Nintendo Famicom / NES 101: A Beginner’s Guide

Note from racketboy: Special thanks goes to Radarscope1 (check out his blog, Word Games) for putting most of this guide together! The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console that they don’t know much about yet.

The Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the most iconic video game consoles of all time and was the machine that got many 80s kids hooked on this interactive medium. There’s a lot of ground to cover when talking about this landmark console, but hopefully we cover the most important points here.



Historical Impact

Nintendo’s first home console, launched in Japan as the Family Computer, or Famicom, in 1983 and as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the rest of the world statrting in 1985 . Before the Famicom/NES, Nintendo’s success in video games was mostly limited to a handful of hit arcade games, such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., and the Game & Watch handheld LCD games.

Many of Nintendo’s biggest franchises began life on the NES, including the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus, as well as Mother (aka Earthbound in the West) and Nintendo Wars (aka Advance Wars).

Many long-running third-party franchises also started on the NES, including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, Mega Man, and Contra.

The popularity of the NES is often credited with reviving the North American video game market after the “crash” of the early 1980s.

The NES dominated the video game market in North America and Japan from the mid-1980s to the early 90s, stomping ut nearly all competitors during the 8-bit era. Nintendo leveraged that market share by pressuring third party game companies into contracts that limited how many games they could release in a year and required that Nintendo manufacture the cartridges for a fee.

The NES was the first home console to use a cross-shaped d-pad on its controller, a design that has since been imitated and used on nearly every console and portable gaming device since. Before the NES controller was released, home console control inputs were a wide variety of hit-and-miss designs. After the NES, most console controllers more or less followed and iterrated on the d-pad design. The d-pad was taken directly from Nintendo’s portable Game and Watch LCD games, which had a design that also eventually inspired the Nintendo DS.

The NES saw the first passwords and battery back-ups that allowed for game saves.

The NES introduced many gamers who didn’t have access to PCs to role-playing games. Nintendo’s huge give-away of Dragon Quest (called Dragon Warrior in the west) via Nintendo Power was especially key in getting players to try an RPG. Final Fantasy, the Ultima games, the Legend of Zelda and Crystalis also played a role in expanding the genre.

Strengths

Large Game Library: The system has a huge and varied library, with a very good ratio of quality games. The NES/Famicom saw new releases for 11 years, from 1983 to 1994. There were more than 750 games released in the North American market.

The system has a huge and varied library, with a very good ratio of quality games. The NES/Famicom saw new releases for 11 years, from 1983 to 1994. There were more than 750 games released in the North American market. Lots of Timeless Classics: Nintendo is one of the medium’s all-time top developers, and the first-party games produced for the NES stand the test of time and are worth playing today. Games such as Super Mario Bros., SMB 2, SMB 3, Punch-Out, the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Dr. Mario, Kirby’s Adventure, and Kid Icarus hold up not just because of nostalgia, but because they are solid games.

Nintendo is one of the medium’s all-time top developers, and the first-party games produced for the NES stand the test of time and are worth playing today. Games such as Super Mario Bros., SMB 2, SMB 3, Punch-Out, the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Dr. Mario, Kirby’s Adventure, and Kid Icarus hold up not just because of nostalgia, but because they are solid games. Inexpensive Game Cartridges: Most of the best games are available for low prices today. The console’s huge install base and popularity means nearly every highly-regarded game sold in high enough numbers to warrant fairly large print runs. For the collector, there’s perhaps no better place to start. Game cartridges and hardware are easy to find at relatively cheap prices. Yard sales, thrift stores, resale game stores, eBay and nearly every gaming forum out there will offer you a chance to score NES games, controllers and consoles.

Most of the best games are available for low prices today. The console’s huge install base and popularity means nearly every highly-regarded game sold in high enough numbers to warrant fairly large print runs. For the collector, there’s perhaps no better place to start. Game cartridges and hardware are easy to find at relatively cheap prices. Yard sales, thrift stores, resale game stores, eBay and nearly every gaming forum out there will offer you a chance to score NES games, controllers and consoles. Nifty Selection of of Accessories: There are also plenty of peripherals for collectors to focus on, though many of them are somewhat silly and superfluous. There’s no denying the nostalgic cache of R.O.B. the Robot or a Zapper, though.

There are also plenty of peripherals for collectors to focus on, though many of them are somewhat silly and superfluous. There’s no denying the nostalgic cache of R.O.B. the Robot or a Zapper, though. Strong Selection of Platfomers: If you’re a fan of platformers, the NES is your system. The huge library of platformers includes several series with multiple releases on the console such as Adventure Island, Mega Man, Castlevania, Wizards & Warriors and, of course, Mario. Stand alone gems include Metal Storm, Kirby’s Adventure, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Legacy of the Wizard, Kid Icarus, Gargoyle’s Quest II, Faxanadu, Bionic Commando and Batman.

