Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Insert the cartridge, grab the controller and start playing. The NES helped put video games back in the living room.

You remember - push the game cartridge into the Nintendo Entertainment System, close the little door and hit POWER. Pick up the rectangular controller with its red buttons and directional pad, and suddenly the television wasn't just something you watched anymore - you were Mario. (And if it didn’t boot up correctly, take the cartridge out, blow on the connector, and try again!)

Nintendo launched the NES in the United States in 1985, after the home video-game business had gone through a major collapse. The NES system became a huge success and helped revive the home gaming console. Super Mario Bros. arrived with it in 1985, followed by games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Punch-Out!! and plenty more. Nintendo itself describes the NES as a smash hit that helped revitalize the industry after the 1983 crash.

The controller looks slightly simplistic today - just a directional pad, START and SELECT, and two red A and B buttons. But that was enough to run, jump, punch, shoot, explore dungeons and spend an awful lot of time trying to rescue Princess Toadstool.

The graphics and sound may look very basic next to today's game systems, but many of the old NES games have held up surprisingly well - especially the 2-D horizontal scrolling games.