104-542: Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja , also known simply as either Bad Dudes (on the American NES port) or DragonNinja (in Japan and Europe), is a side-scrolling cooperative beat 'em up developed and released by Data East as an arcade video game in 1988. It was ported to computer and game console home systems. In Bad Dudes , the players are tasked with rescuing " President Ronnie " from ninja kidnappers. The game
208-452: A NEC PC-8001 computer. LEDs on a grid were used with a digitizer to design graphics as no such software design tools existed at that time. The codename for the project was "GameCom", but Masayuki Uemura's wife proposed the name "Famicom", arguing that "In Japan, 'pasokon' is used to mean a personal computer, but it is neither a home nor personal computer. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer." Meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that
312-562: A bōjutsu -master. Finally, the leader of the Dragon Ninja gang, coincidentally also called Dragon Ninja, appears during the climax in his headquarters, where there is a final showdown on a helicopter. The background music during the fight with him is similar to the main theme in Karnov . Each boss has his own special attack: Karnov, for example, can breathe fire at the player. Upon the successful completion of each level and after defeating
416-649: A light gun called the NES Zapper , two controllers, and the two Game Paks Gyromite and Duck Hunt . The Control Deck bundle was first released in 1987 at $ 89.99 with no game, and $ 99.99 bundled with the Super Mario Bros. cartridge. The Action Set, released April 14, 1988, for $ 109.99 , has the Control Deck, two controllers, an NES Zapper, and a dual Game Pak containing both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt . The Power Set of 1989 includes
520-742: A toy robot accessory. The NES is regarded as one of the most influential consoles. It helped revitalise the American gaming industry following the video game crash of 1983 , and pioneered a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers to produce and distribute games. The NES features several groundbreaking games, including Super Mario Bros. (1985), The Legend of Zelda (1986), Metroid (1986), and Mega Man (1987) which have become major franchises. The NES dominated Japanese and North American markets, but initially underperformed in Europe where it faced strong competition from
624-810: A 30% fee for console licensing and production costs. This rate continued in the industry for consoles and digital storefront into the 21st Century. Nintendo targeted the North American market, entering distribution negotiations with Atari, Inc. to release a redesigned Famicom with Atari's name as the Nintendo Advanced Video Gaming System. The deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983. However, Atari discovered at that show that its competitor Coleco
728-483: A Famicom retrospective in commemoration of the console's 20th anniversary. Nintendo offered repair service for the Famicom in Japan until 2007, when it was discontinued due to a shortage of available parts. Although all versions of the Famicom and NES include essentially similar hardware, they vary in physical characteristics. The original Famicom's design is predominantly white plastic, with dark red trim; it featured
832-678: A cartridge and closed at other times, and an expansion port on the bottom of the unit. The cartridge connector pinout was changed between the Famicom and NES. In late 1993, Nintendo introduced a redesigned version of the Famicom and NES (officially named the New Famicom in Japan and the New-Style NES in the US ) to complement the Super Famicom and SNES, to prolong interest in the console, and to reduce costs. The redesigned NES has
936-440: A city’s character, culture, and history, making it more recognizable to residents and visitors. They can be utilized in various contexts, such as on signage, promotional materials, or public spaces, contributing to a cohesive urban identity. Overall, word marks for cities provide a straightforward way to enhance visibility and create a sense of place without overtly promoting a specific agenda. This marketing -related article
1040-704: A degree of fame roughly equivalent to that experienced by the NES/Famicom in North America and Japan. A range of Famicom clones was marketed in Argentina during the late 1980s and early 1990s with the name Family Game, resembling the original hardware design. Thailand got Family FR brand famiclones, the Micro Genius ( Simplified Chinese : 小天才) was marketed in Southeast Asia as an alternative to
1144-421: A fence on a sidewalk next to their statue. Two players can play at once. Player one controls the character Blade, who wears white pants, and player two controls the character Striker, who wears green pants. Players start with the ability to do basic punches, kicks, and jumps. Some moves are special like spinning kicks and the ability to charge themselves up with "inner energy" by holding the punch button to throw
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#17328022261881248-742: A generally positive to mixed critical reception. Computer Gaming World noted the IBM port was satisfactory and compared it favorably to similar ports of Double Dragon and Renegade , but the Apple II port suffered greatly. President Ronnie, as he appears in the arcade version of the game, was ranked second in EGM ' s list of the top ten video game politicians in 2008. In 2010, UGO wrote: "No ninja game retrospective could possibly be complete without some mention of ... Bad Dudes ". In 2013, Complex had it top their list of "the video games where you kick ass in