If you’re a fan of platformers, the NES is your system. The huge library of platformers includes several series with multiple releases on the console such as Adventure Island, Mega Man, Castlevania, Wizards & Warriors and, of course, Mario. Stand alone gems include Metal Storm, Kirby’s Adventure, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Legacy of the Wizard, Kid Icarus, Gargoyle’s Quest II, Faxanadu, Bionic Commando and Batman. Strong Youth & Casual Appeal: This is a great console for kids and casual gamers. The Super Mario games, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Tecmo Bowl, Duck Hunt, Super Off-Road and lisenced games like Duck Tales make the NES a hit at parties.

This is a great console for kids and casual gamers. The Super Mario games, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Tecmo Bowl, Duck Hunt, Super Off-Road and lisenced games like Duck Tales make the NES a hit at parties. Iconic & Nostalgic . It seems that no matter what territory you live in or how old you are, if you have an NES in your home you can bet people will notice it when they come over. They’ll want to fire it up and have a go whether or not they’re a hard core gamer or haven’t touched a controller in years.

Weaknesses

Control Deck Hardware Reliability: The original Control Deck — the front-loading “toaster” hardware that accounts for the vast majority of NES’s — can be finicky and hard to operate due to flaws in the design. To appeal to a North American market that had soured on the video game “fad” in the early 1980s, Nintendo redesigned the top-loading Famicom to look and feel more like a VCR than a traditional game console. The design used an odd connection method that didn’t truly lock the cartridges into a receiving end, and even caused the connectors to bend over time. Corroded connectors are also a problem. Luckily, this can be fixed fairly easily and cheaply by replacing the 72-pin connector inside the unit and simply cleaning the cartridges.

The original Control Deck — the front-loading “toaster” hardware that accounts for the vast majority of NES’s — can be finicky and hard to operate due to flaws in the design. To appeal to a North American market that had soured on the video game “fad” in the early 1980s, Nintendo redesigned the top-loading Famicom to look and feel more like a VCR than a traditional game console. The design used an odd connection method that didn’t truly lock the cartridges into a receiving end, and even caused the connectors to bend over time. Corroded connectors are also a problem. Luckily, this can be fixed fairly easily and cheaply by replacing the 72-pin connector inside the unit and simply cleaning the cartridges. Inflated Collectors Prices on Complete Games: Nostalgia can have its price. Because the NES is so highly collectible, complete-in-box copies of games are usually ridiculously over-priced on auction sites like eBay. Games that carry recognizable names today such Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. 3 or Metroid can sell for $20 or $30 or more for complete copies. These games are often advertised as “rare” but are far from it. Most of the truly rare NES games are quirky titles like Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom or Bubble Bath Babes, and are the type of games only hard-core collectors would seek. Collectors who are interested in simply owning and playing the best and most well-known NES titles shouldn’t be deceived by sales of supposedly “rare” games.

Nostalgia can have its price. Because the NES is so highly collectible, complete-in-box copies of games are usually ridiculously over-priced on auction sites like eBay. Games that carry recognizable names today such Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. 3 or Metroid can sell for $20 or $30 or more for complete copies. These games are often advertised as “rare” but are far from it. Most of the truly rare NES games are quirky titles like Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom or Bubble Bath Babes, and are the type of games only hard-core collectors would seek. Collectors who are interested in simply owning and playing the best and most well-known NES titles shouldn’t be deceived by sales of supposedly “rare” games. Inferior Arcade Ports: While plenty of early 80s arcade ports on the NES are good, some arcade conversions from later in the NES lifecycle are pretty inferior ports. The NES lived a long life, and by the late 1980s and early ’90s many arcade games were being programmed on 16-bit architecture with more memory. Though still a leading machine in the home market, the NES couldn’t keep up with some titles like Strider, Smash TV, Double Dragon II, or Bad Dudes. However this also means that some games such as Contra, Gradius and Bionic Commando were altered to better fit the hardware, with the results surpassing the cabinet-bound originals in many gamers’ eyes.

While plenty of early 80s arcade ports on the NES are good, some arcade conversions from later in the NES lifecycle are pretty inferior ports. The NES lived a long life, and by the late 1980s and early ’90s many arcade games were being programmed on 16-bit architecture with more memory. Though still a leading machine in the home market, the NES couldn’t keep up with some titles like Strider, Smash TV, Double Dragon II, or Bad Dudes. However this also means that some games such as Contra, Gradius and Bionic Commando were altered to better fit the hardware, with the results surpassing the cabinet-bound originals in many gamers’ eyes. Cardboard Boxes for Games: Game packaging for the NES was also not meant to last, so finding boxes in mint condition can be difficult.

