Nintendo Entertainment System

The NES is regarded as one of the most influential consoles of all time. It helped revitalise the American gaming industry following the video game crash of 1983, and pioneered a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers to produce and distribute games. The NES features several groundbreaking games, such as the 1985 platform game Super Mario Bros. and the 1986 action-adventure games The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, which became long-running franchises. While the NES dominated Japanese and American markets, it sold poorly in Europe, where microcomputers were prevalent. With 61.91 million units sold, the NES remains one of the best-selling consoles of all time. It was succeeded in 1990 by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.