Fun fact, back in 1988, I lived in South America with my parents. A young boy. I begged and begged for a Nintendo. The NES was pretty expensive, so they got me this..."Family Computer" system, which was 1/3 of the price of the NES. I felt dupped, I felt I got a knock off!! I felt my parents didn't love me enough to get me the REAL NINTENDO....oh how wrong I was, how wrong!!! Many years later I found out that I had the REAL DEAL and never appreciatted it, although I played the hell out of it until I had to replace the controller 3 times because the wiring would snap from the side, and it was notorious for having issues with its video out analog port, haha! Oh man I loved my little red and vanilla system
Yeah, i´m from Argentina, and here the Famicom was much more common to find than the NES. In fact, i´ve never saw or knew about the NES until the internet arrived
One of my Chinese friends had this when I was a kid and I remember being like "what is this sorcery". I used to eat seaweed chips and play on his famicom disk system. lol...
I love collecting for this device. Harder to come by in the States, but there was a decent amount of these items at the Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo. I love using my AVS to play my FDS games.
Ditto! I also like how a lot of the FDS games that were released as cartridges over here (Kid Icarus, Metroid, Zelda) have a little more 'omph' to the sound due to the sound hardware of the Famicom. :)
Aup lads . I am from sheffield england and im not a collector but i love your show im 41 and have been a gamer all my life . Keep up the good work metal jesus and co 👊🤘
Can't go wrong with Konami on the 8-bit systems man. Aside from what was released by Nintendo (Zelda 1 & 2, Kid Icarus, Metroid), keep an eye out for Ai Senshi Nicol, Esper Dream, Moero TwinBee, and my favorite Pro Wrestling!
I currently have 161 of the officially licensed FDS games in my collection, and a few of those non-PG games as well... I also sell some on ebay too. Fun fact: the "Minus World" on the FDS version of Super Mario Bros. is different than in the other versions.
Love the disk system. Sharp Twin Famicom is the absolutely the way to go. The biggest thing to consider is all the moving parts of the disk hardware. It's not just the belt. You will have to adjust springs and realign the heads. It's fragile and tedious. And it's sad when it stops working. The error codes are super vague. There is a lot of good info on the internet for troubleshooting, but.. no sugar coating, this is a system that's more difficult to maintain than any others that I've had. (maybe excluding older computers). But if you're into that, it's great. The only other thing is that most the good games you want having gotten pretty pricey (especially for such fragile medium). Hit Japan, RyoplanShop, and Japan4U on ebay all do a pretty good job of selling these games with descriptions about what they are. Every game I've had so far is the right game, works, and is in good condition. Only one time I got a non-working bootleg cart for Bio Miracle. But that's it.
Love these buying guides. There isn't a huge retro scene where i am so these are a good substitute when i'm on a retro kick. Keep up the great vids guys! Love the metaljesus crew.
Technically, the disks aren't proprietary. It's a slightly modified version of the Mitsumi Quick Disk format, which is part of the reason that piracy on the system was so easy. The format was also used in Smith Corona word processors, a number of MIDI keyboards and samplers, as well as several 8-bit computers.
Bear in mind though, that when the Famicom Disk System came out, PCs were still using 5.25" floppy disks; and those didn't have a shutter to protect the magnetic disc inside either. So, it's by no means essential to have one on your Famicom Disks. Even a PC 3.5" disk will work fin if the shutter gets ripped off. So long as the data is intact, the drive won't care. I suppose the reason Nintendo never bothered to release the FDS anywhere else in the world is that with the success of the Famicom, they were able to negotiate cheaper prices for RAM chips; and someone came up with a means of saving data long term on a cartridge via battery backup. And of course, if disk piracy was a problem in Japan, it would be massive in the US. So, better to ditch the floppy drive and go with an all cartridge system.
I think you're right. The FDS was initially supposed to be a cost-effective way to make more space available for game developers, and provide gamers with a cheaper alternative to more expensive cartridge games. Since the disks were rewritable, you could go to your local convenience store and get a new game for 500 - 2000 yen. That explains why John had some disks with different labels and games on the disks. By the time the FDS would have been ready for North America, I think the cost of ram in carts came down enough that it was no longer a viable option. I think the FDS had a pretty short run of 2-3 years (although it was supported by Nintendo until 2003).
Lol, That was once my copy of Super Lode Runner, I remember putting that green sticker on there. I traded it to John at PRGE 2017 for among other things in our trade A copy of The Uninvited for the NES I needed for my collection.
Thanks for this video and the info about the twin. I always wanted a Disk sysyem and after seeing this I picked up a mint Famicom twin fairly cheap while in Japan. When the security guy at Narita airport came over to check my carry on and saw bag full of Famicom cart and disk games he got a big smile on his face and patted me on the back and sent me through...it was pretty funny after being held up leaving Chicago week earlier where the ass hats apparently couldnt figure out what the Switch dock was.
Hello Metal Jesus, I just wanted to let you know I have been following your channel for a while now and this has inspired me to create a gaming channel of my own. Thank you for all the entertainment.
