The Video Game Console Library - Nintendo Famicom \ NES

	Nintendo Famicom \ NES
	DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
	Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy

Developer	Manufacturer	Release Date	Country(s)	Initial Price	Model Number	Game Releases	Overall Rating
Nintendo	Nintendo	15-Jul-83	Japan Europe, North America	$199-$299 USD	HVC-001 (Jp) NES-001 (NA)	Approx 1,043	N\A
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Media	Specs\Manuals	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality)	N\A
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile)	N\A
Controllers (design, response, feel, use)	N\A
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation)	N\A
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects)	N\A
Media (game media format, design, durability)	N\A
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging)	N\A
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library)	N\A
Innovations (technological industrial strides)	N\A
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?)	N\A
Collector Value (good collector investment?)	N\A
Games Rarity (general availability of games)	N\A
Console Rarity (general availability of a system)	N\A

Reviews

DW FACTS
- by Dark Watcher

alk about a success story. Nintendo's jump into the console market was a gamble which turned a simple toy company into one of the biggest videogame console manufacturers in the biz.

Nintendo began its gaming history producing arcade hits like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros and selling the licensing rights to those games for home console use (See Colecovision). Eventually Nintendo decided to take a crack at the home console industry.

The Nintendo Famicom (FAMIly COMputer) videogame system was released in Japan in 1983. The console's great specs and ports of Nintendo's popular arcade titles quickly made it a popular favorite in Japan. The Famicom sold 2.5 million systems in that same year. With success achieved in Japan, they set it's eyes on the American gaming market. They began negotiations with the American videogame console industry leader Atari to bring the Famicom to the U.S.

The "Great Videogame Crash of 1983", along with and some poor business announcements, forced Atari to pull out of the agreement. After the negotiations fell through, Nintendo decided to release the system on their own regardless of the weak videogame market or the recent crash occurring in the States. Nintendo take a chance? You bet, but they were not going to gamble without doing their homework.

They called the US. version of the Famicom the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and designed it to look less like a videogame console and more like something that would fit in with other home entertainment appliances. Nintendo took steps to make the system seem like a computer or a VCR. Nintendo even agreed to buy back Nintendo NES Display all unsold inventory in order to get retailers to take a chance on them.

The NES also used 72 pin cartridges (the Famicom used 60 pin). Four of the additional pins were used for Nintendo's patented lockout chip. This initially prevented software developers from producing unlicensed games for the NES. Nintendo used the lockout chip and restrictions on 3rd party software developers to prevent the over saturation of bad games that contributed to the "Videogame Crash".

Nintendo would later debut the NES successor, but would still try to cash in on the remainder of the NES's success. In 1993, they released a top loading NES model 2. This newer model was scaled down to nearly half the size of the original. The case was a sleeker design (like a smoother Famicom). The cartridge port was more stable and used eject & power buttons similar to its successor the SuperNES. Even the controller had the "bone-like" shape of the SuperNES. This new model sold for $45. The cheaper price came at the loss of the original model's interface and A/V output ports. Nintendo dropped support for this new model a year later. Today, its a collectors item.

The Nintendo NES was an amazing success and revived the videogame console market in the United States. Nintendo ushered in the 3rd Generation of console gaming. With over 62 million systems and over 500 million games sold, the NES is one of the most popular videogame system of its time.

FACT: Nintendo's success introduced some of the most interesting accessories and conversions. Who could forget the "Power Glove" and "R.O.B. the Robot". Nintendo slapped "NES-like" hardware into an Arcade cabinet and released Nintendo Playchoice to arcades everywhere. In Japan they released a disk drive accessory that allowed gamers to download games from vending machines onto a disk.

HANDS ON REVIEW

Coming soon...

