There's no denying that the NES – or Famicom as it was known in its native Japan – is one of the most important pieces of video game hardware ever made. Not only did it turn Nintendo from an outsider player to industry leader, it laid down the foundations of an industry which continues to thrive to this very day.
The Famicom was the brainchild of Nintendo engineer Masayuki Uemura, who joined the company from Sharp in 1972 at a time when it was tentatively exploring the possibilities of electronic entertainment. He rose to the position of manager of Nintendo R&D2, which would not only produce the Famicom but also its equally-beloved successor, the SNES / Super Famicom. Uemura retired from Nintendo in 2004 and is now a professor at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
Prior to his recent talk at the UK's National Video Game Museum, Uemura-san, now aged 76, was gracious enough to sit down with us for discussion about his illustrious career in games.
Nintendo Life: The Famicom was a revolutionary product for Nintendo. What was the biggest challenge you encountered while designing the system?
Masayuki Uemura: Cost reduction was the major challenge.
What compromises did you have to make while producing the console?
The one thing you have to compromise a lot [with] was the exterior design. Because we didn’t want to compromise [with] the [internal] specifications of the Famicom.
Did you have a strict budget for the bill of materials for the system that you had to adhere to?
The mission was the basic entire cost for the device itself should be around five thousand yen. That was the objective. The retail price would be fifteen thousand yen. That was almost impossible to do.
You are looking at five thousand yen for everything inside the system?
Everything inside the system, yes.
After the Famicom had been released, at what point did you realise that the console had become a success – not only domestically in Japan, but internationally as well?
Back then, it took about half a year to be able to actually get the reports on how many units we sold and stuff like that. So when it was sold [in America] at the end of 1985, not many reports [were] coming from Nintendo of America. During the summer of 1986, we had a report from Nintendo of America that they were doing well. Until March of 1986, they didn’t think it was doing well.
What was your feeling when you realised that, after it had been released in all those territories, it was indeed a success?
Honestly, I didn’t have time to think about success, because I was so busy taking [care] of a lot of issues and technical problems faced by Nintendo at the time.
Are you able to give examples of what those might be?
Our issue was the failure of the controller. There is the tendency that kids want to push a button many times, the A button [mainly]. So the A button tends to fail a lot. The other one was the LSI chip heating up quickly and then burning out.
We know that the Famicom has a very iconic design in Japan, but that design was changed for the overseas models. Did you have any say in what the overseas models looked like?
I didn’t have time to think about success, because I was so busy taking [care] of a lot of issues and technical problems faced by Nintendo at the time
All the final decisions needed to be done by myself, but I could never say, “Hey, you’ve got to sell this,” or something like that. That was not possible, because I anticipated that all the people who are in charge of American markets, they understand what the market is, and I wanted to make sure that they wanted to sell the product that they felt they were comfortable with.
The cartridge design of the Famicom is very different to the cartridge design that we saw internationally; there’s quite a large size difference between the two. What was the understanding behind that?
When they created the Japanese version of Famicom, they aimed at [having] almost [the] same size [cartridges] as audio cassettes. Because there were a lot of audio cassettes and the audio cassette player was really popular in Japan.
So that made the cost of producing the smaller cartridges cheaper for you, then?
Yes, [and] a lot easier. For the Famicom version, the Japanese version, the top is where you stick the cartridge. So this will directly connect the chip inside of the cartridge to the chip inside of the hardware. Where the static happens, in this type of device, it will short circuit. Bang! It will break. Japan has a high humidity, so there’s not much static. However, if you go to America, particularly a place like Texas, it is very dry, so it has a lot of static. So we wanted to make sure that the kids did not touch the connecting ports. That is why you have to make it like a front loader for the NES. That is how the cartridge also became bigger, because that is how you have to design the product.
So you wanted to place the connectors deep inside the console covered?
Right.
For the Famicom, what was the most unlikely request you had when it came to designing the Famicom?
There were a lot of requests from a lot of people, and then the one thing that they said was to remove the connection between the controllers to the device and make it wireless.
Oh really? So that is something that you weren’t able to implement into the console itself?
No, it was not possible.
I can imagine that it would have been too expensive at the time to produce, right?
Yes, there wasn’t anything like that available at that time. But a lot of people requested it; it was crazy back then.
