Nintendo VS. System

1984 Famicom-based arcade system, with single- or dual-screen cabinets and swappable games.

An arcade system based on the Famicom, launched by Nintendo in March 1984 in the United States, Europe and Japan with Vs. Tennis. It introduced Famicom games to American players without risking a home release, which retailers feared after the 1983 crash. The first machines, the VS. DualSystem, had two screens in upright or sit-down cabinets and supported up to four players. The VS. UniSystem followed in 1985, with a conventional cabinet and a single board.

Its hardware was almost identical to the Famicom's but had more RAM, and games were swapped by replacing a ROM chip. It was a major success in the United States, which encouraged Nintendo to launch the NES there, and it received over 40 games before being discontinued in 1990. It fared worse in Japan: it was Nintendo's last arcade system there, and the company left that market in late 1985.