Overview
In 1986 the videogame market was considered dead. A glut of cheap, mostly terrible software had flooded the market in 1984, causing gamers to abandon ship in droves (leading to the Great Videogame Crash). Suddenly, a beacon of hope appeared on the horizon. Nintendo, a Japanese company who had successfully run its "Game & Watch" line of handhelds for some time, launched a new "entertainment system" that was not only more powerful than anything before it, but the catalyst which re-launched the market into what we have today. Re-branded from its Japanese name of "Famicom" (short for "Family Computer"), this futuristic-looking machine was one of the faces of the 80s, a system just about everyone has played at some point, and one remembered fondly by many gamers to this date.

The NES was what made Nintendo who they are today. Around 80% of the market became theirs as people flocked to this new machine, which boasted better games and superior graphical capabilities to the competition of its time (namely the Atari systems). It even held off competition from technically superior consoles such as Sega's Master System and the Atari 7800. Even today, "Nintendo" is a by-word for videogames no matter who they're made by, a fitting testament to the king of the 8-bit era.

Models
The original NES was itself a remodel of Nintendo's Japanese version of it, the Famicom. Internally these systems were the same, although with regional lockouts and totally different appearances. The Famicom was rejected by US retailers who thought it looked too much like a toy, and not to be taken seriously. They also wanted to distance themselves from the 'dead' videogame market.

This led Nintendo to redesign the system as a futuristic-looking "Entertainment system" - not games console. This, as we know now, was a success. From the VCR-style method of loading cartridges (or "Game Paks" as Nintendo calls them to this day) to the overall appearance of the system, we get the impression of more than just a games machine.

NES, original design

By 1993, the SNES had been launched to great success, but there were still NES gamers clinging onto their beloved system. In order to wring as much as they could out of their supposedly dead system, a new NES was launched, featuring a totally different case design whilst retaining 100% compatibility with all peripherals and games. However, by 1994, the system was officially pronounced dead by Nintendo, although in Japan they have only just ceased production.

Technical Specifications
CPU: An 8-bit customised Motorola 6502 running at 1.79Mhz.
RAM: 2Kb internal memory, plus 2Kb video memory.
Screen resolution: 256x240
Total colours: 52
Maximum on-screen colours: 16
Maximum sprites: 64
Maximum sprites (per line): 8
Sprite size: 8x8 or 8x16

Some Game Paks came with additional on-board chips designed to take some of the weight off the CPU, as well as adding additional features. One example of this was Super Mario Bros. 3, which featured a chip allowing simultaneous horizontal and vertical scrolling.

Accessories
The NES had a host of accessories released by Nintendo from day 1, and more were added throughout the system's lifetime. They were:
Controller: The famous Nintendo D-pad makes it's popular debut. Featuring the pad itself, A and B buttons, plus Start and Select, this pad was excellent, if a little angular (the pad itself was rectangular). It was redesigned to match the SNES pad (itself designed upon the NES') for the system's 1993 relaunch, but the original will always be the best.
Zapper: The obligatory lightgun for the NES was the Zapper. It did the job, 'nuff said really.
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy): It's a robot! It works with the NES! It... only can be used with two games. Excited yet? Few were. Confusing to set up and use, it was supposed to follow commands inputted into your NES in compatible software. It probably wasn't worth the effort in assembling it.
NES MAX: An alternative controller using a cycloid instead of a D-pad. Puportedly better than the standard controller, but then again, nowhere near as nostalgic.
NES Satellite: A multi-tap allowing up to four players to play at once. Ver' cool. This thing needed 6 'C' batteries to use, for which you got 180 hours' worth of play (it used a receiver to pick up signals from the satellite, hence the huge power requirement). Of course, the thing only worked 100% of the time with official Nintendo controllers, so be careful what you plug in.
Family Fun Fitness: If this isn't the first "dance mat"-style controller, we don't know what is. 8 'buttons' on the mat provide control for an amazing one game pak (although, to be fair, this was a 5-in-one), Athletic World. This wasn't very popular, and production was ceased early on.