Family Computer Disk System

The Family Computer Disk System is an accessory for the Family Computer. It allowed the Family Computer to play certain games on a floppy disk rather than a cartridge. Floppy disks had the advantages of being cheaper. Besides that, the disks were rewritable, making saving easier. Sharp Corporation, a Japanese Electronics and Domestic Appliance company, created the Twin Famicom, a Family Computer combined with the Disk System into one piece of hardware, but it was also only released in Japan.

The main reason for the FCD's Japan-only release is believed to be due to a lack of success caused by various issues:
 * The games were easier to pirate, due to the low amount of copy protection (i.e. recognizing legitimate disks by an empty space on the bottom).
 * The games were easier to damage, as floppy disks were sensitive to magnetic wavelengths and exposed the strip that lets the system recognize and run the game. In the latter case, the strip could get scratched, dirty, or even grow mold in severe cases.
 * Because of the enhanced sound qualities, audio was hard to convert when the games were ported to cartridges.
 * The games had lengthy loading times at various points (often when swapping sides, or when entering an area that cannot be processed easily).
 * Most games required the player to eject the disk at various points, flip them over, and re-insert them (often after the title screen and on the game's final stretch), similarly to how various PlayStation games require the player to eject and swap optical disks at certain points.
 * The jewel cases that contained the games were smaller than cart"What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been involved in secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I’m the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my words. You think you can get away with saying shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You’re fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your tongue. You didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit all over you and you will drown in it. You’re fucking dead, kiddo."ridge boxes, and were therefore easier to overlook in stores or lose in homes. The cases were also required to fully protect the disk, whereas cartridges could be stored, standalone, on shelves.

Nintendo might've had plans to make an NES version of the Disk System, as there is a port on the bottom of the original NES that went unused.

Games
Here's the list of Mario or related games released for the Disk System:
 * All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.
 * Famicom Grand Prix: F-1 Race
 * Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally‎
 * Golf: Japan Course
 * Golf: Japan Course (Gold)
 * Golf: US Course
 * Golf: US Course (Gold)
 * I Am a Teacher: Super Mario Sweater
 * Kaettekita Mario Bros.
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
 * Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

Trivia

 * Mario and Luigi also appear in the Disk System's BIOS, seen when the Disk System is started. The BIOS also makes a cameo appearance in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, on Sir Grodus's computer.
 * When sped up about 19 times, the GameCube menu ambience is revealed to be a slowed-down version of the startup tune for the Disk System BIOS.

Famicom Disk System