Nintendo Generations: The NES and Famicom

Welcome to the first month and instalment of Nintendo Generations! The NX is set to come out in March 2017, but before we get too wrapped up in what the NX is going to do for us, let’s take the time to look through the history of Nintendo’s consoles, both home and handheld. For September, we’re going to be taking a look at the history of the NES, as well as our memories and opinions of the era. This includes our favourite games, the best soundtracks, and even some of the strangest things we’ve seen on the NES.

The Famicom

Before we got the Nintendo Entertainment System in the west, the 8-bit era for Nintendo actually started in Japan as the Family Computer, or Famicom for short. The Famicom was an attempt to move from the arcade game success they had found in the early 80s, to a cartridge-based home system that could be plugged into a TV. There were even suggestions to make the Famicom a full-on home computer, with keyboard, mouse and all! The idea was scrapped to make the console a bit more approachable to the less tech-savvy market.

While the Famicom’s biggest difference to the NES is definitely the design and colour of the unit, there’s a handful of other, more subtle differences. The controllers are hard-wired into the console, with the second controller having a built-in microphone. The cartridges are also half the size, and generally more colourful than the NES cartridges we got.

The Trojan R.O.B.

Selling the NES in the US was a big struggle, with many retailers and consumers ‘burned out’ on gaming consoles after the video game crash in 1983. Luckily, Nintendo had a few tricks up their sleeve, with a handful of ideas to try and prove they deserved to stand out. A lot of it was clever naming, with the Entertainment System name chosen instead of Video Game System, Control Deck instead of Console, and Game Paks instead of Video Games. Nintendo also came up with their seal of quality, with game cartridges needing a very specific lockout chip to work in the NES.

As part of this movement to make the NES seem more like a novel toy than a video game system, the Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B. was developed. While R.O.B. only had two games in his series, he’s had a strong legacy based on a lot of the NES’ success being attributed to him. You can find him in Mario Kart DS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and for 3DS/Wii U, with his popularity getting meta with amiibo based on his likeness; toys based off toys.

Success and Sales

Worldwide, the NES/Famicom sold 61.91 million units.

The three top-selling games were all Super Mario Bros., with the original Super Mario Bros. selling 40.23 million (including pack-in cartridges). Next was Super Mario Bros. 3, with 18 million units (also including pack-in cartridges), and lastly Super Mario Bros. 2, with 10 million units sold.

Franchises That Started Here

Mother is the Japan/Famicom exclusive first instalment of the EarthBound series. It saw a localised release for US/Aus/EU on the Wii U eShop under the title “EarthBound Beginnings”. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is the first Fire Emblem game, also a Japan/Famicom exclusive until a DS port was released in US/Aus/EU in 2008/09, under the shorter name, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.

Stay tuned for our next instalment of Nintendo Generations, where we will take a look at Nintendo’s first major handheld console, the Game Boy.