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 The Family BASIC keyboard with application cartridge | |
| Developer | Nintendo Sharp Corporation Hudson Soft |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Programming language (BASIC interpreter) |
| Released |
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| Platform | Family Computer |
Family BASIC[a] is a consumer product for programming on theFamily Computervideo game console.Family BASIC was launched on June 21, 1984, to consumers in Japan byNintendo, in cooperation withHudson Soft andSharp Corporation. A second version titledFamily BASIC V3 was released on February 21, 1985, with greater memory and new features.
The first edition of theFamily BASIC application cartridge is bundled with a computer style keyboard and instructional textbook, and requires a cassette tape recorder to saveuser-generated BASIC programs. Programs can be saved using any cassette tape drive, such as theFamicom Data Recorder.Family BASIC was not designed to be compatible with floppy disk storage on theFamicom Disk System and the Disk System's RAM adapter requires the use of the Famicom's cartridge slot, which prevents using the slot for theFamily BASIC cartridge.
Family BASIC includes a dialect of theBASICprogramming language enhanced for game development. Its HuBASIC command set is extended with support forsprites, animation, backgrounds, musical sequences, andgamepads. Several visual components of Nintendo games, such as backgrounds and characters from theMario andDonkey Kong seriesc. 1984-1985, areFamily BASIC development componentry, or appear in premadeFamily BASIC games.
LikeInteger BASIC andTiny BASIC, theFamily BASICinterpreter only supports integers. It is based on Hudson Soft BASIC for the Sharp MZ80.[citation needed] Its keywords are in English.[1]
Family BASIC was released in Japan byNintendo for theFamily Computer on June 21, 1984, in Japan.[2] As part of a collaboration between Nintendo,Sharp Corporation, andHudson Soft, it was created to attract computer users over to the new Famicom.[2]Koji Kondo wrote a section in the instruction manual for programming Japanesepopular music in the game, as his second project forNintendo.[3] Prior to this, Kondo had become interested in producing music through computers by programming sound effects in BASIC on his home computer.[3] Two revisions ofFamily BASIC were produced — the first, "v.2.1", was released shortly after production of the game begun, and the second, "v.3.0", was released in early 1985.[2] v.3.0 features expanded memory and several minigames built-in to the programming cartridge, indicated by a red cartridge shell.[2]
Family BASIC was commercially successful, with more than 400,000 units sold by the end of the 1980s.[4]
In a 2011 retrospective review,Retro Gamer thought it was a "some-what useless" peripheral for the Famicom due to its high price point and lack of compatibility with theFamicom Disk System, although they found it to be an interesting collection piece for its rarity and overall concept.[2]
InIGN's 2013 retrospective of the Famicom's library that was lost to audiences outside Japan, Lucas Thomas calledFamily BASIC "a legitimate home computing solution". He criticized the interface as "nebulous to navigate" but wondered how "it would have been fun to see what America and Europe's often brilliant hobbyist game developers of the '80s could have crafted with these tools in hand".[5]
Cho Ren Sha 68K designer Koichi "Famibe No Yosshin" Yoshida usedFamily BASIC to create twoshoot 'em up games titledZacner andZacner II.[6][7]Satoshi Tajiri, creator ofPokémon, initially usedFamily BASIC as a gateway to build his understanding of the internal operation of the Famicom. This inspired him to create his own handmade Famicom game development hardware, and makeGame Freak's debut gameQuinty, later released asMendel Palace (1990).[8]
Masahiro Sakurai, creator of theKirby andSuper Smash Bros. series, was inspired at a young age byFamily BASIC, and described it as the biggest driving factor in his getting into the video game industry. He devoted an episode of hisYouTube programMasahiro Sakurai on Creating Games to the product, giving an overview of it and sharing some of his personal experiences with it.[9]