1352-613: A licence with Magnavox to sell its game console, the Magnavox Odyssey . Since Nintendo's operation was not yet sophisticated enough to design its own hardware, Yamauchi forged an alliance with Mitsubishi Electric and hired several Sharp Electronics employees to assist in developing the Color TV-Game 6 in Japan. This was followed by a more successful sequel, the Color TV-Game 15 , and the handheld Game & Watch series. The successes of these machines gave Yamauchi
1456-773: A phenomenon across arcades worldwide, while home consoles such as the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision gained footholds in the American market. Many companies emerged to capitalise on the growing industry, including the playing card manufacturer Nintendo . Hiroshi Yamauchi , who had been Nintendo's president since 1949, realised that breakthroughs in the electronics industry meant that entertainment products could be produced at lower prices. Companies such as Atari and Magnavox were already selling gaming devices for use with television sets, to moderate success. Yamauchi negotiated
1560-649: A powerful long-range attack that hits all opponents in front of the player. Players will also come across several power-ups ; some are weapons like knives and nunchakus , some recharge a player's health, and others add a few seconds to the remaining time. The various types of enemies encountered in the game have their own means of attack. The basic blue-colored ninjas directly charge the player, while some leap with their swords, or throw shuriken and makibishi ; there are also acrobatic kunoichi (female ninjas), attack dogs, and people who are on fire. The enemies may be beaten down or avoided. Most enemies can be beaten with only
1664-538: A reference to the video games Shinobi and Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja . The webcomic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja often references the Bad Dudes, among many other 1980s pop culture touchstones. In 2018, an updated version of the game was announced for the Intellivision Amico . In 2023, filmmaker BenDavid Grabinski discussed how he tried to make a film adaptation of the video game. Reissues of
1768-514: A single hit of any kind, and multiple enemies can be defeated with one hit if they are standing close together. At the end of each level, one of the super warrior bosses will appear, who needs to be defeated to progress to the next level. The first of them, at the climax of the City stage, is Karnov, who makes a cameo appearance from the Data East game of the same name . Second, at the climax of
1872-520: A system that would be superior to its competitors and difficult to replicate for at least a year. Uemura's main challenge was economic rather than technological; Yamauchi wanted the system to be affordable enough for widespread household adoption, aiming for a price of ¥9,800 (less than $ 75) compared to existing machines priced at ¥30,000 to ¥50,000 ($ 200 to $ 350). The new system had to outperform other systems, both Japanese and American, while being significantly more affordable. As development progressed on
1976-459: A top-loading cartridge slot to avoid reliability issues with the original console; the redesign also omitted AV output. Conversely, the redesigned Famicom has such output and introduced detachable game controllers, though the microphone functionality was omitted as a result. The redesigned Famicom and NES models are cosmetically similar aside from the presence of a cartridge "bump" on the NES model, which
2080-435: A top-loading cartridge slot, grooves on both sides of the deck in which the hardwired game controllers could be placed when not in use, and a 15- pin expansion port located on the unit's front panel for accessories. In contrast, the design of the original NES features a more subdued gray, black, and red color scheme; it includes a front-loading cartridge slot covered by a small, hinged door that can be opened to insert or remove
2184-440: Is Lucasfilm Games 's attempts to port the comedy-horror game Maniac Mansion to the NES, which Nintendo insisted be considerably watered down. The optional Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B. , was part of a marketing plan to portray the NES's technology as being novel and sophisticated when compared to previous game consoles, and to portray its position as being within reach of the better established toy market. Though at first,
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#17328022261882288-507: Is a text-only statement of the name of a product, service, company, organization, or institution which is used for purposes of identification and branding. A wordmark can be an actual word (e.g., Apple), a made-up term that reads like a word (e.g., iPhone), or an acronym, initialism, or series of letters (e.g., IBM). In some jurisdictions a wordmark may be trademarked , giving it legal distinction, and potentially additional protection of any artistic presentation. In many jurisdictions , such as
2392-583: Is also featured, along with several other Data East arcade games, on the Wii title Data East Arcade Classics , produced by Majesco Entertainment with permission from G-Mode. In 2018, the Nintendo Switch version was released in the Johnny Turbo's Arcade series, featuring a live-action intro. It uses a fanart mockup screenshot, but actually has the original arcade graphics. The 8-bit versions and
2496-928: Is called the Hyundai Comboy . The console sold very poorly in India due to affordability and a lack of consumer awareness. For its complete North American release, the Nintendo Entertainment System was progressively released over the ensuing years in several different bundles, beginning with the Deluxe Set, the Basic Set, the Action Set, and the Power Set. The Deluxe Set was launched in the 1985 test markets, retailing at US$ 179.99 (equivalent to $ 550 in 2023), including R.O.B.,
