The SNES counter tester is a standard super Nintendo mounted on a metal fixture with the connection from the back of the SNES rerouted to the front of the unit. These connections were connected directly to the test station or TV depending on what was being tested.

As you can see from the prices of theunits, they were rather inexpensive. Most people could afford a NES and not have to check their credit report to charge it. Lexington Law reviews your credit report and can help you if you have any issues on your credit that need repaired.

 

         Nintendo Released their first Console, The NES in August of 1985. But since the video game crash back in 1983, made Nintendo worried that their Unit wasn't going to sell very well. So Nintendo decided that Selling the product in 1 state, Which was New York. was going to be their best bet. After a few turn downs from stores.  Nintendo the New gaming era decide to try out Toys R' Us. Toys R' Us was skeptic about the Idea. But Nintendo said any Units you don't sell we will buy them back. So Toys R' Us bought the system. And Nintendo put in a free game. The Game was Super Mario Bros./ Duck hunt. So people thought that since it came with a free game it should be good to try. For only a hundred dollars, The console started to fly off of stores selfs. But back in 1985 a hundred dollars was a lot to dish out. But people like the ideo of a free game. But it wasn't the free game that made the consumers want it. It was the 8bit graphics and the game play. With getting a high score and a game to beat for the first time. and enemies with different abilities, Made Super Mario a great game... But the NES hardware almost failed. Nintendo came out with many different Designs. until they made a final design. below.

The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, is an 8-bit video game console created by Nintendo. Launched in North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia as NES, in Japan it's known as the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom. When released, the NES was the most successful gaming console of its time claiming to have sold over 60 million consoles worldwide. The game controllers used for the NES featured a brick-like design with a simple yet effective four button layout. In addition, a cross-shaped D-pad was included for easy navigation. The Zapper was considered as one of the most popular special controller released for the NES; however the usage was limited to only a few games. The NES games released included all kinds of genres. Some of the most popular and sought out games included 'Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link', 'Yoshi, Wolverine', 'The Simpsons: Bartman vs. Radioactiveman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', and of course 'Super Mario Bros/ Duck Hunt'. 'Super Mario Bros/ Duck Hunt' could be played with the Zapper. When the player switched on their NES, they could choose from Mario Bros or Duck Hunt. Bartman vs. Radioactiveman was also a very popular game which was based on the popular TV series The Simpsons and was a sequel The Simpsons: Bart vs. The World. Popular companies such as Acclaim, Capcom, Hi Tech, Konami, and Nintendo manufactured hundred of other NES games which were released. A pioneer for other gaming consoles, NES proved to be a very popular addition to the gaming industry.Manufacturer Nintendo Type Video game console Generation Third generation (8-bit era) First available JP July 15, 1983
US October 18, 1985
CA February 1986
EU September 1, 1986a[›]
EU / AUS 1987a[›] CPU Ricoh 2A03 8-bit processor (MOS Technology 6502 core) Media ROM cartridge (“Game Pak”)b[›] Controller input 2 controller portsc[›]
1 expansion slot Units sold 61.91 million Best-selling game Super Mario Bros. (pack-in), 40.23 million (as of 1999)[2]
Super Mario Bros. 3, 18 million (as of May 21, 2003) Predecessor Color TV Game Successor Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, and Australia in 1985. In most of Asia, including Japan (where it was first launched in 1983), the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore, it was released as the Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ Famirī Konpyūta?, also known as the Famicom (ファミコン Famikon (listen (help·info))?), or simply FC for short). In Southern Asia (such as India), it was known as the Tata Famicom.

The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983, and set the standard for subsequent consoles in everything from game designto controller layout. In addition, with the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard business model of software licensing for third-party developers.

 

 History

Main article: History of the Nintendo Entertainment System

Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to produce a cartridge-based console. Masayuki Uemura designed the system, which was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendo’s successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Popeye. The Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) was slow to gather momentum; a bad chip set caused the initial release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the Famicom’s popularity soared, becoming the best-selling game console in Japan by the end of 1984.

Encouraged by these successes, Nintendo soon turned its attention to the North American market. Nintendo entered into negotiations with Atari to release the Famicom under Atari’s name as the name Nintendo Advanced Video Gaming System; however, this deal eventually fell apart. Subsequent plans to market a Famicom console in North America featuring a keyboard, cassette data recorder, wireless joystick controller, and a special BASIC cartridge under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" likewise never materialized.

In June 1985, Nintendo unveiled its American version of the Famicom at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It rolled out its first systems to limited American markets on October 18, 1985, following up with a full-fledged North American release of the console in February of the following year. Nintendo simultaneously released eighteen launch titles: 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, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew, and Super Mario Bros.

In Europe and Australia, the system was released to two separate marketing regions (A and B). Distribution in region B, consisting of most of mainland Europe (excluding Italy), was handled by a number of different companies, with Nintendo responsible for most cartridge releases; most of region B saw a 1986 release. Mattel handled distribution for region A, consisting of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, starting the following year. Not until 1990 did Nintendo’s newly created European branch take over distribution throughout Europe. Despite the system’s lackluster performance outside of Japan and North America, by 1990 the NES had outsold all previously released consoles World-Wide.

 

As the 1990s dawned, however, renewed competition from technologically superior systems such as the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive (called the Sega Genesis in North America) marked the end of the NES’s dominance. Eclipsed by Nintendo’s own Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the NES’s user base gradually waned. Nintendo continued to support the system in North America through the first half of the decade, even releasing a new version of the console, the NES 2, to address many of the design flaws in the original NES hardware. The final games released for the system were as follows: in Japan, Adventure Island IV, and, in North America, among unlicensed titles, Sunday Funday was the last, whereas Wario's Woods was the last licensed game (also the only one with an ESRB rating). In the wake of ever decreasing sales and the lack of new software titles, Nintendo of America officially discontinued the NES by 1995. Despite this, Nintendo of Japan kept producing new Nintendo Famicom units up until October 2003, when it discontinued the line. Even as developers ceased production for the NES, a number of high-profile video game franchises and series for the NES were transitioned to newer consoles and remain popular to this day. Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid franchises debuted on the NES, as did Capcom's Mega Man franchise, Konami's Castlevania franchise, and Squaresoft's (now Square Enix's) Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises.

Nintendo of Japan continued to repair Famicom systems until October 31, 2007, attributing the decision to discontinue support to an increasing shortage of the necessary parts.

 Bundle packages

For its North American release in 1985, the NES was released in two different configurations, or "bundles". The console deck itself was identical, but each bundle was packaged with different game paks and accessories. The first of these sets, the Control Deck, retailed from US$199.99 (equivalent to US$401 today), and included the console itself, two game controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. game cartridge. The second bundle, the Deluxe Set, retailed for US$249.99 (equivalent to US$501 today), and consisted of the console, a R.O.B. accessory, an NES Zapper (electronic gun), and two game paks: Duck Hunt and Gyromite.

For the remainder of the NES's commercial lifespan in North America, Nintendo frequently repackaged the console in new configurations to capitalize on newer accessories or popular game titles. Subsequent bundle packages included the NES Action Set, released in November 1988 for US$149.99 (equivalent to US$273 today), which replaced both of the earlier two sets, and included the console, the NES Zapper, two game controllers, and a multicart version of Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. The Action Set became the most successful of the packages released by Nintendo. One month later, in December 1988, to coincide with the release of the Power Pad floor mat controller, Nintendo released a new Power Set bundle, consisting of the console, the Power Pad, the NES Zapper, two controllers, and a multicart containing Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet. In 1990, a Sports Set bundle was released, including the console, an NES Satellite infrared wireless multitap adapter, four game controllers, and a multicart featuring Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup.

Two more bundle packages were released using the original model NES console. The Challenge Set included the console, two controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. 3 game pak. The Basic Set, first released in 1987, included only the console and two controllers with no pack-in cartridge. Instead, it contained a book called the The Official Nintendo Player's Guide, which contained detailed information for every NES game made up to that point. Finally, the redesigned NES 2 was released as part of the final Nintendo-released bundle package, once again under the name Control Deck, including the new style NES 2 console, and one redesigned "dogbone" game controller. Released in October 1993, this final bundle retailed for US$49.99 (equivalent to US$75 today), and remained in production until the discontinuation of the NES in 1995.

 Regional differences
 

Although the Japanese Famicom and the international NES included essentially the same hardware, there were certain key differences between the two systems:

Different case design. The Famicom featured a top-loading cartridge slot, a 15-pin expansion port located on the unit’s front panel for accessories (as the controllers were hard-wired to the back of the console), and a red and white color scheme. The NES featured a front-loading cartridge slot, and a more subdued gray, black and red color scheme. An expansion port was found on the bottom of the unit, and the cartridge connector pinout was changed.

60-pin vs. 72-pin cartridges. The original Famicom and the re-released AV Family Computer both utilized a 60-pin cartridge design, which resulted in smaller cartridges than the NES, which utilized a 72-pin design. Four pins were used for the 10NES lockout chip. Ten pins were added that connected a cartridge directly to the expansion port on the bottom of the unit. Finally, two pins that allowed cartridges to provide their own sound expansion chips were removed. Many early games (such as Stack-Up) released in North America were simply Famicom cartridges attached to an adapter (such as the T89 Cartridge Converter) to allow them to fit inside the NES hardware. Nintendo did this to reduce costs and inventory by using the same cartridge boards in North America and Japan.

A number of peripheral devices and software packages were released for the Famicom. Few of these devices were ever released outside of Japan.

Family Basic is an implementation of BASIC for the Famicom. It allowed the user to program their own games. Many programmers got their first experience on programming for the console this way.

