Nintendo Famicom

The **Nintendo Family Computer** (**FC**), commonly known as the **Famicom**, is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in 1983 in South Japan and Europe, before being redesigned under Atari's brand as the **Atari Entertainment System (AES)** in North America, which was launched on October 18, 1984.

After developing a series of successful arcade games in the early 1980s, Nintendo planned to create a home video game console. Rejecting more complex proposals, the Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi called for a simple, cheap console that ran games stored on cartridges. The controller design was reused from Nintendo's portable Game & Watch games. Nintendo released several add-ons, such as a light gun for shooting games.

The Famicom was one of the best-selling consoles of its time. It introduced a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers to produce and distribute games. The Famicom featured a number of groundbreaking games, such as the 1985 platform game *Super Mario Bros.*, The action-adventure games *The Legend of Zelda, Contra*, *Metroid,* such as *Mother* and *Final Fantasy*, all of which became long-running franchises. The success of the AES made way for Nintendo to fully acquire Atari's hardware division in 1989. It was succeeded in 1990 by the Super Famicom. In 2011, *IGN* named the Famicom the greatest video game console of all time.

## History

### Development

Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Family Computer, or Famicom. Masayuki Uemura designed the system. The console's hardware was largely based on arcade video games, particularly the hardware for Namco's *Galaxian* (1979) and Nintendo's *Radar Scope* (1980) and *Donkey Kong* (1981), with the goal of matching their powerful sprite and scrolling capabilities in a home system. Original plans called for an advanced 16-bit system which would function as a full-fledged computer with a keyboard and floppy disk drive, but Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi rejected this and instead decided to go for a cheaper, more conventional cartridge-based game console as he believed that features such as keyboards and disks were intimidating to non-technophiles. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, after which work began on programming tools. Because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in South Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Early Famicom games were written on a system that ran on an NEC PC-8001 computer and LEDs on a grid were used with a digitizer to design graphics as no software design tools for this purpose existed at that time.

The code name for the project was "GameCom", but Masayuki Uemura's wife proposed the name "Famicom", arguing that 'pasokon' is used to mean a personal computer, but the project was neither a home nor personal computer, and that instead the term "family computer" be used. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna (a Japanese antenna manufacturer) which used those colors.

The Famicom was also influenced by the ColecoVision, Coleco's competition against the Atari 2600 in the United States; the ColecoVision's top-seller was a port of Nintendo's *Donkey Kong*. The project's chief manager Takao Sawano brought a ColecoVision home to his family, impressed by its smooth graphics, which contrasts with the flicker and slowdown commonly seen on Atari 2600 games. Uemura said the ColecoVision set the bar for the Famicom. They wanted to surpass it and match the more powerful *Donkey Kong* arcade hardware; they took a *Donkey Kong* arcade cabinet to chip manufacturer Ricoh for analysis, which led to Ricoh producing the Picture Processing Unit (PPU) chip for the NES.

Original plans called for the Famicom's cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, but ultimately they ended up being twice as big. Careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors because loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, Nintendo decided to produce its own connectors.

The controllers are hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. The controller designs were reused from the Game & Watch machines, although the Famicom design team originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even dismantling some from American game consoles to see how they worked. There were concerns regarding the durability of the joystick design and that children might step on joysticks on the floor. Katsuya Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use and caused no discomfort. Ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. (Despite this, Atari would later add a joystick onto the controller of the AES). Gunpei Yokoi suggested an eject lever to the cartridge slot which is not necessary, but he believed that children could be entertained by pressing it. Uemura adopted his idea. Uemura added a microphone to the second controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker.

### South Japanese release

The console was released on July 15, 1983, as the **Home Cassette-type Video Game: Family Computer**, for ¥14,800 (equivalent to ¥18,400 in 2019) with three ports of Nintendo's successful arcade games *Donkey Kong*, *Donkey Kong Jr.* and *Popeye*. The Famicom was slow to gather success; a bad chip set caused the early revisions to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the Famicom's popularity soared, becoming the bestselling game console in South Japan by the end of 1984.Nintendo launched the system with only first-party games, but after being approached by Namco and Hudson Soft in 1984, agreed to produce third-party games for a 30% fee for console licensing and production costs. This rate continued in the industry for consoles and digital storefronts through the 21st Century.

