La Study Box
The Fukutake Publishing Study Box is a device released for the Nintendo Famicom in 1986.
It’s not the Famicom’s most famous accessory.
The Study Box is small enough to fit on the Famicom and plug into the connector.
The power source for the Study Box is external.
The Study Box is quite similar to the Famicom Disk System, but instead of floppy disks it uses audio cassettes to store data. A concept that is already used for PCs such as the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64.
For fans, seen from the inside of the “box”.
Similar to a tape recorder, the top of the StudyBox opens to reveal the compartment in which the tapes are played.
At least fifty tapes have been made for this device.
The Study Box does not have a play button or any other buttons, so you have to use the console controller.
The aim of the Study Box was to make Famicom more educational. Most tapes are therefore intended for school children and are primarily of an educational nature (e.g. English, math or science lessons with in most cases little user interaction).
The Study Box was only published in Japan and is therefore quite rare.
As a bonus, two videos:
