Nintendo started as a humble game card company in the late 1800s, but they eventually saved the video game industry from a financial crisis in the early 1980s. Since then , Nintendo has made a glorious history and has become arguably the most important console maker of all time. Let’s take a look at the company’s most outstanding gaming consoles.
- Color TV-game
- Family Computer
- Family Computer Disk System
- Twin Famicom
- Nintendo Entertainment System
- Nintendo Entertainment System (Model NES-101)
- Super Famicom
- Super Nintendo
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Model SNS-101)
- Nintendo 64
Color TV-Game
Nintendo’s first console was actually a series of five systems called the Color TV-Game, produced in collaboration with Mitsubishi. The Color TV-Game was sold exclusively in Japan, and there were only a few Pong-inspired mini-games built into the system. The first model appeared in 1977 with the name Color TV-Game 6, because it included 6 mini-games.
Before Nintendo created and patented the D-pad key assembly, Color TV-Game’s unique controllers were the knobs.
To be in competition with: Magnavox Odyssey series, Home Pong, Telco Coleco . series
Family Computer
In 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer – Famicom for short – in Japan for 14,800 yen. In North America, it received a significant redesign and was soon called the Nintendo Entertainment System.
The Famicom is an 8-bit console, and includes a Ricoh 2A03 processor combined with 2KB of RAM. This allows the system to display a screen with a resolution of 256×240 in 48 colors and six gray variations.
On the audio front, the Famicom offers more audio channels than the corresponding Nintendo Entertainment System. It also supports a game card slot with a custom sound processor, unlike the NES version. As a result, games like Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse have different soundtracks from region to region.
The Famicom used a game card design at the top of the machine with games ranging from 8KB to 1MB. The system also supports two handles and has grooves on the sides of the machine allowing players to leave the controller in when not in use. This rectangular model includes a D-pad key cluster, two buttons, along with Start and Select buttons and is inspired by the design of Nintendo’s previous Game & Watch models. The console has a built-in microphone used in many games, including Legend of Zelda.
To be in competition with: Atari 7800, Sega Master System
Family Computer Disk System
On February 21, 1986, Nintendo released an additional device for the Famicom called the Family Computer Disk System. It supports Nintendo’s proprietary 2.8×3-inch floppy disks called “Disk Cards”. Although only an add-on, the product was a commercial success and sold 4.44 million copies until Nintendo discontinued production in 2003.
The Disk System has a RAM adapter plugged into the Famicom card slot. The user then needs to connect the cable to the back of the Disk Drive and plug in the included AC charger. Disk System also supports six C-cell batteries as an alternative power source.
This add-on has built-in audio hardware with FM synthesis capabilities, allowing the system to generate more complex waveforms that result in stiffer sounds.
The Disk Card can hold up to 112KB of data, but many games require the user to flip the disc over to access the full storage capacity of the media. Some games also require two discs. It also allows users to save and record their games at convenience stores at a lower cost than buying new game cards. The games on the Disk Card are also cheaper than the versions on the game card.
Twin Famicom
In 1986, Sharp Corporation appeared with the Twin Famicom system. Licensed by Nintendo, is a combination of Famicom and Disk System.
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Famicom was finally released in the US as the Nintendo Entertainment System on October 18, 1985 with an initial price of $299. This is the first Nintendo console to be released outside of Japan.
The NES eventually helped pull the North American video game industry out of a two-year crisis and became a huge success. The system sold over 61.9 million copies, making it the best-selling console of its generation.
The NES used a new chassis different from the version circulating in Japan, one with a “zero insertion force” slot combined with a flip-up door. Its first problem is that the pins in the internal connector of the machine will bend after repeated use. And second, the slot is also very susceptible to dust. These issues have prevented many games from starting properly after a period of use. Many users have tried opening the game card slot and solving this problem themselves, but instead damaged the copper joints and made the problem worse.
Aesthetically, the NES uses gray and black tones combined with some red details on the console and controller.
To be in competition with: Atari 7800, Sega Master System
Featured game: Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Super Marios Bros., Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Contra
Nintendo Entertainment System (Model NES-101)
Nintendo released a smaller version of the NES in 1993 for $49.99. The machine uses the same Ricoh 2A03 processor as the original but is less bulky and has an additional game card slot on the top, to solve the problem of not inserting the card of the original system.
The NES-101 is a model that only uses RF waves and removes the LED power button of the old machine and the Composite RCA ports. Nintendo also introduced users to a SNES-inspired controller with a rounded design.
Super Famicom
Before the time of the Super Nintendo there existed the Super Famicom. The console was originally launched in Japan on November 21, 1990 for 25,000 yen. Nintendo kept the design unchanged when it released in Europe and Australia. The Super Famicom has more rounded corners than the North American version plus a dark gray tone.
