Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
3rd Generation Console
Introduction
In 1984, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System,, which is widely known as the NES. Some consider Nintendo?s entry into this market to be a gamble due to the video game crash and Commodore? C64 harsh marketing and price cutting. However, there were very few console still in the market and Nintendo very quickly became the top selling game console.
This was a dramatic change for a company was previously a simple toy company. Nintendo also learned from Atari?s earlier successes by porting important arcade games while also developing their own games such as the popular Zelda series.
Nintendo always seemed to balance the market needs for a competitive while providing a depth in games and still manage to make a buck or two. In fact, Nintendo still has one of the popular modern consoles in production, the Wii.
Date Range: 1983 - 1994
Release Price: US$199
By the end of 1983, the video game industry was in a recession due partly to an over population of games and to a larger degree, a price war in the computer industry lead by Commodore.
Computers of this time were faster, had more memory, had more storage and offered better graphics, which resulted in better games and the ability to run a variety of programmes. Many claimed that the video game toy industry was a fad and was coming to an end.
The NES was a major force in revitalising the slumping video game industry.
Product Specs:
- 256 x 240 video
- 5-channel sound
- 3.5 Mhz processor
- 48 colours
- 2KB RAM
- 48KB ROM
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