Across the Generations

With each hardware release, Nintendo brought more processing power to their fans. Here’s a quick look at how far gaming technology has come in the past three decades.

Nintendo Entertainment System

Release Date: July 15, 1983

game format: Cartridge (0.5 MB)

video outputs: Antenna, RF, RCA, Composite

cpu speed: 1.79 MHz (5.32 MHz)

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Release Date: November 21, 1990

game format: Cartridge (16 MB)

video outputs: Antenna, RF, RCA, Composite, S-Video

cpu speed: 3.58 MHz

Nintendo 64

Release Date: June 23, 1996

game format: Cartridge (64 MB)

video outputs: Antenna, RF, RCA, Composite, S-Video

cpu speed: 93.75 MHz (62.5 MHz)

Nintendo GameCube

Release Date: September 14, 2001

game format: Optical Disk (1.5 GB)

video outputs: RCA, Composite, Component, S-Video

cpu speed: 485 MHz (162 MHz)

Wii

Release Date: November 19, 2006

game format: Optical Disk (8.5 GB), Downloads

video outputs: RCA, Composite, Component, S-Video

cpu speed: 729 MHz (243 MHz)

Wii U

Release Date: November 18, 2012

game format: Optical Disk (25 GB), Downloads

video outputs: Component, RCA/Composite, S-Video, HDMI

cpu speed: 1.24 GHz (550 MHz)

Nintendo Switch

Release Date: March 3, 2017

game format: Cartridge, Downloads

video outputs: HDMI

cpu speed: 2 GHz (1GHz)