Totally Love Metal Jesus. And the fact that he's a huge Alice in Chains Fan and also collects rare vinyl is such an added plus his videos just lighten my day up. Him and John Hancock together just make my day. I love watching these videos not only cause of the nostalgia that I have for these games, the consoles, and even the boxes!!!( aren't physical video game stuff cool!)but also because they put their content together with stuff I'm crazy about and love and they always mention the greatest games I'm always thinking about. Thanks John and Metal for doing this for all the fans, your work is not being overlooked! Keep up the great videos.
Wow, good episode! I've been watching your channel for a while and I never realized the Famicom Disk System was never covered! I lived in Japan from 2002-2006, so while I was there I grabbed some disk system games, the disk reader and keyboard, and the Twin Famicom. Like John said, the Twin is the best way to play. It's an awesome system and so far I've got 25 games for it; many in the hard plastic case, and a few with the instructions. A really good guidebook is the Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Complete Guide to the Famicom Disk System. I think it covers all the games that were released for the system, with how rare they are, including games that could only be obtained from one of the disk writer kiosks (did you know Nintendo supported those until 2003?).
I remember getting disk system for Christmas when I grew up in Japan. When my family move to the US, I brought it with me but lost a couple games. It was very difficult to get a few that worked, but there are some people who are trustworthy and test the games before you buy. It's a worthy purchase, and if you don't speak Japanese, you can patch the games and copy them back to the disk. Tanoshi!
This video inspired a small collecting series on my channel almost four years ago. Little did I know that I would be GIFTED an FDS by Jimmy Chan X, and that I would be sitting next to John Blue Riggs at conventions a few years later. So, Jason, I owe you a debt, which will be paid in beer at the earliest opportunity.
Fantastic vid. I got a Sharp Twin Famicom a while back, but only got a couple of games at the time. Thank you so much for the new game hunt list. Also, looking forward to seeing you two and everyone at Mo Game Con on August 4!!!
John thanks for doing this video I remember watching a similar one on your own channel and it got me into collecting for the FDS. I visited Tokyo a few weeks ago picked up a FDS and games very cheap as they are plentiful over there. For anyone interested you can purchase the FDDSTICK it only costs about $16 and is the size of a USB stick it completely replaces the physical drive and can fit the whole FDS library in its memory and it works great.
The Famicom/NES is probably my favorite system. Thanks for the video! I wanted to mention that the Famicom had a re-release which, unlike the US version, supports composite video (and NES controllers).
The AV Famicom is fantastic little system. Combines the best features of all its predecessors. Downside is it doesn't have the microphone of the original, but that doesn't affect many games.
I actually made a cool fridge magnet out of an old NES game I tore apart. I know it's not good to destroy games, but this was a real shitty game... called "Little Samson" or something like that...
I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if Nintendo got smarter with anti-piracy and stuck with the Famicom Disk System. The extra storage, plus having two sides to work with, would have allowed for bigger games. It very nearly happened. According to the Gaming Historian, Nintendo was banking heavily on it. Even started development of a version for the NES before pirates happened. This is why we can't have nice things.
i mean, if you watched the Gaming Historian video, you know there were other problems going on in addition to piracy. not to say the piracy didn't/doesn't suck, of course.
GAMES SHOWN: The Miracle of Almana Meikyū Jiin Dababa Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic The Mysterious Murasame Castle Falsion Vs. Excitebike Kick Challenger: Air Foot Bio Miracle-I’m Upa Otocky
This is only the second video I’ve ever seen on the Famicom Disk system! This thing is totally a mystery to me. Of course John would be nuts about it lol!
Awesome video! Maby It will sound strange but watching Your videos makes me feel calm and happy :) I suffer for very strong anxiety problems and watching Your channel helps me ALLOT! Its so positive (no hate) and its what i love most, video games :) I wish to thank You for that and wish U all the best, keep up a great work.
I've run into a few other interesting Famicom Disk System games that you might enjoy: Electrician - Hard to describe other than Arcade Action, but you fix the wiring in an old building to light up little rooms. Esper Dream - An overhead Action-Adventure with quite a few interesting worlds that are interconnected. The sequel on Famicom is one my favorite NES/Famicom game of all time Famicom Grand Prix 2: 3D Hot Rally - Think OutRun/Rad Racer with the 3D capabilities, and a splash of LSD. Knight Lore: Majou no Ookami Otoko - It's a bit like Solstice, but a bit more focused and stage-based. Lutter - An oldschool RPG that's a bit like Castle of the Winds on its side; not unlike CastleQuest/Castle Excellent with RPG elements. Topple Zip - A Vertically-Scrolling Shooter that you complete not by flying through the stages (they loop), but travelling between the worlds and completing objectives.
OMG!!! My favorite video of yours to date. I absolutely love the FDS and I feel it doesnt get enough love and historical appreciation. Lots of info on here that I didnt know. I actually found and ordered a sharp twin famicom during the video lol!!!! I love my FDS and the mini famicom classic edition that I have. VS excitebike looks amazing!
Buying guides? Nice bro got a whole new thing to watch now so happy your bringing my childhood back! Only thing like it, you should mix it up and see if you could throw a old commercial or something for memories😁
I agree; that video is very well researched and informative. Another good source for information about the games themselves is the book "Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Complete Guide to the Famicom Disk System". Definitely an informative read.
If you want to have the games for a year or two, just buy an everdrive, emulate or hack a famicom mini. Disks are old and were not built to last. More and more demagnetize and become useless pieces of plastic.
