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141-608: Since the NES's launch in 1985, warehouse manager and gamer advocate Howard Phillips and marketer Gail Tilden had operated a consumer feedback campaign of insert cards within packages of Nintendo's hardware and games, and built a database of customer contact information with names and mailing addresses. Phillips started a free-of-charge gameplay advice hotline at Nintendo of America, with five or six counselors on staff. They wanted to consolidate this resource-intensive gameplay counseling into mass media form. Phillips said, "When we first launched

282-452: 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

423-401: A coming of age motif to identify with, journeying as an ordinary boy strengthened by trials to triumph over great challenges and rise to meet evil. The name of the titular princess came from Zelda Fitzgerald . Miyamoto explained that "Zelda was the wife of famous novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald . She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took

564-649: 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

705-810: 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

846-535: 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

987-527: A boy around Kyoto , where he explored nearby fields, woods, and caves, always trying through Zelda games to impart players some sense of that limitless wonder he felt through unknown exploration. According to Miyamoto: "When I was a child, I went hiking and found a lake. It was quite a surprise for me to stumble upon it. When I traveled around the country without a map, trying to find my way, stumbling on amazing things as I went, I realized how it felt to go on an adventure like this". The memory of being lost amid

1128-678: 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

1269-704: 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

1410-534: A feature the NES model did not include. It was used to defeat the large-eared rabbit-like monster Pols Voice by blowing or shouting. The U.S. instruction manual still hints that this enemy "hates loud noise", confusing many into thinking the recorder item could be used to attack (in actuality, it has no effect). The cartridge version made use of the Memory Management Controller chip (specifically

1551-567: A game and sent in a warranty card became a member of the Fun Club, whose members got a four-, eight- and eventually 32-page newsletter. Seven hundred copies of the first issue were sent out free of charge, but the number grew as the data bank of names got larger. From the success of magazines in Japan, Nintendo knew that game tips were a valued asset. Players enjoyed the bimonthly newsletter's crossword puzzles and jokes, but game secrets were most valued. The Fun Club drew kids in by offering tips for

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1692-613: 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

1833-467: A new arrangement of the overworld theme within one day, which has become an iconic motif echoing throughout continued entries of the series. In February 1986, Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda as the launch game for the Family Computer 's new Disk System peripheral, joined by a re-release of Super Mario Bros. , Tennis , Baseball , Golf , Soccer , and Mahjong as part of

1974-773: 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

2115-414: A player can begin a more difficult version referred to as the "Second Quest" ( 裏ゼルダ , Ura Zeruda , translated literally to "Other Zelda") , which alters many locations, secrets, and includes entirely distinct dungeons and stronger enemies. Although more difficult "replays" were not unique to Zelda , few games offered completely different levels upon the second playthrough. By starting a new file with

2256-448: 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 , a toy robot accessory. The NES is regarded as one of the most influential consoles. It helped revitalise

2397-474: A single commercial could reach US$ 5 million, easily four or five times more than most companies spend. One of the first commercials made under Bill White, director of advertising and public relations, was the market introduction for the Legend of Zelda , which received a great deal of attention in the ad industry. In it, a wiry-haired, nerdy guy ( John Kassir ) walks through the dark making goofy noises, yelling out

2538-502: A small shield, but can enter a cave and receive a sword from an old man who advises, " It's dangerous to go alone! Take this. " Throughout the adventure, Link finds and acquires various items that increase his abilities further, including heart containers which increase his life meter; magic rings which decrease the amount of damage Link takes from enemy attacks; and stronger swords which allow Link to inflict more damage to enemies. These items are mainly found in caves scattered throughout

2679-584: A solitary sequel , many prequels and spin-offs and is one of Nintendo's most popular series. It established important characters and environments of the Zelda universe, including Link , Princess Zelda , Ganon , Impa , and the Triforce as the power that binds Hyrule together. The overworld theme and distinctive "secret found" jingle have appeared in nearly every subsequent Zelda game. The theme has also appeared in various other games featuring references to

2820-484: A special stage inspired by the original Legend of Zelda in the video game Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. There have also been a few substantially altered versions of the game that have been released as pseudo-sequels, and ura - or gaiden -versions. As part of a promotional advertisement campaign for their charumera ( チャルメラ ) noodles, Myojo Foods Co., Ltd. ( 明星食品 , Myoujou Shokuhin ) released

2961-520: 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

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3102-410: 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

