The Nintendo Entertainment System (often referred to as the NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia in 1985. In most of Asia, including Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Singapore, it was released as the Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ, Famirī Konpyūta) or simply, the Famicom (ファミコン, Famikon). In South Korea, the hardware was licensed to Hyundai Electronics, which marketed it as the Comboy (컴보이).[4]
The most successful gaming console of its time in Asia and North America with Nintendo claiming to have sold over 60 million NES units worldwide,[5] it helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983. It set the standard for subsequent consoles in everything from game design to controller layout. The NES was the first console for which the manufacturer openly courted third-party developers.
Metroid was released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986 and for the NES in North America in August 1987. It spawned the Metroid series and its fanbase.
References
- ^ a b For distribution purposes, Europe and Australasia were divided into two regions by Nintendo. The first of these regions consisted of France, the Netherlands, West Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and saw the NES released during 1986. The console was released in the second region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and Italy, as well as Australia and New Zealand the following year.
- ^ The original Japanese model of the Famicom included no controller ports.
- ^ With 40.24 million copies sold, Super Mario Bros. is the highest selling video game of all time. It should be noted, however, that the “NES Action Set” (also known as the “NES Power Pack”), a retail set consisting of the NES deck, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, and a Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt multicart, accounted for the majority of these sales. Super Mario Bros. 3, with 17.28 million copies sold, is the best-selling video game never packaged with a console system.[1]
- ^ Breaking the Ice: South Korea Lifts Ban on Japanese Culture (html). Trends in Japan (December 7). Retrieved on May 19, 2007.
- ^ Classic Systems—Nintendo Entertainment System (html). Nintendo. Retrieved on February 11, 2006.