Holiday Treat #2: Nintendo's Lost 8-Bit Console

The following is part of our 25-day Holiday Countdown Calendar! Every day from December 1st through the 25th, we're posting a cool game history treat, and $5 and up Patrons get access one day early! This is technically our December 1st post, but since today is Giving Tuesday, we're giving you this one a little earlier than usual.

This is all part of our annual Winter Fundraiser donation drive, where we ask those who are able to generously give what they can so that we can continue thriving. If you're able to make an additional one-time charitable contribution, this really is the best time to do so, as your donations will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous group of sponsors! Head on over to gamehistory.org/donate to learn more and give today.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of American video game history knows that Nintendo revitalized the market with the debut of its Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, but few have ever seen the NES’ unrealized predecessor: the AVS!

The Nintendo Advanced Video System was demonstrated at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January of 1985, and was never seen again, being quietly replaced by the NES we all know mere months later. 

The main unit was functionally the same as the NES, though its sleek design and optional accessories seemed aimed at more of a high-tech market. It even promised what every game console of this era promised: an affordable gateway into the world of home computing! Buy the (relatively) inexpensive game machine, and down the road, merely buy the tape drive and keyboard add-ons to become a part of the home computer revolution!

The VGHF archives includes an extremely rare specimen: a fold-out brochure from the AVS’ only public appearance, way back in 1985 (parts would later materialize during a public exhibition at the Nintendo World Store though, oddly, the main game unit was missing!). We have heard tales of another copy existing in Nintendo’s archives, but other than that, ours is the only one we know of! We scanned the whole thing way back when we launched in 2017, but a lot of people may have missed it.

Preserving objects like this is often pretty expensive! It wasn't cheap to add this to the collection, but the results are well worth it. If you appreciate work like this, we're in the middle of our annual Winter Fundraiser donation drive, and we could use your support! This is the most important time of year for supporting our cause, it helps us plan what we can do in 2024, so if you can afford it, we could really use your help.