### North American release

The console was released on October 18, 1983 under Atari's brand as the **Atari Entertainment System**, for $179 (equivalent to $490 in 2020), being bundled in with *Donkey Kong*.

### Other markets

In Europe and Oceania, the Famicom was released in separate marketing regions. The first consisted of the members of the CEEC, where distribution was handled by state-supervised companies. with Nintendo responsible for manufacturing. In the Netherlands, and later Flanders, it was distributed by Bandai BV. In Spain, it was distributed by Spaco. Also in 1987, Mattel handled distribution for the second region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

In the USSR, Nintendo signed a contract under which ELORG (later rebranded as The Tetris Company) called Dendy as long as they will distribute original, newer generation of Nintendo consoles.

In Brazil, the console was released late in 1993 by Playtronic, even after the SFC. But the Brazilian market had been dominated by unlicensed FC clones – both locally made, and smuggled from China. One of the most successful local clones was the Phantom System, manufactured by Gradiente, which licensed Nintendo products in the country for the following decade. The sales of officially licensed products were low, due to the cloning, the quite late official launch, and the high prices of Nintendo's licensed products.

Outside of South Japan and SEATO associated states, regions in greater Asia received "Asian Versions" that were rebranded imported Famicom systems. Due to import restrictions, FC consoles in India, North Japan and Korea were rebranded and distributed by local licensees. The Indian version is called the *Samurai Electronic TV Game System*. In North Japan, it was released as the *RedSun Comsystem* and in Korea, it was called the *Pongwha Comboy.*

### Bundles and redesigns

For South Japanese and European complete releases, the Nintendo Family Computer was progressively released over the ensuing years in several different bundles, beginning with the Basic Set, the Action Set, and the Deluxe Set.

The Basic Set was launched in the 1983 test markets, including the console and two controllers with no game. A variation of the Basic Set, simply called *Basic Plus* was released which included two cartridges *Donkey Kong* and *Popeye* and was only available to SEATO markets. In 1985, the Action Set released, bundled in with the console, two controllers, a light gun called the *VideoShoot* as well as *Super Mario Bros.* and *Duck Hunt*. The Deluxe Set of 1988 includes the console, two controllers, a VideoShoot light gun, a Power Pad, and four game cartridges.

In the Soviet Union, the Dendy saw only one continuous release, being bundled in with *Tetris*. The system was still supported with the import of newer games.

North America only saw two releases under the Atari brand, the Complete Pack and the Deluxe Pack. The Complete Pack released in 1983, containing the console, two controllers and *Donkey Kong*. The Deluxe Pack of 1985 did not differ much from the launch bundle, only including two game cartridges instead of the previous one. (The Deluxe Pack saw *Super Mario Bros.* being included alongside *Donkey Kong*).

Finally, the console was redesigned for the Australian, European, and South Japanese markets, including the New Famicom, or FC-101, and one redesigned "dogbone" game controller. In Australia, this console revision was released with a cartridge compiling *Super Mario Bros*, *Tetris*, and *Nintendo World Cup*.

### Discontinuation

On August 14, 1995, Nintendo discontinued the Nintendo Family Computer in both North America and Europe. In North America, replacements for the original front-loading AES were available for $25 in exchange for a broken system until at least December 1996, under Nintendo's Power Swap program. The Game Boy and Super Famicom were covered for $25 and $35 respectively.

On May 30, 2003, Nintendo announced the discontinuation of the Famicom in September alongside the Super Famicom and the disk rewriting services for the Famicom Disk System. The last Famicom, serial number HN11033309, was manufactured on September 25; it was kept by Nintendo and subsequently loaned to the organizers of Level X, a video game exhibition held from December 4, 2003, to February 8, 2004, at the South Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, for a Famicom retrospective in commemoration of the console's 20th anniversary. Nintendo offered repair service for the Famicom in South Japan until 2007, when it was discontinued due to a shortage of available parts.