Yea great video, also there are great videos out there about the struggle with US using cartridge vs japan using disc for space and saving games. Some of the short cuts they had to do to make games work on cartridge back in the day ended up being some of the greatest things we remember about these games.
This was an awesome video. I remember John did a live stream and played some the Famicom Disk System games he showed off in the video. That was such a great stream and random (random as he usually to busy to plan them out so he just does one when ever) but so fun as all his streams are in my opinion.
Wow, I never knew this existed. Thanks for enlightening me. I collect a lot of games but Not NES or older. I still have my Nintendo and Atari with all the games but a lot of times the games are tough to get started or will freeze. I find it better to just use emulators for stuff this old. I still collect for anything SNES or Genesis on up.
Dude, why are your number of views plummeting this past months? It's strange, your channel is one of the best on YT, and you deserve more subscribers and views.
Love my Famicom Disk System. To get it to work with an actual Famicom I use a US NES rf switch to a vcr. The vcr then sends composite to the TV. The vcr you change to channel 95 or 96 and it works like a dream
Went to my local Salvation Army and picked up a ton of good games for less than $2.00 each. The games were Ps2 Grand theft auto 3 The getaway Hitman contracts Gran turismo 3 a-spec Spiderman Downhill domination Dead to rights Ps1 Tenchu Stealth Assassins Can't wait to jump into these. Thanks for leading me on to all these great game Metal Jesus
Love the Disk System, I bought one earlier in the year in Japan with some games. I'd highly recommend The Mysterious Murasame Castle which was featured here but i'll provide some additional info, it runs on a modified Zelda 1 engine and is like playing Zelda 1 if it were a more linear action game, great fun and quite a challenge.
1:39 Just to explain, the batteries last so long because the FDC isn't constantly using power. It only needs power when reading or writing to the disk. Once the contents have been loaded into memory, the Famicom can do everything on its own until it needs to load or save again. 2:27 Even a modem, among other things. 3:50 On the other hand, passwords allow you to skip ahead or mess around. =) 5:11 If you want to use the original model for whatever reason, you can get modified Famicoms on eBay with a composite output. (Mine was modded with a 3.5mm A/V out.) 12:11 Disk-kun is also a hat in the Street Pass Mii Plaza on 3DS. :) 15:56 Fun fact, some of the soundtrack for Excitebike World Rally for WiiWare comes from VS Excitebike. VS Excitebike is also on the WiiU's Virtual Console (which wouldn't be noteworthy but it's one of those rare Japanese Virtual Console imports). 18:51 Probably because it wasn't manly enough to sell in 'Muricaland. Side note, SMB1 on the Disk System is the only version with a unique "minus world". Depending on how you hit the flag pole in World -1, you can go to -2 and -3.
I'd say the main benefit is the extra sound channel it has built in allowing for better music in the Famicom Disk System games. I sure hope they mention that in this review....
Awesome video! I actually just got a Twin Famicom last week! John promted this video in my Reddit post about it, so I've been looking forward to this.! Awesome system. It might be a good idea to note that the controller cords are quite short, but there's an extra port to plug in additional Famicom controllers. Keep up the good work, you guys!
Awesome! Well, enjoy! I couldn't remember if that's what it was, but I'm pretty sure I have one stashed away. Defintly safe to have some slack when you're playing a white-knuckle shooter and like to yank the controller to 'move faster' like me!
I've got an AV modded Famicom and a Disk System and I love it. It's cool playing games on an add on that we never got and I didn't know about for most of my life.
These videos are fascinating! Half of the systems you guys review/feature I didn't even know existed!! I'm a 80's NES kid, used to have a lot of the "rare" games and accessories, super bummed I didn't keep any of it, anyway, love learning about the history and randomness of the gaming world. Super interesting shit.
I love seeing stuff like this. A lot of it I won't get to play...but understanding and appreciating the history that got us to the game we have now...It's worth exploring
Great channel and love this Famicom Disk System feature! Collecting this system as well and be sure to be on the lookout for that RED Sharp Twin Famicom.
I dated a Japanese girl in high school and her brother had an original Famicom with the disk system and tons of games. This was in the late 90’s before collecting and retro gaming got really big and I remember my mind being blown seeing how it looked and all the cool games we didn’t have here in America.
I'm from Costa Rica, here we had both consoles, the NES (the one with big cartridges) and the Famicon, I personally had the Famicon which used smaller cartridges.
I love my FDS system, and it is a lot of fun to collect for. Have the Sharp Twin also. Collecting for it is so addicting once you start. But I dread the day when the belts break lol. Its very easy to emulate, but there is something about putting the disk in and hearing all the clicks and clanks of the disks. Its like the difference between listening to Dark Side of the Moon on mp3, or vinyl record.
@MetalJesusRocks, I am an avid FDS collector from New England..about as far from Japan as you can actually be lol. Anyways, as Disk System collector, as much as Japan-Release-Only games are really cool to collect for, most of them are RPGs or detective games, which makes them really hard to play unless you know Japanese. That being said, I find myself buying disk games that ended up being NTSC released battery backup games. The disk versions of NTSC battery games are far superior to their American counterparts. ...great video, nonetheless..I've been a fan of you for years now and thru influence of your past videos, to the chagrin of my fiance, have bought retro consoles I never knew I ever wanted. Keep up the good work!
