Got lucky with a pretty good deal on a famicom + disk system. I need to take apart the disk drive to see if I got lucky and it is one of the ones that can write disks without modification. If it is, I can get an adapter and overwrite common disks with rare games instead - or sometimes you can save failing disks by re-imaging a fresh ROM onto the disk. Pretty need from an archive/backup perspective.
If I didn't get lucky then I have another thing to motivate me to get off my ass and finally learn to solder.
Always neat to me that the famicom was marketed as a home computer in Japan while in the states it was an entertainment system. iirc there was a keyboard and basic or assembly diy software for the famicom, right?
I didn't know that but you're right it looks like they did release basic and a keyboard for it. That's cool and it looks like they're not god awfully expensive yet. I knew there was some music software and peripherals but yeah. Pretty dope.
I wish the disk system would have taken off because getting a new game for 25 (or rewriting an old one for 5) rather than having to pay 50-60 dollars for every game would have been a game changer as a kid. They do have annoying load times and are prone to failure and are a nightmare from a collecting / archiving perspective but yeah. I would liked to have lived in the world where everyone copied and traded nintendo games like cassette tapes.
Everyone says the disk system didn't sell so they pulled support but I wouldn't be surprised if at least a few people at nintendo didn't like the idea pretty quick after they realized they could sell the cartridges.
They also styled the NES to resemble a VCR in North America to avoid negative associations with Atari and the like after the video game crash. The VCR-style front loading led to the flashing blue screen issue that plagues NESs.
What's interesting is I still read conflicting information about this. People clam it is because of the copy protection - and supposedly disabling the copy protection by desoldering a specific leg of a pin from the board it makes it more reliable - but then I have also heard more recently people say this isn't true - and you probably shouldn't disable the lockout chip for no reason even though it doesn't seem to have negative effects.
All I know is the front loaders are notoriously finicky. Something is definitely screwed up in there. In my experience simply changing the 72 pin connector is hit or miss.
learn to solder
do you have an iron already? I can suggest a few if not.
I did grab a fairly cheap one that is still sitting in the box. It did have good reviews but we'll see. Worst case I can keep it as a backup and won't be out too much. Will definitely let you know if I have Q's cause it seems like having the right iron and understanding it is everything. I really just need to dig into an old board and get my hands dirty to know what I'd need to ask.
You can do a lot with a cheap stick iron once you develop a feel for soldering. It's easy to learn and not much harder to master.
Have fun!
That's awesome, congrats on the good luck in getting one! I've never seen a Famicom in person, it'd be really neat to play with one for awhile.
This is the first one I've seen in person despite being a huge NES nerd. Was always kinda put off by how cheap the plastic looks in photos... and it does look very cheap.... but I was surprised that the little thing (minus the chonky disk drive) is actually very stout and heavy for its size. It doesnt -feel- cheap at all when you pick it up. Unexpected and pretty neat.
Was there like an internet popular person named dj Famicom? I remember that name, I think it was a poster on a forum in like 2003