Famicom MODEM is a modem that allowed connection to a Nintendo server which provided content such as jokes, news (mainly about Nintendo), game tips, and weather reports for Japan; it also allowed a small number of programs to be downloaded. A modem was, however, tested in the United States, by the Minnesota State Lottery. It would have allowed players to buy scratchcards and play the lottery with their NES. It was not released because minors were able to play the lottery illegally and anonymously.

External sound chips. The Famicom had two cartridge pins that allowed cartridges to provide external sound enhancements. They were originally intended to facilitate the Famicom Disk System’s external sound chip. These pins were removed from the cartridge port of the NES, and relocated to the bottom expansion port. As a result, individual cartridges could not make use of this functionality, and many NES localizations suffered from inferior sound compared to their equivalent Famicom versions. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a notable example of this problem.

 

Hardwired controllers. The Famicom’s original design includes hardwired, non-removable controllers. In addition, the second controller featured an internal microphone for use with certain games and lacked SELECT and START buttons. Both the controllers and the microphone were subsequently dropped from the redesigned AV Famicom in favor of the two seven-pin controller ports on the front panel used in the NES from its inception.

Lockout circuitry. The Famicom contained no lockout hardware, and, as a result, unlicensed cartridges (both legitimate and bootleg) were extremely common throughout Japan and the Far East. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES 2) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers. Tinkerers at home in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip’s mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console’s ability to play legal games, as well as bootlegs and converted imports. The European release of the console used a regional lockout system that prevented cartridges released in region A from being played on region B consoles, and vice versa.

Audio/video output. The original Famicom featured an RF modulator plug for audio/video output, while the original NES featured both an RF modulator and RCA composite output cables. The AV Famicom featured only RCA composite output, and the top-loading NES 2 featured only RF modulator output. The original North American NES was the first game console to feature direct composite video output so people could hook it up to a stand-alone composite monitor.

Third-party cartridge manufacturing. In Japan, six companies, namely Nintendo, Konami, Capcom, Namco, Bandai, and Jaleco, manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom. This allowed these companies to develop their own customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as Konami's VRC 6 and VRC 7 sound chips that increased the quality of sound in their games.

 Game controllers:

 

 

The game controller used for both the NES and the Famicom featured an oblong brick-like design with a simple four button layout: two round buttons labelled "B" and "A", a "START" button, and a "SELECT" button. Additionally, the controllers utilized the cross-shaped D-pad, designed by Nintendo employee Gunpei Yokoi for Nintendo Game & Watch systems, to replace the bulkier joysticks on earlier gaming consoles’ controllers.

The original model Famicom featured two game controllers, both of which were hardwired to the back of the console. The second controller lacked the START and SELECT buttons, but featured a small microphone. Relatively few games made use of this feature. The earliest produced Famicom units initially had square A and B buttons. This was changed to the circular designs because of the square buttons being caught in the controller casing when pressed down, and glitches within the hardware causing the system to freeze occasionally while playing a game.

 

The NES dropped the hardwired controllers, instead featuring two custom 7-pin ports on the front of the console. Also in contrast to the Famicom, the controllers included with the NES were identical to each other—the second controller lacked the microphone that was present on the Famicom model, and possessed the same START and SELECT buttons as the primary controller.

 

A number of special controllers designed for use with specific games were released for the system, though very few such devices proved particularly popular. Such devices included, but were not limited to, the NES Zapper (a light gun), the Power Pad, the R.O.B., the LaserScope, the Vaus, and the ill-fated Power Glove. The original Famicom featured a deepened DA-15 expansion port on the front of the unit, which was used to connect most auxiliary devices. On the NES, these special controllers were generally connected to one of the two control ports on the front of the unit.

Near the end of the NES's lifespan, upon the release of the AV Famicom and the top-loading NES 2, the design of the game controllers was modified slightly. Though the original button layout was retained, the redesigned device abandoned the "brick" shell in favor of a "dog bone" shape reminiscent of the controllers of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In addition, the AV Famicom joined its international counterpart and dropped the hardwired controllers in favor of detachable controller ports. However, the controllers included with the Famicom AV, despite being the "dog bone" type, had cables which were a short three feet long, as opposed to the standard six feet of NES controllers.

In recent years the original NES controller has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the system. Nintendo has mimicked the look of the controller in several recent products, from promotional merchandise to limited edition versions of the Game Boy Advance SP and Game Boy Micro handheld game consoles.

 Hardware design flaws

 

When Nintendo released the NES in the United States, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors, and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was a front-loading zero insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The ZIF connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. Unfortunately, the ZIF connector was not truly zero insertion force. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly, as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself. Repeated insertion and removal of cartridges caused the pins to wear out relatively quickly, and the ZIF design proved far more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector. Exacerbating the problem was Nintendo’s choice of materials; the slot connector that the cartridge was actually inserted into was highly prone to corrosion. Add-on peripherals like the popular Game Genie cheat cartridge tended to further exacerbate this problem by bending the front-loading mechanism during gameplay. Recently, third-party manufacturers have been producing gold clones of the NES connector piece to replace the existing one and prevent corrosion.

 

 

Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the system’s most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly. The lockout chip was quite finicky, requiring precise timing in order to permit the system to boot. Dirty, aging, and bent connectors would often disrupt the timing, resulting in the blink effect. Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a solid white, gray, or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting the cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, and/or cleaning the connectors with alcohol which, observing the back of the cartridge, was not endorsed by Nintendo. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem instead ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system. In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.

With the release of the top-loading NES 2 toward the end of the NES's lifespan, Nintendo resolved the problems by switching to a standard card edge connector, and eliminating the lockout chip. All of the Famicom systems used standard card edge connectors, as did Nintendo’s subsequent game consoles, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64.

In response to these hardware flaws, "Nintendo Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across the United States. According to Nintendo, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts only to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program. In practice, the authorization process consisted of nothing more than paying a fee to Nintendo for the privilege. In a recent trend, many sites have sprung up to offer Nintendo repair parts, guides and services, that replace those formerly offered by the authorized repair centers.

 Third-party licensing

 

Nintendo’s near monopoly on the home video game market left it with a degree of influence over the industry exceeding even that of Atari during Atari's heyday in the early 1980s. Unlike Atari, which never actively courted third-party developers (and even went to court in an attempt to force Activision to cease production of Atari 2600 games), Nintendo had anticipated and encouraged the involvement of third-party software developers—but strictly on Nintendo’s terms. To this end, a 10NES authentication chip was placed in every console, and another was placed in every officially licensed cartridge. If the console's chip could not detect a counterpart chip inside the cartridge, the game would not load. Because Nintendo controlled the production of all cartridges, it was able to enforce strict rules on its third-party developers. Third-party developers were also asked to sign a contract by Nintendo that would obligate these parties to develop exclusively for the system. These extremely restricted production runs would end up damaging several smaller software developers: even if demand for their games was high, they could only produce as much profit as Nintendo allowed.

 Unlicensed games

 

Several companies, refusing to pay the licensing fee or having been rejected by Nintendo, found ways to circumvent the console's authentication system. Most of these companies created circuits that used a voltage spike to temporarily disable the 10NES chip in the NES. A few unlicensed games released in Europe and Australia came in the form of a dongle that would be connected to a licensed game, in order to use the licensed game’s 10NES chip for authentication.

Atari Games created a line of NES products under the name Tengen, and took a different approach. Afraid of damaging NES units and being liable for it by using the voltage spike technique, the company attempted to reverse engineer the lockout chip to develop its own "Rabbit" chip. However, Tengen also obtained a description of the lockout chip from the United States Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming that it was required to defend against present infringement claims in a legal case. Nintendo sued Tengen for copyright infringement, which Tengen lost as it could not prove that the illegally obtained patent documents had not been used by the reverse engineering team. Tengen's antitrust claims against Nintendo were never finally decided.

Following the introduction of the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in North America), Nintendo began to face real competition in the industry, and in the early 1990s was forced to reevaluate its stance towards its developers, many of whom had begun to defect to other systems. When the console was reissued as the NES 2, the 10NES chip was omitted from the console, marking the end of Nintendo’s most notorious hold over its third-party developers.

 

Hardware clones

Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone

A thriving market of unlicensed NES hardware clones emerged during the heyday of the console’s popularity. Initially, such clones were popular in markets where Nintendo never issued a legitimate version of the system. In particular, the Dendy (Russian: Де́нди), an unlicensed hardware clone produced in Russia and other nations of the former Soviet Union, emerged as the most popular video game console of its time in that setting, and it enjoyed a degree of fame roughly equivalent to that experienced by the NES/Famicom in North America and Japan. The Micro Genius (Simplified Chinese: 小天才) was marketed in Southeast Asia as an alternative to the Famicom, Samurai was the popular PAL alternative to the NES and in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, the Pegasus was available.

The unlicensed clone market has persisted, and even flourished, following Nintendo’s discontinuation of the NES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems have gone beyond the functionality of the original hardware, and have included variations such as a portable system with a color LCD (e.g. Pocket Famicom). Others have been produced with certain specialized markets in mind, including various "educational computer packages" which include copies of some of the NES’s educational titles and come complete with a clone of the Famicom BASIC keyboard, transforming the system into a rather primitive personal computer. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so called NES-on-a-chip or NoaC.