2600-475: Is only present in the NES version. The game was commercially successful in arcades. In Japan, Game Machine listed DragonNinja on their May 15, 1988, issue as being the seventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month. In North America, it was a high-earning arcade game, becoming one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 . On the UK Coinslot charts, during Summer 1988, Bad Dudes
2704-458: The Game & Watch machines, although the Famicom design team originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even dismantling some from American game consoles to see how they worked. There were concerns regarding the durability of the joystick design and that children might step on joysticks on the floor. Katsuya Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it
2808-471: The SONY logo contains only the name in uppercase, set in a particular typeface. In some cases, such as Disney's logo, a custom or proprietary typeface is used. Word marks can function effectively as identifiers for cities, similar to their use for brands and companies. A unique typographic representation of a city’s name can help establish its identity and foster community pride. Such word marks can reflect
2912-547: The United States and European Union , a qualifying wordmark may be registered as a trademark , making it a protected intellectual property . Unlike names and logos , trademarked wordmarks are generally not case-sensitive and are listed in uppercase by trademark registrars such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office , even if they are always cased in a certain way by the owner; this gives
3016-493: The arcades , in the form of the Nintendo VS. System in 1984. The system's success in arcades paved the way for the official release of the NES console. With US retailers refusing to stock game consoles, Yamauchi realized there was still a market for video games in the arcades, so he introduced the Famicom to North America through the arcade industry. The VS. System became a major success in North American arcades, becoming
3120-468: The 10NES chip proved a significant barrier to unlicensed developers seeking to develop and sell games for the console. However, hobbyists in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip's mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console's ability to play legal games, bootlegs, and converted imports. Wordmark A wordmark or word mark
3224-630: The Advanced Video Entertainment System (AVS) that year. The American video game press was skeptical that the console could have any success in the region, as the industry was still recovering from the video game crash of 1983 . The March 1985 issue of Electronic Games magazine stated that "the videogame market in America has virtually disappeared" and that "this could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part". The Famicom hardware first made its North American debut in
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3328-421: The American nationwide release came on September 27, 1986. Nintendo released 17 launch games: 10-Yard Fight , Baseball , Clu Clu Land , Duck Hunt , Excitebike , Golf , Gyromite , Hogan's Alley , Ice Climber , Kung Fu , Pinball , Soccer , Stack-Up , Super Mario Bros. , Tennis , Wild Gunman , and Wrecking Crew . Nintendo contracted Worlds of Wonder to distribute
3432-460: The American public exhibited limited excitement for the console itself, peripherals such as the light gun and R.O.B. attracted extensive attention. In Europe and Oceania, the NES was released in two separate marketing regions. The first consisted of mainland Europe (excluding Italy) where distribution was handled by several different companies, with Nintendo responsible for manufacturing. The NES saw an early launch in Europe in 1986 although most of
3536-434: The American version of its Famicom, with a new case redesigned by Lance Barr and featuring a " zero insertion force " cartridge slot. The change from a top-loader in the Famicom to a front-loader was to make the new console more like a video cassette recorder , which had grown in popularity by 1985, and differentiate the unit from past video game consoles. Additionally, Uemura explained that Nintendo developers had feared that
3640-468: The Apple II and PC ports with the rest produced by UK-based Ocean Software and published in Europe on their Imagine label as Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja . These versions were titled Dragon Ninja in-game, and the "Bad Dudes Vs." was de-emphasised in the cover art, resulting in the game commonly being known by the latter title (including among the European gaming press of the time). A NES/Famicom port
3744-511: The Bad Dudes defeat the Dragon Ninja, they celebrate by eating hamburgers with President Ronnie. At the very end, President Ronnie is seen holding a burger while standing between the Bad Dudes. Behind them are many security guards, with the White House in the background. President Ronnie gives the Bad Dudes a statue of them, as a reward for rescuing and protecting both Washington, D.C., and its leader. The Bad Dudes are seen leaning against
3848-489: The Dragon Ninja through the New York City streets, onto a moving big rig truck, through a large storm sewer, through a forest, onto a freight train on an old Southern Pacific line (where the titular character of another Data East arcade game, Chelnov , can be seen being transported in a frozen container in the arcade version), through a cave, and into an underground factory in order to save President Ronnie. After
3952-628: The European countries received the console in 1987. The release in Scandinavia was on September 1, 1986, where it was released by Bergsala . In the Netherlands, it was released in the last quarter of 1987 and was distributed by Bandai BV. In France, it was released in October 1987, and in Spain most likely in 1988 through distributor Spaco. Also in 1987, Mattel handled distribution for
