Japanese Home Video Games Before Nintendo’s Famicom

In 1975, Epoch released TV Tennis Electrotennis, the first Japanese home video game console. Just two years after this ball and paddle game, the company debuted the System 10, which allowed up to four players to compete at tennis, soccer, and target shooting with a light gun.

Color TV-Game 15, which played 15 variants of tennis games, became a bestseller for Nintendo when it appeared in 1977. Although largely forgotten today, it lives on in Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series as an assist trophy that summons paddles and a ball used to hit opponents. 

Of the eight different models of TV Fun released by TOMY, the 601 was by far the most popular. Its low price of 10,000 yen (approximately $115 in 2023) was a major selling point. Players also liked the unique ability to choose the size of the paddle used to bat digital balls. 

The success of TOMY’s TV Fun inspired other toymakers like Bandai to make their own systems. One of seven consoles Bandai released in the TV JACK line, the TV JACK 1500 came with detachable joystick controllers, a departure from the typical attached paddles on most systems. 

Epoch’s two-player TV Baseball Game (1978) was among the many dedicated consoles of the late 1970s to package a game’s software inside the system. Its pick-up and play simplicity, low price, and the popularity of baseball in Japan made it a hit with consumers. 

By the late 1970s, the demand for more complex games led manufacturers to add microprocessors to their systems. Now, consumer electronic companies like Toshiba joined toymakers selling video games. The Visicom was the first Japanese-made interchangeable cassette game console. 

Smashing blocks made for fun game play, first with Atari’s Breakout and then in Japanese “block breaker” arcade games. Nintendo’s Block Kuzushi (Kuzushi means “to break”) and Epoch’s TV Block (1979) brought the genre into living rooms. 

The Cassette Vision was the bestselling home video game console in Japan until the Famicom’s release in 1983, selling approximately 450,000 units. The ability to change cartridges impressed players, despite the large pixel graphics making text difficult to read on screen. 

Originally developed by SNK for arcades, Epoch’s version of Yosaku made for the Cassette Vision became more popular than the original and helped sell thousands of consoles. The addictive gameplay challenged players to control a lumberjack who cuts down trees and avoids enemies.

Shrinking electronic components in the late 1970s made it possible to make less expensive tabletop versions of arcade games like the vertical space shooter Super Galaxian. These vacuum fluorescent display type of electronic games proved very popular in Japan and internationally.

In the 1980s, most small, handheld electronic games were powered by tiny button batteries. Akuryo no Yakata was one of the first of these games to use a small solar panel instead. Kids loved battling ghosts and bats. Parents loved that they didn’t have to buy batteries. 

At a time when personal computers were still expensive, toymakers marketed affordable and educational models to sell their games. TOMY’s kid-friendly Pyūta computer (TOMY Tutor in other regions) didn’t have a costly monitor. Instead, players could hook it up to existing TVs.

Nobunaga's Ambition kickstarted the strategy video game genre when it debuted in Japan in 1983. Based on the life of Oda Nobunaga, a Japanese warlord who unified Japan in the 16th century, the game invited players to manage conflicts and resources during a civil war. 

Developed by Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) laid the foundation for the visual novel game genre. A narrative-rich murder mystery with branching paths, it influenced future game developers such as Metal Gear designer Hideo Kojima. 

Released on the same day as Nintendo’s Famicom, Sega’s SG-1000 (1983). competed directly for Japanese video game players. The console's software lineup included versions of popular Sega arcade games such as Flicky and Monaco GP.

The Famicom’s (Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan) 14,800-yen price, lower than earlier cartridge-based systems, appealed to Japanese consumers. But the console’s library of superb games like the platformer Super Mario Bros. helped it sell 60 million units worldwide.