As was the case with unlicensed software titles, Nintendo has typically gone to the courts to prohibit the manufacture and sale of unlicensed cloned hardware. Many of the clone vendors have included built-in copies of licensed Nintendo software, which constitutes copyright infringement in most countries. As recently as 2004, Nintendo of America has filed suits against manufacturers of the Power Player Super Joy III, an NES clone system that had been sold in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Although most hardware clones were not produced under license by Nintendo, certain companies were granted licenses to produce NES-compatible devices. The Sharp Corporation produced at least two such clones: the Twin Famicom and the SHARP 19SC111 television. The Twin Famicom was compatible with both Famicom cartridges and Famicom Disk System disks. It was available in two colors (red and black) and used hardwired controllers (as did the original Famicom), but it featured a different case design. The SHARP 19SC111 television was a television which included a built-in Famicom. A similar licensing deal was reached with Hyundai Electronics, who manufactured the system under the name Comboy in the South Korean market. This deal with Hyundai was made necessary because of the South Korean government's wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products," which remained in effect until 1998 and ensured that the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor (see also Korean-Japanese disputes).

 Technical specifications  Original chassis/casing

The original Japanese Famicom was predominantly white plastic, with dark red trim. It featured a top-loading cartridge slot, and grooves on both sides of the deck in which the hardwired game controllers could be placed when not in use.

The original version of the North American NES used a radically different design. The NES's color scheme was two different shades of gray, with black trim. The top-loading cartridge slot was replaced with a front-loading mechanism. The slot is covered by a small, hinged door that can be opened to insert or remove a cartridge, and closed at other times. The dimensions of this model are 10" width by 8" length by 3.5" height. When opened, the cartridge slot door adds an additional 1" height to the unit. Due to its bulky, square design and slot-loading functionality, the original NES chassis is often referred to as the "Toaster."

 NES 2

The remodeled NES 2, known commonly as the "Top Loader", uses the same basic color scheme, although there are several subtle differences. The power switch is colored a bright red and slides into the on and off position, similar to the SNES, instead of the original push-button. Also, there is no LED power indicator on the unit. Like the original Famicom, it uses a top-loading cartridge slot. The NES was redesigned after the (also top loading) SNES, and indeed they share many of the same design cues. The NES 2 is considerably more compact than the original model, measuring 6" by 7" by 1.5". The streamlining of the design and chipset in the Top Loader made it arguably more reliable than the original NES models, although there was a tradeoff in connectivity and picture quality: the Top Loader offered only RF outputs instead of the RF and RCA (mono) outputs offered on the original.

 Cartridges

 

All officially licensed North American (NTSC) and European (PAL) cartridges, or "carts", are 5.5" long by 4.1" wide. Originally, NES carts were held together with 5 small, slotted screws. Later games (post-1987) were redesigned slightly to incorporate two plastic clips molded into the plastic itself, eliminating the need for the top two screws. This is why older NES carts are referred to as "5-screw", and are distinguishable by their flat tops and, as the name suggests, five screws instead of three. Around this time, the standard screws were changed to a 3.8mm security screws to further secure the ROMs inside from tampering. The back of the cartridge bears a label with instructions on handling. These labels were gray for standard games and gold (or in rare cases silver) for games that featured battery backup. With the exception of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link which were available in gold-plastic carts, all NTSC and PAL cartridges were a standard shade of gray plastic. Nintendo also produced yellow-plastic carts for internal use at Nintendo Service Centers, although these "test carts" were never made available for purchase by consumers.

Japanese (Famicom) cartridges are shaped slightly differently, measuring only 3" in length, but 5.3" in width. While the NES used at 72-pin interface, the Famicom system used a 60-pin design. Some early NES games (most commonly Gyromite were actually 60-pin Famicom PCBs and ROMs with a built-in converter. Unlike NES games, official Famicom carts were produced in many colors of plastic.

 Central processing unit

 

For its central processing unit (CPU), the NES uses an 8-bit microprocessor produced by Ricoh based on a MOS Technology 6502 core. It incorporates custom sound hardware and a restricted DMA controller on-die. NTSC (North America and Japan) versions of the console use the Ricoh 2A03 (or RP2A03), which runs at 1.79 MHz. PAL (Europe and Australia) versions of console utilize the Ricoh 2A07 (or RP2A07), which is identical to the 2A03 save for the fact that it runs at a slower 1.66 MHz clock rate and has its sound hardware adjusted accordingly.

 Memory

The NES contains 2 KB (2��10 bytes) of onboard random access memory (RAM). A game cartridge may contain expanded RAM to increase this amount. The system supports up to 49,128 bytes (just shy of 48 KB) for read-only memory (ROM), expanded RAM, and cartridge input/output. The process of bank switching can increase this amount by orders of magnitude.

 Video

The NES utilizes a custom-made picture processing unit (PPU) developed by Ricoh. The version of the processor used in NTSC models of the console, named the RP2C02, operates at 5.37 MHz, while the version used in PAL models, named the RP2C07, operates at 5.32 MHz. Both the RP2C02 and RP2C07 output composite video. Special versions of the NES's hardware designed for use in video arcades use other variations of the PPU. The PlayChoice-10 uses the RP2C03, which runs at 5.37 MHz and outputs RGB video at NTSC frequencies. Two different variations were used for Nintendo Vs. Series hardware: the RP2C04 and the RP2C05. Both of these operate at 5.37 MHz and output RGB video at NTSC frequencies. Additionally, both utilize irregular palettes to prevent easy ROM swapping of games. All variations of this PPU feature 256 bytes of on-die sprite position / attributable RAM ("OAM") and 28 bytes of on-die palette RAM to allow selection of background and sprite colors. This memory is stored on separate buses internal to the PPU. The console's 2 KB of onboard RAM may be used for tile maps and attributes on the NES board, and 8 KB(8 ×��10 bytes) of tile pattern ROM or RAM may be included on a cartridge. Using bank switching, virtually any amount of additional cartridge memory can be used, limited only by manufacturing costs.

The system has an available color palette of 48 colors and 5 grays. Red, green, and blue can be individually darkened at specific screen regions using carefully timed code. Up to 25 colors may be used on one scanline: a background color, four sets of three tile colors, and four sets of three sprite colors. This total does not include color de-emphasis.

A total of 64 sprites may be displayed onscreen at a given time without reloading sprites mid-screen. Sprites may be either 8 pixels by 8 pixels, or 8 pixels by 16 pixels, although the choice must be made globally and it affects all sprites. Up to eight sprites may be present on one scanline, using a flag to indicate when additional sprites are to be dropped. This flag allows the software to rotate sprite priorities, increasing maximum amount of sprites, but typically causing flicker.

The PPU allows only one scrolling layer, though horizontal scrolling can be changed on a per-scanline basis. More advanced programming methods enable the same to be done for vertical scrolling.The standard display resolution of the NES is 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels. Typically, games designed for NTSC-based systems had an effective resolution of only 256 by 224 pixels, as the top and bottom 8 scanlines are not visible on most television sets. For additional video memory bandwidth, it was possible to turn off the screen before the raster reached the very bottom.

Video output connections varied from one model of the console to the next. The original Japanese Famicom featured only radio frequency (RF) modulator output. When the console was released in North America and Europe, support for composite video through RCA connectors was added in addition to the RF modulator. The AV Famicom dropped the RF modulator entirely and adopted composite video output via a proprietary 12-pin "multi-out" connector first introduced for the Super Famicom / Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Conversely, the North American re-released NES 2 most closely resembled the original model Famicom, in that it featured RF modulator output only. Finally, the PlayChoice-10 utilized an inverted RGB video output.

 Audio

The NES board supported a total of five sound channels. These included two pulse wave channels of variable duty cycle (12.5%, 25%, 50%, and 75%), with a volume control of sixteen levels, and hardware pitch bending supporting frequencies ranging from 54 Hz to 28 kHz. Additional channels included one fixed-volume triangle wave channel supporting frequencies from 27 Hz to 56 kHz, one sixteen-volume level white noise channel supporting two modes (by adjusting inputs on a linear feedback shift register) at sixteen preprogrammed frequencies, and one delta pulse-width modulation channel with six bits of range, using 1-bit delta encoding at sixteen preprogrammed sample rates from 4.2 kHz to 33.5 kHz. This final channel was also capable of playing standard pulse-code modulation (PCM) sound by writing individual 7-bit values at timed intervals.

 Notes ^ a: For distribution purposes, Europe and Australasia were divided into two regions by Nintendo. The first of these regions consisted of France, the Netherlands, West Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and saw the NES released during 1986. The console was released in the second region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and Italy, as well as Australia, and New Zealand, the following year.
^ b: In Japan, Nintendo sold an optional expansion peripheral for the Famicom, called the Famicom Disk System, which would enable the console to run software from proprietary floppy disks.
^ c: The original Famicom included no dedicated controller ports. See game controllers section.
^ e: The NES was the overall best-selling system worldwide, with dominant sales in Asia and North America; though in Europe, the NES lagged in market and retail penetration behind the Sega Master System. Nintendo sold 61.9 million NES units worldwide: 19.35 million in Japan, 34 million in the Americas, and 8.5 million in other regions.[1]
^ f: The commonly-bundled game Super Mario Bros. popularized the platform game genre, and introduced elements that would be copied in many subsequent games
^ g: The D-pad refinements used in the NES controller would be incorporated in nearly every major console to follow,[43] and garnered Nintendo a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award).
^ h: Atari broke off negotiations with Nintendo in response to Coleco's unveiling of an unlicensed port of Donkey Kong for its Coleco Adam computer system. Although the game had been produced without Nintendo’s permission or support, Atari took its release as a sign that Nintendo was dealing with one of its major competitors in the market.

