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The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released on October 18th, 1985 in the United States of America, the European and Canadian launches in 1986 and the Austrailian in 1987. In Japan the console is known as the Family Computer System (Famicom) which was released July 15th, 1983. The first home console by Nintendo was 8-bit and released after the Video Game Market Crash of 1983. Nintendo at the time was just a small and unknown company, no body really thought they could pull it off. When in the thought process of the NES, Nintendo had to convince retailers and buyers that it's not just a gaming system. What Nintendo did was include R.O.B. the Robot, a requirement in playing Gyromite, and the Zapper Gun which was for Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley. When the NES was released, it was a hit. Games like Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt really helped with sales. Nintendo had a small rival come out of the blue in 1986. The Sega Master System (SMS, sold under the name of Mark 3 at first) was also a 8-bit console and looking to rival Nintendo in sales. With Nintendo being large at the time and the library of games, Sega couldnt make a super big dent until 1989 when the Sega Genesis was released. The Sega Genesis had higher graphics than the NES (16-bits) and Sega really started to dent Nintendo. Nintendo in 1991 released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) to compete in a 16-bit war with the Genesis. Life still wasn't over for the NES though, many people actually prefered the NES cause of the library of over 800 games. So Nintendo took one last swing for the NES and released the NES 2 (Also known as the 'Top Loader'). It was a redesigned version of the NES that was lighter, more sleek, round controllers to match the SNES and the games loaded on top intead of sliding the cartridge in horizontally. The 2nd version of the NES didn't go over as well as Nintendo thought and soon it was discontinued. Soon life for the NES was looking very short and in 1994 in NA and EU, the last licensed NES game was released. Wario's Woods which also is on the SNES made the final cut and then ended the NES's long life span. In later times the Game Boy Advance (GBA) released a 'Classic NES Series', this serious featured games like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and even some of the 3rd party games to be played on you're GBA. Another series from the 'Classic NES Series' was released and a version of the Game Boy Advance SP was released and looked like the NES's controller. Later on the Nintendo Wii's virtual consoles sells old NES games with new ones coming out every once and a while. The Wii also had the release of Mega Man 9 which looked like the older Mega Man games that were on the NES. So to sum it up the NES has a long and great life with few bumps in its road. It introduced alot to the video game world and still hasn't lost it's popularity. If you're looking to buy an NES try looking at some Yard Sales or go to a flea market. If you have no luck, you can try eBay or Amazon where they usually range from $20 to over $200 dollars. The NES 2 is more of a rare item and ranges usually from $60 to $200 dollars. So if you're ever looking for a NES these are the no. spots for them.