Third generation of video game consoles
In the history of video games, the third generation of video game consoles, commonly referred to as the 8-bit era, began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of two systems: Nintendo's Family Computer and Sega's SG-1000. When the Famicom was released outside of Japan, it was remodeled and marketed as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This generation marked the end of the video game crash of 1983, and a shift in the dominance of home video game manufacturers from the United States to Japan. Handheld consoles were not a major part of this generation; the Game & Watch line from Nintendo and the Milton Bradley Microvision that were sold at the time are both considered part of the previous generation due to hardware typical of the second generation.
Videopac+ G7400 (1983)
My Vision (1983)
Family Computer Disk System (1986)
Atari XEGS (1987)
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (FC), commonly referred to as Famicom. It was redesigned to become the NES, which was released in American test markets on October 18, 1985, and was soon fully launched in North America and other regions.
The Famicom game console was at the Computer and Video Game Console Museum of Helsinki in 2012.
The proposed Advanced Video System bundle includes cassette drive and wireless accessories.
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy), an accessory for the NES's 1985 launch. Although it ended up having a short product lifespan, R.O.B. was initially used to market the NES as novel and sophisticated compared to previous game consoles.
The Nintendo Entertainment System's Control Deck