What all goes into nes/snes reproductions?

[ThrashOmen]

Yes, famicom carts. The short ones that come in all kinds of colors. Mainly because I love the artwork on the carts and they're not that expensive.

[Ziggy]

No, I get ya. I love the Famicom. I finally picked up a FC console for myself a months back and a few FC carts. I have a FF3 FC cart that I put the English translation onto. It's actually a lot easier to do it to a real FF3 FC cart than trying to make a NES reproduction of it because there is no straight up compatible NES cart for FF3. Also, it's always more ethical to patch an original cart than to make a "reproduction" and use a donor cart.

Just so you know, to play Famicom carts you either need a Famicom console or an adapter to play them on a NES. I know this is common knowledge, so I don't mean to be condiscending, but a few people that have questioned me about this sort of thing were unaware of this. Also, the flash cart from Retro Zone (that I linked in my first post) will also work on a Famciom system with an adapter. I'm not sure how you plan on playing these FC carts (NES or FC system) so I just wanted to put the info out there.

[ThrashOmen]

Hey no it's ok, I appreciate the advice. But I actually came up with the plan to get into famicom carts because I learned about the gyromite adaptor trick.

So then putting an English translation onto an FC cart is easy? How easy? Sorry for all the questions...

[Ziggy]

The adapter found inside a Gyromite (and some other games) cart will work, but using a stand alone 60-72 pin adapter would be a better choice if you want to play multiple Famicom games. Though, you could always turn your Gyromite cart into a dedicated adapter.

To illustrate what I'm talking about, this is the adapter found inside a Gyromite cart:

http://www.vintagecomputing.com/wp-cont ... o7_big.jpg

You could take the Gyromite FC PCB out and insert, for example, your FF3 PCB then put it back inside the NES cart shell. Down side to this is you'll have to open the cart up and switch PCBs every time you wanna play a different FC game. So if you wanna be playing multiple FC games, you could turn a Gyromite cart into a dedicated adapter like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/ ... _0383s.jpg

Or instead of making one, you could just buy an adapter like that. Take a look at this pic for an example:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8275/adaptersvb5.jpg

The adapter on the left lets you play FC games on a NES, while the adapter on the right lets you play NES games on a FC.

As far as putting translations onto FC carts, it's usually as easy as NES games, and it's all the same so all the relevant info and links already posted can be used. However, some FC games are harder to 'patch' due to physical size limitations inside the cart.

[Hobie-wan]

Or instead of making one, you could just buy an adapter like that. Take a look at this pic for an example:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8275/adaptersvb5.jpg

Just remember that if you make one, Famicon carts are really small and it will be a pain to get them out of the toaster unless you include a handle like the ribbon most store bought adapters had. I added a wire loop that was attached to the screws that hold the case together.

[ThrashOmen]

First off, great advice, second, holy shit! Holy diver! How much was that cart?

[Hobie-wan]

First off, great advice, second, holy shit! Holy diver! How much was that cart?

It wasn't too much from a Japanese ebay seller since it was cart only.