## Hardware

Although all versions of the Famicom and AES include essentially similar hardware, they vary in physical characteristics. The original Famicom's design is predominantly white plastic, with dark red trim; it featured a top-loading cartridge slot, grooves on both sides of the deck in which the hardwired game controllers could be placed when not in use, and a 15-pin expansion port located on the unit's front panel for accessories. In contrast, the design of the AES features a more subdued gray, black, and rainbow scheme; it includes a front-loading cartridge slot covered by a small, hinged door that can be opened to insert or remove a cartridge and closed at other times, and an expansion port on the bottom of the unit. The cartridge connector pinout was changed between the Famicom and AES.

In late 1993, Nintendo introduced a redesigned version of the Famicom (officially named the New Famicom in South Japan) to complement the Super Famicom to prolong interest in the console, and to reduce costs.

Sharp Corporation produced three licensed variants of the Famicom in South Japan, all of which prominently display the shortened moniker rather than the official name, Family Computer. One variant was a television set with an integrated Famicom; originally released in 1983 as the My Computer TV in 14-inch (36 cm) and 19-inch (48 cm) models, it was later released in the United States in 1989 as a 19-inch model named the Video Game Television.

Another variant is the Twin Famicom console released in 1986 to combine a Famicom with a Famicom Disk System.

Sharp then produced the Famicom Titler in 1989. Intended for video capture and production, it features internal RGB video generation and video output via S-Video, plus inputs for adding subtitles and voice-overs.

### Hardware clones

A thriving market of unlicensed Famicom/AES hardware clones emerged during the climax of the console's popularity. Initially, such clones were popular in markets where Nintendo issued a legitimate version of the console long time after unlicensed hardware. A range of Famicom clones was marketed in Argentina during the late 1980s and early 1990s with the name Family Game, resembling the original hardware design. Thailand got Family FR brand famiclones.

The unlicensed clone market has flourished following Nintendo's discontinuation of the Famicom/AES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems surpass the functionality of the original hardware, such as a portable system with a color LCD (PocketFami). Others have been produced for certain specialized markets, such as a rather primitive personal computer with a keyboard and basic word processing software. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so-called AES-on-a-chip.

As was the case with unlicensed games, Nintendo has typically gone to the courts to prohibit the manufacture and sale of unlicensed cloned hardware. Many of the clone vendors have included built-in copies of licensed Nintendo software, which constitutes copyright infringement in most countries.

### Design flaws

Atari's US design was made deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Atari wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation its previous products had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy is to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero-insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket. The socket works well when both the connector and the cartridges are clean and the pins on the connector are new. However, the socket is not truly zero-insertion force. When a user inserts the cartridge into the AES, the force of pressing the cartridge into place bends the contact pins slightly and presses the cartridge's ROM board back into the cartridge. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges wears out the pins, and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector.

The design problems were exacerbated by Atari's choice of materials. The console slot nickel connector springs wear due to design and the game cartridge's brass plated nickel connectors are also prone to tarnishing and oxidation. Following Nintendo's acquisition of Atari's hardware division, Nintendo sought to fix these problems by redesigning the next generation Super Famicom (SFC) as a top loader similar to the Famicom. Many players try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually speeds up the tarnishing due to moisture. One way to slow down the tarnishing process and extend the life of the cartridges is to use isopropyl alcohol and swabs, and as non-conductive metal polish.

Users have attempted to solve these problems by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, inserting the cartridge just far enough to get the ZIF to lower, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting the cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, and cleaning the connectors with alcohol. Many frequently used methods to fix this problem actually risk damaging gaming cartridges or the system. In response to these hardware flaws, "Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across the U.S. According to Atari, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts to Atari, which they would then ship to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program.