I love the Nintendo Famicom design. It looks amazing. The disc system also has a good design. I have seen The Mysterious Murasame Castle protagonist on Super Smash Bros Ultimate as a sticker or trophy you get when you play the story mode I think it was. Cool video. ^_^
5 1/4 disks were soft (i.e. bendable) and had not media protection flap. We learned pretty quickly to use the sleeves and be gentle w/ them. BACK IN MY DAY, we had respect for things! harumph.
Just the video I needed I just added one to my collection. I'm jealous that you have big retro game conversions. I live in Australia Perth and I get all my games from ebay and Facebook there is a couple retro stores but they are to experience.
I love the Disk System. It's one of a shrinking number of sets you can affordably collect for here in Japan. Tons of fun games, and only a select few require a major cash investment. ...except for that one Mario game.
There are Tuner TVs that can only go from channels 2 to 83, some early cable compatible TVs go from cable channels 1 to 36. Most CRT TVs in the late '80s to early '00s have over the air channels 2 to 69 and cable channels 1-125. Have a Plasma, LCD, or LED TV? No problem! In the on-screen menu, most CRT and every Plasma, LCD, and LED TV has auto programming. On non-Japanese TVs, set the RF input to cable, turn on the Famicom, then auto program. On Japanese TVs, just put it on CH1-CH2. The AVS uses HDMI. One note: The Famicom Disk System may not work on PAL NES systems even through adapters like the HES Unidaptor as the Famicom Disk System can only be used on Famicom, NTSC NES using adapters and Famiclones.
Here in Brazil famicoms worked. My friend whose dad was japanese had one. We could tune Famicom in UHF channels above channel 80. Since our used radio mhz frequencies were also very different from Japan. Our weird Pal-M system is actually more like Japanese NTSC rather than US NTSC though.
Fun fact, back in 1988, I lived in South America with my parents. A young boy. I begged and begged for a Nintendo. The NES was pretty expensive, so they got me this..."Family Computer" system, which was 1/3 of the price of the NES. I felt dupped, I felt I got a knock off!! I felt my parents didn't love me enough to get me the REAL NINTENDO....oh how wrong I was, how wrong!!!
Many years later I found out that I had the REAL DEAL and never appreciatted it, although I played the hell out of it until I had to replace the controller 3 times because the wiring would snap from the side, and it was notorious for having issues with its video out analog port, haha! Oh man I loved my little red and vanilla system
Dude.
Same happened to me in Costa Rica lol...... how wrong I was too xD.
Where in South America??
@@ProJatior 😂
Yeah, i´m from Argentina, and here the Famicom was much more common to find than the NES. In fact, i´ve never saw or knew about the NES until the internet arrived
One of my Chinese friends had this when I was a kid and I remember being like "what is this sorcery". I used to eat seaweed chips and play on his famicom disk system. lol...
I love collecting for this device. Harder to come by in the States, but there was a decent amount of these items at the Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo. I love using my AVS to play my FDS games.
Yeah, the AVS is a great option for playing disk system games. Straight to HD.
RetroUSB AVS I think he means, looks like a solid FPGA system for all things NES/fami...though I have yet to try one, it looks awesome.
Ditto! I also like how a lot of the FDS games that were released as cartridges over here (Kid Icarus, Metroid, Zelda) have a little more 'omph' to the sound due to the sound hardware of the Famicom. :)
Help us out whats avs
Could it be the RetroUSB AVS? retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=78
Aup lads . I am from sheffield england and im not a collector but i love your show im 41 and have been a gamer all my life . Keep up the good work metal jesus and co 👊🤘
Riggs!! Jason!! We love you dudes!
Hey Reggie have you ever farted in a jar and opened it years later ?
We love you too reggie! 👊🏻
REGGGGIE!!!!
We love you back!
Cant wait to meet you guys in St. Louis!
Always looking for more fun FDS games if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks so much for doing this video with me John!!!
Can't go wrong with Konami on the 8-bit systems man. Aside from what was released by Nintendo (Zelda 1 & 2, Kid Icarus, Metroid), keep an eye out for Ai Senshi Nicol, Esper Dream, Moero TwinBee, and my favorite Pro Wrestling!
Big Challenge Dogfight, Dirty Pair, Gall Force, Transformers: Headmasters, Zanac are all pretty good games.
John Riggs: RIGG'd Games
I would totally add Zanac to any list about FDS !!
Esper Dream is really awesome. It helps if you know Japanese, but it's very fun even without it.
Great guide! Such an epic add-on, I love my Twin Famicom.
When ever I see riggs on the show, I get a serge of energy!
Kinky
🤨
Pause:
Oh
I currently have 161 of the officially licensed FDS games in my collection, and a few of those non-PG games as well... I also sell some on ebay too. Fun fact: the "Minus World" on the FDS version of Super Mario Bros. is different than in the other versions.
Do you still sell on eBay?
I love how intrigued Metal Jesus is when looking at the Sharp Famicom
Yeah - a whole lot of intense side eye going on in this video!
No one mentioned that it has the best version of legend of Zelda?
The FM music makes it sound fantastic!
