The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game console is celebrating a birthday as it turned 30 years old on October 18, Sunday since its official North American launch three decades ago in 1985. It was rolled out along with classic Nintendo games including Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Kung Fu, Pinball, and the all-time best-selling NES video game (over 40 million units): Super Mario Bros. The 30th anniversary of Nintendo's NES spotlights how the gaming system with its Zapper gun and R.O.B. robot accessories paved the way for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 4, its own Wii U; and even AR and VR platforms.
The gaming system was not without its issues due to the tech limitations at launch. For example, players often had to slam the NES's top or blow into the cartridge when a game was malfunctioning, according to Tech Crunch. However, the gameplay made it the next-best-thing since the Atari 2600.
The NES was known in Japan as Family Computer (Famicom) during its 1983 rollout. While it was a huge success there, its American launch happened during the 1985 video game crash.
Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa had spent a few years finding distributors for the Nintendo Entertainment System. He had no luck.
Nintendo had originally made a distribution agreement with Atari. However, the deal fell through after Atari executives saw a version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong game run on Coleco's Adam computer during the 1983 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The Japanese company's undaunted big brass were willing to take a gamble. They shipped 100,000 NES units to the U.S. and planned a small October launch event in New York City, according to Kotaku.
The big problem was that retailers were not sure if the NES had enough selling points to earn big sales figures. Nintendo was forced to cut a deal with them. Toy stores and other retailers could stock units of the gaming console for free, and then pay for the number of pieces they sold.
From the NES's official launch date through the holiday shopping season the system sold between 50,000 and 90,000 units, while its nationwide release happened in 1986. The rest is video game history.
Here is a 1986 commercial for the NES Deluxe Set: