Famicom as an NES replacement?

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

I was wondering if an original Famicom equipped with an everdrive would work as a 'daily driver' game console to replace an NES in terms of compatibility and functionality with North American games? I am not a fan of the blinking light 10nes crippled toaster, and I prefer the look of the Famicom over the NES top loader. I don't mind using coax and I understand that the Famicom works on channels 98-99 in North America. I do know about the retroUSB AVS, but I like the idea of having the OG console with crappy coax video and all. Thx!

[godslabrat]

The hard-wired controllers would be a dealbreaker for me.

[dj_convoy]

Seems like it would be a pain, what with the short corded controllers, the RF and the channel 98 or 99 thing. Plus, I guess you'd need a NES to Famicom adaptor to make the Everdrive work, unless they make Famicom Everdrives.

[0078265317]

AV famicom top loader would be better.

[carlsson]

If you can accept a certain amount of jailbars, regular Famicom is somewhat easy to A/V mod. It is the hunt for jailbar elimination that makes it a challenge.

[SiberianSpForces]

If you already have the N8, you'll want an adapter. If you plan to buy a cart, there's is the Famicom N8. I'm not sure if there's a lockout mod like you can do to the front loader NES that'll let you play imports on the Famicom.

[+DamonicFury]

I don't know anything about the multicarts, but I've found the Famicom to be an excellent replacement for the NES after decades of struggling with its flakiness. The Famicom just works the way a classic console should... no endless struggling with blinking screens and lights. You'll need to make sure you have a TV that can tune to the upper 90s... not all of them do. I have a Nes-to-Fami converter but I don't recommend it... seems to introduce NES style flakiness to the experience. It helps if you want to collect Famicom carts... fun and inexpensive to collect!

[CatPix]

You can also get a Sharp Twin. More expensive than a Crappycom,but less than a Famicom AV, if you take a model with a dead Disk System, and you get A/V out of the box, plus the possibility to wire a FDSStick to the system.

And ample room for a TimRGB mod (and invisible, as you have a DIN output on the Sharp Twin).

For the NES to Fami, I have one, doesn't seems to do much, but I got a model that flip the cart to face the player and with a plastic shell, it probably improve cart stability.

 

 

(yeah, it know it looks dirty, but that's the camera that does that... the plastic is almost pitch black at the naked eye)

I read that on many of those adapters, you can cut traces and add resistors to allow some games to have better audio, but even as it is, it plays well.

[Noah98]

If you don't want to deal with the original console's issues, just buy a toaster model and install this:

 

https://www.arcadeworks.net/blw

[Professor Gull]

AV famicom top loader would be better.

I would second this option. Controller ports are NES style and you could get a cheap converter to boot. I just wish this model was not as pricey as the original. Yeah yeah you can't use the microphone but really were you going to take that route?

[ubersaurus]

AV Famicoms are great. I don't necessarily use mine as a replacement for the NES (I have a ton of NES games going back to my youth that I don't want to rebuy) but I do tend to use it a lot more often since its so much more reliable.

 

It doesn't hurt that a lot of Famicom games tend to be cheaper than their US counterparts (like the later Mega Man games or Mighty Final Fight).

Edited August 3, 2017 by ubersaurus

[Silverfleet]

I have an AV-modded Famicom, and while I love the thing, there are some caveats. The controller cables are super short, and that means the Famicom is going to have to come out of under the TV and sit on the floor or table in front of you, unless you plan on getting up close and personal with your TV. Mine does exhibit mild jail bars, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I got a really good deal on mine, but if I had more money, I would have gone with a Twin Famicom or AV Famicom like others have mentioned. Mine isn't a replacement for my NES, nor was it bought to replace my NES. I bought it to play all the weird crap that came out for the Famicom!

 

OR...

 

Just do the Blinking Light Win on a toaster or simply disable the existing 10NES chip. My "daily driver" toaster NES has a new 72-pin connector and a clipped 10NES, and it's been that way for years and works great. As long as the games are clean, it plays as good if not better than any top loader I've used, and it has composite A/V output already.

[CatPix]

For the short controllers, this is a non-issue.

The expansion port in front of the Famicom (on the side of the Sharp Twin) act as a controller port. If you plug a controller (like on my pic) it double as a Controller N°1.

If you want to use your original NES pads, there are schematics to make Famicom to NES adapters.

The only downside woulf be games with the mic, but only a handful use it so it's not really an issue.

 

IMO, unless you go for a Sharp Twin or you want to play Japanese games with the extra sound and FDS, there is no reason to get a Famicom over getting a NES and a Blinking Win Light.

[R.Cade]

Yes, with an adapter for your NES Everdrive, or just a Famicom Everdrive, and an AV mod, it's a nice setup. There are some jailbars sometimes, but you can mod that away also at the expense of removing a little clarity to the picture (it's a trade-off).

