View source for Family BASIC

{{Short description|1984 console cartridge for programming}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name = Family BASIC
| logo = Family BASIC logo.svg
| image = Nintendo-Famicom-Family-Basic-Keyboard-wCart.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = The Family BASIC keyboard with application cartridge
| developer = [[Nintendo]]<br>[[Sharp Corporation]]<br>[[Hudson Soft]]
| manufacturer = Nintendo
| platform = [[Family Computer]]
| releasedate = {{vgrelease|JP|June 21, 1984}}
| type = [[Programming language]] ([[BASIC interpreter]])
}}
{{nihongo foot|'''''Family BASIC'''''|ファミリーベーシック|Famirī Bēshikku|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a consumer product for programming on the [[Family Computer]] [[video game console]]. ''Family BASIC''  was launched on June 21, 1984, to consumers in Japan by [[Nintendo]], in cooperation with [[Hudson Soft]] and [[Sharp Corporation]]. A second version titled ''Family BASIC V3'' was released on February 21, 1985, with greater memory and new features.

==Overview==
The first edition of the ''Family BASIC'' application cartridge is bundled with a computer style keyboard and instructional textbook, and requires a cassette tape recorder to save [[user-generated content|user-generated]] BASIC programs. Programs can be saved using any cassette tape drive, such as the [[Famicom Data Recorder]]. ''Family BASIC'' was not designed to be compatible with floppy disk storage on the [[Famicom Disk System]] and the Disk System's RAM adapter requires the use of the Famicom's cartridge slot, which prevents using the slot for the ''Family BASIC'' cartridge.

''Family BASIC'' includes a dialect of the [[BASIC]] [[programming language]] enhanced for game development. Its HuBASIC command set is extended with support for [[sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]], animation, backgrounds, musical sequences, and [[gamepad]]s. Several visual components of Nintendo games, such as backgrounds and characters from the ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' series {{circa | 1984-1985}}, are ''Family BASIC'' development componentry, or appear in premade ''Family BASIC'' games.

Like [[Integer BASIC]] and [[Tiny BASIC]], the ''Family BASIC'' [[BASIC interpreter|interpreter]] only supports integers. It is based on Hudson Soft BASIC for the Sharp MZ80.{{citation needed|date=August 2010}} Its keywords are in English.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atkinsoft.com/familybasic.html|title=Richard Atkinson|access-date=2020-08-27}}</ref>

==Development==
''Family BASIC'' was released in Japan by [[Nintendo]] for the [[Family Computer]] on June 21, 1984, in Japan.<ref name="Retro Gamer"/> As part of a collaboration between Nintendo, [[Sharp Corporation]], and [[Hudson Soft]], it was created to attract computer users over to the new Famicom.<ref name="Retro Gamer"/> [[Koji Kondo]] wrote a section in the instruction manual for programming Japanese [[popular music]] in the game, as his second project for [[Nintendo]].<ref name="Kondo">{{cite interview | title=VGL: Koji Kondo | work=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | first=Koji | last=Kondo | subject-link=Koji Kondo | interviewer=Chris Kohler | date=March 11, 2007 | url=https://www.wired.com/2007/03/vgl-koji-kondo-/ | access-date=July 25, 2019}}</ref> Prior to this, Kondo had become interested in producing music through computers by programming sound effects in BASIC on his home computer.<ref name="Kondo"/> Two revisions of ''Family 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.<ref name="Retro Gamer"/> v.3.0 features expanded memory and several minigames built-in to the programming cartridge, indicated by a red cartridge shell.<ref name="Retro Gamer"/>

==Reception==
''Family BASIC'' was commercially successful, with more than 400,000 units sold by the end of the 1980s.<ref name="Kojima">{{cite book |last1=Kojima |first1=Ikuo |title=風雲ゲーム業界戦国時代-任天堂、セガの2強時代は続くのか? 切り崩しを図る第3勢力とハイテク・メーカーの陣地争い |date=1994 |publisher=Pseudorabies Publishing |isbn=4-87190-391-5 |page=74}}</ref>

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 the [[Famicom Disk System]], although they found it to be an interesting collection piece for its rarity and overall concept.<ref name="Retro Gamer">{{cite web |author1=Retro Gamer Team |title=Famicom Family Basic |url=https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/famicom-family-basic/ |website=[[Retro Gamer]] |access-date=November 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331210953/https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/famicom-family-basic/ |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |date=September 19, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In ''IGN''{{'}}s 2013 retrospective of the Famicom's library that was lost to audiences outside Japan, Lucas Thomas called ''Family 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".<ref name="Secret Library">{{cite news | title=The Secret Library of the Famicom | work=[[IGN]] | first=Lucas M. | last=Thomas | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/22/the-secret-library-of-the-famicom | access-date=August 15, 2020}}</ref>

==Legacy==
''[[Cho Ren Sha 68K]]'' designer Koichi "Famibe No Yosshin" Yoshida used ''Family BASIC'' to create two [[shoot 'em up]] games titled ''Zacner'' and ''Zacner II''.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Yosshin|url=https://archive.org/stream/micomBASIC_1989-07#page/n83/mode/2up|title=BM特選プログラム•コーナー - ファミリーコンピュータ/ツインファ三ン用: ザックナー|magazine={{ill|Micom BASIC Magazine|lt=Micom BASIC Magazine|ja|マイコンBASICマガジン}}|issue=85|publisher={{ill|The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation|lt=The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation|ja|電波新聞社}}|date=July 1989|pages=102–103|lang=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|author=Famibe No Yosshin|url=https://archive.org/stream/micomBASIC_1993-05#page/n90/mode/2up|title=BM特選プログラム•コーナー - ファミーコンビュータ/ツインファミコン(ファミルーBASIC V3): ファミリーベーシック - ZACNER II|magazine={{ill|Micom BASIC Magazine|lt=Micom BASIC Magazine|ja|マイコンBASICマガジン}}|issue=131|publisher={{ill|The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation|lt=The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation|ja|電波新聞社}}|date=May 1993|pages=98–100|lang=ja}}</ref> [[Satoshi Tajiri]], creator of ''[[Pokémon (video game series)|Pokémon]]'', initially used ''Family 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 make [[Game Freak]]'s debut game ''Quinty'', later released as ''[[Mendel Palace]]'' (1990).<ref name="A basic history">{{cite web | title=A basic history of BASIC on its 50th birthday | first=John | last=Szczepaniak | date=August 2012 | work=[[Game Developer (magazine)|Game Developer]] | via=GamaSutra, May 1, 2014 | url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/a-basic-history-of-basic-on-its-50th-birthday | access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>

[[Masahiro Sakurai]], creator of the ''[[Kirby (series)|Kirby]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' series, was inspired at a young age by ''Family BASIC'', and described it as the biggest driving factor in his getting into the video game industry. He devoted an episode of his [[YouTube]] program ''Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games'' to the product, giving an overview of it and sharing some of his personal experiences with it.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89_FhHQ5n-g |title=Family BASIC [Programming & Tech] |date=2023-06-14 |last=Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games |access-date=2025-01-04 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*''[https://www.mariowiki.com/Family_BASIC Family BASIC]'' at Super Mario Wiki

{{Nintendo Entertainment System}}
{{BASIC}}
{{Homebrew}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Family Basic}}
[[Category:Mario video games]]
[[Category:BASIC interpreters]]
[[Category:Discontinued BASICs]]
[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System accessories]]
[[Category:Video game development software]]
[[Category:BASIC programming language family]]