Complete Game List Below:

10-Yard Fight October 1985 Nintendo
1942 November 1986 Capcom
1943: The Battle of Midway October 1988 Capcom
1992 Campus Challenge – Nintendo
3-D WorldRunner September 1987 Acclaim
6-in-1 1992 Caltron
6-in-1 1992 Myriad (Same exact game as Caltron 6 in 1 except different label)
720° November 1989 Mindscape
8 Eyes January 1990 Taxan

Abadox March 1990 Milton Bradley Company
Action 52 1991 Active Enterprises
Action in New York 1991 Infogrames Called S.C.A.T. in the U.S.
The Addams Family January 1992 Ocean Software
The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt August 1993 Ocean Software
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Dragon Strike July 1992 FCI
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of the Lance January 1991 FCI
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Hillsfar February 1993 FCI
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Pool of Radiance April 1992 FCI
Adventure Island September 1988 Hudson Soft
Adventure Island 2 February 1991 Hudson Soft
Adventure Island 3 September 1992 Hudson Soft
Adventure Island Classic (aka Adventure Island) 1992 Hudson Soft Europe only
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom June 1990 Capcom
The Adventures of Bayou Billy June 1989 Konami
The Adventures of Dino Riki September 1989 Hudson Soft
The Adventures of Gilligan’s Island July 1990 Bandai
Adventures of Lolo April 1989 HAL
Adventures of Lolo 2 March 1990 HAL
Adventures of Lolo 3 September 1991 HAL
The Adventures of Rad Gravity December 1990 Activision
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle December 1992 THQ
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer August 1989 Seta
After Burner 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
Air Fortress September 1989 HAL
Airwolf June 1988 Acclaim
Al Unser Jr.’s Turbo Racing March 1990 Data East
Aladdin 1994 Virgin Interactive Europe only
Alfred Chicken February 1994 Mindscape
Alien³ March 1993 LJN
Alien Syndrome 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
All-Pro Basketball December 1989 Vic Tokai
Alpha Mission October 1987 SNK
Amagon April 1989 American Sammy
American Gladiators October 1991 Gametek
Anticipation November 1988 Nintendo
Arch Rivals November 1990 Acclaim
Archon December 1989 Activision
Arkanoid August 1987 Taito
Arkista’s Ring June 1990 American Sammy
Asterix 1993 Infogrames Europe only
Astyanax March 1990 Jaleco
Athena August 1987 SNK
Athletic World July 1987 Bandai
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes January 1992 THQ
Aussie Rules Footy 1991 Mattel Australia only

Baby Boomer 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Back to the Future September 1989 LJN
Back to the Future Part II & III September 1990 LJN
Bad Dudes July 1990 Data East
Bad News Baseball June 1990 Tecmo
Bad Street Brawler September 1989 Mattel
Balloon Fight June 1986 Nintendo
Banana Prince February 1989 Takara Europe only
Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach February 1989 Bandai
Bandit Kings of Ancient China December 1990 Koei
Barbie December 1991 Hi Tech
The Bard’s Tale November 1991 FCI
Barker Bill’s Trick Shooting August 1990 Nintendo
Base Wars June 1991 Ultra
Baseball October 1985 Nintendo
Baseball Simulator 1.000 March 1990 Culture Brain
Baseball Stars July 1989 SNK
Baseball Stars II July 1992 Romstar
Bases Loaded July 1988 Jaleco
Bases Loaded II January 1990 Jaleco
Bases Loaded 3 September 1991 Jaleco
Bases Loaded 4 April 1993 Jaleco
Batman February 1990 Sunsoft
Batman Returns January 1993 Konami
Batman: Return of the Joker December 1991 Sunsoft
Battle Chess July 1990 Data East
The Battle of Olympus December 1989 Broderbund
Battle Tank September 1990 Absolute Entertainment
Battleship 1993 Mindscape
Battletoads June 1991 Tradewest
Battletoads & Double Dragon June 1993 Tradewest
Beauty and the Beast 1994 Hudson Soft Europe only
Bee 52 1992 Camerica Unlicensed
Beetlejuice May 1991 LJN
Best of the Best Championship Karate December 1992 Electro Brain Corp.
Bible Adventures 1991 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed
Bible Buffet 1993 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed
BigFoot July 1990 Acclaim
Big Nose Freaks Out 1992 Camerica Unlicensed
Big Nose the Caveman 1991 Camerica Unlicensed
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Video Game Adventure August 1991 LJN
Bill Elliot’s NASCAR Challenge April 1991 Konami
Bionic Commando December 1988 Capcom
The Black Bass September 1989 Hot B
Blackjack 1992 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Blades of Steel December 1988 Konami
Blaster Master November 1988 Sunsoft
The Blue Marlin July 1992 Hot-B
Blue Shadow 1991 Taito Called Shadow of the Ninja in the U.S.
The Blues Brothers September 1992 Titus
Bo Jackson Baseball October 1991 Data East
Bomberman January 1989 Hudson Soft
Bomberman II February 1993 Hudson Soft
Bonk’s Adventure January 1994 Hudson Soft
Boulder Dash June 1990 JVC
Boy and His Blob, A January 1990 Absolute Entertainment
Bram Stoker’s Dracula September 1993 Imagesoft
Break Time: The National Pool Tour January 1993 FCI
Breakthru November 1987 Data East
Bubble Bath Babes 1991 Panesian
Bubble Bobble November 1988 Taito
Bubble Bobble Part 2 August 1993 Taito
Bucky O’Hare January 1992 Konami
The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout September 1990 Kemco
The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle August 1989 Kemco
Bump ‘n’ Jump December 1988 Vic Tokai
Burai Fighter March 1990 Taxan
Burgertime May 1987 Data East

Cabal June 1990 Milton Bradley Company
Caesar’s Palace December 1992 Virgin
California Games June 1989 Milton Bradley Company
California Raisins: The Grape Escape 1990 Radiance Software (looks like reproduction cart, says “Capcom”.)
Captain America and the Avengers December 1991 Data East
Captain Comic 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Captain Planet September 1991 Mindscape
Captain Skyhawk June 1990 Milton Bradley Company
Casino Kid October 1989 Sofel
Casino Kid 2 April 1993 Sofel
Castelian June 1991 Triffix
Castle of Deceit 1990 Bunch Games Unlicensed
Castle of Dragon June 1990 Seta
Castlequest September 1989 ASCII
Castlevania May 1987 Konami
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest December 1988 Konami
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse September 1990 Konami
Caveman Games October 1990 Data East
Challenge of the Dragon 1990 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Championship Bowling December 1989 Romstar
Championship Pool October 1993 Mindscape
Championship Rally 1991 HAL Australia Only. Released in Japan as Exciting Rally
Cheetahmen 2 1993 Active Enterprises
The Chessmaster January 1990 Hi Tech
Chiller 1986 American Game Cartridges Unlicensed – Need Zapper Light Gun
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers June 1990 Capcom
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers 2 January 1994 Capcom
Chubby Cherub October 1986 Bandai
Circus Caper July 1990 Toho
City Connection May 1988 Jaleco
Clash at Demonhead January 1990 Vic Tokai
Classic Concentration September 1990 Gametek United States only
Cliffhanger November 1993 Imagesoft
Clu Clu Land October 1985 Nintendo
Cobra Command November 1988 Data East
Cobra Triangle July 1989 Nintendo
Code Name: Viper March 1990 Capcom Ningen Heiki – Dead Fox in Japan.
Color a Dinosaur July 1993 Virgin
Commando November 1986 Capcom
Conan: The Mysteries of Time February 1991 Mindscape
Conflict March 1990 Vic Tokai
Conquest of the Crystal Palace November 1990 Asmik Released as Matendouji in Japan
Contra February 1988 Konami Probotector in Europe
Contra Force September 1992 Konami
Cool World June 1993 Ocean
Corvette ZR-1 Challenge 1990 Milton Bradley Company Called Race America in the U.S.
Cowboy Kid January 1992 Romstar Western Kid in Japan
Crackout 1991 Konami Europe and Australia only (Says “PALCOM” on Cart)
Crash ‘n the Boys: Street Challenge October 1992 American Technos
Crystal Mines 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Crystalis July 1990 SNK Remade for Game Boy Color
Cyberball March 1992 Jaleco Planned by Tengen to be released unlicensed, Jaleco purchased rights to publish it
Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine December 1989 Acclaim

Dance Aerobics March 1989 Nintendo Needs the Power Pad
Danny Sullivan’s Indy Heat August 1992 Tradewest
Darkman October 1991 Ocean Software
Darkwing Duck June 1992 Capcom
Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum February 1990 Data East
Day Dreamin’ Davey June 1992 HAL
Days of Thunder October 1990 Mindscape
Deadly Towers September 1987 Broderbund
Death Race 1990 American Game Cartridges Unlicensed
Deathbots 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Defender II July 1988 HAL
Defender of the Crown July 1989 Ultra
Defenders of Dynatron City July 1992 JVC
Deja Vu December 1990 Seika
Demon Sword January 1990 Taito
Desert Commander June 1989 Seika
Destination Earthstar February 1990 Acclaim
Destiny of an Emperor September 1990 Capcom
Devil World 1984 Nintendo Japan & Europe only
Dick Tracy August 1990 Bandai
Die Hard January 1992 Activision
Dig Dug 2: Trouble in Paradise December 1989 Bandai
Digger T. Rock: Legend of the Lost City December 1990 Milton Bradley Company
Dirty Harry: The War Against Drugs December 1990 Mindscape
Donkey Kong June 1986 Nintendo
Donkey Kong 3 June 1986 Nintendo
Donkey Kong Classics October 1988 Nintendo
Donkey Kong Jr. June 1986 Nintendo
Donkey Kong Jr. Math October 1985 Nintendo
Double Dare April 1990 Gametek United States only
Double Dragon June 1988 Tradewest
Double Dragon II: The Revenge January 1990 Acclaim
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones February 1991 Acclaim
Double Dribble September 1987 Konami
Double Strike 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Dr. Chaos November 1988 FCI
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde April 1989 Bandai
Dr. Mario October 1990 Nintendo
Dragon Fighter January 1992 Sofel
Dragon Power March 1988 Bandai Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo in Japan
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend June 1990 Bandai
Dragon Warrior August 1989 Nintendo Produced by Enix. Dragon Quest in Japan.
Dragon Warrior II September 1990 Enix Remade for Super Nintendo and Game Boy Color
Dragon Warrior III March 1992 Enix Remade for Super Nintendo and Game Boy Color
Dragon Warrior IV October 1992 Enix
Dragon’s Lair December 1990 CSG Imagesoft
Dropzone 1992 Mindscape Europe only
Duck Hunt October 1985 Nintendo Needs the Zapper Light Gun
DuckTales September 1989 Capcom
DuckTales 2 June 1993 Capcom
Dudes with Attitude 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements July 1990 Taito
Dusty Diamond’s All-Star Softball July 1990 Broderbund
Dynablaster 1991 Hudson Soft European release of Bomberman
Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus April 1990 Bandai