 

The controller cord *is* short and they come out the back of the console (it's a dumb design). You can remove the controller connections and add NES replacement ends to them and use the adapter mentioned above, or you could use NES controllers if you prefer.

Edited August 3, 2017 by R.Cade

[DJ Clae]

RGB modded AV Famicom with a converter is my NES.

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions, Atari Age is a great community to be a part of.

 

One reason I wanted a Famicom was that I seriously hate the original NES. Great games, but IMO the console is ugly and the hardware is terrible. The front loader raped my childhood when 10nes and cartridge connectors made my two year old Nintendo unplayable, and I've sworn I would never own one again. The top loader is also ugly IMO, and much more expensive than a Famicom. Besides, I think it will be cool to have a Japanese console that looks like something that could only come out of Japan.

 

 

I ended up ordering a tested working unmodded Famicom from Japan from a reputable seller for the princely sum of $35. I have CRTs that will tune to channels 98 and 99 so that won't be a problem. Obviously, the video quality of RF is not very good but that isn't something that bothers me. That's how most people played games in the 1980s, and when you are deep into a great Nintendo Hard game the video quality is soon forgotten. Instead of an Everdrive I ordered a few multicarts. that have good reviews for the wallet shattering sum of $16. For $50, that is a huge bang for the buck. If I become a big Famicom fan, I'll get an AV Famicom and an everdrive but for now I'm testing the waters to see if it is for me.

 

Thanks much everyone.!!!

 

 

RGB modded AV Famicom with a converter is my NES.

 

 

Yes, with an adapter for your NES Everdrive, or just a Famicom Everdrive, and an AV mod, it's a nice setup. There are some jailbars sometimes, but you can mod that away also at the expense of removing a little clarity to the picture (it's a trade-off).

 

The controller cord *is* short and they come out the back of the console (it's a dumb design). You can remove the controller connections and add NES replacement ends to them and use the adapter mentioned above, or you could use NES controllers if you prefer.

 

 

For the short controllers, this is a non-issue.

The expansion port in front of the Famicom (on the side of the Sharp Twin) act as a controller port. If you plug a controller (like on my pic) it double as a Controller N°1.

If you want to use your original NES pads, there are schematics to make Famicom to NES adapters.

The only downside woulf be games with the mic, but only a handful use it so it's not really an issue.

 

IMO, unless you go for a Sharp Twin or you want to play Japanese games with the extra sound and FDS, there is no reason to get a Famicom over getting a NES and a Blinking Win Light.

 

 

I have an AV-modded Famicom, and while I love the thing, there are some caveats. The controller cables are super short, and that means the Famicom is going to have to come out of under the TV and sit on the floor or table in front of you, unless you plan on getting up close and personal with your TV. Mine does exhibit mild jail bars, but it's not a deal breaker for me. I got a really good deal on mine, but if I had more money, I would have gone with a Twin Famicom or AV Famicom like others have mentioned. Mine isn't a replacement for my NES, nor was it bought to replace my NES. I bought it to play all the weird crap that came out for the Famicom!

 

OR...

 

Just do the Blinking Light Win on a toaster or simply disable the existing 10NES chip. My "daily driver" toaster NES has a new 72-pin connector and a clipped 10NES, and it's been that way for years and works great. As long as the games are clean, it plays as good if not better than any top loader I've used, and it has composite A/V output already.

 

 

AV Famicoms are great. I don't necessarily use mine as a replacement for the NES (I have a ton of NES games going back to my youth that I don't want to rebuy) but I do tend to use it a lot more often since its so much more reliable.

 

It doesn't hurt that a lot of Famicom games tend to be cheaper than their US counterparts (like the later Mega Man games or Mighty Final Fight).

 

 

I would second this option. Controller ports are NES style and you could get a cheap converter to boot. I just wish this model was not as pricey as the original. Yeah yeah you can't use the microphone but really were you going to take that route?

 

 

If you don't want to deal with the original console's issues, just buy a toaster model and install this:

https://www.arcadeworks.net/blw

 

 

You can also get a Sharp Twin. More expensive than a Crappycom,but less than a Famicom AV, if you take a model with a dead Disk System, and you get A/V out of the box, plus the possibility to wire a FDSStick to the system.

And ample room for a TimRGB mod (and invisible, as you have a DIN output on the Sharp Twin).

For the NES to Fami, I have one, doesn't seems to do much, but I got a model that flip the cart to face the player and with a plastic shell, it probably improve cart stability.

 

 

(yeah, it know it looks dirty, but that's the camera that does that... the plastic is almost pitch black at the naked eye)

I read that on many of those adapters, you can cut traces and add resistors to allow some games to have better audio, but even as it is, it plays well.