4056-613: The Famicom counterpart's quote is slightly similar to the international arcade and NES quotes. The reference to President Ronnie (an overt reference to former president of the United States Ronald Reagan) was removed because Nintendo of America did not allow political content in games. In that version, the President bears a resemblance to George H. W. Bush , who was the president of the United States when
4160-666: The Famicom model lacks to accommodate its shorter cartridges and as the RAM Adapter for the Famicom Disk System. Sharp Corporation produced three licensed variants of the Famicom in Japan, all of which prominently display the shortened moniker rather than the official name, Family Computer. One variant was a television set with an integrated Famicom; originally released in 1983 as the My Computer TV in 14-inch (36 cm) and 19-inch (48 cm) models, it
4264-540: The Famicom; and in Central Europe, especially Poland, the Pegasus was available. Since 1989, there were many Brazilian clones of the NES, and the very popular Phantom System (with hardware superior to the original console) caught the attention of Nintendo itself. The unlicensed clone market has flourished following Nintendo's discontinuation of the NES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems surpass
Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-527: The NES version was released. The endings of the Japanese and English language versions of the NES port are based on the international arcade version, but the Japanese version does not show the credits and only shows "The End" at the White House scene and lasts a shorter time than the English version. The 8-bit home computer versions lack the intro from either the arcade or the NES versions. The "I'm bad!" speech
4472-530: The NES, the packaging of many video games presented bombastic artwork which did not represent a game's actual graphics. Furthermore, a single game such as Pac-Man appeared across consoles with substantial variations in graphics, sound, and general quality. In contrast, Nintendo's marketing strategy aimed to regain consumer and retailer confidence by delivering a singular platform whose graphics could be represented truthfully and whose qualities were clearly defined. To differentiate Nintendo's new home platform from
4576-484: The Nintendo Advanced Video System likewise never materialized. It was privately demonstrated as a repackaged Famicom console featuring a keyboard, cassette data recorder , wireless joystick controller, and a special BASIC cartridge. By the beginning of 1985, more than 2.5 million Famicom units had been sold in Japan, and Nintendo soon announced plans to release it in North America as
4680-469: The PC version lack the two-player cooperative mode in any form, instead having an alternating two-player mode. The title screen of the Japanese version became different, while the English version is unchanged. The Secret Service agent's quote on the intro screen of the NES version is phrased slightly differently as "The President has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?", while
4784-574: The SNES. But the Brazilian market had been dominated by unlicensed NES clones – both locally made, and smuggled from Taiwan. One of the most successful local clones was the Phantom System, manufactured by Gradiente , which licensed Nintendo products in the country for the following decade. The sales of officially licensed products were low, due to the cloning, the quite late official launch, and
4888-601: The Sega Master System and microcomputers . With 61.91 million units sold, it is one of the best-selling consoles of all time. It was succeeded in 1990 by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . The video game industry experienced rapid growth and popularity from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, marked by the golden age of arcade games and the second generation of consoles . Games like Space Invaders (1978) became
4992-425: The Super Famicom, effectively extending the lifetime of the Famicom. The original NES released for Western countries in 1985 contains the 10NES lockout chip, which prevents it from running cartridges unapproved by Nintendo. The inclusion of the 10NES was a direct influence from the 1983 video game crash in North America, partially caused by a market flooded with uncontrolled publishing of games of poor quality for
5096-668: The Truck stage, is a talon-wielding ninja, Iron Arm. Third, at the climax of the Sewer stage, is Kamui, another ninja master, who creates illusions by copying himself. Fourth, at the climax of the Forest stage, is Animal, a behemoth-of-a-man who is also not a ninja. Fifth, at the climax of the Train stage, is Akaikage, a kusarigama -wielding warrior. Last, at the climax of the Cave stage, is Devil Pole,
5200-442: The U.S. According to Nintendo, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts only to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program. With the release of the top-loading NES-101 (New-Style NES) in 1993 toward the end of the NES's lifespan, Nintendo resolved the problems by switching to a standard card edge connector and eliminating
5304-592: The arcades, to determine which games to release for the NES launch. At the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled the American version of the Famicom: a stripped-down and cost-reduced redesign of the Advanced Video System (AVS), having abandoned the home computer approach. Nintendo purposefully designed the system to avoid resembling a video game console and avoided terms associated with game consoles. Marketing manager Gail Tilden chose
