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[1upsuper]

I've had this book saved under my want list for a while now. You'll need to know some Japanese however.

Otherwise, off the top of my head, there's Pat Contri's Ultimate Guide to the NES and Hardcore Gaming 101 is coming out with a FDS Guidebook later this year.

http://www.chrismcovell.com/famicomplete.html I've owned this one for about 10+ years now, it's a nice conversation piece even though it's in Japanese.

This is the one you want:

Family Computer 1983 - 1994 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography

It has photographs of every Famicom game box, as well as interviews with the usual gang like Miyamoto and Itoi, but surprisingly has an introduction by the late old man himself, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and it's bilingual in Japanese and English, which makes it extra desirable.

Thanks, everyone! Those all look great. I went ahead and ordered Rydeen's suggestion. I can't wait.

And yeah, the HG101 books are awesome and well worth picking up.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Hi. It's a bit above my pay grade but it seems that Lothar will probably not be returning in time for August or in the near future. I can't answer questions about user bans or appeals but please let me know what you guys want to do about the monthly game club. It looks like charlequin and Aeana have done the last few renames. Probably best to pick one person from this thread as a point of contact and continue PMing those mods about future title changes, but if there's anything I can do to help beyond that let me know.

 

[Morfeo]

for top down pins, i use a thin plastic like a thin ID card, wrapped a cloth or side of clean cotton t-shirt, dip it in Isopropyl Alcohol 70% and insert like a cart and remove a few times carefully, it gets out a lot of dirt. (just use the right thickness card.)

This is what I do, but I use the highest percent Isopropyl I can get which is usually in the 90s.

Thanks, going to do this tonight!

Btw, finally got a new Nes-game today:

 

[Fedemgsuy]

well, i went ahead and got myself a Nes, 2 controllers and 12 games with no boxes: Zelda, the 3 castlevanias, Mario 3, Final fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Gauntlet 2, nes golf, Blades of steel, Captain America and Contra, amazing how well this thing holds up.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Anyone tried both the AVS and NT Mini got any pointers on which is better? Was thinking of giving my Twin Fami to my sister's wife as a late wedding gift since she'd enjoy it and pick up one of those.

 

[RadarScope1]

I don't have either but by all accounts the NT mini is better. You get what you pay for.

 

[OnPoint]

Friend has the AVS. It's nice. No issues with it.

I want an NT myself

 

[dubc35]

I got some time with Jackal last night. I played it when I was like 10 and thought it was impossible. I made it to level 4 last night before real life responsibilities took over.

The guys plotting the way are idiots, "Here?" Yes, there lol.

Could this be considered a shmup? I have zero knowledge on official shmup characteristics but this kind of has that feel.

 

[RadarScope1]

Yeah, kinda. It's in that mold.

 

[D.Lo]

Could this be considered a shmup? I have zero knowledge on official shmup characteristics but this kind of has that feel.

Overhead run and gun. Well, drive and gun. It's like the overhead levels in Super Contra/Operation C/Contra Spirits.

Shoot em ups can be land based, but really need auto-scrolling.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

I got some time with Jackal last night. I played it when I was like 10 and thought it was impossible. I made it to level 4 last night before real life responsibilities took over.

The guys plotting the way are idiots, "Here?" Yes, there lol.

Could this be considered a shmup? I have zero knowledge on official shmup characteristics but this kind of has that feel.

i loved those comic panel-ish scenes after beating a stage =)

 

[davidwhangchoi]

thanks to the recommendation of Yes Boss! i grabbed this =)

 

[sixteen-bit]

thanks to the recommendation of Yes Boss! i grabbed this =)

How are you liking it?

 

[Shin Johnpv]

Astyanax is soooo good. I loved it as a kid, if I remember right it is BRUTALLY hard. I think I only beat it as a kid by using the invincibility code.

 

[RoryDropkick]

thanks to the recommendation of Yes Boss! i grabbed this =)

Ooh nice, good pick. Lots of fun and a real challenege. I liked the coverage that NP gave it back in the day too.

