NINTENDO
Nintendo NES
M82 Game Selectable Working Product Display
The story
The M82 was the unit that put the NES in front of shoppers. It arrived in August 1985, ahead of the console's New York test launch, and became Nintendo's standard in store demo for the rest of the decade.
It replaced the earlier M8 and let a store show off a dozen games from one locked box, which mattered at a time when retailers were still wary of video games after the 1983 crash.
Design and hardware
- Inside is a modified NES in a lockable cabinet. Twelve cartridges sit in numbered slots, visible on end through small windows, with slot 1 in the upper left.
- A red button on the front cycles through the slots. A knob on the back sets play time to 30 seconds, 3 minutes, 6 minutes or 128 minutes, then the unit resets to its menu.
- Two controllers and a Zapper connect to the front and rest on small shelves. Stores often set the M82 inside a larger Nintendo display with a TV mounted above it.
- It boots to its own theme music, written by Hirokazu Tanaka.
What it played
Standard retail NES cartridges, not special demo carts. The store's account buyer chose the lineup, and stores were told not to swap games unless Nintendo instructed them to.
Some later games with MMC3 mapper chips glitch or refuse to run because the M82 does not connect the cartridge IRQ line.
Variants to know
NES M8 Demo Unit RareThe earlier tabletop demo unit the M82 replaced.
NES Test Station EpicGiven to Nintendo World Class Service repair centers in the late 80s and early 90s, not a sales kiosk.
M82 PAL versions RareEuropean units for the UK and Italy. They run slower, theme music included.
Collector notes
- Check that the rear timer knob works and all twelve slot windows are intact.
- Ask whether the lock key is included; the cartridge bay needs it.
- A bare M82 unit and a full store display with the TV and header are very different finds. Full displays are the true grail.
- Test with a few MMC3 games so you know which carts will not run before you build a lineup.