Nintendo Consoles

Nintendo first started making video game consoles after being inspired by the success of other electronic games, mainly arcade games.

=Home Consoles=

Famicom
The Famicom was the first system Nintendo ever released in 1983. The Famicom cost about 100 dollars at release and sold over 500,000 units. But they soon had to recall it due to faults that made it impossible to play some games.

Nintendo Entertainment System
On October 18, 1985 Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the NES). This 8-bit console sold for about 150 dollars at the time and a typical game sold for about 40 dollars. The NES soon became one of the most renowned systems of all time, selling over 60 million units before being discontinued in 1995. Although Super Mario Bros. was the best selling game on it, it did launch many of the famous titles known today such as the original The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo released its 16-bit system, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the SNES), in 1991. Building off the success of the original NES, the SNES successfully competed with the other systems at the time. The SNES became known for its top-of-the-line graphics and many games considered to be today's classics were released on this system, including A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid.

An add-on called the Satellaview (BS-X) was later released for the console. It would would be connected to the St. GIGA satellite station between 4:00-7:00 PM so players could download and play games. The BS-X system broadcasted for 5 years, up until June 2000. The Legend of Zelda games that were released through the BS-X include BS The Legend of Zelda, BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets, and a port of A Link to the Past.

Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64 (N64 short form) is the first true 64-bit system and was released in June 1996. The Nintendo 64 was praised for bringing many of the most well-known game series into the third dimension. Some of those games were Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. An expansion for Ocarina of Time called Ura Zelda was to be released on the Nintendo 64DD. However, the Nintendo 64DD was a commercial failure, so the expansion was reworked into Master Quest for the Nintendo GameCube.

Nintendo GameCube
In 2002, Nintendo released the Nintendo GameCube (GCN short form). The GameCube pushed Nintendo out of the cartridge era and into the disk era. It also enhanced the graphics and music greatly. More renowned games came along with it too such as The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures. A tech demo was used to showcase the consoles capabilities, but many thought it was a new title to the Zelda franchise. This led to many fans being disappointed when The Wind Waker was revealed.

Wii
In 2006, the Wii was launched as Nintendo's first wireless console. All consoles come with the game Wii Sports, which was something unique to a console release. Twilight Princess was re-released on the Wii with new controls. The Wii utilizes Wii Motion Plus for games such as Wii Sports Resort and Skyward Sword. The Zelda titles released for the Wii are:


 * Twilight Princess
 * Link's Crossbow Training
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Not an official Zelda game, but it features Zelda characters)
 * Captain Rainbow (Not an official Zelda game, but it features a Zelda character).
 * Skyward Sword

Wii U
In 2011, Nintendo announced the Wii U, the successor to the Wii. The Zelda HD Experience, a Wii U tech demo, was used to demonstrate the console's capabilities, leading some to believe it was a new Zelda game. Though this was not the case, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Nintendo is planning to release an HD Zelda title. In a special Nintendo Direct referred to as Wii U Direct, Eiji Aonuma announced that he is part of a team working on a new Zelda title for the Wii U. In addition, he also announced that would be receiving an HD remake for the Wii U.

=Handhelds=

Game & Watch
The Game & Watch line is a series of single-game handhelds. Only one Zelda Game & Watch game was released, and is simply titled Zelda.

Game Boy
The Game Boy is the first battery-powered handheld game console that could run different games sold by Nintendo. It is the third system that allowed a portable Legend of Zelda game, behind the The Legend of Zelda Game Watch and Game & Watch. It is one of the world's best-selling game system line, selling over 118 million units worldwide to date since its release 1989.

The original Game Boy had two Zelda releases: Link's Awakening, and Link's Awakening DX; the latter was an expanded version of Link's Awakening that was actually playable as a standard Game Boy game, but could also be played as a full-color Game Boy Color game instead of keeping the original shades of grey as most games did. However, a special dungeon, the Color Dungeon, could only be played on a Game Boy Color.

Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color (GBC) was released by Nintendo in 1998 as the successor of the Game Boy. As the name implies, it features colored graphics, and has processing power comparable to the NES. It had three Zelda titles, namely:
 * Link's Awakening DX
 * Oracle of Ages
 * Oracle of Seasons

Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is the successor of the Game Boy Color. It features a wider screen than its predecessors, shoulder buttons and processing power comparable to the SNES. The classic Game Boy Advance was later redesigned into the foldable Game Boy Advance SP and the tiny Game Boy Micro. Aside from the Game Boy Micro, the Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible with both the original Game Boy and the Came Boy Color. A special edition golden The Legend of Zelda-themed SP was available, coming bundled with The Minish Cap. It was available for sale only in Europe, and available in the United States only through special giveaways.

A total of three Zelda games were made for the device, those being:
 * A Link to the Past
 * Four Swords
 * The Minish Cap

Furthermore, a Game Boy Advance could be connected to a GameCube. This was used to play Four Swords Adventures with up to four players and to communicated with Tingle via the Tingle Tuner in The Wind Waker.

Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is the first in Nintendo's DS series. It features dual screens, the lower one being a touch screen, a built-in microphone, and wireless capabilities allowing for multiplayer games and applications. Aside from playing its own special cartridges, it is backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance games. The Nintendo was later redesigned into the smaller, lighter DS Lite.

Phantom Hourglass makes use of the DS internal clock. Certain events will take place at midnight according to the internal clock of the system.

Games released for the Nintendo DS:
 * Phantom Hourglass
 * Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
 * Tingle's Balloon Fight DS
 * Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love
 * Spirit Tracks

Nintendo DSi
The Nintendo DSi is the third version of the Nintendo DS handheld gaming system, but it has been stated that the DSi should be considered as a separate console. The DSi lacks a Game Boy Advance slot, presumably because it is thinner than the original DS systems. It introduces several new features over the Nintendo DS, such as two digital cameras and an online shop, and an alternate, larger version called the DSi XL was later sold simultaneously with the DSi.

As part of the 25th Anniversary of the Zelda series, Four Swords will be available as a free download for both the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS in September 2011.

Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS is the successor of the DSi. Like previous DS consoles, it features dual screens, but the top screen is able to produce "3D effects without glasses" via a process called autostereoscopy. The console is backwards compatible with DS and DSi games.

Currently, the 3DS has only one exclusive game: Ocarina of Time 3D. Link's Awakening DX was released on the Nintendo eShop on June 7, 2011, and contrary to previous rumors, it does not feature 3D elements. It remains identical to the original Link's Awakening DX throughout the game.

Nintendo 3DS XL
=Trivia=
 * If the games Oracle of Seasons or Oracle of Ages were played on on a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP instead of a Game Boy Color, a special GBA shop would open up in the main town containing a unique ring.
 * The Wii was able to play every console Zelda game at the time by utilizing the Virtual Console as well as the system's ability to play GameCube games.

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=References=

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