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The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES or
SNES) is a
video game console designed and built by
Nintendo in the
1990s. It is the sucessor to the
Nintendo Entertainment System in the
North America and
Europe. It was the major rival of
Sega Megadrive/Sega
Genesis during the
16-bit era. The Super NES is also nicknamed
Yoshi, because Yoshi was the first video game character ever to
receive a debut on this console.
For more information on the
Japanese version, see:
Super Famicom
Market History
Development
Nintendo executives at first were not interested in making a new system
when rival
Sega announced that they would release their 16-Bit
Sega Megadrive/Sega
Genesis in 1988. However, the executives were quick to see the
Genesis taking over the market in North America, due to its large
library of sports games and arcade ports, as well as its superior
technology. The
NES did not do well in
Europe, and the Megadrive surpassed the SNES there as well.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Nintendo CEO at the time, had put
Masayuki Uemura in charge of designing the console. They had
originally planned for the
Famicom/NES
to be 16-bit systems, but those components were too expensive at the time,
and so they were 8-bit systems. With the components being cheaper at the
time, Nintendo did not hesitate to build a more powerful system.
Release and Sales
The
Super Famicom was released
November 21,
1990 in
Japan.
Of course, many companies who bought NES licenses also purchased SNES
licenses, giving the company a strong lead against it's competition.
The United States Version of the Super NES was released
September 1,
1991 with a starting price of $200. The first Super NES set was
packaged with
Super Mario World and two controllers.
The
North American release was not as easy as the Super Famicom had been.
It was not backwards compatible with the NES (Like some
Atari Models), generating some consumer hesitation. In addition, Sega
had already released some very popular titles for their Genesis console.
One example was
Sonic the Hedgehog) which proved vital in the marketing of the Genisis
because of the characters popularity. In addition, the Genesis was about
$50 cheaper than the SNES.
A few months after it's initial release, the Power Set, a bare-bones
version of the SNES, was released in North America, selling for $100.
Towards the middle of its life, the North American set was distributed
like it was the first time, but the game varied. One set was sold with the
Super Game Boy accessory.
The PAL version of the SNES was released in the
United Kingdom for £150 in April 1992, the
German release taking place a few weeks later.
Internally, the consoles were only different depending on the TV
standard in that country. Many
Australian video games came from
Europe because both used PAL systems. RPG's needed to be translated
into other languages, because of how important the text is in the game.
But many action titles and
shooters didn't need translation because the text wasn't as important
to
game play.
Despite it's challanges, it's family-friendly image, marginally
superior technical capabilities, and popular icon game characters like
Mario, the SNES became dominant throughout the early 1990s. The SNES
played a game of catchup and won, although in the United States the
Genesis was more successful. By the end Nintendo had twice as many sales
of it's console than Sega.
The number of games for the SNES was larger than the number of gamers
for its predecessor the NES. It many exclusive titles, some of which were
considered to be the best video games at the time. It also had many
best-selling (and often still expensive) RPGs, such as
Final Fantasy VI and
Chrono Trigger. Some Super NES games are
enhanced remakes of Famicom/NES games. One example is
Super Mario All Stars, another is
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy.
The
European console was similar to the Japanese
Super Famicom. Nintendo never got much of a footing in
Europe, particularly due to the distribution problems. Ironically,
there were converters available that allowed users to play
Sega Master System games on the
Sega Megadrive. Both consoles were very popular in
Europe.
Decline
Sales of the SNES in North America declined from 1996 to 1999, with the
Sony Playstation and
Nintendo 64 eating away at its marketing share. Nintendo discontinued
it's production in North America and Europe in 1999. Production along with
the NES continued in Japan until September 2003. By this time, it had
already left its mark of many millions of cartridges.
An SNES redesign, which was lighter in weight, came out in
October
1997 for $99.99 in the United States to get the last few sales from
people still interested in the 16-Bit market. The game was packaged with
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The RF Ports and expansion ports
did not come with the version; Hopes of an SNES-CD died, and the resources
helped make the
Playstation.
The Super NES was superseded by the
Nintendo 64. Many of the
successful games for the system are being revived in the
Game Boy Advance, which has remarkably similar capabilities.
