NES / Famicom
The console that revived home gaming
- 1983Released
- 3rdGeneration
- NintendoDeveloper
NES / Famicom Specifications
- Processor
- Ricoh 2A03
- Picture Processing Unit
- RP2C02
- Picture Processing Unit Speed
- 1.79 MHz
- RAM
- 16Kbit (2 Kib)
- Video RAM
- 16 Kbit (2 KiB)
- Colors Available
- 54
- Max Colors on Screen
- 25
- Max Sprites
- 64
- Max Sprites per Scan Line
- 8
- Max Sprite Size
- 8 x 8 or 8 x 16 pixels
Overview
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), known in Japan as the Famicom, is an 8-bit video game console designed and manufactured by Nintendo. It is widely credited with reviving the American video game industry after the crash of 1983.
The NES launched some of Nintendo’s most popular series, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. It also saw the birth of Capcom’s Mega Man, Konami’s Castlevania, Square’s Final Fantasy and Enix’s Dragon Quest series (Square and Enix later merged to form Square Enix). All of these franchises are still going today.
The NES also changed how console makers worked with third-party developers: games could only be published with Nintendo’s approval under its licensing programme. This gave Nintendo control over the quality of the games released for the system, which helped restore public confidence in home consoles.
The console is no longer manufactured, but it has been emulated to the point where almost all of its hardware behaviour has been reproduced. Accuracy-focused emulators such as Nestopia emulate the hardware cycle by cycle, so what appears on screen should match what the original console produced.
Key Features
Revived Home Gaming
Credited with reviving the American industry after the 1983 crash.
Legendary Series
Launched Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.
Licensing Programme
Games needed Nintendo's approval, keeping quality under control.
Sprite Graphics
Up to 64 sprites and 25 colours on screen from 54.
Advertisement
NES / Famicom Emulators
Which one to pick
Known forA multi-system emulator that began on the NES, with a debugger and tools for homebrew development and ROM hacking.
Known forThe maintained continuation of Nestopia, with its cycle-accurate core, Famicom Disk System and VS. System emulation.
Known forAn all-in-one emulator with tools for debugging, ROM hacking and map making, tool-assisted movie recording and Lua scripting.
Known forCycle-accurate timing and support for most mappers, so it runs almost every NES game. It also emulates the Master System.
Known forEmulates the NES down to its hardware quirks, with mappers loaded from separate DLL files, a debugger and movie recording.
Known forA Qt emulator with wide mapper support that also plays NSF music files, plus virtual Family BASIC and Subor keyboards.
Known forA multi-system emulator that puts accuracy and preservation first, covering the NES and Famicom Disk System among many other consoles.
Known forAn emulator by Project64 developer Jabo with high compatibility, Zapper support and online play through Kaillera.
In short
Mesen is a good place to start on Windows, Linux or macOS, and its debugger and tools also suit homebrew and ROM hacking. Nestopia UE keeps the original Nestopia’s cycle-accurate core, with releases for Windows, macOS and Linux. FCEUX is the one for tool-assisted movies, Lua scripting and ROM hacking. On Windows, Nemulator and Nintendulator both aim for exact hardware behaviour. puNES doubles as an NSF music player, ares covers the NES among many other systems, and Jnes offers online play on Windows and Android.
