History of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Initial Release
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was originally released as the “Famicom” in Japan in 1983. It provided the ability to play popular arcade games like Donkey Kong from home. It was well-received in Japan, creating interest in the North American market. However, a worldwide release would prove to be a challenge. An initial distribution agreement with Atari fell through, creating problems for the worldwide release of the console. The video game crash of 1983 then put the worldwide release on hold. However, as the success of the console in Japan continued to grow, a worldwide release was once again pursued.
Worldwide Release
After an appearance at the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show, a limited release of the console followed, with a full, worldwide release in 1986. It launched with classic titles such as Duckhunt and Super Mario Bros. In order to avoid a large amount of low-quality games (the issue that led to the downfall of the Atari 2600), Nintendo required game developers to become licensed by Nintendo in order to release games for the NES. Licensing terms prohibited developers from releasing games for other consoles, limited how frequently developers could release games, and enforced restrictions on the content allowed in games. Overall, the strategy proved to be successful, as the NES remained unchallenged for years, because of Nintendo's strong brand and assurance of quality due to the strong library of games. Many popular video game franchises began on the NES such as The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. became the face of NES, eventually becoming one of the most popular gaming franchises worldwide. At the time, Mario’s status as a mascot rivalled even the likes of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny.
Limitations
Although the NES was incredibly powerful for the time, many limitations still existed as a result of Nintendo’s drive to lower production costs as much as possible. In order to ensure that the console was affordable for families, Nintendo had to focus on lowering production costs as much as they could. As a result, unique limitations existed for developers. For example, the NES colour palette contained only 54 colours for developers to use. Further, each sprite could only contain three colours. As a result, many characters were often actually multiple sprites placed beside or even on top of eachother. However, developers had to be careful as a maximum of 64 sprites could be on the screen at a time, with only eight sprites allowed in the same horizontal line. As technology improved, Memory Management Controllers (MCMs) were added to game cartridges to add additional functionality such as horizontal and vertical scrolling, additional RAM, colours, and sound channels, and the ability to save game data.
Post Release/Legacy
Sales of the NES eventually died down in the 1990s with the release of 16-bit consoles such as the Sega Genesis, and the NES successor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The final units sold total for the NES was a whopping 60 million. Games continued to release for the NES well into the 90s, until the console was ultimately discontinued in North America in 1995, with a final discontinuation in Japan in 2003. However, the legacy of the NES continued on, with console developers adopting the third-party licensing business strategy first popularized by Nintendo. Many gaming franchises released on the NES continue to receive new entries today. Mario remains a global icon, recognized across the world. Without the NES to jumpstart the industry after the video game crash of 1983, who knows what the industry would look like, if it even still existed at all. And of course, the Nintendo logo remains a symbol of quality, recognized worldwide.
Works Cited
Cunningham, Andrew. “The NES: How It Began, Worked, and Saved an Industry.” Ars Technica, 9 Dec. 2021, arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/time-to-feel-old-inside-the-nes-on-its-30th-birthday/.
“Nintendo Console.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 9 May 2025, www.britannica.com/technology/Nintendo-console.
“Nintendo History.” Nintendo of Europe SE, www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Hardware/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-History-625945.html.