Elevator Action August 1987 Taito
Eliminator Boat Duel November 1991 Electro Brain Corp.
Elite 1991 Imagineer Europe only
The Empire Strikes Back March 1992 JVC
Evert and Lendl Top Players’ Tennis January 1990 Asmik US only \ Released as Four Players’ Tennis in Europe \ Released as World Super Tennis in Japan
Excitebike October 1985 Nintendo
Exodus 1991 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed

F-117A Stealth Fighter December 1992 Microprose
F-15 City War 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
F-15 Strike Eagle February 1992 Microprose
Family Feud May 1991 Gametek United States only
The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy April 1991 Camerica
Fantasy Zone 1987 Tengen Unlicensed
Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger June 1991 ASCII (Slight tear on end label)
Faxanadu August 1989 Nintendo
Felix the Cat October 1992 Hudson Soft
Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge June 1992 Acclaim
Fester’s Quest September 1989 Sunsoft
Final Fantasy July 1990 Nintendo Developed by Squaresoft. Remade for PlayStation under Final Fantasy Origins, and for Game Boy Advance
Fire ‘n Ice March 1993 Tecmo Solomon’s Key 2 in Japan
Firehawk 1989 Unlicensed
Fisher Price: Firehouse Rescue March 1992 Gametek
Fisher Price: I Can Remember March 1990 Gametek
Fisher Price: Perfect Fit March 1990 Gametek
Fist of the North Star April 1989 Taxan
Flight of the Intruder May 1991 Mindscape
The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and Hoppy December 1991 Taito
The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak August 1994 Taito
Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll August 1989 Culture Brain
Flying Warriors February 1991 Culture Brain
Formula 1: Built to Win November 1990 Seta
Frankenstein: The Monster Returns July 1991 Bandai
Freedom Force April 1988 Sunsoft
Friday the 13th February 1989 LJN
Fun House January 1991 Hi Tech United States only

G.I. Joe January 1991 Taxan
G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor March 1992 Capcom
Galactic Crusader 1990 Bunch Games
Galaga September 1988 Bandai Developed by Namco
Galaxy 5000 February 1991 Activision
Gargoyle’s Quest II: The Demon Darkness October 1992 Capcom
Gauntlet 1985 Tengen Unlicensed
Gauntlet II September 1990 Mindscape
Gemfire March 1992 Koei Released as Royal Blood in Japan
Genghis Khan January 1990 Koei
George Foreman’s KO Boxing December 1992 Acclaim
Ghostbusters October 1988 Activision
Ghostbusters II April 1990 Activision
Ghosts ‘n Goblins November 1986 Capcom
Ghoul School March 1992 Electro Brain Corp.
Goal! October 1989 Jaleco
Goal! Two November 1992 Jaleco
Godzilla October 1989 Toho
Godzilla 2 February 1992 Toho
Gold Medal Challenge 92 August 1992 Capcom
Golf October 1985 Nintendo
Golf Grand Slam December 1991 Atlus
Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode September 1988 Vic Tokai
The Goonies II November 1987 Konami
Gotcha! The Sport! November 1987 LJN
Gradius December 1986 Konami
The Great Waldo Search December 1992 THQ
Greg Norman’s Golf Power July 1992 Virgin
Gremlins 2: The New Batch October 1990 Sunsoft
The Guardian Legend April 1989 Broderbund
Guerilla War June 1989 SNK Released as Guerva in Japan
Gumshoe June 1986 Nintendo
Gun Nac September 1991 Ascii
Gunsmoke February 1988 Capcom
Gyromite October 1985 Nintendo
Gyruss February 1989 Konami

Hammerin’ Harry 1992 Irem Europe only
Harlem Globetrotters March 1991 Gametek
Hatris April 1992 Bullet Proof
Heavy Barrel March 1990 Data East
Heavy Shreddin’ June 1990 Parker Brothers
High Speed July 1991 Tradewest
Hogan’s Alley October 1985 Nintendo
Hollywood Squares September 1989 Gametek United States only
Home Alone October 1991 THQ
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York October 1992 THQ
Hook April 1992 Imagesot
Hoops June 1989 Jaleco Moero!! Junior Basket – Two on Two in Japan
Hot Slot 1991 Panesian
Hudson Hawk February 1992 Imagesoft
The Hunt for Red October January 1991 Hi Tech
Hydlide June 1989 FCI

Ice Climber October 1985 Nintendo
Ice Hockey March 1988 Nintendo
Ikari Warriors May 1987 SNK
Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road April 1988 SNK
Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue February 1991 SNK
Image Fight July 1990 Irem
The Immortal November 1990 Electronic Arts
Impossible Mission 2 1989 S.E.I. Unlicensed
The Incredible Crash Dummies August 1994 LJN
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade March 1991 Taito
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade December 1993 Ubisoft
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom December 1988 Mindscape
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1988 Tengen Unlicensed
International Cricket 1992 Mattel
Infiltrator January 1990 Mindscape
Iron Tank July 1988 SNK
Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II December 1989 Acclaim
Isolated Warrior February 1991 NTVIC
Ivan “Iron Man” Stewart’s Super Off-Road April 1990 Tradewest

Jack Nicklaus’ Major Championship Golf March 1990 Konami
Jackal September 1988 Konami
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu December 1990 Hudson Soft
James Bond Jr. November 1992 THQ
Jaws November 1987 LJN
Jeopardy! September 1988 Gametek United States only
Jeopardy! 25th Silver Anniversary Edition June 1990 Gametek United States only
Jeopardy! Jr. Edition October 1989 Gametek United States only
The Jetsons: Cogswell’s Caper December 1992 Taito
Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour November 1993 UBI Soft
Joe & Mac December 1992 Data East (writing on front)
John Elway’s Quarterback March 1989 Tradewest
Jordan vs Bird: One on One August 1989 Milton Bradley Company
Joshua August 1992 Wisdom Tree, Inc.
Journey to Silius September 1990 Sunsoft
Joust October 1988 HAL
The Jungle Book August 1994 Virgin
Jurassic Park June 1993 Ocean Software

Kabuki Quantum Fighter January 1991 Hal
Karate Champ November 1986 Data East
The Karate Kid November 1987 LJN
Karnov January 1988 Data East
Kick Master January 1992 Taito
Kick Off 1991 Imagineer Europe only
Kickle Cubicle September 1990 Irem Known as Meikyuujima in Japan
Kid Icarus July 1987 Nintendo Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami in Japan
Kid Klown in Night Mayor World April 1993 Kemco
Kid Kool March 1990 Vic Tokai
Kid Niki: Radical Ninja November 1987 Data East
King Neptune’s Adventure 1990 Color Dreams Unlicensed
King of Kings: The Early Years 1991 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed
King’s Knight September 1989 Squaresoft
Kings of the Beach January 1990 Ultra
King’s Quest V June 1992 Konami
Kirby’s Adventure May 1993 Nintendo
Kiwi Kraze March 1991 Taito Released as New Zealand Story in Europe and Australia
Klash Ball July 1991 Sofel
Klax 1991 Tengen Unlicensed
Knight Rider December 1989 Acclaim
Konami Hyper Soccer 1992 Konami Europe only
Krazy Kreatures 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
The Krion Conquest January 1991 Vic Tokai Slightly different version released as Magical Doropie in Japan
Krusty’s Funhouse September 1992 Acclaim
Kung Fu October 1985 Nintendo
Kung Fu Heroes March 1989 Culture Brain

Laser Invasion June 1991 Konami
Last Action Hero October 1993 Imagesoft
The Last Ninja February 1991 Jaleco
The Last Starfighter June 1990 Mindscape
Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf September 1988 SNK
Legacy of the Wizard April 1989 Broderbund
Legend of the Ghost Lion October 1992 Kemco
The Legend of Kage August 1987 Taito
The Legend of Zelda July 1987 Nintendo The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu in Japan
Legendary Wings July 1988 Capcom
Legends of the Diamond January 1992 Bandai
The Legend of Prince Valiant 1992 Ocean Europe only
Lemmings November 1992 Sunsoft
L’Empereur November 1991 Koei
Lethal Weapon April 1993 Ocean Software
Life Force August 1988 Konami Salamander in Japan
Linus Spacehead 1992 Camerica
The Lion King 1994 Virgin Europe only
Little League Baseball: Championship Series July 1990 SNK
The Little Mermaid July 1991 Capcom
Little Nemo: The Dream Master September 1990 Capcom
Little Ninja Brothers December 1990 Culture Brain
Little Red Hood 1989 Unlicensed: Home Entertainment Supplies[1] (originally Thin Chen Enterprise) WOW!
Little Samson November 1992 Taito
Lode Runner September 1987 Broderbund
The Lone Ranger August 1991 Konami
Loopz October 1990 Mindscape
Low G Man September 1990 Taxan
Lunar Pool October 1987 FCI

