Famicom Disk System
» PLATFORM: Famicom » RELEASED: 1986
» COST: ¥15,000 (LAUNCH), £45+ (TODAY, BOXED), £30+ (TODAY, UNBOXED)
While Nintendo has often been associated with ROM cartridges, it did have a problem with them in the mid‐Eighties – they were prone to supply shortages and expensive to make, especially for larger games. The solution was the Famicom Disk System. Its 112KB floppy disks offered more storage space and a significant cost reduction, and players could even write new games to their disks at dedicated in-store kiosks for as little as ¥500. Though Nintendo abstained from producing any new games on cartridge for two years, other publishers, like Namco, didn’t make the jump, and the new format was in decline by 1988 and finally discontinued in 1990.