Not fm but wavetables , frequency modulation is not possible on wavetables only amplitude modulation
Love the disk system. Sharp Twin Famicom is the absolutely the way to go. The biggest thing to consider is all the moving parts of the disk hardware. It's not just the belt. You will have to adjust springs and realign the heads. It's fragile and tedious. And it's sad when it stops working. The error codes are super vague. There is a lot of good info on the internet for troubleshooting, but.. no sugar coating, this is a system that's more difficult to maintain than any others that I've had. (maybe excluding older computers). But if you're into that, it's great. The only other thing is that most the good games you want having gotten pretty pricey (especially for such fragile medium). Hit Japan, RyoplanShop, and Japan4U on ebay all do a pretty good job of selling these games with descriptions about what they are. Every game I've had so far is the right game, works, and is in good condition. Only one time I got a non-working bootleg cart for Bio Miracle. But that's it.
Love these buying guides. There isn't a huge retro scene where i am so these are a good substitute when i'm on a retro kick. Keep up the great vids guys! Love the metaljesus crew.
Love collecting for this bad boy. Have a ton of games for it and recently went to a garage sale and bought another 12 games, near mint. Good stuff.
Mormon advertisement before Metal Jesus video lmao
I’m 46 years old and never knew these existed. That’s one reason I love this channel, always learning about new goodies.
Technically, the disks aren't proprietary. It's a slightly modified version of the Mitsumi Quick Disk format, which is part of the reason that piracy on the system was so easy. The format was also used in Smith Corona word processors, a number of MIDI keyboards and samplers, as well as several 8-bit computers.
Bear in mind though, that when the Famicom Disk System came out, PCs were still using 5.25" floppy disks; and those didn't have a shutter to protect the magnetic disc inside either. So, it's by no means essential to have one on your Famicom Disks. Even a PC 3.5" disk will work fin if the shutter gets ripped off. So long as the data is intact, the drive won't care.
I suppose the reason Nintendo never bothered to release the FDS anywhere else in the world is that with the success of the Famicom, they were able to negotiate cheaper prices for RAM chips; and someone came up with a means of saving data long term on a cartridge via battery backup. And of course, if disk piracy was a problem in Japan, it would be massive in the US. So, better to ditch the floppy drive and go with an all cartridge system.
I think you're right. The FDS was initially supposed to be a cost-effective way to make more space available for game developers, and provide gamers with a cheaper alternative to more expensive cartridge games. Since the disks were rewritable, you could go to your local convenience store and get a new game for 500 - 2000 yen. That explains why John had some disks with different labels and games on the disks.
By the time the FDS would have been ready for North America, I think the cost of ram in carts came down enough that it was no longer a viable option. I think the FDS had a pretty short run of 2-3 years (although it was supported by Nintendo until 2003).
@@pidgeo5
Also, remember that video game rentals are ILLEGAL in Japan.
Lol, That was once my copy of Super Lode Runner, I remember putting that green sticker on there. I traded it to John at PRGE 2017 for among other things in our trade A copy of The Uninvited for the NES I needed for my collection.
Thanks for this video and the info about the twin. I always wanted a Disk sysyem and after seeing this I picked up a mint Famicom twin fairly cheap while in Japan. When the security guy at Narita airport came over to check my carry on and saw bag full of Famicom cart and disk games he got a big smile on his face and patted me on the back and sent me through...it was pretty funny after being held up leaving Chicago week earlier where the ass hats apparently couldnt figure out what the Switch dock was.
Hello Metal Jesus, I just wanted to let you know I have been following your channel for a while now and this has inspired me to create a gaming channel of my own. Thank you for all the entertainment.
Totally Love Metal Jesus. And the fact that he's a huge Alice in Chains Fan and also collects rare vinyl is such an added plus his videos just lighten my day up. Him and John Hancock together just make my day. I love watching these videos not only cause of the nostalgia that I have for these games, the consoles, and even the boxes!!!( aren't physical video game stuff cool!)but also because they put their content together with stuff I'm crazy about and love and they always mention the greatest games I'm always thinking about. Thanks John and Metal for doing this for all the fans, your work is not being overlooked! Keep up the great videos.
Man, I learn something new everytime John Riggs stops by. Really neat stuff!
Great game choices!
KELSEY!!!! :)
Kelsey Lewin you should open up a game store in southern california!
Any you would add?
Kelseyyyyyyyyy😍😍😍😍😍big Kisses from Germany 💋💋💋💋 you are sooooooo cute 😍😍
Japanese games are always cool
They had a bunch of controllers for the system, like a number pad, to help to connect to a bank via internet. Family Computer alright!
Rodrigo Molinsky 😲 wow!
Wow, good episode! I've been watching your channel for a while and I never realized the Famicom Disk System was never covered!
I lived in Japan from 2002-2006, so while I was there I grabbed some disk system games, the disk reader and keyboard, and the Twin Famicom. Like John said, the Twin is the best way to play. It's an awesome system and so far I've got 25 games for it; many in the hard plastic case, and a few with the instructions.
A really good guidebook is the Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Complete Guide to the Famicom Disk System. I think it covers all the games that were released for the system, with how rare they are, including games that could only be obtained from one of the disk writer kiosks (did you know Nintendo supported those until 2003?).
