Entering a crowded field, the Nintendo Famicom came to dominate the market in the 1980s, leaving a family orientated legacy that continues to be felt today
When the Nintendo Famicom, known abroad as the Nintendo Entertainment System, was launched on 15 July 1983, it entered a market crowded with formidable rivals. Six other consoles were released in Japan that year, including the Sega SG-1000, which arrived on the same day and would later be redesigned as the Master System in the west. Also in the running were the My Vision from Nichibutsu, the Pyuta Jr. from Tomy and the PV-1000 from Casio – all major consumer electronics manufacturers. But it was the Famicom that became a sales phenomenon, shifting more than 2.5m units by the end of 1984 and completely dominating the Japanese games industry.
When it was redesigned as the NES and launched in the US in 1985, it revitalised the country’s flagging games sector after an infamous crash a few years earlier. Its reach was truly global: even in markets where the console wasn’t officially launched, bootlegged versions were rife. The Famicom is by far the most copied console of all time, and so called “Famiclones” are still being made now.
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