Around the time that the Famicom was being developed at Nintendo, there were a lot of rival companies starting to pop up. How did the products from those rival companies influence what you were doing at Nintendo?
In Japan, the only competitor that we had back then was Sega. Other designers that I knew created software for Nintendo, that would have been more successful than taking the risk of creating hardware.
There were a lot of requests from a lot of people, and then the one thing that they said was to remove the connection between the controllers to the device and make it wireless
I see. So I guess for the local company looking into creating hardware, you convinced them to almost develop software instead of developing hardware, right?
Right; well, they came up with their own decision.
The Famicom controller is a very iconic controller; what did it look like during the different stages of development, and what other controller prototypes might you have made that have never seen the light of day?
I started with the famous joystick type. We developed a lot, all kinds. One of the crucial points that we realised is that after kids might step on the joystick, then the knob will break. I tried to use a material which is not breakable, and that is very expensive.
Is that the reason why you used the directional pad on the controller?
One of the reasons we could get into the directional pad like a Game & Watch was because the Game & Watch division was right next to us, so it was easy to have them bring over the device and then check it. For a while, we worked on a joystick type of controller, but it didn’t work. But we only had this pad type of design for the Game & Watch, so we just put it onto our device just as a test, and it worked well, so we decided to use it.
At the time a lot of different games and arcade games were using more than just two buttons. Is there any reason for the Famicom only to utilise two action buttons?
The most important aspect was cost.
With the Super Famicom, you had six buttons. Did it become cheaper to produce?
Back then, we didn’t know if the Famicom was going to sell well, domestically or globally. So we had to make sure that it was going to be the cheapest option available.
So were you more confident about the Super Famicom?
Yes. From the software developer’s perspective, just having two buttons is not enough for creating all kinds of games, so that is how they end up having more buttons.
What is your fondest memory of your time at Nintendo?
The best time that I remember was when we completed developing [the] Famicom. Back then, we didn’t know if it was going to be popular or not, but the fact that we are able to complete the product was very satisfactory. That was the first mission; to make sure to complete developing the device and I did it, so I was happy.
You have created this now-legendary device, and people are still playing it even today. How do you feel about these systems still being in people’s minds?
I realise it’s the longevity of software that matters because it’s the software that people play on the console. I’m really surprised by that
I realise it’s the longevity of software that matters because it’s the software that people play on the console. I’m really surprised by that.
You’ve mentioned wireless controllers already, but were there any other features that you wanted to include in the Famicom but weren’t able to at the time?
The next thing I wanted to do was to remove the connector between the TV and the device itself.
So, have the audio and video signal wirelessly transmit?
Yes, wirelessly. When a company called Epoch created a TV game called TV Tennis, they had wireless transmissions. But with the Famicom, we had to reduce the cost. So of course, if you connect with a cable, that is a lot cheaper.
How does it feel now to look at the new wave of ‘Classic Edition’ micro-consoles produced by Nintendo?
Why make it mini? I think they could still develop a regular Famicom and people would still buy it.
I agree. I think, for a lot of people, the Famicom Mini might be the first time they are playing or experiencing using that system. You are saying that you would want it to be the original experience again?
The issue was [that] the controller was smaller. But then I remember the NES Classic got the same size controller [as] the regular NES, so it’s better.
If you sat down to design the Famicom today, what is the first thing that you would change?
If you look at it, the controller was actually connected with a cable. They didn’t use a connector. We [changed it] for the next console, the Super Famicom.
From everything that you have created and done in your career – not just restricted to the Nintendo – what is the single thing that you are most proud of?
I am proud of the fact that I was assigned to be in charge of the birth and development of a games console.
When you look at console games today, do you see that much has changed? What would you want to see in the future?
I think we have accomplished all the things we could accomplish with console games. I think there are a lot of things we could do, but when we designed Super Famicom, I think that [we] got all of the basics that we need for the console games.
So that was almost like the blueprint for everything else that came afterwards then?
Definitely. I think that’s sufficient; [it has] all the capacities sufficient for console game experience.
We'd like to thank Masayuki Uemura for his time, and for Iain Simons at The National Video Game Museum for making this interview possible.
Comments 44
Interesting interview! Good job Nintendo life.
Great interview! How am I just learning about this guy now?!
