Was the Famicom ever supposed to be a computer?

[petik1]

I've been pondering this for a while. Was the Family Computer supposed to be just that? It had a cartridge port, a disk drive, a keyboard, and a programming language. The only thing it lacked that something like the C64 had was a built in BIOS, and the marketing as a computer.

[nintendodork]

A computer is any device that computes.  A calculator is a computer just as much as a desktop is.  So yes, the Family Computer is in fact a computer.

[WERY]

I also had a device for using tapes to store and load software, just like other homecomputers from Commodore, Sinclair etc

[petik1]

A computer is any device that computes.  A calculator is a computer just as much as a desktop is.  So yes, the Family Computer is in fact a computer.

I meant if it was ever supposed to compete in the home computer market.

[Geruta]

I meant if it was ever supposed to compete in the home computer market.

In order for it to have been considered a "computer" not by actual definition but rather in terms of intended use and end user applications, the device would have had to of been marketed this way. I went searching for Famicom commercials on youtube and came across this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKXr_DbqHsU

Its 5 minutes worth of Famicom commercials from the 80s. Very cool to watch. But most importantly it never once showed or suggested the Famicom being used as a computer. When we compare the series of Famicom commercials to this Commadore 64 commercial, its easy to see that the Commadore 64 was showed and easily suggested as being used as a computer.

Here is the link to the Commadore 64 commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_f3uIzEIxo


It seems to me that the system was never marketed for use as a computer so therefore it was never supposed to be a "computer." Remember I'm using the term computer loosely because it was indeed a computer in the sense of the definition but not in terms of actual end user use.


My guess is the name Famicom was chosen to discourage people from thinking of it as a video game console due to the video game crash in the early 80s.


Just my two cherries 

[petik1]

Thanks, but remember that the video game crash didn't affect Japan directly.

[MasterDisk]

Info from the book "L'histoire de Nintendo Vol. 3" -> It should be accurate:
M. Uemura didn't want the Famicom to be considered as a computer. But he ended up choosing this because there were not a word for "console" in Japanese yet. And the name Family Computer was found by his wife to replace Home Video Computer (HVC) about 3 months before the release. (from mag Nikkei Electronics, January 1995)

[petik1]

Thanks for that, MasterDisk. So now we know that he used the term "computer" in a technical sense, not how he expected people to use it.

Now that I think about it, what kind of computer has built in controllers? 

[Jedi Master Baiter]

This one has a built-in steering wheel:

[Xious]

Info from the book "L'histoire de Nintendo Vol. 3" -> It should be accurate:
M. Uemura didn't want the Famicom to be considered as a computer. But he ended up choosing this because there were not a word for "console" in Japanese yet. And the name Family Computer was found by his wife to replace Home Video Computer (HVC) about 3 months before the release. (from mag Nikkei Electronics, January 1995)

This, as far as I know, is accurate, and quite realistic from a philological standing. By 1983, the idea of a video game console was a common-language object in Nippon.

It should be noted that the use of the word 'computer' was later exploited via accessories, especially objects such as Family BASIC and the Family Network Adapter; most consoles in the 1982-86 era had some kind of computer-kit accessories, and some of them were actually decent.

The better kits usually ended up being dumped due to the absurd cost, which rivaled the price of a full computer, such as a VIC-20, C64, TRS CoCo, Spectrum, Sinclair, MSX, etc. and thus, most of the computer-kits provided a very cut-down experience. In contrast to the norm, the accessories for the Famicom were actually very useful--or at least versatile, and their usage was maintained for a good-long-time.   

[L___E___T]

Somewhere there is an intervew that directly states that it was conceived and marketed as a family computer 'toy' - hence the bright (and cheap) colours among other things, the ROB Robot and all the other fancy kit.  Think I saw this on Iwata asks some years back, but don't quote me on that source.

[Xious]

I'd have to say that's untrue. the robot, disk system, etc. were made in 1985-85, yet the FC was designed starting in 1981 and released in 1983. The robot was designed with the US market in mind for the release of the NES, which was designed to be computer-like in its first concepts, including a KB, wireless controllers and a tape drive.

Family BASIC was introduced earlier than the robot, and Sharp released it under the name 'Playbox BASIC' for the C1 series. (I'm still searching for a 'Playbox BASIC' set, with the metallic KB and different cartridge; boxed preferred.)

Those interested may view Sharp AN-320 & Playbox BASIC photos and datum here.

[klax]

Famicom means Family Computer. Of course it was!