R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) is a toy robot accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was launched in July 1985 as the Family Computer Robot in Japan, and October 1985 as R.O.B. in North America. Its short lifespan yielded only two games in the Robot Series: Gyromite and Stack-Up.
Following the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo alleviated the fearful retail market by rebranding its Japanese Famicom video game console as the Nintendo Entertainment System—a new platform focused on R.O.B. to further reclassify the system as a uniquely sophisticated toy experience instead of simply as a video game console. Computer Entertainer magazine in June 1985 called R.O.B. "the world's only interactive robot".
The NES's extensive marketing plan, with its immediately successful centering on R.O.B., began with the October 1985 test market launch of the NES in Manhattan, New York. The launch was Nintendo's debut in the North American video game console market, which eventually revitalized the entire video game industry. R.O.B. was quietly discontinued a few years later, and is now remembered as a successful Trojan Horse of marketing. He is a cameo or playable character in many Nintendo games, especially the Super Smash Bros. series.
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