The Famicom and it’s Generation

　Famicom and Its Age by Masayuki Uemura, Koichi Hosoi, and Akinori Nakamura.

A research paper written based on the industry-academic public game archive project implemented in 1998.

 After an initial boom around video game technology developed in the area of MIT, Nintendo enjoys 20 years of hegemony after the North American video game crash of 1983. Vannevar Bush’s memex, Engelbart, Alan Kay, and Papert are drawing a digital evolutionary history.

　

Truly Interesting.

　The history of video games is an accumulation of the excitement that made business and society, by combining things and technology, content and culture. This is a  document of the highest order, and I certify it as a textbook on media theory.

  I was once asked, “Why weren’t companies like Apple, Amazon and Google born in Japan?” No, no, they are all mimicking Nintendo. It is a model that suppressed technology and content, and controlled circulation. And that circulation changed into the internet.

 Nowadays all you hear about is the failures of Japanese companies, but this book presents a theory of success, specifically why Nintendo and Japan have controlled the fiercely competitive game market, and their continued hegemony in this sphere.

 The first part, "The Birth of the Video Game" written by Mr. Uemura, the man who birthed the famicom, is especially valuable. I will provide an example.

· In 1964, Sharp and Canon developed the LSI for the calculator and changed the world.

This caught the attention of Nolan Bushnell of the Atari Corporation,  the fire in the US was ignited.

Originally it was technology created by Japanese companies.

· In addition to Atari, US companies like RCA, Coleco, Mattel etc. initiated a number of prototypes and products.

In 1982 there were 76 LSI game consoles from  14 different companies.

It was a fiercely competitive market.

The point is, why was the Japanese influence of companies like Nintendo incorporated into these products.

·  In 1982, Atari and Warner teamed up,

to develop games based on Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET, which was supposed to be a "guaranteed hit", but ended up being a big mistake.

The result was the North American video game crash of 1983.

The responsibility fell on Warner.

And the lesson was that both development and administration, design, technology and management need to be commensurate.

· When it comes to advanced technology, Japan is not inclined towards home appliances or PC’s.

Children's toy companies actively undertook the initiative in developing low-priced products.

More than development, the real problem is administration.

· Nintendo was aware that the LSI consoles were developed late, and that the market had become fiercely competitive.

However, as early as the 80’s, already in the midst of confronting the falling birth rate, children were more interested in radio cassette players than toys.

Nintendo recognized that the market was moving to high-tech, so they broke into the video game & watch industry.

In other words, they were watching the market.

· The spread of PCs made by companies like IBM had already started.

At the time, Nintendo was sticking to the formula of  low cost + childs perspective + TV from the perspective of a Japanese style living room, and

high-end + adult's perspective + PC 's line.

· HUDSON, NAMCO, KONAMI, TAITO etc. produced software for Famicon.

The difference with Atari was the prevention of mass producing inferior products.

User trust in software companies, strict evaluation / information exchange among users,

There was soil such as software evaluation ability of distribution personnel.

· At CES in 1985, Nintendo looked at  the direction Commodore, IBM, Apple of PC’s,

and became confident in the market for home gaming console.

Before you knew it, the market had become void of competition.

  American made TV games expanded in Japan,  and then spread all over the world. Video games are representative of Cool Japan. I want Japan to produce more things like this. To that aim, this book is the perfect book to use as a reference, it is a guide book for the future.