Games Industry Wire

Nintendo pulls the plug on the Famicom, Super Nintendo, N64 and Gameboy

by Kiven on October 18th, 2007

It has been reported that Nintendo of Japan is finally ceasing hardware support for the Famicom system (the Japanese equivalent of the NES) as of October 31st. With all the news of Sega finally ending support on the Dreamcast consoles this past year, it is amazing to think that Nintendo has carried on the Famicom system for this long.

According to the report, Itmedia cites the company as stating that the necessary parts for repairs have become increasingly difficult to obtain. IMHO? About freaking time. The Famicom was the one that boosted my interest in gaming when i was young and it desrves to ride into the sunset as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) consoles of all time.

Also mentioned in the report, Nintendo of Japan is also ending their support for the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom), Nintendo 64, Gameboy, and Gameboy Pocket lines.

There is a silver lining however (according to Nintendo). With the Wii Virtual Console allowing for downloadable releases of classic NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games, you’ll be able to continue enjoying the games long after the original systems have died. Unfortunately, this doesn’t take into account needing to buy the games a second time and also the fact that the library selection pales in comparison to the full libraries of the host systems, but we can’t win all the battles, right?

Good night Famicom, you started a revolution and are to this day a solid workhorse that has inspired two generations of gamers.

Source

Related Stories

• Nintendo’s Winning Strategy
• Japanese Sales statistics for current consoles
• Nintendo Releases New Super Mario Bros on the DS

POSTED IN: Industry News, N64, Nintendo