M.C. Kids February 1992 Virgin (NTSC only)
McDonaldland (PAL only)
M.U.L.E. September 1990 Mindscape
M.U.S.C.L.E. October 1986 Bandai
Mach Rider October 1985 Nintendo
Mad Max July 1990 Mindscape
The Mafat Conspiracy: Golgo 13 II June 1990 Vic Tokaicff
Magic Darts September 1991 Romstar
Magic Johnson’s Fast Break March 1990 Tradewest
The Magic of Scheherazade December 1989 Culture Brain Released as Arabian Dream Sherezaado in Japan
Magician February 1991 Taxan
Magmax October 1988 FCI
Major League Baseball April 1988 LJN
Maniac Mansion September 1990 Jaleco
Mappyland April 1989 Taxan
Marble Madness March 1989 Milton Bradley Company
Mario and Yoshi 1992 Released as Yoshi in the US
Mario Bros. June 1986 Nintendo
Mario Is Missing! July 1993 Mindscape
Mario’s Time Machine June 1994 Mindscape
Marvel’s X-Men December 1989 LJN
Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Maxi 15 (American Video Entertainment)
McDonaldLand Virgin Released as M.C. Kids in the US
Mechanized Attack June 1990 SNK
Mega Man December 1987 Capcom Rockman in Japan
Mega Man 2 June 1989 Capcom Rockman 2 in Japan
Mega Man 3 November 1990 Capcom Rockman 3 In Japan
Mega Man 4 January 1992 Capcom Rockman 4 In Japan
Mega Man 5 December 1992 Capcom Rockman 5 In Japan
Mega Man 6 March 1994 Nintendo Developed by Capcom. Rockman 6 in Japan
Menace Beach 1990 Color Dreams Unlicensed – Later released as Sunday Funday
Mendel Palace October 1990 Hudson Soft
Mermaids of Atlantis 1991 American Video Entertainment
Metal Fighter 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Metal Gear June 1988 Konami
Metal Mech March 1991 Jaleco Metal Flame Psybuster in Japan
Metal Storm February 1991 Irem Juuryoku Soukou Metal Storm in Japan
Metroid August 1987 Nintendo
Michael Andretti’s World GP June 1990 American Sammy
Mickey Mousecapade October 1988 Capcom Released as Mickey Mouse in Japan
Mickey’s Adventures in Numberland March 1994 Hi Tech
Mickey’s Safari in Letterland March 1993 Hi Tech
Micro Machines 1991 Camerica Unlicensed
Mig 29 Soviet Fighter 1989 Camerica Unlicensed
Might and Magic: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum August 1992 American Sammy
Mighty Bomb Jack July 1987 Tecmo
Mighty Final Fight July 1993 Capcom
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! October 1987 Nintendo
Millipede October 1988 HAL
Milon’s Secret Castle September 1988 Hudson Soft
The Miracle Piano Teaching System 1990 Mindscape
Mission Cobra 1990 Bunch Games
Mission: Impossible September 1990 Ultra
Monopoly May 1991 Parker Brothers
Monster in My Pocket January 1992 Konami
Monster Party June 1989 Bandai
Monster Truck Rally September 1991 INTV
Moon Ranger 1990 Bunch Games Unlicensed
Motor City Patrol January 1992 Matchbox
Ms. Pac Man November 1993 Namco
Ms. Pac Man 1990 Tengen Unlicensed
MTV’s Remote Control May 1990 Hi Tech United States only
Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival November 1990 Hi Tech
The Mutant Virus: Crisis in a Computer World April 1992 American Softworks
Mystery Quest April 1989 Taxan

NARC August 1990 Acclaim
NES Open Tournament Golf September 1991 Nintendo
NES Play Action Football September 1990 Nintendo
New Zealand Story 1991 Taito Released as Kiwi Kraze in the US
NFL Football September 1989 LJN
Nigel Mansell’s World Championship Racing October 1993 Gametek
A Nightmare on Elm Street October 1990 LJN
Nightshade January 1992 Ultra
Ninja Crusaders December 1990 American Sammy
Ninja Gaiden March 1989 Tecmo Ninja Ryuukenden in Japan
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos May 1990 Tecmo Ninja Ryuukenden 2 in Japan
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom August 1991 Tecmo Ninja Ryuukenden 3 in Japan
Ninja Kid October 1986 Bandai Satan’s Den in Japan
Nintendo World Championships (BLUE REPRODUCTION)
Nintendo World Championships (Original Cart)
Nintendo World Cup December 1990 Nintendo
Noah’s Ark 1992 Konami Europe only
Nobunaga’s Ambition June 1989 Koei
Nobunaga’s Ambition II April 1991 Koei
North and South December 1990 Seika

Operation Secret Storm 1991 Color Dreams
Operation Wolf May 1989 Taito
Orb-3D October 1990 Hi Tech
Othello December 1988 Acclaim
Over Horizon 1991 Hot B Japan & Europe only
Overlord January 1993 Virgin Interactive

P.O.W.: Prisoners of War September 1989 SNK
Pac-Man November 1993 Namco
Pac-Man Tengen Unlicensed (GREY CART)
Pac-Man Tengen Unlicensed (BLACK CART)
Pac-Mania 1990 Tengen Unlicensed
Palamedes November 1990 Hot B
Panic Restaurant October 1992 Taito
Paperboy December 1988 Mindscape
Paperboy 2 April 1992 Mindscape
Parodius 1992 Konami Japan & Europe only
Peek-A-Boo Poker 1991 Panesian
Pesterminator 1990 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Peter Pan and the Pirates January 1991 THQ
Phantom Fighter April 1990 FCI
Pictionary July 1990 LJN
Pinball October 1985 Nintendo
Pinball Quest June 1990 Jaleco
Pinbot April 1990 Nintendo
Pipe Dream September 1990 Bullet Proof
Pirates! October 1991 MicroProse/Ultra
Platoon December 1988 Sunsoft
Popeye June 1986 Nintendo
Power Blade March 1991 Taito
Power Blade 2 October 1992 Taito Captian Saver in Japan
Power Punch II June 1992 American Softworks
P’radikus Conflict 1990 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Predator: Soon the Hunt Will Begin April 1989 Activision
Prince of Persia November 1992 Virgin
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom February 1991 Hudson Soft
Pro Sport Hockey November 1993 Jaleco
Pro Wrestling March 1987 Nintendo
Probotector 1988 Konami (“Contra in the US and Japan”??? Wikipedia fuck up?)
Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces 1992 Konami Super C in the US and Japan
Punch-Out!! October 1990 Nintendo
The Punisher November 1990 LJN
Puss ‘n Boots: Pero’s Great Adventure June 1990 Electro Brain Corp.
Puzzle 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Puzznic November 1990 Taito
Pyramid 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed

Q*bert February 1989 Ultra
Qix January 1991 Taito
Quattro Adventure 1991 Camerica Unlicensed
Quattro Arcade 1991 Camerica Unlicensed
Quattro Sports 1993 Camerica Unlicensed

R.C. Pro-Am February 1988 Nintendo
R.C. Pro-Am II December 1992 Tradewest
Race America May 1992 Absolute Entertainment
Racermate Challenge II (still need accessories)
Racket Attack October 1988 Jaleco Moero!! Pro Tennis in Japan
Rackets and Rivals 1993 Palcom Software Europe only
Rad Racket: Deluxe Tennis II 1991 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Rad Racer October 1987 Nintendo Released as Highway Star in Japan
Rad Racer II June 1990 Squaresoft
Raid 2020 1989 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Raid on Bungeling Bay September 1987 Broderbund
Rainbow Islands June 1991 Taito
Rally Bike September 1990 Romstar
Rambo May 1988 Acclaim
Rampage December 1988 Data East
Rampart January 1992 Jaleco
RBI Baseball 1988 Tengen Unlicensed
RBI Baseball II 1990 Tengen Unlicensed
RBI Baseball III 1991 Tengen Unlicensed
The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$ November 1993 THQ
Renegade January 1988 Taito Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun in Japan.
Rescue: The Embassy Mission January 1990 Kemco Hostages: The Embassy Mission in Japan
Ring King September 1987 Data East Family Boxing in Japan
River City Ransom January 1990
Road Fighter 1985 Konami Japan & Europe only
Road Runner 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
RoadBlasters January 1990 Mindscape
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves November 1991 Virgin
Robocop December 1989 Data East
RoboCop 2 April 1991 Data East
RoboCop 3 August 1992 Ocean Software (minor writing on end label, funny “please rewind” sticker on back)
Robodemons 1990 Color Dreams
RoboWarrior December 1988 Jaleco Bomber King in Japan
Rock ‘n’ Ball January 1990 NTVIC
Rocket Ranger June 1990 Seika
The Rocketeer May 1991 Bandai
Rockin’ Kats September 1991 Atlus
Rodland Storm Sales Curve Europe only
Roger Clemens’ MVP Baseball October 1991 LJN
Rollerball February 1990 HAL
Rollerblade Racer February 1993 Hi Tech
Rollergames September 1990 Ultra
Rolling Thunder 1988 Tengen Unlicensed
Romance of the Three Kingdoms October 1989 Koei
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II September 1991 Koei
Roundball: 2 on 2 Challenge May 1992 Mindscape
Rush’n Attack April 1987 Konami
Rygar July 1987 Tecmo Argos no Senshi: Hachamecha Daishingeki in Japan