3243-435: 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

3384-592: A total of 1.69 million for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. In North America, the game was highly anticipated and topped the video game charts upon release. It became the first NES game to sell over 1 million cartridges in the United States during 1987, increasing to more than 2 million cartridges sold by 1988. It went on to sell 3 million cartridges in the United States by 1990, and eventually 6.51 million copies worldwide. Critics lauded

3525-462: A version of the original The Legend of Zelda in 1986, Zelda no Densetsu: Teikyō Charumera ( ゼルダの伝説　提供　チャルメラ ) . It is one of the rarest video games available on the second-hand collector's market, and copies have sold for over US$ 1,000 . From August 6 to September 2, 1995, Nintendo, in collaboration with the St.GIGA satellite radio network, began broadcasts of a substantially different version of

3666-517: A voice actor narrator, broadcasting live from the St.GIGA studio, would give them plot and gameplay clues. In addition to the SoundLink elements, BS Zelda also featured updated 16-bit graphics, a smaller overworld, and different dungeons. Link was replaced by one of the two Satellaview avatars: a boy wearing a backward baseball cap or a girl with red hair. Between December 30, 1995, and January 6, 1996,

3807-415: A year after its predecessor, and numerous additional successors and spinoffs have been released in the decades since its debut. The Legend of Zelda incorporates elements of action , adventure , and role-playing genres. The player controls Link from a flip-screen overhead perspective as he travels the overworld , a large outdoor map with various environments. Link begins the game equipped only with

3948-440: 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,

4089-407: Is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo . The first game of The Legend of Zelda series , it is set in the fantasy land of Hyrule and centers on an elf -like boy named Link , who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon . The player controls Link from a top-down perspective and navigates throughout

4230-561: Is available on the Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo Switch Online service. The Legend of Zelda was a critical and commercial success for Nintendo. The game sold over 6.5 million copies, launched a major franchise, and has been regularly featured in lists of the greatest video games of all time . A sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link , was first released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System less than

4371-928: 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.,

Nintendo Fun Club - Misplaced Pages Continue

4512-661: Is described in the instruction booklet and during the short prologue which plays after the title screen: The small kingdom of Hyrule is engulfed by chaos when an army led by Ganon , the prince of darkness, invades and steals the Triforce of Power, one part of a magical artifact which alone bestows great strength. In an attempt to prevent him from acquiring the Triforce of Wisdom, Princess Zelda splits it into eight fragments and hides them in secret underground dungeons. Before eventually being kidnapped by Ganon, she commands her nursemaid Impa to find someone courageous enough to save

4653-584: The Nintendo Switch Online - Nintendo Entertainment System service on September 18, 2018. A special "Living the life of luxury!" edition of the game, which grants players all equipment and extra items at the start of the game, was later added to the service on October 10. In November 2021, Nintendo released a Legend of Zelda edition of the Game & Watch console, similar to the rereleased Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch. This version includes

4794-633: 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

4935-500: 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 was designed by Masayuki Uemura . Nintendo's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi , called for

5076-408: 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

5217-549: The Zelda series. An arcade system board, called the Triforce, was developed jointly by Namco, Sega, and Nintendo, with the first games appearing in 2002. The name "Triforce" is a reference to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of games, and symbolized the three companies' involvement in the project. GameSpot featured The Legend of Zelda as one of the 15 most influential games of all time, for being an early example of open world , nonlinear gameplay , and for its introduction of battery backup saving worldwide, to laying

5358-493: 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

5499-411: The closing credits ). Miyamoto produced the game, and Tezuka wrote the story and script. Much of the programming was done by Toshihiko Nakago of Nintendo's partner SRD. Keiji Terui, a screenwriter who worked on anime shows such as Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball , wrote the backstory for the manual, drawing inspiration from conflicts in medieval Europe . Development began in the fall of 1984, and

5640-630: The overworld and dungeons , collecting weapons, defeating enemies and uncovering secrets along the way. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka , it was originally released in Japan as a launch title for the Family Computer Disk System in February 1986. More than a year later, North America and Europe received releases on the Nintendo Entertainment System in cartridge format, being

5781-837: The "Top 100 Games of All Time" and "The Top 200 Games of All Time" (in 2001 and 2009 respectively), thirteenth in Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s 100th issue listing the "100 Best Games of All Time", fifth in Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s 200th issue listing "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time", seventh in Nintendo Power ' s list of the 200 Best Nintendo Games Ever, 77th in Official Nintendo Magazine ' s 100 greatest Nintendo games of all time and 80th among IGN readers' "Top 99 Games". Zelda

