NES/Famicom Appreciation Thread

US NES pad has concave buttons, the superior button. Hate that everyone has ditched them in the modern age.
Convex vs Concave... A controller design argument of 1989-90. Convex definitely won that battle.....

I'm tempted to a agree, sorry. I remember how much more responsive and comfortable convex felt when they were innovated, and took over.

That said... I rock a classic NES pad everytime to get into the retro mood. I have an AV Famicom dogbone, and naaaaw.
 
Wow, three brand new NES games on his fourth birthday? That's pretty crazy to me. My parents just didn't have that kind of cash when I was a kid. I got most of my NES games used, and didn't get them very often.
I just watched it and yeah what a spoiled rich little brat. He cried because he didn't like the third game.
 
When I recently started getting into retro gaming, I also realized that NES games were damn expensive. Games haven't really inflated in price since, they were $50 back then. No wonder I had about 3 NES games in total. Super Mario 3, Double Dragon 2, and probably something else. I did rent a lot, though.

Adjusted for inflation, that is about $90 per game nowadays.
 
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700479492788191233
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700552771758469120
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700554346044329984

Looks like there is a way to fix the issues 8 Bit Music Power is having with most systems. Seems to involve popping the cart open and messing with the capacitor. Searching twitter should yield more pics.

I don't know crap about electronics, especially when this info is being google translated from Japanese sources, so hopefully this is a simple fix IDK. Popping the cart open shouldn't be too hard if you use the clamp method given it's new plastic.
 
I feel like most of my favorite controllers have convex buttons, though. NES. SNES (the lilac one). Genesis. Saturn. Keyboards. Love that shit. Wish we still had it.
 
So this is slightly off topic, but how familiar are you guys with 3.5mm A/V cables?

My Famicom is modded with AV out and it uses a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect to the monitor.

The cable the eBay seller shipped it with is fine but it's a bit on the short side, so I either need to buy a longer one or extend this one. Are all 3.5 AV cables the same or do I need to be looking out for a specific one?

Or would it just be easier to buy a coupler and use an existing AV cable I have instead?
 
When I recently started getting into retro gaming, I also realized that NES games were damn expensive. Games haven't really inflated in price since, they were $50 back then. No wonder I had about 3 NES games in total. Super Mario 3, Double Dragon 2, and probably something else. I did rent a lot, though.

Adjusted for inflation, that is about $90 per game nowadays.

Some RPGs were stupid expensive back then. No wonder we used to just get em from Pawn Shops back in the day. Actually was lucky too, since they were cheap and often complete.
 
So this is slightly off topic, but how familiar are you guys with 3.5mm A/V cables?

My Famicom is modded with AV out and it uses a 3.5mm to RCA cable to connect to the monitor.

The cable the eBay seller shipped it with is fine but it's a bit on the short side, so I either need to buy a longer one or extend this one. Are all 3.5 AV cables the same or do I need to be looking out for a specific one?

Or would it just be easier to buy a coupler and use an existing AV cable I have instead?
It will just be a regular stereo 3.5mm to RCA cable. Any should work.
 
The Friday night playlist.

n0UBX4y.jpg
 
The Friday night playlist.

Don't hear people talk about Rollergames very much, it's pretty good. This actually reminds me that I need to go back and beat it one of these days. Rad Racer is great as well. I was always impressed with the graphics back in the day, but even more so now that I have a better understanding of how NES games actually work.
I'm going to cross post from the February pickup thread because I feel like bragging.

I got this today


which completes my collection of Capcom games for the NES

That's awesome. I just got Mega Man 5 and 6, felt good to cross them off the list.
 
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700479492788191233
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700552771758469120
https://twitter.com/sramdi/status/700554346044329984

Looks like there is a way to fix the issues 8 Bit Music Power is having with most systems. Seems to involve popping the cart open and messing with the capacitor. Searching twitter should yield more pics.