Pictures & Media

Various picture\media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Nintendo Famicom -Front

Nintendo Famicom - Back

Nintendo Famicom w/Optional Disk System

$Nintendo Famicom w\Optional Disk System$

Nintendo Famicom - Box

Nintendo Famicom - Box Contents

Nintendo Famicom - Included Docs

Nintendo Famicom Keyboard

Nintendo Famicom - Network Modem Device

R.O.B.

R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) (picture credits unknown)

Specs & Manuals

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.

Processor Type	Processor Speed	Other Processor Information	RAM \ Video RAM
8-bit Custom Ricoh MOS 6502	1.79 MHz	Ricoh PPU RP2C02	2 KB \ 2 KB
Screen Resolution	Color Palette	Polygons \ Sprites	Audio
256 x 240	52 (16 on screen)	N\A \ 64	PSG Sound (5 Channel) Mono
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
Cartridge	4 MB	1,043	None
Internal Storage	External \ Removable Storage	Game Controllers	Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
None	None	Two Button Joypad	Modem, Light Gun, Power Pad, Power Glove, Keyboard, R.O.B.
Controller Ports	Network Ports	Other Ports	Audio \ Video
Two (2)	None	None	RF (Composite on later models)
Power Supply - External	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
Input: AC 110\120V, 60Hz Output: DC 9V 1.3a	None	Modem, Keyboard and optional Famicom Disk System were only made available in Japan.
Manuals
Nintendo NES (Model 1 - 1986) Owners Manual (PDF) - 3.12 MB Nintendo NES (Model 1 - 1988) Owners Manual (PDF) - 5.93 MB Nintendo NES (Model 1 - 1990) Owners Manual (PDF) - 1.75 MB

Games & Emulation

Game screen shots\media released for this system.

Blades of Steel

Blades of Steel Screenshot

Castlevania III : Dracula's Curse

Contra

Donkey Kong Jr.

Donkey Kong Jr. Screenshot

Double Dragon II : The Revenge

Excitebike

Excitebike Screenshot

Metal Gear

Metal Gear Screenshot

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Screenshot

Stadium Events

Stadium Events Screenshot

Super Mario Bros. 3

Tecmo Bowl

Zelda II : The Adventures of Link

Third Party Emulators
Program	Website	Description
FCEUX	http://www.fceux.com	Cross platform application capable of running Famicom and NES games.

Models

Additional authorized releases for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Nintendo Famicom
HVC-001 (1983)

This was the original release in Japan
with hard-wired controllers

C1 NES TV
14C-C1F-W-R or 19C-C1F-W (1986)

Television with a built in Famicom.
Officially licensed by Nintendo to Sharp.

Nintendo Entertainment System
NES-001 (1984)

The original release for North America.

Nintendo AV Famicom
HVC-101 (1993)

Redesign, typically referred to as simply the AV Famicom. Notice the SNES like controllers.

Sharp Nintendo Television
19SV111 or 19SC111 (1986)

This is the North American version
of the C1 NES TV pictured above.

Nintendo Entertainment System
NES-101 (1993)

North American version of the AV Famicom.
This model can be a little difficult to acquire.

Sharp Famicombox
(1984)

Used in stores\kiosks, this unit was able to
play 15 different games for the Famicom.

Hyundai Comboy
NES-001 (1986)

Officially licensed release in South Korea.
Nothing different from the NA release.

Nintendo M82
(1985)

Another demonstration unit for in store use. This
system a 12 game capacity and played any NES cart.

Sharp Famicom Titler
AN-510 (1989)

This is the only Famicom capable of generating true RGB video output along with S-Video output. This hybrid machine also featured
Video Captioning with the included keyboard, touch screen and stylus. This is somewhat of a Holy Grail amongst console collectors.

Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones).

They are literally 100s of unlicensed clones for this system.
Please check out The Ultimate Console Database Famiclone page for a nice sampling of the various models.

Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.

Name	Website	Description
Famicom World	http://www.famicomworld.com	THE best internet resource for everything Famicom!!

visitors since 01-Apr-2008
Page last updated 03-Feb-2012

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