Footnotes: Nintendo's Advanced Video System

Back in 1985, Nintendo released the console we all know and love, the Nintendo Entertainment System. Ah, such great memories with the toaster. Blowing on the cartridges, catching them on the edge, replacing corroded pins....ok so maybe the NES wasn't brilliantly designed. But it worked, and people loved it. The NES went on to sell 61 million units worldwide and is currently Nintendo's best selling console (although the Wii is following closely behind).

The NES came out in 1985, but it's incarnation in Japan, the Famicom, was released 2 years earlier in 1983. During the 2 year span between the two systems, Nintendo was trying to find a way to bring the Famicom over to the United States. Lance Barr was hired to redesign the Famicom for America, and here is what he came up with.



This is the Advanced Video System! It premiered in 1984 at the Consumer Electronics Show. It had a keyboard, zapper gun, controllers, joystick, and even a cassette player. Not to mention all the controllers were wireless (thanks to infrared technology). While people were impressed with the AVS, no one wanted to purchase it. Remember, this was right after the video game crash, so memories of Atari were still fresh in peoples minds. Luckily the NES was redesigned to look like the toaster, given ROB the Robot, and sold as a toy!

I was able to snap a shot of the AVS last year when I visited New York City. You can view it on display at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Plaza, as well as many other cool items.