I don't know crap about electronics, especially when this info is being google translated from Japanese sources, so hopefully this is a simple fix IDK. Popping the cart open shouldn't be too hard if you use the clamp method given it's new plastic.

Nice. Might have to try that sometime. Don't have a soldering iron at the moment though.

Also, one poster on Famicomworld claims the cartridge killed one of his Famicoms!
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=12633.msg169141#msg169141
 
I've been going through Star Tropics and Zelda II. I'd never played Star Tropics until now, so it's been really interesting. Seems like a great game, but the grid-based action seems to demand more patience and perfection than I seem to have at the moment. But Zelda II, I had this as a kid and could not wrap my head around it. I never even made it to the first dungeon and just gave up forever. But now that I get it, it's such a compulsive thing. The leveling, learning the enemies and world and the defensive combat are great. Really does have the DNA of the Souls series.
 
Nice. Might have to try that sometime. Don't have a soldering iron at the moment though.

Also, one poster on Famicomworld claims the cartridge killed one of his Famicoms!
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=12633.msg169141#msg169141

I would just hope it's an easy fix. IDK know anything about soldering myself. I need written instructions, not just a picture.

I think I saw someone on twitter where that happened as well. They really cheaped out on those pirate boards.

I've been going through Star Tropics and Zelda II. I'd never played Star Tropics until now, so it's been really interesting. Seems like a great game, but the grid-based action seems to demand more patience and perfection than I seem to have at the moment. But Zelda II, I had this as a kid and could not wrap my head around it. I never even made it to the first dungeon and just gave up forever. But now that I get it, it's such a compulsive thing. The leveling, learning the enemies and world and the defensive combat are great. Really does have the DNA of the Souls series.

Star Tropics is one of those games that I want to like, but **** is it punishing. Losing all your weapons and most of your health if you die in dungeons that are full of bottonless pits, on top of your weapon being tied to your health. Auto-Saving after a game over leaves you stuck with minimum health for subsequent attempts. You either beat the level with one life or you hit the reset button.

Zelda 2 is one of those guide games IMO. Beyond that personally I enjoyed it more than ALttP & Awakening, the combat is really addicting. Never really understood what was so hard about Death Mountain. lol
 
Feels like it to me. I got to level 3 no problem just now, but Damnd asked me some questions early. Didnt seem to have an effect on anything.

There are particular dialogue choices that, if chosen correctly, will inflict a certain amount of damage before the fight. I'm not sure if this applies to all the bosses. When I played my Japanese cart I just experimented with the answers and tried to memorize the right ones.
 
My first ever Famicom games arrived last week! They're in pretty good condition. Not tested yet, since I won't be able to play them until my Analogue NT ships next month. Finally got a photo of them in their new home:

JtHZJ0i.jpg


In your opinion, what's the best way to clean the PCB on a Famicom cart? They're a lot harder to open than NES carts, that's for sure. I was thinking a q-tip with isopropyl alcohol, followed by canned air just to make sure the contacts are clean.
 
Woh woh... There are people who prefer convex buttons?

Comon, son. Concave is where the comfort's at! That's why the two primary buttons on the SNES are concave!

I've gotten used to the xbox controller for PC gaming, but these buttons, in games where you have to hold a button often, or pressing repeatedly.... Like pressing your finger into a tiny marble.
 
I just realized my last post said I preferred convex buttons, and proceeded to list a bunch of concave buttons.

So, uh, I meant concave. Sorry for that confusion.
 
I've been going through Star Tropics and Zelda II. I'd never played Star Tropics until now, so it's been really interesting. Seems like a great game, but the grid-based action seems to demand more patience and perfection than I seem to have at the moment. But Zelda II, I had this as a kid and could not wrap my head around it. I never even made it to the first dungeon and just gave up forever. But now that I get it, it's such a compulsive thing. The leveling, learning the enemies and world and the defensive combat are great. Really does have the DNA of the Souls series.

Try Zodas Revenge, Star Tropics 2. Skip part 1.

