<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
three	O
different	O
configurations	O
:	O
upright	O
VS.	B-Application
UniSystem	I-Application
cabinets	O
,	O
upright	O
VS.	B-Application
DualSystem	I-Application
cabinets	O
,	O
and	O
sit-down	O
VS.	B-Application
DualSystem	I-Application
cabinets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VS.	O
System	O
was	O
a	O
commercial	O
success	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
with	O
about	O
100,000	O
arcade	O
cabinets	O
sold	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
highest-grossing	O
arcade	B-Application
machine	I-Application
of	I-Application
1985	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VS.	O
System	O
was	O
designed	O
primarily	O
as	O
a	O
kit	O
to	O
retrofit	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
,	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
Jr.	I-Application
,	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
3	I-Application
,	O
Popeye	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Mario	B-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
cabinets	O
,	O
so	O
they	O
require	O
the	O
same	O
special	O
monitor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Almost	O
all	O
VS.	O
System	O
cabinets	O
have	O
identical	O
hardware	O
powered	O
by	O
a	O
Ricoh	B-General_Concept
2A03	I-General_Concept
central	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
unit	I-General_Concept
(	O
CPU	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
in	O
the	O
Nintendo	O
Entertainment	O
System	O
,	O
except	O
for	O
special	O
PPUs	O
or	O
video	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Red	O
Tent	O
,	O
a	O
steel	O
sit-down	O
cabinet	O
for	O
the	O
VS.	B-Application
DualSystem	I-Application
,	O
allows	O
play	O
for	O
up	O
to	O
four	O
players	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
VS.	O
Super	B-Application
Mario	I-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
is	O
considerably	O
more	O
difficult	O
than	O
Super	O
Mario	O
Bros.	O
;	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
levels	O
were	O
reused	O
in	O
Super	B-Device
Mario	I-Device
Bros	I-Device
.	I-Device
2	I-Device
for	O
the	O
Family	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
Disk	I-Device
System	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Duck	B-Application
Hunt	I-Application
has	O
more	O
details	O
and	O
animation	O
sequences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1980	O
,	O
Data	O
East	O
had	O
introduced	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
a	O
convertible	O
arcade	O
system	O
board	O
,	O
or	O
arcade	O
conversion	O
system	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
DECO	B-Application
Cassette	I-Application
System	I-Application
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
major	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
successful	O
arcade	O
conversion	O
system	O
is	O
Sega	O
's	O
Convert-a-Game	B-Application
system	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
success	O
led	O
to	O
several	O
other	O
arcade	O
manufacturers	O
introducing	O
their	O
own	O
arcade	O
conversion	O
systems	O
by	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
Nintendo	B-Application
VS.	I-Application
System	I-Application
in	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Nintendo	B-Application
VS.	I-Application
System	I-Application
is	O
important	O
in	O
the	O
history	B-Architecture
of	I-Architecture
the	I-Architecture
Nintendo	I-Architecture
Entertainment	I-Architecture
System	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
the	O
arcade	O
game	O
industry	O
also	O
had	O
a	O
slump	O
as	O
the	O
golden	O
age	O
of	O
arcade	B-Application
video	I-Application
games	I-Application
ended	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
arcade	O
industry	O
recovered	O
and	O
stabilized	O
with	O
the	O
help	O
of	O
software	O
conversion	O
kit	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Sega	O
's	O
Convert-a-Game	B-Application
system	O
,	O
the	O
Atari	B-Application
System	I-Application
1	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Nintendo-Pak	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nintendo	O
based	O
the	O
VS.	O
System	O
hardware	O
on	O
the	O
Famicom	O
,	O
and	O
introduced	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
its	O
Nintendo-Pak	O
arcade	O
system	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
used	O
for	O
games	O
such	O
as	O
Mario	B-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
and	O
Donkey	B-Application
Kong	I-Application
3	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
technologically	O
weaker	O
than	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
Punch-Out	B-Application
arcade	O
hardware	O
,	O
the	O
VS.	O
