Famicom or American NES?

[Erik_Twice]

As you might know, those of us in PAL-LAND struggle with slowdown on the NES, with the vast majority of games running at an unoptimized and hence unplayable 50Hz.

Like most, I thought about getting an American NES but I wonder. Wouldn't it be better to get a Famicom instead? Games should be chaper, if a little uglier.

Thoughts?

[Gunstar Green]

The original Famicom itself is ugly but the games are colorful, adorable and fun to collect. I really enjoy them and there's so many interesting variations due to Nintendo allowing other companies to produce their own cartridges in Japan (for a while).

Though there's also the Sharp Twin Famicom which is much more aesthetically pleasing, comes in multiple colors and has a built in disk system.



If I were starting a collection today I would go with the Famicom. You can get huge lots of games at a much lower cost than US NTSC NES games which are at this point absurdly expensive even for some of the most common popular games.

You can also always get a converter like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-72PIN- ... 3641.l6368 if you still want to play US NES games.

[BoneSnapDeez]

^ This.

Sharp Twin + pin adapter for NA/PAL games. That's what I use. I haven't touched my North American NES in years.

A couple pics of mine:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p1062193

Then again, if you don't care at all about the disk system, get a Retron 5 which will play NES/Fami games from any region.

These days, I primarily use the R5 for carts (it supports save states and translation patches) and Twin Fami for disks.

[Gunstar Green]

The only reason I don't have one is because I don't need one but I'm often tempted to pick up a cheap "not tested" one since usually the only problem is the drive belt has disintegrated. It's such a sexy piece of 80's tech.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Get a fully-functioning one! Plenty on eBay with belts refurbished. The system is about half the price of a PS4 or Xbox One and has a game library that's 1000 times better.

[Gunstar Green]

Get a fully-functioning one! Plenty on eBay with belts refurbished. The system is about half the price of a PS4 or Xbox One and has a game library that's 1000 times better.

It's just that I'm fine with the Retron 5 for my Famicom needs and I'm not interested in collecting for the disk system. I just think it's cool.

[Tanooki]

If you fear the drive/belt either or failing there's a modern work around. It basically looks like a USB thumb drive and it holds data in it or on a micro SD (not sure which) but the brown brick part of the adapter from the FC to the FDS plugs into that thing. You can basically put the disk drive in permanent storage and use that device. Fires up the games faster, easier, press of a button, and no parts headaches.

I have to agree if you really want an early home Nintendo experience still, go with the famicom. All those NES games now into the $50+ ripoff territory is far too many, and others that used to be like $5-10 titles are not like $25-30+ each too. Whatever hardware you want that's fine, but decide how you want to do it.

Get an original NES and an Everdrive. An original NES and a FC adapter(like the honeybee). Go with a FC and get the FDS or the FDS adapter I spoke of + a NES adapter for some stuff. All them are good options to avoid paying sheisters and keeping your money where it belongs.

Personally I have a 15 game FC collection and a 16th cart a modern 500in1 with all unique titles to it thankfully. The normal ones will work in the R5 fine, the bootleg won't but it came with a FC Mobile 88 handheld so it's covered (has a TV out cable too.) I really don't care about FDS. Even when I tried to care in the day I wasn't really into other than Almana from Konami, SMB2, and like 1-2 others, so it wasn't worth the bother.

[Anapan]

Yes, Famicom.
Adapters can adapt to it, but it's peripherals and abilities cannot adapt to American hardware.
I tried some other setups before, thinking I could play all the games if I got enough adapters and/or flash carts with extended functionality. Nope - not possible.
After trying several models, I finally looked up how to do it right, and, having already spent a crazy price for a playchoice 10 motherboard, I bought myself an AV Famicom and asked an extremely talented forum member here - Apolloboy to do the already outdated mod to it.
I should have done a better RGB mod if I didn't have a PC10 mobo in my closet. Even without a mod, the Famicom is so much more capable to play every game it's never worth trying to make a NES do what it can.
If you have a Famicom, you can get a really cheap RAM Adapter (HVC-023 - mine was $4) and a FDSstick (~$10) - this USB flash drive completely replaces the often-faulty disk system with a flash drive that can hold a pile of FDS images and updates like a thumbdrive (same size too). No hardware can replicate the FDS extended audio properly but the Famicom Disc System Ram Adapter.

I tried a bunch of other flash carts and options - many did close, often better than emulators, but none had the same compatibility. When you want to get a flashcart, The Everdrive N8 for Famicom is the best. No adapters can make the American N8 play the same amount of games.

[ElkinFencer10]

I vote Famicom as well (preferably the Twin Famicom which I really need to get...)

[nightrnr]

I'm jumping on this thread instead of creating a new one:

I have the cheapest P.O.S. famiclone ever made. It was fun to play with when I 1st got it, but the video quality is just terrible (as in my Genesis and master systems put this thing to shame). Mostly it's jailbar effects, but the color is off as well (and readjusting the color every time I switch systems is a pain). I would totally attempt a video mod, if I had a tutorial or something, but as there are like a million famiclones...

Now understand my situation: I am still stuck in the 90's, I use Tube/CRT TV's and most often use Composite (Yellow) and S-video (preferable) cables. HDMI is not even desired for this system (at present anyways). In my searching, S-video is not a feature on any famicom system or clone.

I'd like an inexpensive option, if possible. I'd also like something that I can use my NES controllers on (I use that adapter that came with the Mayflash Wii to SNES/NES controller converter to use NES controllers on a 9-pin plug; works well with my current cheapo famiclone).
So yeah, I'm looking for a better option for a famicom system. Advice is appreciated.
If nothing suits me, I'm just devoting an old 19" to it and adjusting the video best I can.