NES

NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System is the cradle of franchises that so many love, such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Bros, and responsible for resurrecting the video game industry of the 1983 crisis, caused by the saturation of games in the second generation, and the rise of the PCs. This was a serious event occurred in the United States that bankrupted several companies that made consoles and made games, also caused distrust in retailers and waned consumer and interest in the industry’s products. In Japan, this event became known as “Atari chock”. Although it did not affect the Japanese market, this fact reflected and caused changes in the industry.

Photo of personal collection

Domain in the home console market shifted from the United States to Japan, which received 3 new consoles in 1983, announcing the third generation. Nintendo was boosted by the success of its arcade games, launching Family Computer, Famicom on July 15, 1983. The first year of the console was troubled with recalls and production interruption due to programming errors. In 1984, with the problems resolved, the console went back to commercialization and became an absolute success, encouraging Nintendo to launch its product in the western market.

For this, several strategies were adopted. The Console has been reviewed, taking a more serious format, to not look like a toy, but an entertainment system. The console came in conjunction with R.O.B, a little robot to sell the idea of an educational product, in an attempt to push away the idea of video games. On October 18, 1985, the NES was made available at 50,000 units in New York City alone for an acceptance test. This shipment quickly sold out, causing Nintendo to launch the console in the rest of the country in 1986, and consequently in Europe.

R.O.B. Itinerant Video Game Museum. Personal archive photo

The NES brought a number of innovations, present in its cross directional control and its accessories, and was a huge success worldwide, selling millions of units. Mario Bros was rocking in the arcades, released in 1983. A sequel came in 1985 for Famicom and NES. Super Mario Bros is considered revolutionary, the game that created the side-scrolling platform genre, and came with the console bundle when Nintendo started selling NES across the United States, which helped a lot to sell the console.

Release

NES:
July 15, 1983, Japan.
October 18, 1985, United States.
September 1, 1986, Europe.

NES Classic Edition:
November 10, 2016 Japan
November 11, 2016 United States / Europe.

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