Inside Nintendo's Classic Game Console

Lots of Americans know the Nintendo Entertainment System. Fewer know the Japanese console it was based on, the Nintendo Family Computer, also known as the Famicom. We'll take a look inside the Famicom and its accessories, including a unique disk system attachment.

Benj Edwards, PC World

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The Famicom Disk System 12 of 18

Released on February 21, 1986, the Famicom Disk System (FDS) was Nintendo's first major attempt to circumvent the limitations of the Famicom's hardware and extend the life of its already aging console.

Prior to the Disk System, the largest game cartridge contained 48 kilobytes of data, and larger ROM chips were prohibitively expensive. In contrast, the FDS provided up to 128K of storage space per disk. Later, as ROM prices dropped and disk piracy became rampant, the FDS lost relevance and faded into the background, although Nintendo supported it until 2003.

The FDS has two components: the RAM adapter (left) and the disk drive unit (right).