More articles like this please!
I live in Texas. I have news for Mr. Uemura about the climate lol
@KatBear that came up in the comments a few days ago under an excerpt from this interview. Keep in mind that some parts of Texas such as the western portion are likely very dry as he says. Of course, Texas is quite large, so to say that Texas is totally one way or another is a bit misleading. He would have been better off not naming a specific state, but rather a region, or at least a state that's more uniform in its climate like New Mexico or Arizona.
This was an interesting interview and it's good to hear what he had to say. Regarding the number of action buttons of the NES, I've always preferred what Sega did with the Mega Drive. While it had three action buttons, it had the same total number of buttons as the NES and PC Engine, but in a more useful layout. The select button never seemed particularly useful as a specifically-dedicated button.
Why make it mini? I think they could still develop a regular Famicom and people would still buy it.
My thoughts exactly, a newly produced NES and SNES with the games built in but also able to take NES cartridges would sell.
@Crono1973 I think it’d confuse the consumer. Being mini was a fine excuse for it not taking original cartridges. It was a novelty, not a serious effort. Plus its located literally in the same aisle as the new consoles. There would’ve been no way around the optics- it would seem Nintendo had rereleased an entire console in the wake of the Wii U failure. It literally could’ve been the broom that swept Nintendo away into irrelevance in the console space.
Great interview- what a legend!
Great scoop NL.
Fantastic interview. Also interesting how different his point of view is on some things versus what we might accept as Nintendo's "corporate" view of things. It's refreshing, really.
I have to giggle though. He wanted wireless video and audio transmission back in the mid 80s. It's 2020, and no console still has either, phones have sketchy wireless video possible with additional devices, and wireless audio is a thing but at compromised quality. He's still ahead of the present!
This man helped save the gaming industry. It was a mess after the 80's Atari crash until the NES came out and changed everything.
The NES will always have historical importance. I put it right up there with the Atari VCS and PlayStation for historical purpose. The VCS launched home video gaming, the NES saved home video gaming and the PlayStation took it into the mainstream.
Thanks for the interview, always interesting to hear from the people that created Nintendo's legacy. And thanks to Uemura-san for sharing his thoughts.
Thats all very interesting about the hinged flap on the NES. I always assumed it was for dust more than anything.
That's one mystery solved! Now for the weird little plastic bit that you can take off of the bottom.
You’ve mentioned wireless controllers already, but were there any other features that you wanted to include in the Famicom but weren’t able to at the time?
The next thing I wanted to do was to remove the connector between the TV and the device itself.
"So, have the audio and video signal wirelessly transmit? Yes, wirelessly. When a company called Epoch created a TV game called TV Tennis, they had wireless transmissions. But with the Famicom, we had to reduce the cost. So of course, if you connect with a cable, that is a lot cheaper."
I've been wanting something like this for a long time with a console!
I think a wireless connection to the TV would've been essentially illegal to sell in the US.
If it were like the Telecon Pack released for the Sega Mark III in Japan, which I heard essentially broadcasted the console video output to the TV.
That would be considered a broadcast interference which would not get FCC approval?
I've been following Nintendo since the beginning and this is the first time i ever heard of this guy. Glad to finally know the man behind the Nes and all it did for the gaming industry! Bow down and show the propper respect people! This dude saved gaming!
Now i wanna know who designed all the Nintendos!
@Zeldafan79 Same, maybe that just makes me a bad fan. Lol. Cool to learn about this guy though, he deserves some serious adulation.
I just wanted to say that's a really interesting interview.! Never heard of this man before. I wonder how many such "hidden heroes" we have in the industry.
This was super informative. Great stuff. And it's true, while consoles have advanced a lot over the years, the SNES/Super Famicom was pretty much the system that set the standard in a lot of ways. Everything else that came after just seems to trace back to it, especially when it comes to controllers.
I had no idea this was going on - I live in Sheffield so could have gone to his talk. (Shame on me - I haven't actually been to the video game museum yet other than to drop my son off at a party there - really should fix that).
Interesting article, shame when you see the number of comments on a piece like this versus one of those 'slow news' articles where a hundred people feel the need to comment about it not being news, or argue about politics. Us people, eh?
