Nintendo Entertainment System

From Game Tech Wiki
Revision as of 05:24, 28 May 2013 by Viper666 (talk)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
NES
Famicom

The Nintendo Entertainment System (also abbreviated as NES or simply called Nintendo) is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987. In Japan (where it was first launched in 1983), it was released as the Family Computer (ファミリーコンピュータ Famirī Konpyūta, commonly shortened as either the Famicom (ファミコン Famikon, or abbreviated to FC. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy (현대 컴보이 Hyeondae Keomboi) and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics.

NES vs Famicom

Although the Japanese Famicom, North American and European NES versions included essentially the same hardware, there were certain key differences among the systems.

  • The Famicom featured a top-loading cartridge slot, a 15-pin expansion port located on the unit’s front panel for accessories (as the controllers were hard-wired to the back of the console) and a red and white color scheme. The NES featured a front-loading cartridge slot and a more subdued gray, black and red color scheme. An expansion port was found on the bottom of the unit and the cartridge connector pinout was changed.
  • The original Famicom and the re-released AV Family Computer both utilized a 60-pin cartridge design, which resulted in smaller cartridges than the NES, which utilized a 72-pin design.

Peripherals

A number of peripheral devices and software packages were released for the Famicom. Few of these devices were ever released outside of Japan.

  • Family BASIC or Famicom BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language that is used to program the Family Computer, its cartridge came with a computer style keyboard, and required a cassette tape recorder to save games that were created. Several visual components seen in Nintendo games, such as backgrounds and characters from Mario and Donkey Kong games (circa 1984-1985), were made available as basic Family Basic development parts, or have appeared in pre-made Family Basic games. Family BASIC cannot normally be used on NES consoles because they lack the Famicom's 15-pin expansion port.
  • The Famicom Modem is a modem that allowed connection to a network which provided content such as financial services only available in Japan. A modem was, however, tested in the US, by the Minnesota State Lottery, which would have allowed players to buy scratchcards and play the lottery with their NES. It was not released in because some parents and legislators voiced concern that minors might learn to play the lottery illegally and anonymously, despite assurances from Nintendo to the contrary.
  • Famicom Disk system (A unit that used proprietary floppy disks (called "Disk Cards") for data storage)
  • External sound chips: The Famicom had two cartridge pins that were originally intended to facilitate the Famicom Disk System’s external sound chip, but were also used by cartridge games to provide sound enhancements. These pins were removed from the cartridge port of the NES and relocated to the bottom expansion port. As a result, individual cartridges could not make use of this functionality and many NES localizations suffered from technologically inferior sound compared to their equivalent Famicom versions. (Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is a notable example of this problem)
  • Hardwired controllers: The Famicom’s original design includes hardwired, non-removable controllers. In addition, the second controller featured an internal microphone for use with certain games and lacked SELECT and START buttons. Both the controllers and the microphone were subsequently dropped from the redesigned AV Famicom in favor of the two seven-pin controller ports on the front panel used in the NES.
  • Lockout circuitry: The Famicom contained no lockout hardware and, as a result, unlicensed cartridges were extremely common throughout Japan and the Far East. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES-101) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers. Tinkerers at home in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip’s mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console’s ability to play legal games, as well as bootlegs and converted imports.
  • Audio/video output: The original Famicom featured an RF modulator plug for audio/video output, while its redesign, the AV Famicom, featured only RCA composite output. On the other hand, the original NES featured both an RF modulator and RCA composite output cables, but the top-loading NES-101 model featured only RF modulator output. The original North American NES was the first and one of the few game consoles to feature direct composite video output, and thus having the ability to be connected to a composite monitor. The French NES, model (FRA) featured a unique "RGB audio/video Output", a proprietary output connector similar to the SNES connector. With the help of an additional PAL-to-RGB chip, it allows this model of NES to output RGB video signal. A specific cable was given with every unit, using the SCART plug to connect it to the TV set.
  • Third-party cartridge manufacturing: In Japan, several companies, namely Nintendo, Konami, Capcom, Namco, Bandai, Taito, Irem, Jaleco, Sunsoft and Hudson Soft, manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom, which allowed these companies to develop their own customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as Konami's VRC 6 and VRC 7 sound chips that increased the quality of sound in their games. All licensed US cartridges were made by Nintendo except Konami and Acclaim (who produced their own PCBs, but used Nintendo's provided gray cartridge shells).

Hardware

Add-ons

Clones