Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on July 15, 1983, as the Family Computer (Famicom). It was released in US test markets as the redesigned NES in October 1985 and fully launched in the US the following year. The NES was distributed in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia throughout the 1980s under various names. As a third-generation console, it mainly competed with Sega’s Master System.

The NES was designed by Masayuki Uemura. Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, called for a simple, cheap console that could run arcade games on cartridges. The controller design was reused from Nintendo’s portable Game & Watch hardware. The western model was redesigned to resemble a video cassette recorder. Nintendo released add-ons such as the NES Zapper light gun for several shooting games, and R.O.B a toy robot accessory.

The NES is regarded as one of the most influential consoles. It helped revitalize the American gaming industry following the video game crash of 1983 and pioneered a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers to produce and distribute games. The NES features several influential games, including Super Mario Bros. (1985), The Legend of Zelda (1986), Metroid (1986) and Mega Man (1987), which became major franchises.

The NES dominated Japanese and North American markets, but initially underperformed in Europe, where it faced strong competition from the Sega Master System and microcomputers. With 61.91 million units sold, it is one of the best-selling consoles. It was succeeded in 1990 by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.