@MischiefMaker You've hit the nail on the head. We put a lot of time, effort and resource into this interview, which included sending someone to the museum for almost an entire day so they could interview Uemura-san and then attend his talk at 8PM. We then had to pay to get it transcribed and I had to spend an hour or so editing the text.
While I'm proud to have this content on the site and would do it all over again a million times over, it's rather annoying to see so few people clicking and commenting. But that's the internet!
The Nes was unbelievably great in being competitive even after it had gone clearly obsolete (which happened only after a couple of years it shipped, at the hand of the Sega Master System).
What kept it alive was the great collection of games it could run. Those games were so amazing that they made it possible for the Nes to keep on being sold for a long while even after the Snes was already out.
Anyway no, I wouldn't buy it today, especially because most of the interesting games it could run were ported either to the snes or the gba.
@Damo I guess it's like film-makers (or just about any type of artist) who do the big money-making projects to earn a crust and the smaller riskier ones for personal satisfaction.
Well it's articles like this one (and some reviews) that keep me coming back to this site every day, even if the ad revenue comes more from the other ones. And I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe think of it as a loss-leader...
Great interview!
@Damo Totally agree. I’ve been a reader of the site only relatively recently (last 18 months) but I really love articles like this. So much so that It finally compelled me to create an account to comment. This article may not have gotten the traffic of others but it was meaningful traffic. All positive and many people learned something.
I had heard about Uemura but I also learned a lot. I really like that he considers the super nintendo to be a complete system that is lacking nothing and can serve as a basis for other consoles moving forward. I completely agree. So much so that the controller design has been pretty much the standard with only slight additions.
Keep this content coming guys. Excellent work!
PS: also from texas (south texas) and we rarely get below 80% humidity. Indoors we’re lucky to get it down to 60%. But I understand north texas is a different story.
@JuanERdz That is the way I see it - it's not always about the traffic, but the connection people have with the content. And if pieces like this encourage new people to come to the site and be part of the community, then that's even better
Nice interview.
Really good interview I loved it Yall should do more like this.
It’s utter garbage that Cyberpunk can barely run on the NES. Super disappointed.
"Best of 2020" ...Very unusual to hear this phrase!
Nice! Just looked him up further and he produced Super Mario Bros Deluxe on the GBC and loads of the classic NES games too.
That was a great article. Would love to see more interviews on here.
@JayJ maybe in america but not in europe. there was no crash.
More of this. Less of the clickbait-style 'someone streamed Among Us to the Wii' etc
On the topic of wireless video and audio transmission, keep in mind that in the 1980s, most TV sets were likely to come with an RF antenna built in, so all you'd have to do would be to built an RF modulator in the console and set your TV to the right channel to receive the wireless video and audio signal. It would have been subject to interferences from other broadcasts but it wouldn't have been much worse than the video quality you'd get from the RF cable on the Famicom anyway (the original Japanese console ONLY had RF output, not even RCA composite).
Wireless video and audio in 1983 wasn't a crazy idea, nor even an impractical one since most people were likely to have a compatible TV, but including a wireless RF signal emitter would indeed have driven the cost of the system up.
@CollieGirl In Texas, we get all of the climates lol
But yeah, that's interesting, static frying the components, that's why the U.S. has the wonky design. Although, that didn't really stop the SNES and N64 even with their "flaps."
Interesting to hear of controller breakage challenges — that's how we got the workhorse of an NES controller that we know today.
Great interview with a true pioneer of the industry. Two thumbs up 👍👍
@Anguspuss Yes, we had the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. ❤️
I tell people the NES is the greatest console. It was definitely a template for console gaming to come. The 16 bit and subsequent consoles were as good as they were because of the NES.
@TG16_IS_BAE runs much better on TG16. 0.00005 fps instead of 0.00004 fps.
@RchUncleSkeleton lmfao
Great interview. I guess back in the 80's and very early 90's, having a reasonably good wireless connection between a console and a TV would have been easier then having a good wireless connection between a console and a controller.
Thank your for interview!
@Clyde_Radcliffe those where the days. my best friend and me found old speccy 48k in a bin repaired it it worked. other year he was clearing out his parents house found it in the loft and amazing it still worked.
Great interview. And thank you so much Mr. Uremura for creating my favorite console ever and helping to create a lot of childhood memories for me and my friends.
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