I remember getting disk system for Christmas when I grew up in Japan. When my family move to the US, I brought it with me but lost a couple games. It was very difficult to get a few that worked, but there are some people who are trustworthy and test the games before you buy. It's a worthy purchase, and if you don't speak Japanese, you can patch the games and copy them back to the disk. Tanoshi!
This video inspired a small collecting series on my channel almost four years ago. Little did I know that I would be GIFTED an FDS by Jimmy Chan X, and that I would be sitting next to John Blue Riggs at conventions a few years later.
So, Jason, I owe you a debt, which will be paid in beer at the earliest opportunity.
I love this guy, he’s so positive and he’s laugh is addictive
I owned the Famicom disk system since 1987 and also have the Twin Famicom that was made by Nintendo and Sharp.
Hi, MetalJesusRocks and John Riggs, that slide dust cover is called "shuttle". ( I used to be a manufacturer of 3.5" floppy disks in 1993-1995)
Fantastic vid. I got a Sharp Twin Famicom a while back, but only got a couple of games at the time. Thank you so much for the new game hunt list. Also, looking forward to seeing you two and everyone at Mo Game Con on August 4!!!
13:52 MY FAVOURITE DISK SYSTEM GAME AHHHHH
John thanks for doing this video I remember watching a similar one on your own channel and it got me into collecting for the FDS. I visited Tokyo a few weeks ago picked up a FDS and games very cheap as they are plentiful over there. For anyone interested you can purchase the FDDSTICK it only costs about $16 and is the size of a USB stick it completely replaces the physical drive and can fit the whole FDS library in its memory and it works great.
The Sharp Twin system is one of my holy grails, that thing is so cool!
I'm a massive Famicom collector! Great video! The Twin Famicom is one of my favorite systems. The red one looks amazing!
maybe the 2 tallest guys in the retro gaming community
The Famicom/NES is probably my favorite system. Thanks for the video! I wanted to mention that the Famicom had a re-release which, unlike the US version, supports composite video (and NES controllers).
The AV Famicom is fantastic little system. Combines the best features of all its predecessors. Downside is it doesn't have the microphone of the original, but that doesn't affect many games.
I love to display my disc games on my fridge using the strongest magnets I have ;)
LOL
Retro Game Players Wouldn't strong magnets corrupt the data on the disk?
^-- There's always one...
I actually made a cool fridge magnet out of an old NES game I tore apart.
I know it's not good to destroy games, but this was a real shitty game... called "Little Samson" or something like that...
(O_o)~!!!
That's a great idea! All this time I've been using mine as throwing stars.
I loveeeee metal jesus so much. I watch his videos when Im feeling low and it always helps to cheer me up.
I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if Nintendo got smarter with anti-piracy and stuck with the Famicom Disk System. The extra storage, plus having two sides to work with, would have allowed for bigger games. It very nearly happened. According to the Gaming Historian, Nintendo was banking heavily on it. Even started development of a version for the NES before pirates happened. This is why we can't have nice things.
😔
i mean, if you watched the Gaming Historian video, you know there were other problems going on in addition to piracy. not to say the piracy didn't/doesn't suck, of course.
@@Mikau888 Yeah the hardware was prone to breaking and stuff. Pirating was apart of it's downfall, but not the major contributing factor.
There‘s actually a complete guide for the FDS. It is a lot of fun looking at all those obscure games in a full colour book.
I absolutely love the FDS. I love that you made this thank you so much.
This came at a perfect time! I've been wanting to get a Famicom to add to my small collection but had no idea where to start with the games ❤️
Gosh that John Riggs giggle completely splits me in half!
GAMES SHOWN:
The Miracle of Almana
Meikyū Jiin Dababa
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
The Mysterious Murasame Castle
Falsion
Vs. Excitebike
Kick Challenger: Air Foot
Bio Miracle-I’m Upa
Otocky
Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic was actually later reworked into Super Mario Bros 2 or Super Mario USA
This is only the second video I’ve ever seen on the Famicom Disk system! This thing is totally a mystery to me. Of course John would be nuts about it lol!
Thanks so much for watching!
Gaming Historian has a good video on it. I'd very much recommend it.
That's the other video I've seen on it! lol
Found that system at Goodwill last month with along all those games and 20 more, it's amazing what you find when you take a peek at your local stores.
There is one particular game that I would like play on the Famicom Disk System called Section Z.
Awesome video! Maby It will sound strange but watching Your videos makes me feel calm and happy :) I suffer for very strong anxiety problems and watching Your channel helps me ALLOT! Its so positive (no hate) and its what i love most, video games :)
I wish to thank You for that and wish U all the best, keep up a great work.
You can't just turn off anxiety. Get a clue.
Great video. A video like this one on the PC Engine duo would be cool.
I've run into a few other interesting Famicom Disk System games that you might enjoy:
Electrician - Hard to describe other than Arcade Action, but you fix the wiring in an old building to light up little rooms.
Esper Dream - An overhead Action-Adventure with quite a few interesting worlds that are interconnected. The sequel on Famicom is one my favorite NES/Famicom game of all time
Famicom Grand Prix 2: 3D Hot Rally - Think OutRun/Rad Racer with the 3D capabilities, and a splash of LSD.
Knight Lore: Majou no Ookami Otoko - It's a bit like Solstice, but a bit more focused and stage-based.
Lutter - An oldschool RPG that's a bit like Castle of the Winds on its side; not unlike CastleQuest/Castle Excellent with RPG elements.
