Family Basic
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| Released: | 1984-06-21 |
| Discontinued: | ? |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Type: | Hardware |
The Family Basic (ファミリーベーシック Famiri Beshikku) was a computer made by Nintendo in collaboration with Sharp. It was essentially a development system for the Famicom where gamers could program their own Famicom games. Unfortunately, the computer was only available in Japan and never released in the western regions. The computer comes with a port that hooks up to the Famicom as well as the Family Basic cartridges. While the computer was meant for gamers, many Japanese game developers such as TOSE and even Nintendo themselves used the computer to create music and sound effects. While the Family Basic had a built-in music editor, Tose programmed their own music software for NES music creation. The program is in Japanese, so the user must have a thorough understanding of the Japanese language before using the computer.