System	O
was	O
relatively	O
inexpensive	O
,	O
fulfilling	O
Gunpei	O
Yokoi	O
's	O
philosophy	O
of	O
"	O
lateral	O
thinking	O
with	O
withered	O
technology	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Nintendo-Pak	O
and	O
Punch-Out	B-Application
hardware	O
also	O
have	O
a	O
limited	O
game	O
library	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
VS.	O
System	O
accessed	O
a	O
wider	O
variety	O
of	O
games	O
,	O
by	O
easily	O
converting	O
Famicom	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nintendo	O
of	O
America	O
hired	O
Jeff	O
Walker	O
from	O
Bally	O
to	O
help	O
market	O
the	O
VS.	O
System	O
in	O
North	O
America	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
debuted	O
at	O
the	O
1984	O
ASI	O
show	O
along	O
with	O
Punch-Out	B-Application
in	O
February	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
VS.	O
System	O
received	O
some	O
criticism	O
for	O
its	O
graphics	O
being	O
technologically	O
weaker	O
than	O
more	O
recent	O
rival	O
arcade	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
than	O
Nintendo	O
's	O
own	O
powerful	O
Punch-Out	B-Application
arcade	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
VS.	B-Device
Tennis	I-Device
topped	O
Japan	O
's	O
chart	O
for	O
table	O
arcade	O
cabinets	O
in	O
April	O
1984	O
and	O
May	O
1984	O
,	O
and	O
VS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baseball	B-Application
topped	O
the	O
chart	O
in	O
June	O
and	O
July	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
arcade	O
success	O
of	O
sports	O
video	O
games	O
such	O
as	O
Konami	O
's	O
Track	B-Application
&	I-Application
Field	I-Application
(	O
1983	O
)	O
,	O
Nintendo	O
capitalized	O
on	O
this	O
trend	O
with	O
several	O
sports	O
games	O
(	O
Punch-Out	B-Application
,	O
Vs.	B-Device
Tennis	I-Device
and	O
Vs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baseball	B-Application
)	O
that	O
took	O
the	O
US	O
arcade	O
market	O
by	O
storm	O
;	O
Sharpe	O
considered	O
Nintendo	O
"	O
a	O
force	O
to	O
reckon	O
with	O
"	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
strong	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VS.	B-Device
Tennis	I-Device
topped	O
the	O
arcade	O
charts	O
for	O
software	O
conversion	O
kits	O
in	O
July	O
1984	O
(	O
on	O
the	O
RePlay	O
charts	O
)	O
and	O
August	O
1984	O
(	O
on	O
the	O
Play	O
Meter	O
charts	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
VS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baseball	B-Application
topped	O
the	O
charts	O
from	O
September	O
through	O
November	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hogan	B-Application
's	I-Application
Alley	I-Application
and	O
Duck	B-Application
Hunt	I-Application
then	O
became	O
even	O
more	O
popular	O
in	O
American	O
arcades	O
,	O
popularizing	O
light	O
gun	O
shooter	O
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
1985	O
,	O
five	O
VS.	O
games	O
were	O
on	O
the	O
US	O
RePlay	O
top	O
20	O
arcade	O
charts	O
,	O
with	O
Hogan	B-Application
's	I-Application
Alley	I-Application
holding	O
the	O
top	O
spot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Duck	B-Application
Hunt	I-Application
was	O
also	O
popular	O
in	O
arcades	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VS.	O
System	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
become	O
the	O
highest-grossing	O
arcade	B-Application
machine	I-Application
of	I-Application
1985	I-Application
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
and	O
Hogan	B-Application
's	I-Application
Alley	I-Application
and	O
Excitebike	B-Application
became	O
the	O
top	O
two	O
highest-grossing	O
arcade	O
system	O
games	O
that	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
a	O
few	O
months	O
of	O
its	O
1986	O
release	O
,	O
20,000	O
VS.	O
Super	B-Application
Mario	I-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
arcade	O
units	O
were	O
sold	O
,	O
becoming	O
the	O
best-selling	O
VS.	O
release	O
,	O
with	O
each	O
unit	O
consistently	O
earning	O
more	O
than	O
per	O
week	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
arcade	O
success	O
helped	O
introduce	O
Super	B-Application
Mario	I-Application
Bros	I-Application
.	I-Application
to	O
many	O
players	O
who	O
did	O
not	O
yet	O
own	O
a	O
Nintendo	O
Entertainment	O
System	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VS.	O
System	O
launch	O
game	O
was	O
VS.	B-Device
Tennis	I-Device
,	O
released	O
in	O
January	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GooniesNintendoUnreleasedNovember	O
1986	O
VS.	O
Super	O
ChineseNamco1986Unreleased	O
VS.	O
Super	O
Xevious	O
:	O
GAMP	O
no	O
NazoNamco1986Unreleased	O
VS.	O
Tower	O
of	O
BabelNamco1986Unreleased	O
VS.	O
Valkyrie	B-Application
no	I-Application
Bōken	I-Application
:	O
Toki	O
no	O
Kagi	O
DensetsuNamco1986Unreleased	O
VS	O
.	O
</s>