Topple Zip - A Vertically-Scrolling Shooter that you complete not by flying through the stages (they loop), but travelling between the worlds and completing objectives.
OMG!!! My favorite video of yours to date. I absolutely love the FDS and I feel it doesnt get enough love and historical appreciation. Lots of info on here that I didnt know. I actually found and ordered a sharp twin famicom during the video lol!!!! I love my FDS and the mini famicom classic edition that I have. VS excitebike looks amazing!
Genesis does what Nintendon't, but they Fami-can't touch this
Sega Master System had both cards and cartridges.
A 24 minute video by MJR about the Famicom? YES.
Buying guides? Nice bro got a whole new thing to watch now so happy your bringing my childhood back! Only thing like it, you should mix it up and see if you could throw a old commercial or something for memories😁
RIGGS! I know nothing about the Famicom Disk System so this is extremely helpful.
I still don't know much about it! I just love playing these games on it.
Smash JT if you want know more about the Famicom disk system I highly recommend watching the gaming historian's video on the disk system
I agree; that video is very well researched and informative. Another good source for information about the games themselves is the book "Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Complete Guide to the Famicom Disk System". Definitely an informative read.
If you want to have the games for a year or two, just buy an everdrive, emulate or hack a famicom mini. Disks are old and were not built to last. More and more demagnetize and become useless pieces of plastic.
Yea great video, also there are great videos out there about the struggle with US using cartridge vs japan using disc for space and saving games. Some of the short cuts they had to do to make games work on cartridge back in the day ended up being some of the greatest things we remember about these games.
This was an awesome video. I remember John did a live stream and played some the Famicom Disk System games he showed off in the video. That was such a great stream and random (random as he usually to busy to plan them out so he just does one when ever) but so fun as all his streams are in my opinion.
Wow, I never knew this existed. Thanks for enlightening me. I collect a lot of games but Not NES or older. I still have my Nintendo and Atari with all the games but a lot of times the games are tough to get started or will freeze. I find it better to just use emulators for stuff this old. I still collect for anything SNES or Genesis on up.
Dude, why are your number of views plummeting this past months? It's strange, your channel is one of the best on YT, and you deserve more subscribers and views.
Love my Famicom Disk System. To get it to work with an actual Famicom I use a US NES rf switch to a vcr. The vcr then sends composite to the TV. The vcr you change to channel 95 or 96 and it works like a dream
This was my very first gaming system when I was like 8.. got it for $20 at the time (1997-98) and it was the best thing ever! Wish I still had it!
Went to my local Salvation Army and picked up a ton of good games for less than $2.00 each. The games were
Ps2
Grand theft auto 3
The getaway
Hitman contracts
Gran turismo 3 a-spec
Spiderman
Downhill domination
Dead to rights
Ps1
Tenchu Stealth Assassins
Can't wait to jump into these. Thanks for leading me on to all these great game Metal Jesus
Love the Disk System, I bought one earlier in the year in Japan with some games. I'd highly recommend The Mysterious Murasame Castle which was featured here but i'll provide some additional info, it runs on a modified Zelda 1 engine and is like playing Zelda 1 if it were a more linear action game, great fun and quite a challenge.
1:39 Just to explain, the batteries last so long because the FDC isn't constantly using power. It only needs power when reading or writing to the disk. Once the contents have been loaded into memory, the Famicom can do everything on its own until it needs to load or save again.
2:27 Even a modem, among other things.
3:50 On the other hand, passwords allow you to skip ahead or mess around. =)
5:11 If you want to use the original model for whatever reason, you can get modified Famicoms on eBay with a composite output. (Mine was modded with a 3.5mm A/V out.)
12:11 Disk-kun is also a hat in the Street Pass Mii Plaza on 3DS. :)
15:56 Fun fact, some of the soundtrack for Excitebike World Rally for WiiWare comes from VS Excitebike. VS Excitebike is also on the WiiU's Virtual Console (which wouldn't be noteworthy but it's one of those rare Japanese Virtual Console imports).
18:51 Probably because it wasn't manly enough to sell in 'Muricaland.
Side note, SMB1 on the Disk System is the only version with a unique "minus world". Depending on how you hit the flag pole in World -1, you can go to -2 and -3.
I'd say the main benefit is the extra sound channel it has built in allowing for better music in the Famicom Disk System games. I sure hope they mention that in this review....
Awesome video! I actually just got a Twin Famicom last week! John promted this video in my Reddit post about it, so I've been looking forward to this.! Awesome system. It might be a good idea to note that the controller cords are quite short, but there's an extra port to plug in additional Famicom controllers. Keep up the good work, you guys!
I think Husdon created a special Famicom controller with a longer cable that can plug into the extra port on the side of the Twin Famicom.
pidgeo5 You are correct! I have one on order that's probably somewhere in the sky right now along with a Retro Freak NES adapter!
Awesome! Well, enjoy! I couldn't remember if that's what it was, but I'm pretty sure I have one stashed away. Defintly safe to have some slack when you're playing a white-knuckle shooter and like to yank the controller to 'move faster' like me!
pidgeo5 I'm just gonna be glad to not have to sit on the floor to get my Doki Doki Panic fix!
