US Debut

Nintendo continued to search for distributors for their console and in 1985, Mr. Arakawa (president at Nintendo of America) managed to persuade one retailer to release it as a test in New York... and you know the rest, don't you? Within 10 years of the release in August, 1985, the NES sold around 30 million copies in the US only, and had approximately 90% of the 8-bit market!

At first the NES was sold for 249 dollars in a package (The Original Set) consisting of: The Control Deck, 2 controllers, The Zapper Lightgun, a strange toy called ROB (Robotic Operation Buddy) and the games Duck Hunt and Gyromite. Soon, Nintendo decided to change this set and release the simpler Action Set (sold for $199.) It didn't offer ROB and Gyromite, but instead a platform game was thrown in. The game was the first and arguably the greatest scroller ever - Super Mario Bros. This was definately the most successful of all later NES sets!

The Power Set was like the Action Set but with a new improved controller called the Power Pad and a new NES game called World Class Track Meet.
Around 1990-1991, Nintendo, in fear that the public had lost their interest in the NES, released two new sets: The Basic Set including only the control deck and 2 controllers and the Sport Set, including everything that The Basic Set did, plus the 4 player adapter NES Satellite and a double gamepack: Super Spike V' Ball and World Cup Soccer.