Californians Rejoice! The NES Is Officially Available
We had reported earlier that the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) would finally make it to the west coast, and today it happened. One of the first retailers to carry the console outside of the New York test market is Target. It has a full page ad showcasing the NES and some of the games currently available.
The system has an official price point of $139.99 at the discount retailer and comes with the same components as found in the New York test market. These include: NES Control Deck, 2 controllers, Zapper light gun, R.O.B. the interactive robot, and two Game Paks – Duck Hunt and Gyromite.
Games available at Target are on sale. For $21.99 (originally $24.99) you can grab: Baseball, Golf, Tennis, Soccer, Clu Clu Land, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pinball, 10-Yard Fight, and the amazing Super Mario Bros. You can also save $5 off: Excitebike, Wrecking Crew, Hogan’s Alley, Wild Gunman, and Stack-Up. These games are on sale through March 15.
With this latest rollout it appears that video games are on their way back. Nintendo is taking things nice and slow, with a full nationwide blitz not expected until late summer. We will keep you updated as we hear of more markets carrying the NES.


Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.