Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

The Dawn of a New Era

The Famicom was launched in Japan on July 15, 1983 to limited success. However, with a few upgrades, including a new motherboard, it quickly gained in popularity and as such, in June 1985, the American version that we are all too familiar with -- the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) -- hit shelves and became an instant classic. Courting third-party developers, as well as first-party titles featuring the Mario family of characters, the Nintendo Entertainment System went on to sell in excess of 60 million units worldwide. The era of home gaming had officially begun.

Competition? What Competition?

The Nintendo Entertainment System completely dominated the 8-bit era of home gaming. Shortly after the launch of the NES, Sega entered into the picture with its Master System in June 1986; however, it wasn't until the 16-bit era that Nintendo faced any real competition. It was then that the Sega Genesis gave the Super Nintendo a run for its money.

Japan vs. USA

While the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan was a top-loading system with controllers hard-wired into the back, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America was a front-loading cartridge machine with two propriety seven-pin controller ports in the front. Other cosmetic differences include the fact that the Famicom had primarily a red and white theme, whereas the American NES was mostly grey and black.

Controllers and Peripherals

The simple rectangular controller for the NES had a cross-hair style directional pad (which replaced the bulkier joysticks found in the older Atari systems), select and start buttons, and two action buttons appropriately labeled as "A" and "B".

Peripherals that eventually found they're way onto store shelves include the Power Glove, the R.O.B. robot that accompanied Gyromite, and the NES Zapper light gun for shooting games like Duck Hunt.

Unforgettable Games

Anyone who played video games in the 1980s is probably all too familiar with many titles found on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In fact, many of the characters and themes are still alive today, except only in 3D -- take Metroid Prime for the Nintendo GameCube for example. If you want to get your retro on, a good range of classics are available for your Game Boy Advance. Some of the most popular NES games are:

• Contra
• Double Dragon
• Duck Hunt
• Excitebike
• Gun Smoke
• The Legend of Zelda
• Mario Bros.
• Mega Man
• Metroid
• Mike Tyson's Punch Out
• Tetris