Emulation
Like its predecessor, the SNES has had a continued interest among its
fans, and it has continued to thrive on a second-hand market stronger than
the NES and later through console emulation. Through this time, many
gamers rediscovered the SNES.
Emulation projects began in approximately 1996, with projects such as "VSMC",
T and "Super Pasofami". None of theese projects lasting past 1998.
In early 1998 SNES enthusiasts began
programming a
console emulator named
ZSNES. One year later it's rival,
SNES9X, had appeared.
Nintendo took the same stance against SNES
ROM image files and emulation as it did with the NES, claiming that
they were nothing but gratuitous piracy. Many arguments to make the them
legal have been made. Such arguements generally concerned the discontinued
production, frailty of cartridges, and lack of certian foreign imports.
Despite their multiple legal threats and attempts to stop such
projects, Nintendo's position did not stop the proliferation of ROM files.
Since the console's discontinuation, second-hand market decline, and rapid
growth of the internet, finding the files became less of a challenge than
it had been with the NES. Because of the console's popularity and infamous
predecessor, most ROM sites have offered files for the SNES.
Partly responsible for the popularity of emulation, especially for the
SNES, may have been critics who called themselves
old school gamers. Such critics often argued that games for newer
systems (at the time) were often less enjoyable than some of the SNES
classics. One common argument was that the introduction of early 3D
graphics a primary medium had hindered the the flow of
gameplay and hurt the overall feel of the game. (See
Nintendo 64 and
Sega Saturn)
Like the NES, the SNES console is likely to
follow its predecessor's footsteps and command legions of fans for
years to come, and the revival of the SNES settling down to a degree.
Many video game critics, including fans of the Final Fantasy video game
franchise, consider the SNES "The golden age of video games."
Hardware
Specifications/Features
The Super Nintendo/Super Famicom was the first console capable of
applied
acoustics in
video game audio sold in
North America,
Europe, and
Japan.
- CPU
- CPU:
WDC 65C816 16 bit processor running at 1.79, 2.68 MHz, or 3.58 MHz
(Changeable), with 128
KiB of RAM
- Sound
- Sound CPU: 8-bit Sony
SPC700 running at 4.1 MHz, with 64 KiB of RAM, PC file name
extension:
.SPC
- Main sound Chip: 8-channel DSP with hardware decompression similar
to
ADPCM
- Memory Cycle Time: 279 Minutes
- Cartridge Size Specifications: 2 - 48 Megabits
- Audio RAM: 512 Kbit
- Sound Channels: 8, Uses compressed wave samples
- Pulse Code Modulator: 16-Bit
- Video
- Picture Processor Unit: 16-Bit
- Palette: 32,768 Colors
- Texture and map RAM: 64 KiB
- Onscreen colors: 241 in mode 1 or 256 in mode 7, not counting
sum-blending
- Resolution: Most games used 256x224 pixels; there were tricks to
get 512x448 but these were rarely used.
- Maximum onscreen sprites: 128 (32 per line)
- Maximum number of sprite pixels on one scanline: 256. The picture
generator had a bug such that it would drop the frontmost
sprites instead of the rearmost sprites if a scanline exceeded the
limit.
- Most common display modes: Pixel-to-pixel text mode 1 (16 colors
per tile; 3 scrolling layers) and
affine mapped text mode 7 (256 colors per tile; one
rotating/scaling layer)
- Power-Supply
- Transformer Input: 120V AC, 60 Hz, 17 Watts
- Transformer Output: 10V DC, 850 mA (NTSC), 9V AC (PAL)
- Controllers
- Controller Response: 16 Milliseconds
- 2 seven-pin controller ports in the front of the machine
Accessories
- A
Game Boy converter called the
Super Game Boy was released, much to the chagrin of people who owned
both systems. Likewise, Sega never made a
Game Gear to Genesis/Megadrive converter, although one was
supposedly in the works.
See Also:
Super Famicom,
Nintendo Family Computer,
Nintendo Entertainment System,
Sega Megadrive,
Sega Genesis,
console emulator,
ZSNES,
list of SNES games,
SPC700,
.SPC,
Nintendo 64,
Sony PlayStation,
Gameboy Advance.
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