Nintendo Entertainment System

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Not to be confused with Ness.

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It has been requested that this article be rewritten. Reason: general reorganization

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The Nintendo Entertainment System (known as the NES for short) is a video game console created by Nintendo. It is the western version of the Family Computer (aka the Famicom), and has controllers that can be removed (unlike the Famicom). Games are inserted by opening a door and sliding the game in, then pushing a panel down. The NES was made because it was thought that the original system looked too much like a toy and therefore was made with a more complex appearance. Template:Refneeded

It was the system that revived the video game industry after the Video Game Crash of 1983. It rivaled against the Sega Master System and the Atari 7800 until the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System ushered in the next generation of video game consoles. The NES sold over 60.91 million units worldwide during its lifetime and was discontinued in 1995.[1]

The Nintendo Entertainment System was bundled with Super Mario Bros., resulting in it being the console's most successful game. For decades, Super Mario Bros. was the highest-selling video game ever, with 40.23 million copies sold, until Nintendo packaged Wii Sports with the Wii. Eventually, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released in the USA, and it became an instant hit, making five hundred million dollars in less than twenty-four hours. It soon became the second most purchased game in the gaming world with over 18 million copies sold.

Due to the lack of security, many NES games have become pirated, creating games such as 999-in-1, but due to better security, these games have seemingly slowed down.

In America, the NES was sold in three packages:

  • Control Deck: Contained the console, two controllers, the Super Mario Bros. cartridge and the needed connections.
  • Action Set: This set included the console, two controllers, the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge, the Zapper, and the connections.
  • Power Set: The most complete package, it contained the console, two controllers, a Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet cartridge, the Zapper, the Power Pad, and the connections.

Hardware

File:NES Processor 6502.png
The NES's Ricoh 2A03 (top) and a regular stock MOS 6502 (bottom). The NES uses a 6502 based processor.
File:Ricoh RP2C02 PPU.jpg
The NES's Picture Processing Unit video processor.

The NES/Famicom hardware consists of 2 kilobytes of onboard RAM, a custom second source MOS Technology 6502 based processor (called the Ricoh 2A03 in NTSC regions and the 2A07 in the PAL regions) which has a built in sound generator on chip and is used as the main processor. The Ricoh 2A03/2A07 contains 5 channels of sound: 1 triangle channel, 2 square wave channels, 1 noise channel and 1 DPCM channel for playing samples from memory. The Ricoh 2A03/2A07 is essentially the same as a regular 6502 but with the binary code decimal mode removed.

The video generator hardware is the Picture Processing Unit (PPU) (Ricoh 2C02 "NTSC"/Ricoh 2C07 "PAL") which is responsible for generating the sprites and background images onscreen. Graphical capabilities,extended RAM and even sound capabilities can be expanded with the use of memory mappers like the MMC2, 3, 4, 5 and Konami VRC6 among other mappers. For instance the MMC5 adds 2 extra pulse wave channels and another Raw PCM channel in addition to the main 2A03/2A07 channels; the Konami VRC6 adds a sawtooth wave channel and 2 extra square waves and the VRC7 adds FM Synthesis capabilities which is based on the Yamaha YM2413 OPLL FM Synthesizer and is a derivative of the OPLL chip.

The only 2 Mario games that use memory mappers are Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 with the MMC3 mapper being used. The only Mario cameo appearance that uses memory mappers is Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! with the MMC2 being used, which is also the only NES game that uses that particular mapper.

Accessories

NES Controller

The NES Controller.
NES Dogbone Controller
The later "dogbone" version of the NES controller which is included with the NES-101 Top Loader models.

The NES controller is the basic controller that comes with the console. It has four buttons and and a directional pad on a brick shaped case. A Button and B Button are stationed on the right with the Start Button and Select Button in the middle. The d-pad, first used on the Game and Watch to replace bulky joysticks, are on the left of the controller.

There were various versions of the NES controller. Nintendo released the NES Max and the NES Advantage, the latter of which had a "slow" button and both of which featured "turbo" buttons which, when held, would represent a button being pressed repeatedly. Nintendo later released a different form of the NES, which used a "dog-bone" design instead of the brick design. This design is very similar to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller.

Power Glove

File:NES-Power-Glove.jpg
The NES Power Glove.

The Power Glove was a handheld glove controller that used hand movements as a controller. It also had a keypad that defaulted certain buttons to certain hand movements. Under it featured the normal buttons on the NES controller. It sold poorly and was criticized for being imprecise.

NES Classic Edition

File:NES-Classic-Edition-1.jpg
The NES Classic Edition.
File:NES Classic Edition - SMB Select.png
Selecting to play Super Mario Bros. on the NES Classic Edition.

The NES Classic Edition (known as the Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and Australia) is a smaller version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was announced on July 14, 2016. For this iteration, it uses an HDMI cable, which is packaged with the console and, rather than using cartridges, includes 30 NES titles pre-installed. The games feature suspend points, allowing the player to resume where they last left off at a later time. The console also comes with a controller based on the original NES Controller, but with a connector based on those used by Wii Nunchuks, which can also be used to play Virtual Console NES games on Wii or Wii U by connecting it to a Wii Remote. The NES Classic Edition also supports Wii Classic Controllers. It was released in Australia on November 10, 2016, and in the Americas and Europe on November 11, 2016.[2] A Japanese version of the NES Classic Edition, the Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, was released exclusively in Japan on the same day, and includes a slightly different software line-up than its overseas counterpart.

The Mario games included in the console are as follows:

Upon the system's release, stores sold out of the NES Classic Edition almost immediately after they went up for sale. Nintendo has recognized this and stated there will be a "steady flow of additional systems through the holiday shopping season and into the new year."[3]

Game gallery

Please note that this gallery also includes Japan-only Family Computer and Family Computer Disk System games.

Hardware gallery

Appearances in the Mario series

Name in other languages

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Trivia

An error on the Nintendo eShop, accidentally listing Mario Party: Island Tour as an NES title.
The error showing Mario Party: Island Tour to be an NES game.
  • An NES controller appears as one of the tokens in the 2006 and 2007 version of Nintendo Monopoly.
  • This console is in the 1st spot of IGN's Top 25 Game Consoles.
  • A large NES controller appears in Wreck-It Ralph as a door leading to the coding of the game Sugar Rush, which the character King Candy opens by putting in the Konami code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start), a very famous button input that was put in as a cheat in numerous Konami games, first appearing in Gradius (1986).
  • An expansion port is located underneath the console. However, no accessories were used for it. Although the Famicom Disk System was planned for a North American release and if released it would have used the Expansion Port. However, the redesigned NES-101 Top Loader model lacks the expansion port entirely.
  • For a time the Nintendo 3DS eShop mistakenly stated Mario Party: Island Tour to be a title on the NES.
  • The NES port of Wario's Woods is the only NES game with an ESRB rating, due to it being released so late in the console's run.

External links

References

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