Happy 30th Birthday NES (Or Famicom more specifically)!

[yourbeliefs]

30 years ago today, Nintendo single handedly saved the console video game industry by releasing the Family Computer (or Famicom) in Japan, then brought it over to America in 1985. I still remember getting mine one year for Christmas. Here's a great article about some of the history behind the Famicom.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/time-to-feel-old-inside-the-nes-on-its-30th-birthday/

FYI, anyone really interested in the history of video games would be STRONGLY advised to check out the book, "The Ultimate History of Video Games." It's slightly dated in that it came out in 2001 so it basically ends with the 6th console generation, but for everything up before that it is a great resource.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0761536434/?tag=satell01-20

 

[Teehar]

Wow has it really been 30 years?That was a great system.Tons of classic games.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Learn something new everyday.. Apparently The Famicom had a cassette tape add-on, much like the C64 did. It was eventually phased out in favor of floppy disk component: http://kotaku.com/nintendos-first-proper-console-was-so-80s-it-had-a-cas-793994070

 

[satjay]

Ahh yes the cassettes tape for computers, I can remember writing numbers down for space on the cassette

 

[Ramy]

I never had a cassette tape for my computer. We could never afford one.

The NES was my second console. Atari 2600 was first.

 

[Stargazer]

My first computer had a cassette data player/recorder with the Aquarius keyboard that hooked up to a television.

 

[Derwin0]

I had the cassette drive for the VIC-20 & C64, before the 1541 Floppy drive came out.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Dang... the VIC-20...

I would never have heard of that if not for this video (NSFW but very funny.)

 

[Neutron]

The NES is my absolute favorite video game system of all time. So many memories in my childhood with my friends playing the NES. Did anyone else here go see the Wizard when it came out? We all thought it was cool since they introduced Super Mario Bros 3 at the end, well before it was released to the public.

 

[yourbeliefs]

The NES is my absolute favorite video game system of all time. So many memories in my childhood with my friends playing the NES. Did anyone else here go see the Wizard when it came out? We all thought it was cool since they introduced Super Mario Bros 3 at the end, well before it was released to the public.

That was about the only solace given how awful the rest of the movie was, not to mention there was no reason to see it after the movie came out on video as SMB3 was already released. If nothing else, it just goes to show the power of Nintendo at the time in that they were able to get a movie made with the sole purpose of promoting an upcoming video game.

 

[Ramy]

The NES is my absolute favorite video game system of all time. So many memories in my childhood with my friends playing the NES. Did anyone else here go see the Wizard when it came out? We all thought it was cool since they introduced Super Mario Bros 3 at the end, well before it was released to the public.

I saw it and noticed the new game that looked cool.