Nintendo Entertainment System

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Nintendo Entertainment System
NES.jpg
Released: 1983
Developer: Nintendo
Type: {{{Type}}}
[[Category: {{{Type}}} Based Platforms]]

The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, is an 8-bit videogame console of the third-generation of home videogame systems. It was most popular in Japan and the USA. While the NES was released in several different countries with various designs and changes, the audio chip remained the same for each incarnation.

At the time, there wasn't a whole lot to work with for programming. The NES uses the MOS Technology 6502 assembly language for programming like other computers at the time (Apple II, Commodore 64). You had to find a certain way to program certain things.


Versions

Famicom

A complete boxed Famicom unit.

Nintendo released the console as the Famicom (family computer) in Japan on July 15, 1983. It uses the Ricoh RP2A03 chip for both its CPU and audio capabilities.

Famicom Disk System

The Disk System add on.

On February 21, 1986, Nintendo released the Famicom Disk System (FDS) add-on which used diskettes instead of cartridges. This unit has slightly enhanced graphics and an extra sound channel. Players can also save their data on the disks. The FDS uses an RP2C33 for an additional audio channel.

M82

Released in Japan as the Famicom Box, the M82 was a console developed by Nintendo and released in stores that could hold up to 12 physical NES games at the same time and use 5 controller ports. The Japanese version could hold up to 15 games but they were built into the console, rather than there being physical cartridges.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The NES Action Set.

The United States released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on October 18, 1985. Minor hardware changes were added to prevent pirating, but a full cosmetic overhaul was made, giving the USA system a very different look. This style of the console became the standard design for later regions like Canada (released in February of 1986), Europe (September 1, 1986), Australia (1987), Brazil and South Korea. On October 15, 1993, Nintendo produced a second generation version of the NES with a redesigned console and controllers. NTSC consoles use an RP2A03 processor as the main CPU and default audio chip, while PAL consoles use the RP2A07.

Family BASIC

The Family BASIC was a development kit for the Famicom which was developed by Nintendo in association with Hudson Soft and Sharp Corporation. Potential users could develop their own games and put it on the cartridge the development system came with.

PlayChoice-10

The PlayChoice-10 arcade cabinet.

The PlayChoice-10 is a dual-screen arcade system that ran hardware nearly identical to the NES. It was released to market the more popular NES games in arcades and advertise them to potential buyers. Each machine had ten slots, each slot could have a special PlayChoice-10 game cartridge inserted into it. Instead of buying lives, players bought play time, and could switch between the ten games and play until their time ran out. For the most part, the PlayChoice-10 games are identical to the home game, but occasionally the developers would make modifications to the game, sometimes even the music. The PlayChoice-10 used the RP2A03 processor for sound.

Vs. System

A Vs. System arcade cabinet.

The Vs. System is similar to the PlayChoice-10 system, in that it allowed slightly-altered NES games to be to be played as arcade games. The Vs. System differed by allowing two players to play head-to-head in some of the more popular games. Also, the system took a more traditional approach so players bought lives, not time. Because of this, Vs. System games had to be altered a bit more than the PlayChoice-10 games. The Vs. System used the RP2A03 processor for sound.


Sound & Music

Every version of the NES used the RP2A03 for it's main CPU which had an integrated programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by Yukio Kaneoka. The PAL versions of the NES used the RR2A07 which was the same chip only with a PAL clock rate. The PSG in the RP2A03 contains two pulse wave channels with four different waveforms, a triangle channel use mostly for bass and percussion, a noise channel usually used for percussion, and a DPCM channel which would play digital samples at a low bitrate. The use of the DPCM channel was limited in early games because samples took so much cartridge space. Several expansion chips were made for the NES. These had to be added to the game boards of the NES cartridges. Below is a complete list of the audio chips found in all versions of the NES.


Chip

Manufacturer

Description

228 Active Enterprises The chip had a 16-bit channel so it would sound like SNES music. The chip wasn't endorsed or licensed by Nintendo. This was the only expansion chip used in America.
FME7 Sunsoft Features three extra square channels. It was only used in Gimmick (NES).
MMC5 Nintendo The Memory Management Controller 5 added two extra square channels.
N163 Namco Contains 8 wavetable synthesis channels. Most players do not properly emulate the chip, raising the notes an octave higher.
RP2A03 Ricoh This is the original built-in audio chip for the NES. It has 2 pulse waves, a triangle wave, a noise channel, and a DPCM channel.
RP2C33 Ricoh Included on the Famicom Disk System. Adds a 32-volume wavetable synthesis sound.
VRC2 Konami Virtual ROM Controller 2
VRC6 Konami Adds two additional pulse waves and a sawtooth wave. It was only used in Akumajou Densetsu, Madara, and Esper Dream II.
VRC7 Yamaha Adds six channels of FM synthesis. Unfortunately, only one game used this chip, Langrage Point.


Composition

In the earliest days of the NES, most composers were either expected to learn 6502 assembly and write their own audio driver for the RP2A03 or use an audio driver developed by a programmer and feed audio input in a custom Music Macro Language. Because of this, many of the first composers were also competent computer programmers. In the later years, developers had written utilities that converted MIDI music into instructions the audio chip could process. This conversion method was especially popular for US and European development companies. Many low-budget game companies either couldn't afford to hire professional musicians or couldn't find anyone capable of composing in such a limited medium. Because of this, a lot of sub-standard music was made by programmers.

Recently, special audio trackers have been created that either emulate the sound of the NES, or properly function on the original audio hardware. For example, Nerdtracker and Famitracker are designed to be compatible with the specific chips found in the NES, and music composed in them can be put directly into an NES ROM.