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#17328022261885408-597: The boss, the dude(s) will strike a "bad" pose and proclaim, "I'm bad!". The shout, and the game's American wordmark logo are both similar to the Michael Jackson song " Bad ", released the previous year. In the Japanese version of the game, this quote was originally a battle cry . The game was ported to home systems, including the Apple II , Atari ST , Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Commodore 64 , ZX Spectrum , MSX , MS-DOS in 1988. Quicksilver Software developed
5512-547: The cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, and cleaning the connectors with alcohol. Many frequently used methods to fix this problem actually risk damaging gaming cartridges or the system. In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles. In response to these hardware flaws, "Nintendo Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across
5616-510: The climax of the console's popularity. Initially, such clones were popular in markets where Nintendo issued a legitimate version of the console long time after unlicensed hardware. In particular, the Dendy (Russian: Де́нди ), an unlicensed hardware clone produced in Taiwan and sold in the former Soviet Union , emerged as the most popular video game console of its time in that setting and it enjoyed
5720-402: The confidence to expand Nintendo's influence in the fledgling video game industry. In 1978, Yamauchi split Nintendo into separate research and development divisions. He appointed Masayuki Uemura as head of Nintendo Research & Development 2 , a division that focused solely on hardware. Yamauchi, through extensive discussions with Uemura and other engineers, recognised the potential of
5824-416: The console physically. WoW salesman Jim Whims distinctly recalled delivering an ultimatum: "if you want to sell Teddy Ruxpin and you want to sell Lazer Tag , you're gonna sell Nintendo as well. And if you feel that strongly about it, then you ought to just resign the line now." This marketing tactic led to the NES' financial success in North America in its first year; Nintendo of America would later terminate
5928-599: The console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna (a Japanese antenna manufacturer) which used those colors. The Famicom was influenced by the ColecoVision , Coleco 's competition against the Atari 2600 in the United States; the ColecoVision's top-seller was a port of Nintendo's Donkey Kong . The project's chief manager Takao Sawano brought a ColecoVision home to his family, impressed by its smooth graphics, which contrasts with
6032-618: The console was redesigned for the Australian, North American, and Japanese markets, including the New-Style NES , or NES-101, and one redesigned "dogbone" game controller. In Australia, this console revision was released with a cartridge compiling Super Mario Bros , Tetris , and Nintendo World Cup . Released in October 1993 in North America and 1994 in Australia, this final bundle retailed for $ 49.99 and A$ 69.99 ( A$ 79.99 with
6136-609: The console's electronics might face electrostatic hazards in dry American states such as Arizona and Texas , and a front-loading design would be safer if children handled the console carelessly. This was deployed as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Nintendo seeded these first systems to limited American test markets starting in New York City on October 18, 1985, and followed up in Los Angeles in February 1986;
6240-439: The console, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, a Power Pad, and a triple Game Pak containing Super Mario Bros , Duck Hunt , and World Class Track Meet . In 1990, a Sports Set bundle was released, including the console, an NES Satellite infrared wireless multitap adapter, four game controllers, and a dual Game Pak containing Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup . Two more bundle packages were later released with
6344-537: The continued sale of the Dendy , an unauthorized hardware clone of the Famicom, in Russia in exchange for also distributing the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . Nintendo anticipated the NES would have a 25 per cent share in these countries, and saw particular potential in the United Kingdom. It sold modestly in Europe, however. In Brazil, the console was released late in 1993 by Playtronic , even after
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#17328022261886448-507: The contract and hired the company's sales staff (whom Atari offered them in 1983), while taking on physical distribution of the console itself. The system's launch represented not only a new product, but also a reframing of the severely damaged home video game market in North America. The 1983 video game crash had occurred in large part due to a lack of consumer and retailer confidence in video games, which had been partially due to confusion and misrepresentation in video game marketing. Prior to
6552-416: The courts to prohibit the manufacture and sale of unlicensed cloned hardware. Many of the clone vendors have included built-in copies of licensed Nintendo software, which constitutes copyright infringement in most countries. Nintendo's design styling for US release was made deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid
6656-409: The developing console beyond gaming. He envisioned a home-computer system disguised as a toy, which could significantly expand Nintendo's reach if it became popular with children. This popularity would drive demand for games, with Nintendo as the sole provider. Indeed, by 1980 several systems had already been released in Japan by both American and Japanese companies. Yamauchi tasked Uemura with developing