Game Library

Technical Details

The CPU in the Famicom and North American NES is an 8-bit processor made by Ricoh, the RP2A03, which runs at a 1.79 MHz. The PAL version of the NES used a variant CPU that is identical except it runs at slower 1.66 MHz. This CPU was based on the MOS Technology 6502, a widely used processor introduced in the mid 1970s that powered a string of influential computing and gaming devices like the Apple I, Apple II, BBC Micro, the Commodore VIC-20 and the Atari 400 and 800. A custom PPU was also made by Ricoh. The NES can display 48 colors and 5 shades of gray. It has a resolution of 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.

The NES uses five-channel sound with one waveform assigned to each. There are two “square” waves, a “triangle” wave, and two other channels available for sound effects, often just static bursts. All sound is mono, which while limited could be put to very good use by quality composers. The Japanese Famicom had expansion slots allowing some cartridges to use extra sound chips(originally a function of the Famicom Disk System, which connected via the cart slot). This wasn’t included in the NES, meaning a handful of games came to the West with inferior sound compared to their Eastern counterparts.

The NES Control Deck released in North America and PAL territories was capable of outputting both RF and composite video. The original Japanese Famicom was RF-only. The second-generation “A/V Famicom,” released in 1993, had composite-only audio and video output. Curiously, the North American version of this remodeled NES (the top-loading NES 2) was only capable of RF video.

Hardware Variations

What To Look For When Buying

There’s the older, iconic Control Deck and the newer NES 2. For most, the Control Deck is the way to go. The NES 2 is highly sought after because of higher reliability and collectability factors, but can be expensive, especially if you’re buying online. The extra cost and inferior connections of the NES 2 are big negatives. On a purely aesthetic note, the NES “game paks” weren’t designed for the shorter form factor of a top-loading console, and so the carts look a bit odd sticking up out of the top of the machine (which is also the reason for the rounded cover on the slot, which you don’t see on the A/V Famicom). The older models can be finicky, but if you replace the 72 pin connector they will likely work perfectly. You can do this repair yourself, and most retro gaming shops worth their salt will be able to do it for you for a few bucks. The new connectors usually cost $8 to $10 bucks, much less than the cost of an NES 2 on eBay. The Control Decks can be cleaned fairly easily as well, which will improve reliability.

The best advice for buying an NES is to be sure you can test it yourself before purchasing if you’re paying any real amount of money for it. Make sure you don’t get a bunch of black screens and blinking power lights when trying to turn it on. If that’s the case the connection is likely shot. Also try to test the tray that holds the games and make sure it has a good amount of spring to it and isn’t worn out, as this can lead to poor connections. A good trick for getting a finicky game to play is to pop it up, and gently wiggle it back toward you slightly, enough so that it just barely clears the plastic edge below when you push it down. Blowing in the cart will only do so much good – you’re better off cleaning with some 90% rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. If you need to blow dust out do it at an angle so you’re not just blowing the dust — and your saliva — down into the cart.

Accessories

The NES had dozens of accessories, some truly useful and others truly odd. Here are some of the highlights, starting with the peripherals that are most worth your time and money.

Emulation

Even without owning the machine, it’s still possible to play the greats using Nintendo’s Virtual Console. But that’s just the beginning. Due to its popularity, there are a variety of ways to emulate NES games, for computers, consoles, and handhelds. Just take your pick:

Nester is an open-source NES emulator for Windows, which has recently had its source code uploaded on Sourceforge.net so public work can continue. It was originally designed in 1999 by Darren Ranalli, and released for public use in 2000. Large sections of the emulator were also written by Matthew Comte, and the project was intentionally designed for stability and ease of transfer to other formats. It was coded in C++. NesterJ is an unofficial version with expanded featuers.

NESticle was a DOS-based emulator designed by Icer Addis, cofounder of Bloodlust Software. Built using C++ and released in 1997 for DOS and Windows 95, it was a freeware product that caught on rapidly and was one of the first really popular NES emulators. Unfortunately for everyone, Addis’ servers were hacked and the source code was stolen in 1998. Addis decided to stop work on the program, and discontinued work on the emulator. NESticle was also well known for using a bloody, disembodied hand for a pointer, and an image of testicles for its Windows icon.

FCE Ultra is an incredibly widespread emulator for the NES, and functions in DOS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux X, while also being ported to the PSP, GP2X, and home consoles like the Nintendo Gamecube. Officially updates were stopped in 2004, but several modified versions have since appeared. In 2006 these were combined to form FCEUX, which is still being updated. The emulator offers save states, the ability to take screen shots, TCP/IP connectivity, and even a Game Genie Encoder.

Nestopia is another open source emulator. While originally put out for Windows, it has since found its way to Mac and Linux operating systems. It includes save states, the ability to “rewind,” controller emulation(including the Power Pad), built in Game Genie, netplay, the ability to record gameplay, and even accurate emulation of videos. It is still active.

Other emulators include It Might Be NES for the PlayStation, nesDS for Nintendo DS, iNES for iPod, Newtendo for the Apple Newton, NesterDC for the Dreamcast, and many more.

Racketboy Featured NES Emulation Guides

Affordability