Struth! Although, I wouldn't mind if I could afford a tatami room.
I've got an AV modded Famicom and a Disk System and I love it. It's cool playing games on an add on that we never got and I didn't know about for most of my life.
These videos are fascinating! Half of the systems you guys review/feature I didn't even know existed!! I'm a 80's NES kid, used to have a lot of the "rare" games and accessories, super bummed I didn't keep any of it, anyway, love learning about the history and randomness of the gaming world. Super interesting shit.
I love seeing stuff like this. A lot of it I won't get to play...but understanding and appreciating the history that got us to the game we have now...It's worth exploring
Great channel and love this Famicom Disk System feature! Collecting this system as well and be sure to be on the lookout for that RED Sharp Twin Famicom.
I had no idea this thing existed... such a cool item to add to a collection.
Japan always keeps the best stuff for themselves.
What a dope looking system though
Oh snap! I just unlocked the "disk dude" spirit in Smash Ultimate earlier today and I was wondering what it was. Thanks, guys!
I had a bootleg copy Bio-Miracle I'm Upa on a famicon cart with the crossover cart attachment, labeled as "Baby Mario".
I dated a Japanese girl in high school and her brother had an original Famicom with the disk system and tons of games. This was in the late 90’s before collecting and retro gaming got really big and I remember my mind being blown seeing how it looked and all the cool games we didn’t have here in America.
I have a disk system. It's just a really neat system to own. To me it's more of a novelty. I don't actively collect for
It but it's cool to have.
I am not into JP import games as much, but I honestly live the FC DiscSystem.
It is very cool and pretty collectible!
What the... First ive heard of the Famicom disk system. So far ahead of its time that it ended up in 2018.
Noob
I'm from Costa Rica, here we had both consoles, the NES (the one with big cartridges) and the Famicon, I personally had the Famicon which used smaller cartridges.
This came on the perfect day. I was starting to work out if I was going to get one. Great info.
Nice video, guys!!! Two of my favorite TH-camrs!!
I love my FDS system, and it is a lot of fun to collect for. Have the Sharp Twin also. Collecting for it is so addicting once you start. But I dread the day when the belts break lol. Its very easy to emulate, but there is something about putting the disk in and hearing all the clicks and clanks of the disks. Its like the difference between listening to Dark Side of the Moon on mp3, or vinyl record.
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa did come out in North America on the original Wii Virtual Console eShop.
Disk system is cool. Man that Sharp Fami Twin has been on my list since I discovered it existed. Seems GREAT!
finally a buying guide for this system!!! thanks you guys are awesome!!!
@MetalJesusRocks, I am an avid FDS collector from New England..about as far from Japan as you can actually be lol.
Anyways, as Disk System collector, as much as Japan-Release-Only games are really cool to collect for, most of them are RPGs or detective games, which makes them really hard to play unless you know Japanese.
That being said, I find myself buying disk games that ended up being NTSC released battery backup games.
The disk versions of NTSC battery games are far superior to their American counterparts.
...great video, nonetheless..I've been a fan of you for years now and thru influence of your past videos, to the chagrin of my fiance, have bought retro consoles I never knew I ever wanted.
Keep up the good work!
I always get a little confused at first when I *don't* see the Sharp Twin Famicom. Nice to see another Disk collector, who is also in the PNW.
I love the Nintendo Famicom design. It looks amazing. The disc system also has a good design. I have seen The Mysterious Murasame Castle protagonist on Super Smash Bros Ultimate as a sticker or trophy you get when you play the story mode I think it was. Cool video. ^_^
5 1/4 disks were soft (i.e. bendable) and had not media protection flap. We learned pretty quickly to use the sleeves and be gentle w/ them. BACK IN MY DAY, we had respect for things! harumph.
just picked one up, knew exactly which channel to go to
Just the video I needed I just added one to my collection. I'm jealous that you have big retro game conversions. I live in Australia Perth and I get all my games from ebay and Facebook there is a couple retro stores but they are to experience.
I love the Disk System. It's one of a shrinking number of sets you can affordably collect for here in Japan. Tons of fun games, and only a select few require a major cash investment.
...except for that one Mario game.
Been Collecting FDS for 3 years....nice to see it get some love. Riggs rox and MJR as always dudes!
There are Tuner TVs that can only go from channels 2 to 83, some early cable compatible TVs go from cable channels 1 to 36. Most CRT TVs in the late '80s to early '00s have over the air channels 2 to 69 and cable channels 1-125. Have a Plasma, LCD, or LED TV? No problem! In the on-screen menu, most CRT and every Plasma, LCD, and LED TV has auto programming. On non-Japanese TVs, set the RF input to cable, turn on the Famicom, then auto program. On Japanese TVs, just put it on CH1-CH2. The AVS uses HDMI. One note: The Famicom Disk System may not work on PAL NES systems even through adapters like the HES Unidaptor as the Famicom Disk System can only be used on Famicom, NTSC NES using adapters and Famiclones.
Now I gotta start collecting for that!
Really cool video. Love these somewhat rare and unique systems.
Here in Brazil famicoms worked. My friend whose dad was japanese had one. We could tune Famicom in UHF channels above channel 80. Since our used radio mhz frequencies were also very different from Japan. Our weird Pal-M system is actually more like Japanese NTSC rather than US NTSC though.