On the shelf that day, the unknown game was The Legend of Zelda.
February 21, 1986. Nintendo launches the Famicom Disk System, and two of the games on the shelf that morning are Baseball and The Legend of Zelda. Today one of those names carries a weight the other does not. That morning it was the other way around. Baseball had been in Japanese homes since December 1983. It had sold about 2.35 million copies. A customer walking in that day knew exactly what Baseball was — it was the game already sitting by their television. The other box was something nobody had played, by a team nobody was watching, in a shape nobody could name. Two games, side by side on the same shelf, at the same price.
In the evenings, the neighbourhood children gathered at my father's shop. Baseball was the first game they all played together, crowded around one screen.
As I remember it, this one moved better than any baseball game of its time. The players ran like players, and it did exactly what you pressed. If you knew the rules of baseball, that was enough to have a match.
What passes through my hands now is the disk card. It is not enough to put one in the drive and watch the title screen come up. Some cards read weakly, and the trouble shows differently on every one, so in the end I sit down and play it. It is not rare for the label to say one game and the disk to hold another.
So when you buy something like this, look at the seller before you look at the price. The label is a promise somebody else made. What you are actually buying is the person who checked it.
About this game
A whole team has to move on a screen that has almost nothing in it. That was the problem sitting in front of the small group at Nintendo who built this in 1983, working on a machine with almost no room to spare. Baseball shipped as a Famicom cartridge on December 7, 1983.
Then it kept being picked. It was there for the NES launch in North America in October 1985. It was there on February 21, 1986, the opening day of the Famicom Disk System. And in 1989, when the first Game Boy needed four games ready to go, one of the four was Baseball. About 2.35 million copies went out in Japan alone, roughly 3.2 million once the NES is counted in.
There is no save feature. Battery backup did not exist yet, so every match begins and ends in one sitting. That is also why it kept being picked. A game that fits in one sitting travels well, and where it travelled to was a living room with more people in it than controllers.
Gallery
The Story Behind
On February 21, 1986, a Famicom Disk System version launched as one of the titles available at the debut of the Disk System, alongside The Legend of Zelda. Baseball reached North America as an NES launch title in October 1985, and Europe in 1986. In 1989, it was released for the original Game Boy as one of that handheld's four launch titles. Because it predates Nintendo's battery-backup save technology, which arrived around 1986 to 1987, Baseball has no save feature — each game is a single, self-contained match.
Tricks & Tales
Baseball launched twice from Nintendo within a little over two years: first as a Famicom cartridge in December 1983, then again on the Famicom Disk System in February 1986, the same day The Legend of Zelda debuted. Famicom cartridges (sixty pins) and NES cartridges (seventy-two pins) use physically different connectors and are not interchangeable.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
The Famicom Disk System was sold exclusively in Japan and was never officially released in any other region. It was designed as an attachment to the original Famicom, using a rewritable magnetic Quick Disk format — a medium that no longer has manufacturer support and that Nintendo ceased rewriting or selling decades ago. Buyers outside Japan should understand that there is no Western-compatible equivalent: FDS software requires a Famicom console, the RAM adapter, and the dedicated power adapter, all of which are Japan-market hardware. The disk media itself is not readable by any standard floppy drive.
Maintenance Tips
The drive belt is the most critical maintenance item. The original rubber belt (approximately 31mm diameter) stretches and eventually fails after decades of storage, preventing the drive from reading disks. Replacement belts are widely available from retro hardware suppliers and require no special tools -- a documented procedure exists in multiple collector guides. After belt replacement, the drive may need alignment, which is a more involved process. The RAM adapter board contains electrolytic capacitors that should be recapped if the unit is used regularly -- leaking capacitors can damage the PCB and corrupt disk reads. Clean the battery compartment with vinegar and a cotton swab if corrosion is present. FDS disks should be stored in their cases away from magnetic sources.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Baseball copies regularly.
Is this the Famicom cartridge version or the Disk System version?
This is the Famicom Disk System version, released February 21, 1986. It is a separate release from the original Famicom cartridge that came out in December 1983, roughly two years earlier. A cartridge and a disk are different physical products.
Did Baseball really launch alongside The Legend of Zelda?
Yes. This Disk System version of Baseball was among the titles available the day the Famicom Disk System launched on February 21, 1986 — the same day The Legend of Zelda debuted.
Can I save my progress?
No. Baseball predates Nintendo's battery-backup save technology, which arrived around 1986 to 1987. Each game is a complete, self-contained match with no save feature — which also means there is no battery inside that can fail with age.
Do I need anything besides the disk to play it?
Yes. A Famicom Disk System disk cannot be played on its own — you need a Famicom console, the Disk System drive, and its RAM Adapter cartridge. The drive itself uses a rubber belt that commonly hardens after a decade or two, so a secondhand drive often needs belt replacement to run reliably.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Baseball
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom Disk System disk wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Inspect the disk and its shell
Disk System media is fragile — the magnetic disk can wear, and saves are written back onto the disk itself.
Ask whether it was tested and reads reliably; look for cracks or a warped shell in photos.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is Japanese Famicom Disk System media and requires a Famicom with a working Disk System drive.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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Mind the drive belt on the console side
Disk System drives commonly need a replacement belt to read reliably — this is a console matter, not the disk.
If reading is unreliable, the console's belt is the usual culprit, not the game.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See what we have in stock →Unexpected Discoveries
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Baseball sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
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