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Post by wyldephang on Jun 11, 2013 1:57:23 GMT -5
You found a copy of TMNT III: Manhattan Project! Excellent choice, Trek. The co-operative mode is among the best on the system and easily ranks among Contra and Double Dragon II or River City Ransom for two-player fun. Glip, the NES-101 is worth the extra money, as I think most of us disliked the original front-loader design and were happy when Nintendo eventually adopted the top-loading standard. I preferred the first-generation controllers, however, over the alternative "dog bone" design that appeared in the early '90s. I'm going to need to track down an NES system, but I've been turned away by some of the asking prices. Hopefully, I'll join you and Trek one day; until then, good luck in your 8-bit collecting.
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Post by TrekMD on Jun 11, 2013 16:57:11 GMT -5
You know, I had completely forgotten of the existence of the NES-101. That is one cool NES console and, I think, much better than the original box. I may decide to get one so I don't have to worry about emulation problems with the N1. And thanks about TMNT III. I got lukcy!
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 11, 2013 18:41:11 GMT -5
Yeah I have always thought the 101 was a great design, but have still never played one. That it apparently plays games flawlessly, without flashing screens etc makes it a no brainer! Mine should be arriving in the mail tomorrow or the next day.
The one knock against this version that I have read about is that they eliminated the AV outputs, so it is RF only. Many people seem to think the AV on the original design produces better picture quality, (also a more convenient way to connect to most TV's).
... In reading about the two US NES designs I've learned that the original design was contrived to suit mid 80's American tastes for "entertainment centers". It was designed to look like a VCR. What a mistake it looks like now!
The cartridge cases are approximately TWICE as big as the game PCB's inside them. Those are ugly too! The only reason they are that big is so the cartridge contacts can reach deep inside that artificially boxy console, where the pin connector is. ... Famicom (Japanese NES) carts are much smaller (and more attractive), only slightly bigger than the PCB inside, because they load straight in the top like a NORMAL video game console.
I'd like to contrive some smaller cartidge shells, to swap a small collection of NES games into, to go with my top loader.
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Post by TrekMD on Jun 11, 2013 18:46:20 GMT -5
I did notice that about the carts. They are huge packs of...air! The PCB is very small by comparison. What an inefficient and wasteful design! The Famicom carts have a better design. Was the decision for such large carts for the "bigger is better" crowd?
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 11, 2013 21:28:09 GMT -5
I did notice that about the carts. They are huge packs of...air! The PCB is very small by comparison. What an inefficient and wasteful design! The Famicom carts have a better design. Was the decision for such large carts for the "bigger is better" crowd? I think it was just bigger in order to be able to load from the front and have the console shaped the way it is. Like I said, they wanted the console to look (and load) like a VCR, promoting as an accessory to your "entertainment center". I guess the springy cart dock that moves up and down is part of that. But I suppose they could just have easily had a regular cartridge port on the front, and used smaller carts. IDK.
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Post by TrekMD on Jun 11, 2013 21:30:52 GMT -5
BTW, that same company that made the N1 that I purchased, is working on a new console called the N5. Check it out: Retron N5
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Post by wyldephang on Jun 11, 2013 21:40:57 GMT -5
I did notice that about the carts. They are huge packs of...air! The PCB is very small by comparison. What an inefficient and wasteful design! The Famicom carts have a better design. Was the decision for such large carts for the "bigger is better" crowd? I think it was just bigger in order to be able to load from the front and have the console shaped the way it is. Like I said, they wanted the console to look (and load) like a VCR, promoting as an accessory to your "entertainment center". I guess the springy cart dock that moves up and down is part of that. But I suppose they could just have easily had a regular cartridge port on the front, and used smaller carts. IDK. That explains it best: the North American cartridges were clearly made with the front-loading design in mind. One drawback to the tall, skinny profile of the cartridge is that it has a tendency to teeter when inserted into an NES-101 or other top-loading machine. Still, the NES-101 is solidly constructed. You'll never need to worry about a broken locking mechanism, and the pin connector apparently lasts longer in the top-loader.
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 11, 2013 21:41:32 GMT -5
BTW, some more fun little lore about these big bloated NES carts..
Some very early US cartridges actually contain FAMICOM PCB's, as well as a pin converter to get it to work on a US system! If you find one of these carts you can open it up and separate the converter from the game PCB, and use it to play other Japanese Famicom games on your US NES.
You will notice that most, if not all of your NES carts have THREE screws on the back, (with very obscure screw heads). The games with pin converters in them have FIVE screws, which can be opened with a small flat head.
Not all 5 screw carts have pin converters in them, (most don't). ... The reason they switched from 5 (flat) screws to 3 (obscure) screws is that many kids were opening the carts up and swapping the PCB's from cheap games with those of expensive games, and then returning the expensive games to the stores for a refund.