Nintendo Fun Club - Misplaced Pages Continue

5922-510: The "hefty" price tag of £39 or $ 69 (equivalent to $ 180 in 2023) in the United Kingdom. ACE magazine reviewed the game in 1989, calling it a "role-playing epic" that proves "consoles can be just as good at role-playing games as they are for arcade entertainment" while listing it as one of the top four best games available for the NES (along with Super Mario Bros. , Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and Super Mario Bros. 2 ). Zelda

6063-568: 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. The Legend of Zelda (video game) The Legend of Zelda , originally released in Japan as The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu ,

6204-630: 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

6345-421: 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

6486-460: 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

6627-434: 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

6768-629: 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

6909-595: 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

7050-540: 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

7191-566: The MMC1 model), which could use bank-switching to allow for larger games than had previously been possible, and could also use battery-powered RAM letting players save their data for the first time on the NES. When Nintendo published the game in North America, the packaging design featured a small portion of the box cut away to reveal the unique gold-colored cartridge. In 1988, The Legend of Zelda sold two million copies. Nintendo of America sought to keep its strong base of fans; anyone who purchased

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7332-520: The NES in 1985, we figured out very quickly that kids were just dying to get extra information about the games—not just new games that were coming out, but also how to play them." In 1987, Nintendo Fun Club was started at Nintendo of America by Gail Tilden and Fun Club President Howard Phillips, with the publication of the Nintendo Fun Club News . The newsletter's first four issues were delivered quarterly starting in early 1987, with

7473-530: 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

7614-506: The NES. Upon release in Europe, Tony Takoushi reviewed the game in British magazine Computer and Video Games and called it a massive arcade adventure packed full of dragons, imprisoned princesses, traps and pitfalls. They said it has "an enormous country to examine" with "dozens of things to collect" along with hidden power-ups and bonuses, while praising the "supreme" playability and the "excellent" graphics and sound, but they criticized

7755-484: 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

7896-574: 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

8037-601: 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

8178-425: 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

8319-442: 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

8460-592: 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

8601-547: 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

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8742-510: 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

8883-607: The completed Triforce of Wisdom, he is able to infiltrate Ganon's hideout in Death Mountain , confronting the prince of darkness and destroying him with the Silver Arrow. Obtaining the Triforce of Power from Ganon's ashes, Link returns it and the restored Triforce of Wisdom to the rescued Princess Zelda, and peace returns to Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda was directed and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka (credited as S. Miyahon and Ten Ten respectively in

9024-402: 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

9165-416: 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

9306-599: 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

9447-618: 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

9588-553: 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;

9729-439: 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

9870-473: 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

10011-507: 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

10152-416: 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

10293-409: 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

10434-630: 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

10575-413: 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

10716-562: The entrance of any dungeon he has previously cleared. Once Link has collected all eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom from these dungeons, he gains access to a ninth and final dungeon in order to defeat Ganon and rescue Zelda. The game may be completed by traversing any given dungeon on the overworld and is largely flexible to players, although gameplay steadily increases in difficulty, and some rooms can only be passed by using items gained in previous locations. There are dungeons with secret entrances which must be uncovered while freely wandering

10857-409: The extra sound channel provided by the system was utilized for certain sound effects; most notably Link's sword beam at full health, roars and growls of dungeon bosses, and those of defeated enemies. Sound effects had to be altered for the eventual cartridge release version of Zelda which used the Famicom's PCM channel. The game also took advantage of that system's controller having a built-in microphone,

10998-452: The final three issues being bimonthly. Phillips said, "Kids loved the magazine because it included screen shots. Pre-internet and VCRs , actually showing kids the games was the only way to explain how to do tricks. They couldn't just look it up online." The Nintendo Fun Club was marketed via catalogs and flyers contained in Nintendo Entertainment System boxes, and within the content of at least one game, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! . During

11139-670: The first home console game to include an internal battery in the US for saving data . This version was later released in Japan in 1994 under the title The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu 1 . The game was ported to the GameCube and Game Boy Advance , and was available via the Virtual Console on the Wii , Nintendo 3DS and Wii U . It was also one of 30 games included in the NES Classic Edition system, and

11280-504: 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

11421-418: The foundations for later action-adventure games like Metroid and role-playing video games like Final Fantasy , while influencing most modern games in general. In 2009, Game Informer called The Legend of Zelda "no less than the greatest game of all time" on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that it was "ahead of its time by years if not decades". In 2011, Nintendo celebrated