S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team June 1991 Natsume Action in New York in Europe
Secret Scout 1991 Color Dreams Unlicensed
Section Z July 1987 Capcom
Seicross October 1988 FCI
Sesame Street: 1-2-3 January 1989 Hi Tech
Sesame Street: A-B-C September 1989 Hi Tech
Sesame Street: A-B-C/1-2-3 November 1991 Hi Tech
Sesame Street: Big Bird’s Hide & Speak October 1990 Hi Tech
Sesame Street: Countdown February 1992 Hi Tech
Shadow of the Ninja December 1990 Natsume
Shadow Warriors 1991 Tecmo Released as Ninja Gaiden in the US / Ninja Ryuukenden in Japan
Shadow Warriors 2 Tecmo Released as Ninja Gaiden 2 in the US / Ninja Ryuukenden 2 in Japan
Shadowgate December 1989 Seika
Shatterhand December 1991 Jaleco
Shingen the Ruler June 1990 Hot B
Shinobi 1989 Tengen Unlicensed (looks like the cart has shit stains, but label is OK)
Shock Wave 1990 Unlicensed
Shooting Range June 1989 Bandai
Short Order/Eggsplode December 1989 Nintendo
Side Pocket June 1987 Data East
Silent Assault 1990 Color Dreams
Silent Service December 1989 Ultra
Silkworm June 1990 American Sammy
Silver Surfer November 1990 Arcadia
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants February 1991 Acclaim
The Simpsons: Bart VS. The World December 1991 Acclaim
The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man December 1992 Acclaim
Skate or Die! December 1988 Ultra
Skate or Die 2 September 1990 Electronic Arts
Ski or Die February 1991 Ultra
Skull and Crossbones 1990 Tengen Unlicensed
Sky Kid September 1987 Sunsoft
Sky Shark September 1989 Taito
Slalom August 1987 Nintendo
Smash T.V. September 1991 Acclaim
The Smurfs 1994 Infogrames Europe only
Snake Rattle n Roll July 1990 Nintendo
Snake’s Revenge April 1990 Ultra Europe and US only
Snoopy’s Silly Sports Spectacular April 1990 Seika
Snow Brothers November 1991 Capcom
Soccer March 1987 Nintendo
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship September 1990 Tradewest
Solitaire 1992 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Solomon’s Key July 1987 Tecmo
Solomon’s Key 2 1992 Tecmo Fire ‘n Ice in the US
Solstice June 1990 CSG Imagesoft
Space Shuttle Project November 1991 Absolute Entertainment
Spelunker September 1987 Broderbund
Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six October 1992 LJN
Spiritual Warfare 1992 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed
Splatterhouse – Namco (Wasn’t on list. is this rare or something?)
Spot September 1990 Virgin Interactive
Spy Hunter September 1987 Sunsoft
Spy VS. Spy October 1988 Kemco
Sqoon September 1987 Irem
Stack-Up October 1985 Nintendo (NEED PARTS)
Stadium Events September 1987 Bandai (PAL VERSION)
Stanley and the Search for Dr. Livingston October 1992 Electro Brain Corp.
Star Force November 1987 Tecmo
Star Soldier January 1989 Taxan
Star Trek 25th Anniversary February 1992 Ultra
Star Trek: The Next Generation September 1993 Absolute Entertainment
Star Voyager September 1987 Acclaim
Star Wars November 1991 JVC
Starship Hector June 1990 Hudson Soft
StarTropics December 1990 Nintendo
Stealth ATF October 1989 Activision
Stinger September 1987 Konami
Street Cop June 1989 Bandai
Street Fighter 2010 September 1990 Capcom
Street Gangs 1991 Infogrames River City Ransom in US
Strider July 1989 Capcom
Stunt Kids 1992 Camerica Unlicensed
Summer Carnival ’92 (FAMICOM GAME, but in NES CART) Says “RECCA” on end label
Sunday Funday 1995 Wisdom Tree Unlicensed – remake of Menace Beach
Super C April 1990 Konami

Super Cars February 1991 Electro Brain Corp.
Super Dodge Ball June 1989 Sony Imagesoft
Super Glove Ball October 1990 Mattel
Super Jeopardy! September 1991 Gametek United States only (End label torn off completely)
Super Mario Bros. October 1985 Nintendo
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt November 1988 Nintendo
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet December 1990 Nintendo
Super Mario Bros./Tetris/Nintendo World Cup (Europe only?)
Super Mario Bros. 2 October 1988 Nintendo (“Doki Doki Panic” in Japan)
Super Mario Bros. 3 February 1990 Nintendo
Super Pitfall November 1987 Activision
Super Spike V’Ball February 1990 Nintendo
Super Spike V’Ball/Nintendo World Cup December 1990 Nintendo
Super Sprint 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
Super Spy Hunter February 1992 Sunsoft
Super Team Games November 1988 Nintendo
Super Turrican 1992 Imagineer Europe only
Superman December 1988 Seika
SuperVision (WEIRD JAPANESE CART)
Swamp Thing December 1992 THQ
Sword Master January 1992 Activision
Swords and Serpents August 1990 Acclaim

Taboo: The Sixth Sense April 1989 Tradewest
Tag Team Wrestling October 1986 Data East
Tagin’ Dragon 1990 Bunch Games
Tale Spin December 1991 Capcom
Target: Renegade March 1990 Taito
Tecmo Baseball January 1989 Tecmo
Tecmo Bowl February 1989 Tecmo
Tecmo NBA Basketball November 1992 Tecmo
Tecmo Super Bowl December 1991 Tecmo
Tecmo World Cup Soccer September 1992 Tecmo (CALLED “TECMO CUP SOCCER GAME”)
Tecmo World Wrestling April 1990 Tecmo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles June 1989 Ultra/Konami Gekikame Ninja Den in Japan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game December 1990 Ultra/Konami
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project February 1992 Konami
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters February 1994 Konami
Tennis October 1985 Nintendo
Terminator 2: Judgment Day February 1992 Acclaim
The Terminator December 1992 Mindscape
Terra Cresta March 1990 Vic Tokai
Tetris November 1989 Nintendo
Tetris May 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
Tetris 2 October 1993 Nintendo
Thomas and Friends (What is this?!)
The Three Stooges October 1989 Activision
Thunder & Lightning December 1990 Romstar
Thunderbirds September 1990 Activision
Thundercade July 1989 American Sammy
Tiger-Heli September 1987 Acclaim
Tiles of Fate 1990 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Time Lord September 1990 Milton Bradley Company
Times of Lore May 1991 Toho
Tiny Toon Adventures December 1991 Konami
Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland April 1993 Konami
Tiny Toon Adventures Cartoon Workshop December 1992 ;Konami
To the Earth November 1989 Nintendo
Toki December 1991 Taito
Tom & Jerry December 1991 Hi Tech
Tombs & Treasure June 1991 Infocom
Toobin 1989 Tengen Unlicensed
Top Gun November 1987 Konami
Top Gun: The Second Mission January 1990 Konami
Total Recall August 1990 Acclaim
Totally Rad March 1991 Jaleco
Touchdown Fever February 1991 SNK
Town & Country II: Thrilla’s Surfari March 1992 Acclaim
T&C Surf Designs (video game) February 1988 LJN
Toxic Crusaders April 1992 Bandai
Track & Field April 1987 Konami
Track & Field II June 1989 Konami
Treasure Master December 1991 American Softworks
Trog October 1991 Acclaim
Trojan February 1987 Capcom
Trolls on Treasure Island 1992 American Sammy
Twin Cobra January 1990 American Sammy
Twin Eagle October 1989 Romstar

Ufouria: The Saga 1991 Sunsoft Europe only
Ultima 3: Exodus February 1989 FCI
Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar December 1990 FCI
Ultima 5: Warriors of Destiny January 1993 FCI
Ultimate Air Combat November 1991 Activision
Ultimate Basketball September 1990 American Sammy
Ultimate League Soccer 1991 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Ultimate Stuntman 1990 Camerica Unlicensed
Uncharted Waters November 1991 Koei
Uninvited June 1991 Seika
The Untouchables January 1991 Ocean Software
Urban Champion June 1986 Nintendo

Vegas Dream March 1990 HAL
Venice Beach Volleyball 1991 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Vice: Project Doom November 1991 American Sammy
Videomation June 1991 THQ
Vindicators 1988 Tengen Unlicensed
Volleyball March 1987 Nintendo

Wacky Races May 1992 Atlus
Wall Street Kid June 1990 Sofel
Wally Bear and the NO! Gang 1992 American Video Entertainment Unlicensed
Wario’s Woods December 1994 Nintendo Last NES game released
Wayne Gretzky Hockey January 1991 THQ
Wayne’s World November 1993 THQ
Werewolf: The Last Warrior November 1990 Data East
Wheel of Fortune September 1988 Gametek United States only
Wheel of Fortune Family Edition March 1990 Gametek United States only
Wheel of Fortune Featuring Vanna White January 1992 Gametek United States only
Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition October 1989 Gametek United States only
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? October 1991 Konami
Where’s Waldo? September 1991 THQ
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? September 1989 LJN
Whomp ‘Em March 1991 Jaleco
Widget November 1992 Atlus
Wild Gunman October 1985 Nintendo
Willow December 1989 Capcom
Win Lose or Draw March 1990 Hi Tech
Winter Games September 1987 Acclaim
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord July 1990 Ascii
Wizardry: The Knight of Diamonds April 1992 Ascii
Wizards & Warriors December 1987 Acclaim
Wizards & Warriors III March 1992 Acclaim
Wolverine October 1991 LJN
World Champ April 1991 Romstar
World Championship Wrestling April 1990 FCI
World Class Track Meet August 1988
World Games March 1989 Milton Bradley Company
Wrath of the Black Manta April 1990 Taito
Wrecking Crew October 1985 Nintendo
Wurm: Journey To The Center Of The Earth November 1991 Asmik
WWF King of the Ring November 1993 LJN
WWF WrestleMania January 1989 Acclaim
WWF WrestleMania Challenge November 1990 LJN
WWF WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge September 1992 LJN