The console also supports Satellaview, a satellite modem that people can attach to the machine to download a limited assortment of games.
To be in competition with: TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis
Super Nintendo
Nintendo released the Western version of the Super Famicom in North America on August 23, 1991 and renamed it Super Nintendo. The basic specifications of the SNES are the same, and are launched for $ 199. It was not sold as much worldwide as the NES, but it gained traction in Europe, where its predecessor was not very popular. All in all, the Super Nintendo is the best-selling console of its generation with over 49.1 million copies sold.
Aesthetically, the SNES used a mostly gray and rather baggy design. However, its purple Power and Reset sliders give the user the feeling of holding a toy. The machine also has a button to push the game card up for the convenience of players.
Underneath the chassis is a system using a Ricoh 5A22 CPU clocked at 3.58MHz. The modest processor is powerful enough to simulate 3D effects with Nintendo’s Mode 7 graphics system, allowing the game’s background to be rotated and scaled horizontally (scanline-by-scanline). The processor also allows the system to display up to 32,768 colors. For audio, Nintendo uses an S-SMP audio processor, which provides up to eight channels of audio. Compared to the previous NES version, the SNES has used a more advanced card slot with a capacity of up to 120 MB.
The SNES changed the rectangular design of the NES controller to a more rounded edge design. It also has X and Y buttons and a pair of buttons on either side of the handle.
To be in competition with: TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis
Featured game: Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy VI, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Star Fox, EarthBound, Mega Man X, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, F-Zero, Chrono Trigger , Super Mario RPG
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Model SNS-101)
Released in North America on October 20, 1997, the Super Nintendo’s improved SNS-101 was priced at 99.95 US dollars. The console was designed by Nintendo as a cheaper, entry-level game system for those who didn’t want to pay $199.99 for the N64.
The SNS-101 model is lighter and more compact than the original SNES, with specifications incorporated into a single system-on-chip (SOC) design. The Power and Reset buttons have also been moved to the left, and Nintendo has removed the game card eject button as well as S-Video support.
Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64 console was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and was released in North America for $199.99 in September. Facing stiff competition from Sony and the PlayStation released a years and a half earlier in Japan, the N64 was not as successful as its predecessor and sold only 32,930,000 copies worldwide.
The N64 model was launched with a dark gray chassis, but was eventually marketed in a variety of colors.
As the name implies, the console uses a 64-bit processor, namely NEC’s VR4300 CPU clocked at 93.75MHz. The N64 ships with 4MB of Rambus RDRAM, but it also has an expansion slot that allows players to double the memory with the Expansion Pak. Essential if you want to play The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Masora and Donkey Kong 64. Graphically, the Nintendo 64 uses SGI’s Reality Co processor clocked at 62.5MHz. Allows the system to support up to 16.8 million colors and resolutions up to 640×480.
With its processing power, the N64 helped pave the way for modern 3D graphics and redefined the concept of angular 3D games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Although the N64 was more powerful than the PlayStation in many ways, it was ultimately surpassed by the design of the game card slot, which could not compete with Sony’s 650MB CD-ROM. Specifically, the N64’s largest slot can hold 64MB, and most of them are 8-12MB in size. Nintendo was concerned that piracy would run rampant with the existence of CD-ROMs. However, the slot design has turned many third-party developers away from the N64 – notably Squaresoft, which wants to make large-scale games like Final Fantasy VII and requires a lot of space to contain interactive videos. Nintendo’s game slots also take a long time to manufacture and are quite expensive. The result is a game that typically costs $70 or more. However, this design also has a good point that the load time is almost zero.
Nintendo also released a new controller to go with the N64, with a unique three-handle design. The left hand grip contains the D-pad key cluster, while the middle one houses Nintendo’s first analog stick. The controller also supports vibration sensing to the touch via the Rumble Pak add-on device, which first debuted in 1997 with the Star Fox 64. Although it was initially released only in gray tones, the manufacturer has since release more versions with different colors. The N64 was also one of the first consoles to support four controllers without the use of an adapter. So the N64 model became a multiplayer console and from there came legendary titles like Super Smash Bros., Party Mario, and not to mention GoldenEye: 007, a game that proved that consoles could be. ran an FPS game smoothly – a genre that was almost exclusively playable on PC at the time.
To be in competition with: Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn
Featured games: Super Mario 64, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye: 007, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Super Smash Bros., Star Fox 64 , Mario Party series, Wave Race 64, Perfect Dark, Paper Mario
According to GameSpot
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Source link: The development history of the Nintendo system part 1
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