Nintendo Entertainment System
In 1983, Nintendo, a relatively small arcade company, released the Family Computer (Famicom for short) in Japan. It ended up selling really good, but Nintendo kept it in Japan. Nintendo then thought about using Atari, who was dominating the North American video game market, to distribute the system. Plans changed though when the Video game crash of 1983 happened. The crash was because of too many consoles, poorly made games, and bad business practices. All the gaming companies began to lose money, and everyone in North America stopped buying video games. Nintendo, though, still thought they could have a chance to bring the Famicom to North America. In early 1985, at an electronics show, they showed off the Advanced Video System, which looked more futuristic, used wireless controllers, and looked much different than other gaming consoles. It received a lot of attention, but no one bought anything. Nintendo then renamed the system the Nintendo Entertainment System and made it look like a VCR. In October 1985, Nintendo decided to rent a small warehouse in New York City and quietly launched the console. Nintendo wasn't sure if it would work, but released it anyway. Some launch titles were Super Mario Bros., various sports games, and ported arcade games like Donkey Kong. It also came packaged with R.O.B. the Robot. It would turn out to be a huge success, and the gaming industry was revived. It would sell over 60 million units. The console after it was called the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and it launched in 1991, but the NES would still be supported until 1995.