Family Computer: Difference between revisions

{{system infobox

|image=[[File:Famicom.jpg|250px]]

|release='''Family Computer:'''<br>{{release|Japan|July 15, 1983}}'''Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer:'''<br>{{release|Japan|November 10, 2016}}

|discontinued='''Family Computer:'''<br>September 25, 2003<br>

|predecessor={{wp|Color TV-Game series|Color TV-Game}}

|successor=[[Family Computer Disk System]]<br>[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Famicom]]

{{quote2|If you were to strike up a friendship with a Japanese gamer and happened to ask him whether he owned a [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] back in the '80s, you'd probably be met with a blank stare.|''{{wp|Official Nintendo Magazine}}''}}

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, a Famicom cartridge more closely resembles a [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] cartridge but can be found in different colors, such as gray, yellow, and blue. By the release of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', Nintendo had already sold over 4 million units.<ref>[https://www.ndw.jp/post-714/ 上村雅之さん 大いに語る。 ファミリーコンピュータ インタビュー（後編）（2013年10月号より）]. [[Nintendo DREAM|''Nintendo DREAM Web'']]. Retrieved June 18, 2023.</ref>

A few months after the July 1983 release of the Famicom, Sharp produced the {{wp|Sharp Nintendo Television|Sharp C1 Famicom TV}}, a combined console and TV unit packaged with ''[[Donkey Kong Jr. + Jr. Sansū Lesson]]''. The following year, Sharp released the Playbox BASIC and [[Family BASIC]] accessories, allowing users to program in {{wp|BASIC}} on their Family Computers, and included ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' characters as programmable sprites.

 

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, such as ''[[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels]]''.

 

In 1987, the {{wp|Famicom 3D System}} accessory was released but like the future [[Virtual Boy]], it flopped. This is compatible with the Disk System game ''[[Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally]]''.

On September 29, 2016, Nintendo announced the '''Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer''', the Family Computer counterpart of the [[Classics#NES Classic Edition|NES Classic Edition]],<ref>Nintendo. (September 29, 2016). [https://topics.nintendo.co.jp/c/article/d2923b54-8552-11e6-9b38-063b7ac45a6d.html ファミコンが、手のひらサイズで"再"登場！]. ''Nintendo''. Retrieved September 30, 2016.</ref> 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 ''[[NES Open Tournament Golf|Mario Open Golf]]'' in place of ''[[Donkey Kong Jr. (game)|Donkey Kong Jr.]]'' Production for the console was discontinued in April 2017.<ref>Sephazon, R. (April 14, 2017). [http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/04/the_famicom_classic_edition_has_now_also_been_discontinued The Famicom Classic Edition Has Now Also Been Discontinued]. ''Nintendo Life''. Retrieved June 26, 2017.</ref>

==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 [[Bowser]] 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.

TheGreatMissionMarioPlayer.png|thumb|''Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!''

==External links==

*[https://www.nintendo.com/jp/famicom/index.html Official Famicom 40th Anniversary site (Nintendo JP)]

{{NIWA|FireEmblem=Family Computer|MetroidWiki=Famicom|NWiki=1|StarfyWiki=Famicom|StrategyWiki=Category:NES|WikiBound=Nintendo Entertainment System|ZeldaWiki=Famicom}}

{{Systems}}

[[Category:Japan-only systems]]

[[Category:Systems]]

[[it:Family Computer]]