TaskenLander Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Was wanting to try to get into Japanese Famicom game collecting. Whats the best way or best adapter to play them on my US NES Top Loader? Thanks in advance, Mike Edited April 11, 2014 by TaskenLander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I would say, the easiest way is using a NES Powerpak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 or the 1985 Gyromite internal adapter... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 or the 1985 Gyromite internal adapter... Definitely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Too bad they cost so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Would love to get one, but not at ebay jacked up prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) I took a gamble on 2 Gyromite carts from eBay but no adapter was inside... However the case was really all i needed, since I specifically wanted a 5-screw cart shell to drop my EverDriveN8 board in to. Edited April 12, 2014 by SiLic0ne t0aD85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Charlie Cat Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) If you want a cheap converter, get one from a Gyromite cart. Here is the cheapest I saw on Ebay! Ask if they are a 5 screw version. http://www.ebay.com/itm/GYROMITE-Nintendo-NES-Game-Cart-FLAWED-TESTED-/141191693585?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item20dfae4511 Anthony... Edited April 13, 2014 by fdurso224 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I'n a big advocate of getting a ready-made converter. No need to rip open a gyromite... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaskenLander Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Thanks for the ebay link, fdurso. Would I have to shave/mod the chip/plate thingie at all? Godslabrat, is there an already existing converter you'd suggest? Thanks in advance, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 There are also LOTS of Famicom clones out there. I got another one (new) at Big Lots just before Christmas 2012 for $15 shaped like a Nintendo 64 controller that took batteries and had a famicom slot in the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Here's how you can tell whether a Gyromite has an adapter or not. http://www.racketboy.com/retro/hacks/gyromite-nes-import-adapter-guide 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) Here's how you can tell whether a Gyromite has an adapter or not. http://www.racketboy.com/retro/hacks/gyromite-nes-import-adapter-guide Word. There's not very many of them. You may search through a whole stack of 5-screw black box games before finding the slightly heavier cart with the skewed traces. I have a Wrecking Crew and a Gyromite with adapters in them but they're not for sale currently. You will also need to file off about 1-2mm from each edge since the stock female-female connector is too wide for most Famicom games. Also keep in mind NES front side faces the same way as the Famicom back. In a toaster NES the lockout chip faces up and the Famicom label faces down. Oversized or oddly shaped Famicom carts may not fit properly in a Toaster style NES. I also own a couple rare Venesuelan adapters to play Famicom games to NES. I bought them on eBay a couple years back. They are light green color and do not contain a lockout chip so you'll have to use a toploader or clip pin 4 of the lockout chip inside you NES toaster to use these. Also they may be improperly wired like many clone junk. Most games run fne but my Famicom Everdrive won't boot on my NES using it. I finally got tired of fugling around with the adapters and imported an AV Famicom. The system was a bit pricey but I do not regret it. Word of advice: NEVER USE AN NTSC NES ADAPTER WITH A FAMICOM OR ANY OTHER GAME SYSTEM!!! The NES uses AC volts adapter and contains an internal rectifier to convert it to DC. You can safely run an NES on AC or DC but not the Famicom. The Famicoms require a DC negative tip nominally 9 volts (anything between 7-11v, 650+ mA will do fine) and running it on AC could burn up the voltage regulator. Genesis or TurboGrafx power adapters are compatible with Famicom and NES so feel free to use those. Watch the volts on third party or universal unregulated adapters; some tend to run a little high. Edited April 13, 2014 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) If you want a cheap converter, get one from a Gyromite cart. Here is the cheapest I saw on Ebay! Ask if they are a 5 screw version. http://www.ebay.com/itm/GYROMITE-Nintendo-NES-Game-Cart-FLAWED-TESTED-/141191693585?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item20dfae4511 Anthony... Wonder if anyone's confirmed these are indeed the carts with the famicom converter in them. Or has the seller already gone through them to check and just trying to get rid of carts that don't have them. Anyone know? Got enough useless stuff. Edited April 13, 2014 by thegamezmaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Charlie Cat Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) Hi guys, When I was purchasing Gyromite cartridges back in the 1990's at Funcoland, I use to get them for only a dollar. At that time I had 10 of them because if nobody purchased them, the store was just going to throw them away (with the other NES stock) and make room for the PSX and N64 stuff coming in. I didn't realize that they had converters in them and when I found out from a friend later on about it and was lucky that all 10 at the converters in all 5 screw versions. Sadly, I hate to think of all the rest of those NES games that were in the dumster later on. Might have had something rare at that time . Anthony... Edited April 13, 2014 by fdurso224 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Thanks for the ebay link, fdurso. Would I have to shave/mod the chip/plate thingie at all? Godslabrat, is there an already existing converter you'd suggest? Thanks in advance, Mike . The Honeybee is supposedly the Cadillac of the set, but honestly, I've never heard of one working better than another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegamezmaster Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 If you want a cheap converter, get one from a Gyromite cart. Here is the cheapest I saw on Ebay! Ask if they are a 5 screw version. http://www.ebay.com/itm/GYROMITE-Nintendo-NES-Game-Cart-FLAWED-TESTED-/141191693585?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item20dfae4511 Anthony... Too bad there's no way to tell if these have the converter in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 There are also LOTS of Famicom clones out there. I got another one (new) at Big Lots just before Christmas 2012 for $15 shaped like a Nintendo 64 controller that took batteries and had a famicom slot in the bottom. I have one of those too, but it barely works with my (only) Famicom cart -- I just get a garbled, rolling image on screen. Does yours work acceptably? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I have one of those too, but it barely works with my (only) Famicom cart -- I just get a garbled, rolling image on screen. Does yours work acceptably? Well, I can't say I've really done much testing, but it did work with an official looking Dig Dug II cart and a Rescue Rangers bootleg, along with a one-inch-tall lame-game multicart I found somewhere, all reliably. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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