 

 

I don't know anything about the multicarts, but I've found the Famicom to be an excellent replacement for the NES after decades of struggling with its flakiness. The Famicom just works the way a classic console should... no endless struggling with blinking screens and lights. You'll need to make sure you have a TV that can tune to the upper 90s... not all of them do. I have a Nes-to-Fami converter but I don't recommend it... seems to introduce NES style flakiness to the experience. It helps if you want to collect Famicom carts... fun and inexpensive to collect!

 

 

If you already have the N8, you'll want an adapter. If you plan to buy a cart, there's is the Famicom N8. I'm not sure if there's a lockout mod like you can do to the front loader NES that'll let you play imports on the Famicom.

 

 

If you can accept a certain amount of jailbars, regular Famicom is somewhat easy to A/V mod. It is the hunt for jailbar elimination that makes it a challenge.

 

 

AV famicom top loader would be better.

 

 

Seems like it would be a pain, what with the short corded controllers, the RF and the channel 98 or 99 thing. Plus, I guess you'd need a NES to Famicom adaptor to make the Everdrive work, unless they make Famicom Everdrives.

 

 

The hard-wired controllers would be a dealbreaker for me.

 

 

I was wondering if an original Famicom equipped with an everdrive would work as a 'daily driver' game console to replace an NES in terms of compatibility and functionality with North American games? I am not a fan of the blinking light 10nes crippled toaster, and I prefer the look of the Famicom over the NES top loader. I don't mind using coax and I understand that the Famicom works on channels 98-99 in North America. I do know about the retroUSB AVS, but I like the idea of having the OG console with crappy coax video and all. Thx!

Edited August 13, 2017 by Major_Tom_coming_home

[Tanooki]

Odd that the top loader is ugly, yet the Famicom is what it's based upon. I also think you're being really overly harsh and critical of the standard NES. Mine worked without fail for exponentially more than just 2 years as did a lot of peoples who got the new or that were well cared for and maintained. Yes they can become a real problem if they get dirty or stuff is put into it on nasty carts.

 

I've been tempted by the Famicom in the past but for me the RF only and odd channel and most of all the asininely permanently attached controllers are a bit of a turn off. I had at one rate when I was neck deep into the NES some years back before the price wars started online going with an AV Famicom or a Twin Famicom to get those nice FDS options on the table.

[NinjaWarrior]

Why are you bashing both the NES and the Top Loader, There not ugly at all

 

I don't understand why you don't want a AV Famicom for

 

The Front Loader work if you keep it clean on disable the 10NES Chip

[Great Hierophant]

Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions, Atari Age is a great community to be a part of.

 

One reason I wanted a Famicom was that I seriously hate the original NES. Great games, but IMO the console is ugly and the hardware is terrible. The front loader raped my childhood when 10nes and cartridge connectors made my two year old Nintendo unplayable, and I've sworn I would never own one again. The top loader is also ugly IMO, and much more expensive than a Famicom. Besides, I think it will be cool to have a Japanese console that looks like something that could only come out of Japan.

 

 

I ended up ordering a tested working unmodded Famicom from Japan from a reputable seller for the princely sum of $35. I have CRTs that will tune to channels 98 and 99 so that won't be a problem. Obviously, the video quality of RF is not very good but that isn't something that bothers me. That's how most people played games in the 1980s, and when you are deep into a great Nintendo Hard game the video quality is soon forgotten. Instead of an Everdrive I ordered a few multicarts. that have good reviews for the wallet shattering sum of $16. For $50, that is a huge bang for the buck. If I become a big Famicom fan, I'll get an AV Famicom and an everdrive but for now I'm testing the waters to see if it is for me.

 

Thanks much everyone.!!!

 

The Famicom RF modulator tunes to U.S. Channels 95 and 96. The NES's RF is superior to the Famicom's RF. Not only does the NES front loader's basic video signal has fewer-if-any jailbars, its RF modulator puts out a stronger signal than a Famicom's. The front loader has AV jacks, the top loader and the Famicom do not. Moreover, your Famicom's RF has to compete with FM radio, the NES's RF doesn't. I love my Famicom, but it is not the system for the first-time Nintendo 8-bit user.

 

However, if your cheap multi-cart with its 3.3v flash chips blows out your 5v Famicom console, then I hope you will be back with another true Nintendo system and buy an EverDrive.

[CatPix]

 

I hope you will be back with another true Nintendo system and buy an EverDrive.

Which the Famicom is.

Whatever flaot his boat, man. He's pissed with the NES, and decided to go with the Famicom unmodded. Whyyyy not.

If he isn't pleased, he'll upgrade to a Sharp Twin or a Famicom AV, or get his NES back in shape. No big deal. He got all the options possible and read all of them, apparently.

[Tanooki]

I think what doesn't compute is the illogical solution given the gripes going with inferior hardware with an inferior output over a weaker RF signal. As he said Famicom is great but not the best one to really start with due to the draw backs.