11562-426: 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

11703-475: The game also spawned several clones trying to emulate the game. Despite this, Miyamoto did not consider Zelda an RPG, but classified Zelda as "a real-time adventure game"; he said he was "not interested in systems where everything in the game is decided by stats and numbers" but what's "important to me is to preserve as much of that "live" feeling as possible" which he said " action games are better suited in conveying" to players. The Legend of Zelda spawned

11844-410: 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

11985-559: The game is by using an Action Replay . An official re-release was included in 2003's The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition for the GameCube , and the game was again re-released on the Game Boy Advance in 2004 along with its sequel, The Adventure of Link , as part of the Famicom Mini/Classic NES Series . In 2006, it was released on the Wii 's Virtual Console , and a timed demo of the game

12126-402: The game was originally intended to be a launch game for the Famicom Disk System . The development team worked on The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. concurrently, and tried to separate their ideas: Super Mario Bros. was to be linear, where the action occurred in a strict sequence, whereas The Legend of Zelda would be the opposite. In Mario , Miyamoto downplayed the importance of

12267-541: The game's 25th anniversary in a similar vein to the Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary celebration the previous year. This celebration included a free mailout Club Nintendo offer of the Ocarina of Time soundtrack to owners of the 3DS version of that particular game, the first digital for Nintendo eShop release of Link's Awakening DX , special posters that are mailed out as rewards through Club Nintendo, and

12408-466: The game's five music tracks. He had planned to use Maurice Ravel 's Boléro as the title theme as it perfectly matched its speed. In Japan, music is publicly released over 50 years after the composer's death. But Kondo was forced to change it in November 1985, late in the game's development cycle, after learning that it had only been 47 years and 11 months after Ravel's death. As a result, Kondo wrote

12549-424: 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,

12690-494: 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

12831-537: The genre. GamesRadar ranked it the third best NES game ever made. The staff praised its "mix of complexity, open world design, and timeless graphics". The Legend of Zelda has continued to receive critical acclaim from modern critics and remains well regarded. It is often featured in lists of games considered the greatest or most influential. In 1995, Flux ranked the game 2nd on its "Top 100 Video Games". It placed first in Game Informer ' s list of

12972-415: 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

13113-469: The gold cartridge, full color manual, and fold-out map. In 2016, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted The Legend of Zelda to its World Video Game Hall of Fame . The Legend of Zelda is considered a spiritual forerunner of the modern action role-playing video game (RPG) genre. Though it is often not considered part of the genre since it lacked key RPG mechanics such as experience points , it had many features in common with RPGs and served as

13254-592: The graphics, storytelling and setting, and gameplay, hailing the latter as groundbreaking. In Japan, Famicom Tsūshin ( Famitsu ) magazine gave it a full score of 5 out of 5 stars, while the first Famitsu Best Hit Game Awards gave Zelda the award for best background music and listed it as the third best Game of the Year (just below Dragon Quest and Gradius ). Upon release in North America, Computer Entertainer called it an "excellent" adventure game that exceeded expectations and said it had "more to offer than

13395-548: 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

13536-420: The high score in favor of simply completing the game. This concept was carried over to The Legend of Zelda . Miyamoto was also in charge of deciding which concepts were " Zelda ideas" or " Mario ideas". Contrasting with Mario , Zelda was made non-linear and forced the players to think about what they should do next. According to Miyamoto, those in Japan were confused and had trouble finding their way through

13677-493: 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

13818-415: 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,

13959-565: 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

14100-512: The intermissions between rounds, when Little Mac's trainer gives him tips, Mac calls out "Help, Doc", who responds with, "Join the Nintendo Fun Club today! Mac. [ sic ]" After seven issues and 600,000 subscribers, along with more than 100 telephone gameplay counselors, Phillips and Tilden wanted to further streamline and expand the resource intensive and non-revenue-generating marketing outreach. The Nintendo Fun Club News

14241-478: The kingdom. While wandering the land, the old woman is surrounded by Ganon's henchmen, when a young boy named Link appears and rescues her. Upon hearing Impa's plea, he resolves to save Zelda and sets out to reassemble the scattered fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, with which Ganon can then be defeated. During the course of the tale, Link locates and braves the eight underworld labyrinths, and beyond their defeated guardian monsters retrieves each fragment. With