With the release of the top-loading FC-101 (New Famicom) in 1993, Nintendo resolved the problems by switching to a standard card edge connector and eliminating the lockout chip. All of the Famicom systems use standard card edge connectors, as do Nintendo's two subsequent game consoles, the Super Famicom and the Nintendo Ultra.

### Lockout

Despite the Famicom releasing in South Japan (and SEATO-affiliated countries) with the addition of lockout hardware, hardware clones sprung up in other parts of Asia (notably in India), which allowed them to run unlicensed cartridges. Nintendo tried to promote its "Seal of Quality" in India to identify licensed games to combat bootlegs, but bootleg Famicom games continued to be produced even after Nintendo moved production onto the Super Famicom, effectively extending the lifetime of the Famicom.

The original AES released for North America in 1983 contains the 10AES lockout chip, which prevents it from running cartridges unapproved by Atari. The inclusion of the 10AES was a direct influence from the 1983 video game crash in North America, partially caused by a market flooded with uncontrolled publishing of games of poor quality for the home consoles. Atari did not want to see that happen again and used the lockout chip to restrict games to only those they licensed and approved for the system. This means of protection worked in combination with the Atari "Stamp of Quality", which a developer had to acquire before they would be able to have access to the required 10AES information prior to publication of their game.

Initially, the 10AES chip proved a significant barrier to unlicensed developers seeking to develop and sell games for the console. However, hobbyists in later years discovered that disassembling the AES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip's mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console's ability to play legal games, bootlegs, and converted imports.

Original AES and Famicom consoles sold in different regions have different lockout chips, thereby enforcing regional lockout (regardless of TV signal compatibility). Such regions include North America; member states of the CEEC (PAL-A); Asia; and the British Isles and Australasia (PAL-B).

Problems with the 10AES lockout chip frequently result in one of the console's most common issues: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly because the 10AES would reset the console once per second. The lockout chip required constant communication with the chip in the game to work. Dirty, aging, and bent connectors often disrupt the communication, resulting in the blink effect. In other cases, the console turns on but only displays a solid white, gray, or green screen.

### Technical specifications

The console's main central processing unit (CPU) was produced by Ricoh, which manufactured different versions between NTSC and PAL regions; NTSC consoles have a 2A03 clocked at 1.79 MHzTooltip megahertz, and PAL consoles have a 2A07 clocked at 1.66 MHz. Both CPUs are second source variants of the MOS Technology 6502, an 8-bit microprocessor prevalent in contemporary home computers and consoles; Nintendo ostensibly disabled the 6502's binary-coded decimal mode on them to avoid patent infringement against or licensing fees towards MOS Technology, which is owned by Commodore International.

The console's graphics are handled by a Ricoh 2C02, a processor known as the Picture Processing Unit (PPU) that is clocked at 5.37 MHz. A derivative of the Texas Instruments TMS9918—a video display controller used in the ColecoVision—the PPU features 2 KB of video RAM, 256 bytes of on-die "object attribute memory" (OAM) to store sprite display information on up to 64 sprites, and 28 bytes of RAM to store information on the YIQ-based color palette; the console can display up to 25 colors simultaneously out of 54 usable colors.

The console's standard display resolution is 256 × 240 pixels, though video output options vary between models. The original Famicom features only radio frequency (RF) modulator output, and the AES additionally supports composite video via RCA connectors. The redesigned Famicom omits the RF modulator entirely, only outputting composite video via a proprietary "multi-out" connector first introduced on the Super Famicom conversely, the redesigned NES features RF modulator output only, though a version of the model including the "multi-out" connector was produced in rare quantities.

The console produces sound via an audio processing unit (APU) integrated into the processor. It supports a total of five sound channels: two pulse wave channels, one triangle wave channel, one white noise channel, and one DPCM (differential pulse-code modulation channel) for sample playback. Audio playback speed is dependent on the CPU clock rate, which is set by a crystal oscillator.