 

Realistically speaking, even a child could make the system run like a champ if 30min of 'work' which includes some waiting time for cleaning and tear down/reassembly involved would fix it up. All you really need to do is google 'pin 4 lockout chip' for the NES to find which little pin needs to be hooked and slightly tugged out of the side of a chip to make blinking die forever. Then you slide the pin connector out, boil it in water for 5min (aluminum doesn't rust) to tighten and return the pins to a normal state along with boiling off the funk using a cleaning card/kit to in-out wipe that clean (repeat as necessary.) That's really it. You do that, you close it back up, it runs as nicely as a top loader or famicom can as long as you keep your old games clean. It just seems silly going through so many hoops and at a financial and time expense to get something that doesn't work as well just because you get emotional (pissed) about a system...one of tens of millions made too.

[DJ Clae]

You'll get an AV mod. I reccomend RGB.

 

You might also want to mod in control ports.

[Silverfleet]

About 15 minutes of work and $8 fixed my toaster NES forever. All I did was take it apart, clip the power on my 10NES chip, install a new 72 pin connector, and screw it back together. That was probably 10 years ago, and it's been PERFECT ever since. Keeping the games clean is the important part. A free option would be to clean the original 72-pin. Honestly, it works as well if not better than my AV-modded Famicom, and is probably my most reliable retro cartridge-based console.

 

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but having a game console "rape your childhood"? That's pretty strong.

 

Every one of us has probably dealt with stuff not working. All of these consoles are old now, and will require maintenance at some point. It's just part of the deal. We didn't have the internet back then to tell us how to de-power a 10NES or clean the 72-pin (or even tell us what those were!) or I (and many others) would have done this 25-30 years ago.

[Tanooki]

That's why I got a little cross in the comments about being lazy as there was no childhood raping going on because a little Nintendo decided at its 25th birthday to be a bitchy blinker. In all that time I bet you if it's the original connector, if lucky outside of a 1st/3rd party cleaning kit probably has never been cleaned let alone torn down and done properly. Which is why I said it's easier to take 30min, open it up, boil the pins and use a card/kit to rub that funk off, and then to pull Pin #4 (easy to get a pic on google doing NES PIN4 as a search) and you're done. No need for some cheap chinese brittle metal crap pin or some BLW mess either. They're all free fixes a kid could do just watching a video or looking at a couple pictures online and the NES works like a champ after that.

 

It's all old hardware going back as far as 1985 (32 years) and if it isn't pissing and whining now I'd be shocked considering how most people don't bother to maintain or clean things at all and the games are far worse and whatever dirty pigs put them through hell with (food, bodily funk, animal waste, etc your worst nightmare) odds are most won't clean it off or not well and it gets into the NES pins too. It's disgusting. The stuff I've pulled out of back west flea markets years ago on occasion would make you want to vomit but for the prices I got stuff at it was worth blowing a couple hours in an afternoon with my box of cleaning tricks making a nauseating 3/10 into a solid 8.

 

I knew it was a garbage setup when I was in HS back in the earlier 90s. I figured out since there were not security bits to get inside like the SNES that I'd best open it up as I couldn't afford to get it repaired. Lots of self poking around slowly and figuring out what connected where I got good at tearing them entirely apart and fixing the stuff. Pre-internet I knew from NP stuff which was the security chip as they bragged about it in the day, but it only took years later around 2000 when someone figured out you could jerk out PIN4 that it would get as rock solid as a top loader without jailbars and run PAL stuff as nicely as well. Ever since I figured that out, any NES I kept or resold I killed the chip, cleaned the pins, straightened them with a safety pin, and scrubbed the crap out of every part with 91% alcohol -- board, wiring, pins, zero force, shell inside and out. Always works and lasts a long time if you treat it right.

 

That said for fun sake I still would love a Famicom, but I'm picky it better still not be yellowed, works great, and perhaps either modded or otherwise rigged up to avoid channel 99/RF as that sucks and is unworkable.

[0078265317]

About 15 minutes of work and $8 fixed my toaster NES forever. All I did was take it apart, clip the power on my 10NES chip, install a new 72 pin connector, and screw it back together. That was probably 10 years ago, and it's been PERFECT ever since. Keeping the games clean is the important part. A free option would be to clean the original 72-pin. Honestly, it works as well if not better than my AV-modded Famicom, and is probably my most reliable retro cartridge-based console.

 

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but having a game console "rape your childhood"? That's pretty strong.

 

Every one of us has probably dealt with stuff not working. All of these consoles are old now, and will require maintenance at some point. It's just part of the deal. We didn't have the internet back then to tell us how to de-power a 10NES or clean the 72-pin (or even tell us what those were!) or I (and many others) would have done this 25-30 years ago.

 

But wasn't there a game that required the lockout chip?