Christmas Past: More NES Games Quiz

Answer:

The Nintendo Entertainment System, made by Nintendo, was originally released in Japan in 1983, and called the Family Computer, or Famicom. It was not until 1985 that it was released in the United States. Who doesn't remember playing all those great Nintendo arcade games, like "Donkey Kong" in the early 1980s? The company decided to capitalize on their success and market a home version of their games.

Altogether there were 1395 officially licensed games that were made for both the NES and Family Computer systems. While that sounds like an enormous number - and it is - it must be remembered that some of the games were released exclusively in certain areas. For example, 681 of the games were only released in Japan. Seventy-five of the games sold at least a million copies.

All of the NES games were not developed or published by Nintendo; Capcom, Konami, and Tose are also well known companies of developers. The three most popular franchises of the NES include "Super Mario", "Dragon Quest", and "The Legend of Zelda". "Super Mario Bros." sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and is considered to be one of the best-selling games in its genre of all time.

As the technology improved in the late 1980s, other popular game systems were released, and Nintendo tried to keep up with the market by releasing the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, and the Super Famicom in Japan and South Korea. With a decline in sales, the NES was discontinued in North America in 1995. It must be mentioned, however, that in 2016 the company introduced the NES Classic Edition, which is a smaller version of the first console that features thirty games.

Nintendo released its Switch in early 2017. The incorrect choices are games that were planned for exclusive release with the Nintendo Switch system.