6760-425: The discontinuation of the Famicom in September alongside the Super Famicom and the disk rewriting services for the Famicom Disk System . The last Famicom, serial number HN11033309, was manufactured on September 25; it was kept by Nintendo and subsequently loaned to the organizers of Level X, a video game exhibition held from December 4, 2003, to February 8, 2004, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography , for
6864-413: The early revisions to crash . Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard , the Famicom's popularity soared, becoming the bestselling game console in Japan by the end of 1984 in what came to be called the "Famicom Boom". Nintendo launched the system with only first-party games, but after being approached by Namco and Hudson Soft in 1984, agreed to produce third-party games for
6968-410: The evil Dragon Ninja. The game begins with the following introduction: "Rampant ninja related crimes these days ... Whitehouse is not the exception". A Secret Service agent speaks to the titular "Bad Dudes", a tough and heroic duo of street-smart brawlers named Blade and Striker: "President Ronnie has been kidnapped by the ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue Ronnie?" The Bad Dudes pursue
7072-429: The flicker and slowdown commonly seen on Atari 2600 games. Uemura said the ColecoVision set the bar for the Famicom. They wanted to surpass it and match the more powerful Donkey Kong arcade hardware; they took a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet to chip manufacturer Ricoh for analysis, which led to Ricoh producing the Picture Processing Unit (PPU) chip for the NES. Original plans called for the Famicom's cartridges to be
7176-426: The functionality of the original hardware, such as a portable system with a color LCD ( PocketFami ). Others have been produced for certain specialized markets, such as a rather primitive personal computer with a keyboard and basic word processing software. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so-called NES-on-a-chip . As was the case with unlicensed games, Nintendo has typically gone to
7280-410: The game cartridge's brass plated nickel connectors are also prone to tarnishing and oxidation. Nintendo sought to fix these problems by redesigning the next generation Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) as a top loader similar to the Famicom. Many players try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually speeds up
7384-428: The game were nonexistent in the two decades that followed its original release. In recent years, however, rereleases of the original arcade version Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja and its NES port Bad Dudes have become increasingly common: Nintendo Entertainment System [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ) is an 8-bit home video game console produced by Nintendo . It
7488-424: The generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983 . One result of this philosophy is to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero-insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR . The socket works well when both the connector and the cartridges are clean and the pins on the connector are new. However,
7592-494: The genre of the game. A seal of quality is on all licensed game and accessory packaging. The initial seal states, "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product". This text was later changed to " Official Nintendo Seal of Quality ". Unlike with the Famicom, Nintendo of America marketed the console primarily to children, instituting a strict policy of censoring profanity, sexual, religious, or political content. The most famous example
7696-415: The goal of matching their powerful sprite and scrolling capabilities in a home system. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, and work began on programming tools. Because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan by that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be developed from scratch. Early Famicom games were written on
7800-548: The high prices of Nintendo's licensed products. Outside of Japan, regions in greater Asia received an "Asian Version" of the front-loader NES though imported Famicom systems were prevalent. Due to import restrictions , NES consoles in India and South Korea were rebranded and distributed by local licensees. The Indian version is called the Samurai Electronic TV Game System and the Korean version
7904-493: The highest-grossing arcade machine of 1985 in the United States. By the time the NES launched, nearly 100,000 VS. Systems had been sold to American arcades. The success of the VS. System gave Nintendo the confidence to release the Famicom in North America as a video game console, for which there was growing interest due to Nintendo's positive reputation in the arcades. It also gave Nintendo the opportunity to test new games as VS. Paks in
8008-471: The home consoles. Nintendo did not want to see that happen with the NES and used the lockout chip to restrict games to only those they licensed and approved for the system. This means of protection worked in combination with the Nintendo "Seal of Quality", which a developer had to acquire before they would be able to have access to the required 10NES information prior to publication of their game. Initially,
8112-565: The idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15, 1983, as the Home Cassette Type Video Game: Family Computer , for ¥14,800 (equivalent to ¥18,400 in 2019) with three ports of Nintendo's successful arcade games Donkey Kong , Donkey Kong Jr. , and Popeye . The Famicom was slow to gather success; a bad chip set caused
8216-640: The lockout chip. All of the Famicom systems use standard card edge connectors, as do Nintendo's two subsequent game consoles, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64 . The Famicom as released in Japan contains no lockout hardware, which led to unlicensed cartridges (both legitimate and bootleg) becoming extremely common throughout Japan and East Asia. Nintendo tried to promote its "Seal of Quality" in these regions to identify licensed games to combat bootlegs, but bootleg Famicom games continued to be produced even after Nintendo moved production onto