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 11, 2013 21:51:09 GMT -5
BTW, that same company that made the N1 that I purchased, is working on a new console called the N5. Yeah that looks cool. I remember reading about it recently. It is supposed to be of a higher build quality than their previous clones, perhaps the only really well built clone. One of the most highly anticipated features is the little GBA port on the front, because to date it is only possible to play GBA on your TV with the Game Boy Player for the Game Cube. The Game Boy Player relies on a loader disk that is easily lost and more difficult to replace than the hardware, ($$$). Cool that this flashy multi-clone still has some controller ports for using the original controllers, I think.
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Post by TrekMD on Jun 11, 2013 22:11:23 GMT -5
The N5 has multiple controller ports on it. You can play GB, GBC, and GBA games on it, so all of those games can be played on a TV. It seems to have an enhancing chip so the images look better and the output is through HDMI. It also uses Android as the OS which I thought was nifty.
That's interesting about the carts. I kept wondering why I saw the listing on ebay that specified 3 or 5 screws!
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Post by wyldephang on Jun 12, 2013 13:35:50 GMT -5
BTW, some more fun little lore about these big bloated NES carts.. Some very early US cartridges actually contain FAMICOM PCB's, as well as a pin converter to get it to work on a US system! If you find one of these carts you can open it up and separate the converter from the game PCB, and use it to play other Japanese Famicom games on your US NES. You will notice that most, if not all of your NES carts have THREE screws on the back, (with very obscure screw heads). The games with pin converters in them have FIVE screws, which can be opened with a small flat head. Not all 5 screw carts have pin converters in them, (most don't). ... The reason they switched from 5 (flat) screws to 3 (obscure) screws is that many kids were opening the carts up and swapping the PCB's from cheap games with those of expensive games, and then returning the expensive games to the stores for a refund. Gyromite is one such game that sometimes contains a Famicom converter. Here is a useful guide to finding the valuable copies of Gyromite, and how to tell them apart from the ordinary copies. To open most NES cartridges, you'll need a tool known as the GameBit, which is available on Amazon and several other stores. Conveniently enough, the GameBit works for the Super Nintendo and Game Boy, as every subsequent generation used the same security bit.
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Post by gliptitude on Jun 12, 2013 21:35:56 GMT -5
Gyromite is one such game that sometimes contains a Famicom converter. Here is a useful guide to finding the valuable copies of Gyromite, and how to tell them apart from the ordinary copies. To open most NES cartridges, you'll need a tool known as the GameBit, which is available on Amazon and several other stores. Conveniently enough, the GameBit works for the Super Nintendo and Game Boy, as every subsequent generation used the same security bit. Hmmm. That was a useful link. I'd already reviewed a few others. The most notable new (to me) information in this one is that he only got Famicom converters from 25% of Gyromite carts that he opened. ... The other stuff I'd read indicated that Gyromite was probably the most common way to find these. ... I'd figured that there would be a higher success rate than 25% since EVERY copy of Gyromite corresponds to an early ROBOT/Console package. You should not need a "GameBit" to retrieve a famicom converter from a cart. The early carts that include the converter were all produced before the GameBit screws were introduced. ... This afternoon I purchased a cart of Kid Icarus (for $10 at a local shop) that had all of the signs of a Famicom conversion, (five flat screws, no tabs, non-symmetrical copper leads, slightly heavier than other carts), but alas there was no converter inside. I think there are about 15 games that are documented to have had Famicom converters inside. Among them, I had read that Gyromite USUALLY had one and that there was one game that ALWAYS had one, but that that game was rare and more valuable than the converter. Ha ha. I actually really have no use for such a converter right now, but still I am a seeker.
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Post by gamezone on Jun 14, 2013 23:01:25 GMT -5
I have never came across a NES Game Pak with the Famicon converter. Still searching.
Of the two NES systems. I prefer the top loader for the ease of game loads. Although it does show scan lines, were as the flip top/toaster has a much better picture.
Everything I have read about the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System, point to Nintendo trying to distance the system from being called a dedicated gaming console. Slight things like adding the robot, family fitness pad and calling the software, Game Paks as opposed to cartridges. Plus an effective ad campaign made the NES seem more like a family fun system, unlike the Atari consoles which were all about the arcade experience at home. Once the NES took off as an acceptable alternative to gaming consoles, Nintendo dropped ROB the Robot. Never to be used again.
The flip top comparison to the vcr, seems to have really helped enhance the notion of the NES as an entertainment system. Along with the oversized game paks, which did not resemble the old way of gaming.
At the time it was quite a gamble and could have had a much different outcome. Thankfully, the cards all fell in Nintendo's favor.
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Post by sj on Jun 15, 2013 12:38:17 GMT -5
...many kids were opening the carts up and swapping the PCB's from cheap games with those of expensive games, and then returning the expensive games to the stores for a refund. I love that. And I guilty of doing similar stuff...
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Post by VectorX on Jun 15, 2013 12:51:47 GMT -5
You would.
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