I admire Nintendo, and I see its late president, Satoru Iwata, as one of my role models.
A few days ago, the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom, marked its 43rd anniversary.
It was first released in Japan on July 15, 1983. In the United States, it took on a different name and industrial design: the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I got my Famicom in Hong Kong in 1991. I was 10 years old, and it was my first game console.
It remains one of the most influential game consoles ever made. But looking back, what fascinates me most isn’t its historical importance.
It’s the name.
Nintendo could have called it a game console.
Instead, they called it the Family Computer. Famicom for short.
That tells you something profound about how they imagined the future. They weren’t simply building a machine for playing games. They were building something they hoped every family would gather around.
A computer for the family.
Forty years later, in 2023, we launched Nex Playground. Today, it sits at the center of more than one million living rooms, right beneath the TV.
The question isn’t whether we can become the Family Computer of this generation.
The question is: what should the Family Computer mean today?
Can we serve every member of the family? Kids. Parents. Grandparents.
Can we be helpful in more moments throughout the day, the week, the season, and the year?
Can we serve timeless family needs? To move. To grow. To connect. To have fun.
A Family Computer.
The technology has changed.
The idea lives on.
I played on the Famicom and Super Famicom, back in the days of the MSX and the first, and still best, Castlevania. I can’t believe I never thought about where the name actually came from, and that I’m only finding out now. Thanks!