Xenophobe December 1988 Sunsoft
Xevious September 1988 Bandai Developed by Namco
Xexyz April 1990 Hudson Soft

Yo! Noid November 1990 Capcom
Yoshi June 1992 Nintendo Released as Mario and Yoshi in Europe
Yoshi’s Cookie April 1993 Nintendo
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles December 1992 Jaleco

Zanac October 1987 FCI
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link December 1988 Nintendo The Legend of Zelda 2: Rinku no Bouken in Japan
Zen: Intergalactic Ninja March 1993 Konami
Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics II March 1994 Nintendo
Zombie Nation September 1991 Meldac Abarenbou Tengu in Japan

GAMES NOT INCLUDED ON LIST ABOVE

 

PAL EXCLUSIVE (Europe)

* Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque
* Duck Maze (Same as HES cart)
* Mr. Gimmick
* New Ghostbusters II
* Parasol Stars: Bubble Bobble 3
* Trolls in Crazy Land

GLUK VIDEO LIST (Spain)

3 in 1 Supergun
Adan y Eva
Booky Man
Corre Benny
Cosmos Cop
Creatom
El Bloque Magico
El Destructor
El Monstruo de los Globos
F-15 City War
Gluk the Thunder Warrior
La Alfombra Magica
La Gran Aventura Submarina
La Guerra del Golfo
Magic Carpet 1001
Policeman
Puzzle
Skate Boy
Tanque
Volly Ball

HES (HOME ENTERTAINMENT SUPPLIERS)  Australia

4 in 1 Fun Blaster Pak (Pipemania, Twin Eagle, Metal Fighter and Little Red Hood)

4 in 1 Total Funpak (Pac-man, Sidewinder, Duck Maze & Othello)

4 in 1 Mind Blower Pak (Math Quiz, Jackpot, Arctic Adventure, Galactic Crusader)

Real Players Pack 6-Pak (Rarest Known HES Game) Has The Same Unique Games As The (Caltron 6 in 1/Myriad 6 in 1)

Arctic Adventure (Penguin and Seal)

Chiller

Death Race

Duck Maze

F15 City War

Impossible Mission 2

Jackpot

Little Red Hood (By Thin Chen Enterprise as Sachen)

Maxi 15

NARC

Othello

Pac-man

Pipemania

Raid 2020

Pyramid

RBI Baseball

Sidewinder (Mission Cobra)

Silent Assault

Super Sprint

Toobin’

Twin Eagle

THIN CHEN NUMBERED GAMES (Taiwan / Asia)

* TC-001 Jovial Race (a Rally X-esque game)
* TC-002 Hidden Chinese Chess
* TC-003 Sidewinder
* TC-004 Little Red Hood
* TC-005 Silent Assault
* TC-006 Twin Eagle (A.K.A. Double Strike: Aerial Attack Force, for Nes, by American Video Entertainment) (ON MAIN LIST, “ROMSTAR”?)
* TC-007 Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu
* TC-008 Metal Fighter (A.K.A. Joyvan Kid)
* TC-009 Galactic Crusader (A.K.A. Incantation, and Papillon – Padillon comes with Incantation instructions, and title screen says Papillon) (ON MAIN LIST “BUNCHGAMES”?)
* TC-010 Mahjong Trap (Nudity)
* TC-011 Challenge of the Dragon (a Double Dragon-esque type of game)

* TC-012 Poker I (A.K.A. The World of Card Games) (4in-1)
1. Omnibus Hearts
2. Fan Tan
3. Chinese Rummy
4. The Clock

* TC-013 Poker II (4-in-1-)
1. Max 2
2. Ghost Buster
3. 99
4. Change Around

* TC-014 Strategist
* TC-015 Olympic I.Q.
* TC-016 Happy Pairs (Solitaire mahjong)
* TC-017 Auto-Upturn (a puzzle game)
* TC-018 Magic Cube (a puzzle game)
* TC-019 Chinese Checkers

* TC-020 Poker III (5-in-1)
1. King of Casino
2. King Poker
3. Poker
4. Blackjack
5. The 13 Cards

* TC-021 Super Pang (unauthorized port of Super Famicom title Super Buster Bros)
* TC-022 Super Pang II
* TC-023 Popo Team
* TC-024 Rockball
* TC-025 Silver Eagle (a shoot ’em up)
* TC-026 Q Boy (A prototype screen shot in the back of certain Sachen game manuals showing previews shows the game being named ‘Puff Kid’ at one point, and having a menu that contains an “Options” menu.)
* TC-027 Street Heroes
* TC-028 Jurassic Boy (Famicom/NES/Game Boy Color, A Sonic-esique game that lacks abilities from the original, such as rolling along the ground and spin dash. * The NES manual mentions these features, however, and the game itself contains numerous unused sprites, more than actually used, suggesting that it had these features at one point, or were planned. Says “Jurassic Boy 2” on title screen.)
* TC-029 Gaiapolis
* TC-030 Thunder Blaster Man (A platformer with a gliding ability and a boomerang weapon, title screen says “Rocman X”)

*TC-031 Unknown

*TC-032Zhong Guo Da Heng (AKA Millionaire II)

SACHEN NUMBERED GAMES

* SA-001 Taiwan Mahjong
* SA-002 The Penguin and Seal
* SA-003 Middle School English
* SA-004 Lucky 777
* SA-005 Colorful Dragon (a maze game)
* SA-006 Honey Peach (Nudity)
*SA-007 Bingo 75 (Nudity) (A slot-machine simulator)
* SA-008 The Mahjong World
* SA-009 Pyramid (Gold-Bule label version contain nudity)
* SA-010 Pyramid II
* SA-011 Pipe V (A.K.A. Pipemania for NES by HES Interactive)
* SA-012 Millionaire (a board game)
* SA-013 Dancing Blocks
* SA-014 Magical Mathematics
* SA-015 Chess Academy
* SA-016 Hell Fighter
* SA-017 Locksmith (a mix of action and puzzle)
* SA-018 Poker Mahjong
* SA-019 The Great Wall
* SA-020 Tasac (a basic vertical space-shooter)
* SA-021 Final Combat
* SA-022 Huge Insect (an unreleased Galaga-style game with a wildlife-theme rather than a space-theme)
* SA-023 Cosmocop (2-in-1 Cosmocop/Cyber Monster Cartridge says “Light Gun Game, red-grey label)
* SA-024 Tough Cop 2-in-1 Tough Cop/Super Tough Cop (Cartridge says “Light Gun Game, green label)
* SA-025 Taiwan Mahjong II
* SA-026 Mahjong School
* SA-027 Mahjong Partner

MULTI-CART COLLECTIONS FOR FAMICON/NES by Thin Chen Enterprises / Sachen

Super Cartridge Version 1 4-in-1
1. Bingo 75
2. Lucky 777
3. Honey Peach
4. Chess Academy

Super Cartridge Version 2 10-in-1 (Card Games) contains all the games of “TC-013 Poker II”
1. Hidden Chinese Chess
2. Omnibus Hearts
3. Fan Tan
4. Chinese Rummy
5. Max 2
6. Ghost Buster
7. 99
8. Change Around
9. Fortune Telling (Chinese)
10. Fortune Telling (English)

Super Cartridge Version 3 8-in-1
1. Jovial Race
2. Little Red Hood
3. Twin Eagle
4. Silent Assault
5. Super Pang I
6. Mine Sweeper
7. Mine Sweeper II
8. Mine Sweeper III

Super Cartridge Version 4 6-in-1
1. Master Chu
2. Metal Fighter
3. Galactic Crusader
4. Auto-Upturn
5. Magic Cube
6. Super Pang II

Super Cartridge Version 5 7-in-1
1. Penguin and Seal
2. Middle School English
3. Pyramid I
4. Magical Mathematics
5. Starategist (2 IN 1) Poker Racing, The Battle of Poker
6. Olympic I.Q.
7. Chinese Checkers

Super Cartridge Version 6 6-in-1
1. Colorful Dragon
2. Pyramid II
3. Pipe V
4. Millionaire
5. Dancing Blocks
6. Locksmith

Super Cartridge Version 7 4-in-1
1. Sidewinder
2. Happy Pairs
3. Tasac
4. Silver Eagle

Super Cartridge Version 8 4-in-1
1. Final Combat
2. Worm Visitor
3. Frog Adventure
4. Magical Tower

Super Cartridge Version 9 3-in-1
1. Challenge of the Dragon
2. Rockball
3. Popo Tem

Other SACHEN GAMES not listed above

Bonus Tiles Majong
Jurassic Boy
Lucky Bingo 777
Mahjong Companion
Mahjong Academy
Mahjong Trap 2
Millionaire 2 Chuugoku Taitei
Super Heros Samurai Spirits

64 In 1 Multicart