Nintendo

• Years active 1985 — 1995
• Units sold 61.9M
• Launch price $179
• NA library 677 games
• Bit depth 8-bit

The Nintendo Entertainment System is Nintendo's first programmable home console, released in Japan as the Family Computer in 1983 and in North America in 1985. A third-generation system, it primarily competed with Sega's Master System and went on to dominate the market on both sides of the Pacific.

The NES is widely credited with single-handedly rebuilding the U.S. console market after the industry collapse of the early 1980s. Its strict third-party licensing program, symbolized by the gold Nintendo Seal of Quality, set the template for how every console maker that followed would gatekeep their library, for better and worse.

Fun fact Blowing on a stuck cartridge was actually bad for it. Moisture oxidized the gold contacts, and the flicker most kids fixed by huffing into the slot was caused by the front-loading ZIF socket's spring losing tension, not dirt on the cart.