<P> Designed by Masayuki Uemura, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21, 1990 for 25,000 yen ($210). It was an instant success; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours, and the resulting social disturbance led the Japanese government to ask video game manufacturers to schedule future console releases on weekends . The system's release also gained the attention of the Yakuza, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery . </P> <P> With the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market . Nintendo's success was partially due to the retention of most of its key third - party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square, Koei, and Enix . </P> <P> Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a redesigned version of the Super Famicom, in North America for $199 . It began shipping in limited quantities on August 23, 1991, with an official nationwide release date of September 9, 1991 . The SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for £ 150, with a German release following a few weeks later . </P> <P> Most of the PAL region versions of the console use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling and the length of the joypad leads . The Playtronic Super NES in Brazil, although PAL - M, uses the North American design . Both the NES and SNES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture between the toy company Estrela and consumer electronics company Gradiente . </P>

How much did a super nintendo cost when it first came out