8320-409: The name of America" as the most American game of them all. The game was followed by a spiritual successor in 1991: Two Crude (known in Japan as Crude Buster ). A sequel which was supposed to take place 23 years after the first game was unsuccessfully attempted to be financed via Kickstarter by Pinstripe Games in 2012. The arcade version of the game appears in the 1989 film Parenthood , where
8424-487: The name of the product or company, such as Disney , Simoniz , and FedEx , whereas a logo, such as Coca-Cola 's, may be both, or, as in Nike , Shell Oil , and Starbucks , a textless image. A wordmark logo (also called a lettermark or a lettermark logo) is a type of logo, not a type of wordmark, which consists of just text set in a particular style, such as a typeface or color, without other graphical features. For example,
8528-438: The new video game system, engineers sought Yamauchi's guidance on its features. They questioned whether to include a disk drive , keyboard, data port, as well as the potential for a modem , expanded memory, and other computer-like capabilities. Yamauchi ultimately instructed Uemura to prioritise simplicity and affordability, omitting these peripherals entirely. Game cartridges , which Uemura saw as "less intimidating" to consumers
8632-575: The original model NES console. In 1992, the Challenge Set was released for $ 89.99 with the console, two controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Pak. The Basic Set retailed at US$ 89.99 ; it included only the console and two controllers, and no pack-in game. Instead, it contained a book called the Official Nintendo Player's Guide , which contained detailed information for every NES game made up to that point. Finally,
8736-493: The pack-in game) respectively, and was discontinued with the NES in 1995. On August 14, 1995, Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo Entertainment System in both North America and Europe. In North America, replacements for the original front-loading NES were available for $ 25 in exchange for a broken system until at least December 1996, under Nintendo's Power Swap program. The Game Boy and Super NES were covered for $ 25 and $ 35 respectively. On May 30, 2003, Nintendo announced
8840-510: The perception of a troubled and shallow video game market still reeling from the 1983 crash, the company freshened its product nomenclature and established a strict product approval and licensing policy. The overall platform is referred to as "Entertainment System" instead of a "video game system", is centered upon a machine called a "Control Deck" instead of a "console", and features software cartridges called " Game Paks " instead of "video games". This allowed Nintendo to gain more traction in selling
8944-519: The player to be a "bad enough dude to rescue the President", became a popular Internet meme and is often lampooned on various websites. The 2008 video game Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space spoofs on the Bad Dudes intro in the episode " Chariots of the Dogs ". Alternative rock band Lostprophets ' first release, The Fake Sound of Progress , includes a track titled " Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja " in
9048-683: The second region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. In other European countries, distribution was taken over by smaller companies like Bienengräber in Germany, ASD in France, Concentra in Portugal, Itochu in Greece and Cyprus, Stadlbauer in Austria, Switzerland and the former Eastern Bloc In November 1994, Nintendo signed an agreement with Steepler to permit
9152-450: The size of a cassette tape, but ultimately they ended up being twice as big. Careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors because loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, Nintendo decided to produce its own connectors. The controllers are hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. The controller designs were reused from
9256-557: The socket is not truly zero-insertion force. When a user inserts the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge into place bends the contact pins slightly and presses the cartridge's ROM board back into the cartridge. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges wears out the pins, and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector. The design problems were exacerbated by Nintendo's choice of materials. The console slot nickel connector springs wear due to design and
9360-531: The son of Steve Martin 's character wonders why the game is so difficult. Martin, grasping for an answer, says, "Well, they're bad dudes. That's why they call the game Bad Dudes ". The Bad Dudes logo can be seen at the end of Stage 4 in Sly Spy , another Data East arcade game. In the 1990 film RoboCop 2 , Officer Duffy gets pushed by RoboCop into a Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja arcade cabinet, but with Sly Spy built into it. The game's introduction, challenging
9464-417: The system in toy stores. To deter production of games which had not been licensed by Nintendo, and to prevent copying, the 10NES lockout chip system acts as a lock-and-key coupling of each Game Pak and Control Deck. The packaging of the launch lineup of NES games bear pictures of close representations of actual onscreen graphics. To reduce consumer confusion, symbols on the games' packaging clearly indicate