 

[Flizzzipper]

thanks to the recommendation of Yes Boss! i grabbed this =)

That's a good one. I beat it a few years ago and don't remember it being extremely difficult.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

How are you liking it?

i haven't got a chance to start it last night but going to give it a go tonight!

Astyanax is soooo good. I loved it as a kid, if I remember right it is BRUTALLY hard. I think I only beat it as a kid by using the invincibility code.

i'm surprised i never heard of this game as a kid. i wonder if it came out early or late in the nes life cycle.

Ooh nice, good pick. Lots of fun and a real challenege. I liked the coverage that NP gave it back in the day too.

so a 2nd on the challege.

That's a good one. I beat it a few years ago and don't remember it being extremely difficult.

hmm... i need to try it myself and see how hard or normal this game is.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

update: i tried it and got killed on my first try. but one my second game i got up to stage 4-1.
reminds me of Sega Genesis' "Last Battle" (Hokuto No Ken) and legendary axe.

the stage 1 boss was the hardest so far.

i took a break and put it on pause for another go around tomorrow =)

 

[davidwhangchoi]

Update 2:
I resumed last night from 4-1 and made it to 5-1.

Took me 4-5 continues to get there. The game is not so hard as much as annoying, enemies respawn ala ninja gaiden at certain points which after killing can be annoying trying to advance but can't. (Silly jumping manfishes) I paused it off once I got to stage 5 and went to bed. I think I'll be able to beat it next time I'm awake. Overall, it's an interesting title with the cutscenes and game play that's simple but placed intentionally to be a challenge.

Anyone else playing any nes titles?

 

[RadarScope1]

Anyone else playing any nes titles?

I am! For once!!

My daughter is 4 and she likes watching "Daddy's old games" sometimes. Today her attention span held for about three hours, and we played several games. Got through two worlds of Kirby's Adventure, several attempts at Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong 3. But the best was Gyromite. Yes, Gyromite. It's the perfect little kid co-op game. They just press either A or B to shift the red and blue poles and get you through the level. And she thought it was hilarious when she squashed me. The girl also just loves Donkey Kong for some reason.

Kirby and Jackie Chan are so good. Would love for one of those to be our monthly game at some point. DK3 is a decent score attack type of game, too.

 

[dubc35]

Anyone else playing any nes titles?

I've been playing Castlevania on and off for a couple months.

I played a couple games of Tecmo Super Bowl (sports games on GAF?!) with the preseason starting. Speaking of, I should check to see if this year's rosters have been released.

I played a small amount of Renegade yesterday. It's my oldest physical game and the thread in gaming made me give it some time. I died before getting out of the first area, lol.

 

[socksfelloff]

Today I grabbed my twin famicom out of storage to rgb mod but I had to install this first!


Operation I don't have a ram cart cable and didn't buy the fds stick adapter so I wired my own was a success!

 

[RadarScope1]

Today I grabbed my twin famicom out of storage to rgb mod but I had to install this first!


Operation I don't have a ram cart cable and didn't buy the fds stick adapter so I wired my own was a success!

I posted in the Retro Unite thread but forgot to post here, so I'm glad I saw this pic:

I cannot get my FDSStick up and running. I used a friend's laptop since all I have is a Mac and his laptop has USB 3.0 ports. But I think the Stick is only compatible with USB 2.0. Did you have a similar issue? I'm frustrated because I keep hearing that the thing is dead simple to set up but so far I am 0 for 2 (including my Mac). Grrr...

Any advice?

 

[socksfelloff]

I posted in the Retro Unite thread but forgot to post here, so I'm glad I saw this pic:

I cannot get my FDSStick up and running. I used a friend's laptop since all I have is a Mac and his laptop has USB 3.0 ports. But I think the Stick is only compatible with USB 2.0. Did you have a similar issue? I'm frustrated because I keep hearing that the thing is dead simple to set up but so far I am 0 for 2 (including my Mac). Grrr...

Any advice?