The 8-way direction makes all the difference. It's one of the last NES games made so it pushes the hardware to its limit.
 
My first ever Famicom games arrived last week! They're in pretty good condition. Not tested yet, since I won't be able to play them until my Analogue NT ships next month. Finally got a photo of them in their new home:

JtHZJ0i.jpg


In your opinion, what's the best way to clean the PCB on a Famicom cart? They're a lot harder to open than NES carts, that's for sure. I was thinking a q-tip with isopropyl alcohol, followed by canned air just to make sure the contacts are clean.

Those two Konami games were also among my first FC carts. Pretty good games (especially King Kong 2) that are also cheap to get. :)

As for cleaning, I just use a q-tip and isopropanol until the q-tips don't become dirty anymore like you suggest. Trying to open them is very risky since the old plastic can crack easily, so I've given up on that idea. And Konami carts have that end-label as well which complicates matters.
 
Saw this on twitter today - so crazy! Anyone know about this?

A cool trick some people might not know about from a classic NES game.

To perform it you have to throw a dagger over the Cyclops's head when the lightning strikes at perfect timing (about a second after all clouds on screen flash). If you did it correctly the dagger will attract a lightning bolt and electrocute the Cyclops, taking away 1/4 of his lifebar as a result.

Whoa. All these years and I never knew that was even a thing!
 
Picked up Twinbee 3 and some FDS games - Esper Dream, Murasame Castle and Moero Twinbee, while at Magfest. Yay!

Also with the FDS games I noticed some games come in bigger plastic cases... do all games come this way and the ones in just the small plastic cases 'loose' ones?
 
Picked up Twinbee 3 and some FDS games - Esper Dream, Murasame Castle and Moero Twinbee, while at Magfest. Yay!

Also with the FDS games I noticed some games come in bigger plastic cases... do all games come this way and the ones in just the small plastic cases 'loose' ones?

Yeah, most came in a larger plastic case with the manual. Some come in cardboard boxes, like Otocky and Little Computer People.
 
Picked up Twinbee 3 and some FDS games - Esper Dream, Murasame Castle and Moero Twinbee, while at Magfest. Yay!

Also with the FDS games I noticed some games come in bigger plastic cases... do all games come this way and the ones in just the small plastic cases 'loose' ones?

Great choices! Moero Twinbee supports 3 players at once. How were the prices there?
 
Always fascinated by the sidestep of Simon's Quest vs the other two Castlevania games. Does anyone know the story about the development, like if it was done by a different team than I and III?
 
Always fascinated by the sidestep of Simon's Quest vs the other two Castlevania games. Does anyone know the story about the development, like if it was done by a different team than I and III?
The original Akumajou Dracula had an alternate version co-developer for the MSX, which couldn't do smooth scrolling, so their turned it into a flip-screen action puzzler, kind of like Goonies 1.

Dracula II is a sequel to both the Famicom original and the MSX game, and it combined and expanded on both styles. Simon is even wearing his red outfit from Akumajou Dracula MSX.

Also Konami was in an experimental phase, creating lots of action RPG/Adventure games at that point, but apart from Goonies 2 and Castlevania 2, most of them stayed in Japan (Dragon Scroll, King Kong 2, Ganbare Goemon, Ai Senshai Nicol).
 
I just bought a NES and I'm thinking about doing some light collecting. I'm just wondering - anyone else in the EU? If so, where do you buy your games? To me most of them seems crazy overpriced.
 
Saw this on twitter today - so crazy! Anyone know about this?

A cool trick some people might not know about from a classic NES game.

To perform it you have to throw a dagger over the Cyclops's head when the lightning strikes at perfect timing (about a second after all clouds on screen flash). If you did it correctly the dagger will attract a lightning bolt and electrocute the Cyclops, taking away 1/4 of his lifebar as a result.

Wow, this is incredible. Konami just kept on giving back then - and not so much now unfortunately.

Anyways, i still havent started Shatterhand because I am still waiting for the cord-extenders :(
 
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