14382-425: The land. Some are easily accessible, while others are hidden beneath obstacles such as rocks, trees, and waterfalls. Defeated enemies sometimes drop items including hearts, which refill the life meter, and Rupees, the in-game currency. Rupees can also be found in hidden treasure caves and are used to buy equipment, information, and ability upgrades. Hidden in the overworld are entrances to eight large dungeons housing

14523-518: The liberty of using [it] for the very first title". Early Zelda concepts involved technological elements, with microchips for the Triforce made of electronic circuits and a time-traveling hero, another factor of their name relating to the idea of a computer hyper-"link". While the final game and subsequent games in the series follow a more traditional medieval -like sword and sorcery setting, later entries have incorporated some technology-based concepts. Koji Kondo (credited as Konchan) composed

14664-640: 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

14805-511: The maze of sliding doors in his family's home in Sonobe was recreated in Zelda ' s labyrinthian dungeons . Tezuka finalized the designs for each "level" of dungeons and handed them all to Nakago in December 1985 so he could closely replicate them in the actual game. Nakago ended up using only half of all the dungeon pieces while copying the whole map. Miyamoto said it was good enough, and

14946-492: The more complicated games, especially Zelda , with its hidden rooms, secret keys and passageways. The mailing list grew. By early 1988, there were over 1 million Fun Club members, which led then-Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa to start the Nintendo Power magazine. Since Nintendo did not have many products, it made only a few commercials a year, meaning the quality had to be phenomenal. The budget for

15087-442: The multi-path dungeons, and in initial game designs, the player would start with the sword already in their inventory. Rather than merely simplifying matters for players, Miyamoto forced the player to listen to the old man who gives the player their sword, and encouraged interaction among people to share their ideas with each other to find the various hidden secrets, a new form of gaming communication. Relatedly, this concept turned into

15228-444: The name entered as "ZELDA", this mode can instead be accessed without needing to beat the game first. Within the official Zelda Chronology, The Legend of Zelda takes place in an Era called "The Era of Decline", which exists within an alternative reality. In this era, Hyrule has been reduced to a small kingdom where the residents now live in caves, setting the background for The Legend of Zelda . The story of The Legend of Zelda

15369-537: The names of some enemies from the game, and screaming for Zelda. The Legend of Zelda was first re-released in cartridge format for the Famicom in 1994. The cartridge version slightly modified the title screen of the Disk Card version of the game, such that it displayed the number 1 at the end of the title. In 2001, the original game was re-released in the GameCube game Animal Crossing . The only way to unlock

15510-438: 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

15651-564: The original Legend of Zelda , as well as Zelda II: Adventure of Link , and the Gameboy version of Link's Awakening . The Zelda Game & Watch also includes a modified version of the Game and Watch original, Vermin , with Link replacing Mr. Game and Watch. The Legend of Zelda received highly positive reviews from critics and was a best-seller for Nintendo. Upon release in Japan, it sold 1 million copies on its first day of release, and sold

15792-584: The original The Hyrule Fantasy: Legend of Zelda for a Super Famicom peripheral, the Satellaview —a satellite modem add-on. The game, BS Zelda no Densetsu ( BS ゼルダの伝説 ) , was released for download in four episodic, weekly installments which were rebroadcast at least four times between the game's 1995 premiere and January 1997. BS Zelda was the first Satellaview game to feature a " SoundLink " soundtrack—a streaming audio track through which, every few minutes, players were cautioned to listen carefully as

15933-575: 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,

16074-402: The overworld after acquiring useful items. This freedom allows many ways of progressing through the game. It is possible to reach the final boss without receiving the normally vital sword at its outset. The game world contains 600 separate scenes, with the overworld consisting of over 97 scenes and the underworld consisting of nine multi-scene labyrinths. After initially completing the game,

16215-493: 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

16356-510: 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

16497-429: The pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Each dungeon has a unique maze-like layout of rooms connected by doors and secret passages , often barred by monsters (which must be defeated) or by blocks (which must be moved to gain entrance). Dungeons also contain useful items Link can add to his inventory, such as a boomerang for stunning enemies and retrieving distant items, and a magical recorder that lets Link teleport to

16638-476: The player's poll "Top 30" in Nintendo Power ' s first issue and continued to dominate the list into the early 1990s. The Legend of Zelda was also voted by Nintendo Power readers as the "Best Challenge" in the Nintendo Power Awards '88. The magazine also listed it as the best Nintendo Entertainment System video game ever created, stating that it was fun despite its age and innovated on

