Famicom Disk System

The Famicom Disk System was a Japan-only peripheral for the Famicom (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America). The Disk System connected to the Famicom via a cartidge slot adapter and used rewritable double-sided floppy disks ("Disk Cards") to store game data. These Disk Cards were the first Famicom games to allow a player to save their game progress.

Many popular Famicom games such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus were originally released as Disk System titles. Most Disk System titles were later re-released as regular cartridges, using passwords or battery-backed memory to save game progress in lieu of the Disk Cards' rewritable memory.

Since disks were cheaper to manufacture than cartridges, the games were able to be sold cheaper and the unit was fairly successful in Japan. However, it did not come without disadvantages. The unit was battery-powered (batteries would have to be changed around every five months) and the disks were susceptible to damage, dust, and demagnetization. The rewritable nature of the disks and the availability of similar-sized floppy disks made piracy an issue as well.

Although plans were made for a North American launch of the Disk System, this never occured. Instead, most Disk System games were released in North America and worldwide as regular cartridge games.

Zelda games

 * The Legend of Zelda (was later re-released on cartridge)
 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (was later re-released on cartridge)