Nintendo Entertainment System – (1985)
Price at Launch: $159.99
SPECS:________________
Processor speed: 1.79 MHz
Graphic capacity: 8-bit
Sound: 4 channel mono
Memory: 2 kb
Resolution: 256 x 240, 52 colors (16 concurrent)
Format: NTSC, PAL
Software type: cartridge (region specific)
The Nintendo NES system was released in the United States in 1985. It was a system that had already been worked out in Japan prior to the American release. The Japanese version was the Nintendo Famicom. This unit originated in 1983 and initially was buggy and had many problems. This was eventually corrected and the Famicom system did very well in Japan. In 1985, Nintendo of Japan decided to focus their attention to the American market. They redesigned the Famicom system and brought out the Nintendo NES system. The NES system is recognized as the system that revitalized the console game industry. It was tremendously popular in the United States and has reportedly sold over 60 million units.
I remember when this system came out in Ohio. Its graphics were incredible for its time. It launch game was Super Mario Brothers. This game system is so good that I still play this game to this day. I literally lost thousands of hours of my life just to this one game system. I have no regrets either. The available games for this system were incredible. It had a large assortment of games to choose from. It came in 2 different configurations. One could buy this system with the Robot Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) and the light gun, or with just the console. Obviously the cost of the system with the robot included was more than just the console itself. The Nintendo NES put the gaming industry back onto the map. The industry had suffered from an over abundance of crappy games released to the public by unscrupulous game developers. The Nintendo NES system corrected this problem by having a process to ensure that the NES system was not “open source”. Nintendo had a licensing process that prevented “mom and pops” game developers from flooding the market with marginal at best games.
The Nintendo NES gaming system has over 1000 licensed titles world wide. You can find many pirate versions and multicarts that were released in China/Hong Kong that have gone under the radar. An example of this is the MC Mario game that was popular in the 1990's. It was a pirated version of a earlier video game with Mario thrown into the mix. You can find many different versions of the Nintendo NES. In 1993, Nintendo released the Nintendo NES Entertainment system 2. This is commonly refered as the top loader version. I have included a picture of this version on this page. They seemed to be more reliable than the earlier versions, but you can also modify and replace the old connectors from the original system if your a purist at heart and want the original side loading version. Ultimately the system was discontinued in 1994 after a great run.
Accessories:
- NES Zapper Light Gun
- Probeam Light Gun
- Konami Laser Scope Light Gun
- Acclaim wireless remote controller
- Ascii stick L5 controller
- Aviator 2 controller
- Beeshu Superstick controller
- Beeshu Ultimate controller
- Beeshu Zinger controller
- Beeshu Zipper controller
- Camerica Freedom Pad controller
- Camerica Turbo Tronic controller
- Competition Pro controller
- Game Handler controller
- Konix Speed king controller
- NES Advantage controller
- NES Max controller
- Quickshot joypad controller
- Quickshot professional controller
- Quickshot XII controller
- Starmaster controller
- Wing Commander controller
- NES Satellite adaptor
- Nintendo Power Glove
- NES Four score
- Wico Command Controller
Are you looking to buy a Nintendo NES game or console? We have many on sale in our store. For some examples hit the Games section button to see what is available.
NES Top Loader Version
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ROB THE ROBOT JAPANESE VERSION
Nintendo Challenge Set
Nintendo Game Genie