Step 1: Bootcamp that fucker or setup a vm.

I actually used it on both my laptop(USB 3) and my desktop(USB 3) but I often find some USB controllers have issues with certain devices. It's worth noting that the fds stick does not show up as a drive in Windows but the software will recognize it just fine.

Once you get the program to recognize it, it's dead simple.

 

[RadarScope1]

Step 1: Bootcamp that fucker or setup a vm.

I actually used it on both my laptop(USB 3) and my desktop(USB 3) but I often find some USB controllers have issues with certain devices. It's worth noting that the fds stick does not show up as a drive in Windows but the software will recognize it just fine.

Once you get the program to recognize it, it's dead simple.

OK, so do I need to download the software first, then plug in the stick? I've been so focused on the fact that the stick isn't showing up as a drive that I haven't even really focused much on the software...

If you can't tell, I am really dense when it comes to this stuff.

 

[BTails]

I've been able to get my FDS Stick working through Bootcamp (Windows 10) on my iMac. Didn't have any issues adding a game using the software that was on the website. I'd try to find a way to get that software working, that should allow you to copy games over.

 

[socksfelloff]

I plugged the stick in then loaded the software. If I tried to load the software without the stick it errored and said "oops no device found"

The program gives you no indication that the stick is connected but if you can add games you're golden!

 

[davidwhangchoi]

hey nesGAF, finally beat Astyanax tonight!

great game that had some strategy. all in all totally reminds me of Last Battle (Fist of the North Star Hokuto No Ken). great game.

 

[Teknoman]

Update 2:
I resumed last night from 4-1 and made it to 5-1.

Took me 4-5 continues to get there. The game is not so hard as much as annoying, enemies respawn ala ninja gaiden at certain points which after killing can be annoying trying to advance but can't. (Silly jumping manfishes) I paused it off once I got to stage 5 and went to bed. I think I'll be able to beat it next time I'm awake. Overall, it's an interesting title with the cutscenes and game play that's simple but placed intentionally to be a challenge.

Anyone else playing any nes titles?

Finally finished Mega Man 6. Not sure what to start on next.

 

[dubc35]

"The good ole days." (2009 quote below)

I ordered:

Zanac
TGL
Gradius
Life Force
Batman by sunsoft
Castlevania III
Dragon Spirit

I want a Contra...maybe add in Ninja Gaiden. That will round out my "traditional" category. All of these games are 1-2 dollars on Amazon, it's amazing. Faxandu is only .01. But shipping is killing me

PS, I'm terrible at shmups; died early and often in Gradius II and Section Z.

 

[RadarScope1]

"The good ole days." (2009 quote below)



PS, I'm terrible at shmups; died early and often in Gradius II and Section Z.

I'm so pissed that I just somehow never seemed to pay attention to retro threads here at that time. I was too into 360 and PS3 to noticed them, I guess. But I had been an avid NES collector just a few years prior to this. I'd let it go for a while since I didn't have room in my apartment for a CRT at that time. Just have no idea why I wasn't paying attention then. I got a lot of great games before the price spike but still am missing so many others.

 

[Y2Kev]

"The good ole days." (2009 quote below)



PS, I'm terrible at shmups; died early and often in Gradius II and Section Z.

I loved Dragon Spirit so much. Such great music.

 

[davidwhangchoi]

I loved Dragon Spirit so much. Such great music.

the arcade music is so amazing =)

 

[RoryDropkick]

the arcade music is so amazing =)

That and Dragon Saber arcade OST are godlike IMO~

 

[davidwhangchoi]

That and Dragon Saber arcade OST are godlike IMO~

Drool

NES club, i grabbed two titles on the way home:

 

[Teh Lurv]

A prototype cartridge of NES Sim City apparently has turned up at a retro-game store in Washington state:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-M_LcqJsc

 

[Shin Johnpv]

A Prototype in Washington state that didn't show up in MJR's hands for once.