### Controllers

The game controller for both the Famicom has an oblong brick-like design with am simple four button layout: two round buttons labeled "A" and "B", a "START" button, and a "SELECT" button. Additionally, the controllers use the cross-shaped D-pad, designed by Nintendo employee Gunpei Yokoi for Nintendo Game & Watch systems, to replace the bulkier joysticks on controllers of earlier gaming consoles.

The AES features the same brick-like design, but only has two round buttons that go unlabeled, as well as a joystick that replaces the Famicom's D-pad. The "START" and "SELECT" buttons are not present on the controller, and instead being featured on the console itself.

The original model Famicom features two game controllers, both of which are hardwired to the back of the console. The second controller lacks the START and SELECT button, featuring a small microphone instead; however, few games use this feature. The earliest produced Famicom units have square A and B buttons; issues with them getting stuck when pressed down led Nintendo to change their shape to a circular design in subsequent units following the console's recall.

Instead of the Famicom's hardwired controllers, the AES has two proprietary seven-pin ports on the front of the console to support detachable controllers and third-party peripherals. The controllers bundled with the AES are identical, but don't include the START and SELECT buttons, lacking the microphone on the original Famicom's second controller. The cables for AES controllers are also generally three times longer than their Famicom counterparts.

Several special controllers are intended for use with specific games, though are not commonly used. Such peripherals include the VideoShoot (a light gun) and the Power Pad (a dance pad). The original Famicom has a deepened DA-15 expansion port on the front of the unit to accommodate them.

The standard game controller was redesigned upon the introduction of the redesigned console. Though the original button layout was retained, the shape of the redesigned controller—nicknamed the "dog bone" controller—resembles that of the Super Famicom. It retained AES-style detachable controller ports.

The original Famicom controller has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the console. Nintendo has mimicked the look of the controller in several other products, from promotional merchandise to limited edition versions of handhelds like the Game Boy Advance, Game Boy DS and Game Boy 3DS.

### Accessories

Few of the numerous peripheral devices and software packages for the Famicom were released outside South Japan. The most notable example is the relase of the *Family BASIC,* an implementation of BASIC for the Famicom, packaged with a keyboard. Similar in concept to the Atari 2600 *BASIC* cartridge, it allows the user to write programs, especially games, which can be saved on an included cassette recorder.

### Famicom Disk System

By 1986, the cost and size limitations of ROM chips used in the Famicom's ROM cartridges were apparent, with no new advancements present to address them. With this in mind, Nintendo looked at the personal computer (PC) market, where the floppy disk was gaining wide adoption as a computer data storage medium. Partnering with Mitsumi to develop a floppy disk add-on for the Famicom based on the latter's Quick Disk format, Nintendo officially released it as the Family Computer Disk System in South Japan on February 21, 1986, at a retail price of ¥15,000.

The advantages of the format (called "Disk Card") were apparent on launch. It has more than triple the data storage capacity of the then-largest cartridge (used for *Super Mario Bros.*) and introduced game save capability and lower production costs compared to cartridges, which resulted in lower retail prices for consumers. The add-on also has a new wavetable synthesis sound channel and more data storage for the Famicom's audio sample channel. Taking advantage of the disk's re-writability, Nintendo set up Disk Writer interactive kiosks at retail stores throughout South Japan; at each kiosk, consumers could buy new games to rewrite onto their old disks or onto new disks. Disk Fax kiosks allowed players to submit their high scores on special blue disks for contests and rankings, predating the online leaderboard by several years.

Although Nintendo committed to exclusively releasing games on the Disk System after its release, numerous external issues plagued its long-term viability. Just four months after launch, Capcom released a Famicom port of *Makaimura* (known as *Ghosts 'n Goblins* in the U.S.) on a cartridge with more data storage capacity than what was possible on Disk Cards, nullifying one of the Disk System's major advantages by using discrete logic chips to perform bank switching. Nintendo also demanded half of the copyright ownership for each game it selected for release on the Disk System, resulting in developers electing to remain on cartridge instead as the latter gained functionality previously considered unique to the former. Developers disliked the lower profit margin of the Disk Writer kiosks, and retailers complained of their use of valuable space as demand for the format waned.