9568-419: The tarnishing due to moisture. One way to slow down the tarnishing process and extend the life of the cartridges is to use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs. Users have attempted to solve these problems by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, inserting the cartridge just far enough to get the ZIF to lower, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting
9672-597: The term "Game Pak" for cartridges, "Control Deck" for the console, and "Entertainment System" for the whole platform. Renamed the "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES), the new and cost-reduced version lacked most of the upscale features added in the AVS but retained many of its audiophile-inspired design elements, such as the grey colour scheme and boxy form factor. Disappointed with the cosmetically raw prototype part they received from Japan, which they nicknamed "the lunchbox", Nintendo of America designers Lance Barr and Don James added
9776-467: The trademark holder rights no matter how the wordmark is presented. Some examples are shown in the sidebar. In the United States, the legal term "word mark" refers only to the text, not to any graphical representation. In most cases, wordmarks cannot be copyrighted, as they do not reach the threshold of originality . Wordmarks and logos are the two most common types of brand marks. Either may be trademarked. Wordmarks, by definition, always contain
9880-540: The two-tone gray, the black stripe, and the red lettering. To obscure the video game connotation, the NES replaced the top-loading cartridge slot of the Famicom and AVS with a front-loading chamber for software cartridges that kept the inserted cartridge out of view, reminiscent of a video cassette recorder . The Famicom's pair of hard-wired controllers and the AVS's wireless controllers were replaced with two custom 7-pin sockets for detachable wired controllers. At June 1985's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled
9984-523: Was a commercial success, becoming one of America's top five highest-grossing games in 1988. The arcade version received generally positive reviews from critics, while the home conversions received a positive to mixed critical reception. It has since become widely known for its general premise and introductory cutscene . The game is set in Washington, D.C. , United States, where President Ronnie (based on 40th President Ronald Reagan ) has been abducted by
10088-436: Was chosen as the format. The team designed the system to store 2,000 bytes of random-access memory (RAM), significantly more than Atari's 256 bytes. Larger cartridges also allowed for far more complex games, with thirty-two times the code capacity of Atari cartridges. The console's hardware was largely based on arcade video games , particularly the hardware for Namco 's Galaxian (1979) and Nintendo's Donkey Kong , with
10192-427: Was designed by Masayuki Uemura . Nintendo's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi , called for a simple, cheap console that could run arcade games on cartridges . The controller design was reused from Nintendo's portable Game & Watch hardware. The western model was redesigned to resemble a video cassette recorder . Nintendo released add-ons such as the NES Zapper light gun for several shooting games, and R.O.B ,
10296-449: Was developed by Data East and published in Japan by Namco as DragonNinja on July 14, 1989. In North America, the same version was released that year by Data East USA simply as Bad Dudes , featuring an illustration by Marc Ericksen. After Data East became defunct due to their bankruptcy in 2003, G-Mode bought the intellectual rights to the arcade game, as well as most other Data East games, and licensed them globally. The arcade version
10400-421: Was easy to use and caused no discomfort. Ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Gunpei Yokoi suggested an eject lever to the cartridge slot which is not necessary, but he believed that children could be entertained by pressing it. Uemura adopted his idea. Uemura added a microphone to the second controller with
10504-470: Was first released in Japan on July 15, 1983, as the Family Computer ( Famicom ). It was released in US test markets as the redesigned NES in October 1985, and fully launched in the US the following year. The NES was distributed in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia throughout the 1980s under various names. As a third-generation console , it mainly competed with Sega 's Master System . The NES
10608-439: Was illegally demonstrating its Coleco Adam computer with Nintendo's Donkey Kong game. This violation of Atari's exclusive license with Nintendo to publish the game for its own computer systems delayed the implementation of Nintendo's game console marketing contract with Atari. Atari's CEO Ray Kassar was fired the next month, so the deal went nowhere, and Nintendo decided to market its system on its own. Subsequent plans for
10712-705: Was later released in the United States in 1989 as a 19-inch model named the Video Game Television. Another variant is the Twin Famicom console released in 1986 to combine a Famicom with a Famicom Disk System . Sharp then produced the Famicom Titler in 1989. Intended for video capture and production, it features internal RGB video generation and video output via S-Video , plus inputs for adding subtitles and voice-overs . A thriving market of unlicensed NES hardware clones emerged during
10816-500: Was number two on the monthly arcade video game chart. On Hong Kong's annual Bondeal chart, it was the seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1988. The arcade game received generally positive reviews from critics upon release. Sinclair User magazine, in its January 1989 issue, gave it the award for best Beat 'Em Up of 1988 . In the ZX Spectrum sales charts, it was number two, behind Robocop . The home conversions received
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