 

[sixteen-bit]

They should dump it

 

[BTails]

Spent some time messing around with my FDS yesterday, and ended up playing a fair amount of Ai Senshi Nicol. Man, that is a FUN game. The music is phenomenal, and the stage layouts are quite unique. It feels great to wind along a path, hoping you're heading the right direction, then coming across one of the diamonds needed to exit the stage.

I can't wait to get back to it (Thank you FDS save system!) and finish it up either tonight or tomorrow.

 

[RoryDropkick]

They should dump it

It belongs in a museum

 

[RadarScope1]

FDSStick update: Y'all were right. It's dead simple.

Even though the device didn't show up like most drives would, I just loaded the games onto the software and boom - it was on the stick. I had a brief moment of frustration when I kept getting error 07 upon switching sides, until I re-read the official page and recalled you have to push the button twice to set side B. So! Now I have a working FDS. Sweet.

 

[socksfelloff]

FDSStick update: Y'all were right. It's dead simple.

Even though the device didn't show up like most drives would, I just loaded the games onto the software and boom - it was on the stick. I had a brief moment of frustration when I kept getting error 07 upon switching sides, until I re-read the official page and recalled you have to push the button twice to set side B. So! Now I have a working FDS. Sweet.

You da man! I made the same mistake!

 

[RadarScope1]

Can you rename files in FDSStick?

 

[socksfelloff]

Can you rename files in FDSStick?

I suppose you could rename the file and then transfer it to the stick.

 

[RadarScope1]

My organizational brain wants to categorize what's on the stick. I love the black box games, for example (my main collecting goal) and there are a few of those that were rereleased and updated as VS versions on the FDS. These are really some lost gems that never appeared anywhere else, with the exception of a very late (1993) EU cart release of Mario Bros., which itself was modified to take out the advertising tie-in. I have that cart and it's so awesome.

 

[RoryDropkick]

FDSStick update: Y'all were right. It's dead simple.

Even though the device didn't show up like most drives would, I just loaded the games onto the software and boom - it was on the stick. I had a brief moment of frustration when I kept getting error 07 upon switching sides, until I re-read the official page and recalled you have to push the button twice to set side B. So! Now I have a working FDS. Sweet.

Congrats! Enjoy some FDS goodness now!

 

[sixteen-bit]

Otocky is pretty wild. I like it more as a toy than a game tho. There are better famicom shooting games.

 

[RadarScope1]

Bringing this conversation between myself and D.Lo over here from the Samus Returns thread because this is a more appropriate place. I mentioned I wanted to play through Metroid on my new FDS setup soon, which led to:

FDS is by far the best way too, it has all the extra music and sound effects missing in the western version.

One note: the expansion audio is too loud in an AV Famicom.

Oh? As in the mix is off, I just need to turn the volume down a touch?

Mix is off. True of all expansion audio games on AV Famicom actually, but it sticks out on Metroid because the extra audio pops in and out for various things like item pickups (as opposed to playing the whole time so you 'adjust' to the mix, like Castlevania II and III.

A hardware mod can fix it, Tim's RGB mod for the original Famicom actually has a volume switch option for it.

LOL, so after tracking down an RGB modded AV Famicom, an NES cart converter, FDS adaptor and the FDSStick so I can the most complete, reliable and authentic 8-bit Nintendo experience ... I am now privy to this flaw. Damn you, D.Lo! I'll just have to see how bad it is and live with it, though, because I'm not at all interested in an original Famicom with those wired controllers.

 

[OnPoint]

New NES game from Yuzo Koshiro's Ancient??

And finally, the crowning bit of trivia: Amazon's Running Diet is Ancient's first-ever NES creation. The company has been around since the 8-bit days, but back then they were tight with SEGA and produced their earliest games for SEGA's 8-bit platforms (Master System and Game Gear). It's taken more than 25 years, but Ancient finally jumped on the bandwagon of the most popular game console in Japan.

Source: Retronauts

Video: Twitter link

 

[davidwhangchoi]

New NES game from Yuzo Koshiro's Ancient??



Source: Retronauts

Video: Twitter link

i hope the music is stellar =)