Articles tagged with: nestopia

State of NES Emulation

Niemann on Wednesday, 23 December 2009. Posted in Opinion

In 1983 the world of console gaming changed with the introduction of the Family Computer from Nintendo.  The Famicom (Family Computer) didn't find its way to North America, Europe, and Australia until 1985 as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES); and singlehandedly ended the video game dark ages.  Today the Nintendo Entertainment System still ranks in the top ten of best-selling video game systems, and is by far the most emulated video game system.

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Nintendo standardized the practice of producing the hardware and a small collection of software for their system, while licensing third-party developers to also produce games.  This gave the NES a huge software collection, launching the franchises of Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest.  Individual classics include Duck Hunt, Golf, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Baseball, Tetris, and Excitebike.