Peripheral Vision: Famicom Disk System

A quick look at Nintendo’s cool 8-bit add-on

» 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.

The unit itself is designed to complement the

Famicom’s design, with a maroon and black colour scheme and a flat top designed to support the main system. A battery compartment enabled the system to be powered by six C batteries if an AC outlet was unavailable. The black RAM adaptor acts as the interface between the disk unit and the console, and contains 32KB

RAM for disk caching and 8KB RAM for graphical data.

The bright yellow disks, based on the Quickdisk format, featured recessed ‘NINTENDO’ lettering that acted as a physical copy protection measure – albeit an ineffective one, as Famicom Disk System piracy was rampant.