16779-406: The root of another series to be developed many years in the future: Miyamoto said that Zelda became the inspiration for Animal Crossing , a game based solely on communication. With The Legend of Zelda , Miyamoto wanted to flesh out the idea of a game "world" even further, giving players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer". He drew his inspiration from his experiences as

16920-683: 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

17061-450: 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

17202-557: 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

17343-417: 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

17484-582: The system's introduction. It made full use of Disk Card media's advantages over traditional ROM cartridges, with an increased size of 128 kilobytes which would be expensive to produce on cartridge format. Due to the still-limited amount of disk space, all of the text used in the game was from only a single syllabary known as katakana , which under normal circumstances primarily relates more to foreign words which supplement those of traditional Japanese origin as with hiragana and kanji characters. Rather than passwords , rewritable disks saved players' game progress, and

17625-419: 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

17766-562: The team decided to use half of the left-over memory to create the Second Quest. Tezuka also wrote the setting to be a fairytale adventure, taking inspiration from fantasy books such as J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings . The hero "Link" was so named in part to connect players inserted into this world with their interactive role, as something of a blank slate representing their individuality or methods. Designed by Miyamoto as

17907-440: The template for the action role-playing game genre. The game's fantasy setting, musical style and action-adventure gameplay were adopted by many RPGs. Its commercial success helped lay the groundwork for involved, non-linear games in fantasy settings, such as those found in successful RPGs, including Crystalis , Soul Blazer , Square 's Seiken Densetsu series, Alundra , and Brave Fencer Musashi . The popularity of

18048-597: 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

18189-540: 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

18330-507: The typical hack-and-slash " epics, with "monsters to fight, secret doors to discover, and plenty of frustration" rewarded with new treasures, weapons, experience, places and discoveries. The review also praised the "very appealing" and "beautiful, fairy-tale" quality, the battery backup save feature, the "charming graphics, superb original music, excellent animation, and smooth transitions in scrolling between locations". They called it "an incredibly rich, deep gaming experience that goes far beyond

18471-489: The typical cartridge game" with appeal "to both male and female players" of all ages, making it a "must-have" for every Nintendo owner. Computer Gaming World in 1988 named the game as the best adventure of the year, stating that Zelda had been a "sensational success" in bringing elements of computer action-adventures to consoles. In 1990, the magazine implied that the game was a killer app , causing computer RPG players who had dismissed consoles as "mere arcade toys" to buy

18612-436: 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

18753-500: Was discontinued in favor of the vastly more expansive and ambitious Nintendo Power magazine in August 1988. Its first issue was free to Fun Club members, and otherwise a traditional paid subscription. Nintendo Entertainment System [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ) is an 8-bit home video game console produced by Nintendo . It was first released in Japan on July 15, 1983, as

18894-421: 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

19035-439: 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

19176-402: Was inducted into GameSpy ' s Hall of Fame in August 2000 and voted by GameSpy ' s editors as the tenth best game of all time. Editors of the popular Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu voted the game among the best on the Famicom. In 1997 Next Generation listed the North American release in their "Five Greatest Game Packages of All Time", citing the die-cut hole which revealed

19317-705: 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

19458-450: Was released for the 2008 Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl , available in the Vault section. All re-releases of the game are virtually identical to the original, though the GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Virtual Console versions have been altered slightly to correct several instances of incorrect spelling from the original, most notably in the intro story. A tech demo called Classic Games

19599-475: Was released to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in September 2011, as a part of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program, and was later released to the Nintendo 3DS eShop on December 22 in Japan; in 2012, it was released in Europe on April 12 and on July 5 in North America. The version released to the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console was the cartridge version. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch as part of

19740-474: Was reviewed in 1992 by Total! where it received a 78% rating due in great part to mediocre sub-scores for music and graphics. A 1993 review of the game was printed in American magazine Dragon #198 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column, scoring the game 4 out of 5 stars. It was reissued in 1992 as part of Nintendo's "Classic Series" and featured a grey cartridge. The game placed first in

19881-460: Was shown for the Nintendo 3DS at E3 2010 , showcasing more than a dozen classic games using 3D effects, including The Legend of Zelda . Reggie Fils-Aimé , president of Nintendo of America , said that the games were slated for release on the 3DS, including The Legend of Zelda , Mega Man 2 , and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island , using some of the 3DS's features, such as 3D effects, analog control, or camera support. The Legend of Zelda

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