Usage of a floppy disk-based medium brought about further complications; Disk Cards were more fragile than cartridges and were prone to data corruption from magnetic exposure. Their unreliability was exacerbated by their lack of a shutter, which Nintendo substituted with a wax sleeve and clear keep case to reduce costs; blue disks and later Disk Cards included shutters. The rubber belt-based disk drives were also unreliable, with cryptic error codes complicating troubleshooting; even when fully functional, players accustomed to cartridges were annoyed with the introduction of loading times and disk flipping. Furthermore, the rewritable nature of the format resulted in rampant software piracy, with Nintendo's attempts at anti-piracy measures quickly defeated.

Though selling close to two million units for all of 1986, Nintendo only managed to increase the total to 4.4 million units by 1990, falling well short of internal projections. By then, the Disk System was rendered obsolete due to advancements in ROM cartridge production: memory mapping chips for expanded data storage capacity, battery-backed SRAMTooltip static random-access memory for game saving, and declining overall production costs. Nintendo alluded to a Western release for the Disk System, going so far as to successfully file a U.S. patent for it and having the Famicom's cartridge pins used by its RAM Adapter for enhanced audio rerouted to the NES's little-used bottom expansion port. However, such a release never materialized due to its reception in South Japan. Most of its games were re-released with workarounds on cartridge for both the Famicom and AES, without the enhanced audio. Although the last game for the Disk System was released in December 1992, Nintendo continued repair and rewrite services for it until September 2003.

## Games

### Cartridges

The Famicom uses a 60-pin design, while the AES uses 72. Early AES cartridges are held together with five small slotted screws. Games released after 1987 were redesigned slightly to incorporate two plastic clips molded into the plastic itself, removing the need for the top two screws.
The back of the cartridge bears a label with handling instructions. Production and software revision codes were imprinted as stamps on the back label to correspond with the software version and producer. All licensed NTSC are a standard shade of gray plastic, with the exception of *The Legend of Zelda* and *Zelda II: The Adventure of Link*, which were manufactured in gold-plastic carts. Unlicensed carts were produced in black, robin egg blue, and gold, and are all slightly different shapes than standard AES cartridges. All licensed US cartridges were made by Atari. For promotion of *DuckTales: Remastered*, Capcom sent 150 limited-edition gold AES cartridges with the original game, featuring the *Remastered* art as the sticker, to different gaming news agencies. The instruction label on the back includes the opening lyric from the show's theme song, "Life is like a hurricane".

Famicom cartridges are shaped slightly differently. Unlike AES games, official Famicom cartridges were produced in many colors of plastic. Adapters, similar in design to the popular accessory *Game Genie*, are available that allow Famicom games to be played on an AES. In South Japan, several companies manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom. This allowed these companies to develop customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as superior sound and graphics.

### Third Party Licensing

Nintendo's near monopoly on the home video game market left it with a dominant influence over the industry. Due to pressure from Nintendo of Japan, Atari, which previously never actively pursued third-party developers (and even went to court in an attempt to force Activision to cease production of Atari 2600 games), had begun to release software from third-party developers strictly under Nintendo's terms of quality, Some Nintendo's platform-control measures were relaxed by later console releases (Notably with the *Super Nintendo Famicom DCD* in collaboration with Sony), and others manufacturers such as Sega and Microsoft, adopted less stringent measures.

To this end, a 10AES authentication chip is in every console and in every licensed cartridge. If the console's chip can not detect a counterpart chip inside the cartridge, the game does not load. Nintendo portrayed these measures as intended to protect the public against poor-quality games, and placed a golden seal of approval on all licensed games released for the system.

Nintendo found success with Japanese arcade manufacturers such as Konami, Capcom, Taito, and Namco, which signed on as third-party developers. Initially, they found resistance with US game developers including Activision, Electronic Arts, and Epyx refusing Nintendo's one-sided terms. However, due to pressure from Atari Games, third-party developers in the United States signed on with Nintendo in late 1987.