Family Computer

The Family Computer (often shortened to Famicom) is the Japanese equivalent of the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES). The Family Computer's controllers were attached to the main unit, unlike those of the NES, and could be stored on the sides of the system. Player One's controller can pause the game, and Player Two's controller has audio controls. The cartridges were half the size of the NES's, and were inserted in the top instead of through a door in the front (like on the NES). Instead of looking like a vertical cartridge, like the NES, it more closely resembles a SNES cartridge but can be found in different colors, such as gray, yellow, and blue.

According to its designer, Masayuki Uemura, the controllers were inspired by the Game & Watch. Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that it had to include dark red coloring to match his favorite scarf. Early names during development included "Young Computer", "GAMECOM" ("Game Computer"), and "HVC" ("Home Video Computer"). By the release of Super Mario Bros., Nintendo had already sold over 4 million units.

has a long history of working with Nintendo. A few months after the July 1983 release of the Famicom, Sharp produced the, a combined console and TV unit. The following year, Sharp released the Playbox BASIC and Family BASIC accessories. They allowed users to program in on their Family Computers. In February 1986, Family Computer Disk System accessory was released which enabled games to be played on the Family Computer in the form of a disk. Many newer games were released only on the Disk System that were never released on the NES or Family Computer. A few months later, Sharp released the, which combined the base console with the Disk System add-on in one piece of hardware. In 1987, the accessory was released but like the future Virtual Boy, it flopped. This too had a Sharp version for the Twin Famicom. In 1989, Sharp released the which combined the console with a video editor.

Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer


On September 29, 2016, Nintendo announced the Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, the Family Computer counterpart of the NES Classic Edition, and was released alongside it in Japan on November 10, 2016. Like the NES Classic Edition, it includes 30 pre-installed Family Computer games, although with some differences in the game lineup, such as Mario Open Golf in place of Donkey Kong Jr. Production for the console was discontinued in April 2017.

Appearances in the Super Mario franchise

 * In Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!, Mario himself owns a Famicom, on which he plays an unnamed video game which bears some similarities to Super Mario Bros. Princess Peach and King Koopa also teleport through the television to which the Famicom is connected, although they do not appear to have any role at all in the game Mario is playing.
 * In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, 9-Volt owns a Famicom system which can be seen in the upper-left corner of the screen during his introduction cutscene.
 * In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, during Princess Peach's Interlude after Chapter 5, TEC-XX asks Peach to drink an invisibility potion in order to secretly enter Sir Grodus's Chamber and upload important data on a disk into the room's computer. When this happens, the computer screen shows the Famicom Disk System boot-up sequence which is then shortly followed up by an animation and some music from an unknown game.
 * In the Japanese version of WarioWare: Smooth Moves, the microgame Super Nostalgic Entertainment System uses a Family Computer instead.
 * In Super Paper Mario, a Famicom can be seen on a shelf in one of Francis' rooms in his fort, among other Nintendo systems.
 * In WarioWare: D.I.Y., a green Family Computer cartridge makes up the bottom screen of the title screen. Also, the designs and colors of the cartridges in this game are based on those of the Famicom.
 * In WarioWare Gold, the Famicom appears as a collectible Nintendo souvenir.
 * In WarioWare: Get It Together! in 9-Volt's Nintendo Classics level, the boss that appears in the intermission before the boss microgame has a Famicom controller for a face.