The Nintendo NES Console was first released in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (Famicom). When it came to North America in 1985, the video game industry had just crashed (the 1983 video game crash). Retailers didn’t trust video games anymore, so Nintendo marketed it as an “Entertainment System” instead of a console — even including a toy robot (R.O.B.) to make it seem futuristic and different!
The NES revived the entire North American video game industry after the 1983 crash — retailers were so skeptical that Nintendo marketed it as an “Entertainment System” instead of a video game console.
Super Mario Bros. helped revive the video game industry after the 1983 crash.
The famous blinking red light was usually caused by dirty cartridges.