We were super lucky to live in Japan in 1985/86 (I was 10) and my Dad bought us Famicom and Disk System which I loved. Somewhere along the way they broke down or got lost but I remember being the envy of all my friends when we brought it back to Australia because the NES hadn't released here yet. So much nostalgia now playing those Famicom games on my Nintendo Switch!
Is this why i can't get my famicom to work? :( just got it on ebay works in Japan i told seller if he can send me the RF when i buy something else. .. he told me to try sega Rf but doesn't work
@@segagirladventurespico It's made for Japanese TVs, and while Japan uses basically the same composite video format as the US, their channels are different so a US TV probably won't be able to tune to Japanese RF. However if you have a newer analog TV that can tune to channels 95-97, those correspond to Japanese channels 1-3. In the US these channels were only used on cable, never broadcast.
That's cause you can't use a VCR. You have to use a retro crt tv to get video signal. Cause Japanese use different RF signals. So u have to tune your tv to 95 or 96.
I have about 30 famicoms. Channel 1 is 95 and Channel 2 96 on U.S. televisions. Tv's channel frequencies vary though so some TV's have lots more interference than others. You need to use a nice shielded subwoofer cable (shorter the better) and the Coaxial to RCA adapter and actually you can get a great picture that way. If their is buzz it's generally the mic on controller 2. Simply take the controller apart and use metal polish to polish the slider contact and use rubbing alcohol to clean the board it slides around. If the black electro coating material is worn off simply use a pencil to remark it thick and use a toothpick to bend the little slider springs out for better contact.
Famicom is not a weird console to me as in Malaysia and most South East Asian Country in the late 80s and early 90s, Famicom are sell everywhere like hot cake. The NES is very hard to find back then to be honest in my country generally. Showing this Famicom really bring a lot of nostalgic moment when i still a kid.
Look on your local facebook marketplace for an older TV. People give them away for free all the time rather than pay to recycle them. I actually just picked up a nice 32 inch with an RF port and 2 sets of RCA/AV ports.
nostalgic. I remember having one and playing super Mario bros for the first time. we weren't allowed to use it on the color TV and so me and my bros only played it on black and white
I too picked up a Famicom about a year ago along with a disk system (for the complete package) and as I held it in my hands I couldn't help thinking about what little Japanese kids once sat in his parents livingroom playing Mario, Zelda, or Dragon Quest on it.
Regarding your complaint about the cord location on the controller: remember that back when this was popular, there were no game controllers with shoulder buttons. The L and R buttons first appeared with later generations of game consoles and handhelds. Most people would tuck all their fingers together about halfway up the back and press buttons from under the bottom or around the side of the lower half. Holding the bottom allowed for easy access to the Start and Select buttons by sliding a hand inward.
Spawn that isn’t a official famicom RFadapter. Those were white and had those screw holes in it. I’m sure that put the nes one in there for US compatibility
Japan and the US have the same plug. Japan was making pretty much all the electronics for the US for a few decades. But it is a different plug. The original was black with a small silver rectangle with red writing in Japanese.
It's important to remember when the Famicom was released. In 1983 RF was really the only way to hook up a video game system (or VCR for that matter) on the majority of televisions at the time. A few systems at that time period had their controllers hardwired. Probably the most prominent of them was Mattel's Intellivision. Although they did release a revision that had detachable controllers in the latter half of 1983.
Protip: if you ever intend to hook it up to an old CRT, you'll need to set it to channel 98/99 due to that being the frequency equivalent to Japanese channel 1/2.
I had several Famicoms during the years. Your Revision is a newer one, you can see it based on the metal shielding at the cartridge slot. I guess the model must be manifactured around 1988,1989. Older ones had just the blue plastic pin connector.
We got that exact model in South America. You can plug it in a VHS player with TV sintonizer and the put channel 2 or 3 to play. Mine came with some games in "memory", so if you turn it on without any cartbridge you can play those games. Some years later I found that the console has a second cart slot and there was a board with the games "in memory", you could replace this board with any other game that is accessed when you turn the console on without a cart in the main slot 😎
@@ultimatums1 pretty sure that's only if the channel sets it to mark it as spam. I've posted multiple links on videos that's never been marked as spam.
I actually saw you at toomanygames spawnwave you were by the smash tournament next to the Mario kart speedrun. I should have said what's up but I missed the opportunity
9:42 The 7805 in the RF can was where i learned to solder. Especially on the later models and the copies with smaller heatsinks. on the last model i had, i had moved the 7805 to its own external heatsink covering the vents behind the cartridgeport.
Famicoms arent worth that much, it was likely a reseal which is pretty common, mine was a reseal as well(Its still in the shrink because I bought 3 $10 junk systems) I got my complete in the box system for $60
In Japan saving space is a high priority so their living rooms are generally much smaller than western style. That's why the controller wire is short and why they come out on the side so that you have a low vertical profile and can store it away on a shelf.
I assume you're intended to run the console to the TV with a long wire and the Famicom sits next to the gamer, similar to how the Atari 2600 and other early systems would. (Atari you have to flip all sorts of switches on the console to make the games work) - Nintendo making the controllers long in the US was probably part of the "entertainment center system" look - so you would slot it in with your VCR, and not use it "like a games console".
Great video! Thank you. I am in Japan right now and these sell at resale shops for $12 each and games are about $2 each. After seeing your video I will have to grab one! Thank you
This is interesting: the european design! European NES = the US design European SNES = the JP design (not the US design) European machines are PAL. Not sure how they did in France. France got SECAM instead of PAL. Japanese Zelda 1 on FDS (Famicom Disc System): those LOADING TIMES when Link walks into dungeons! Crazy! Glad that Zelda 1 was released on cartridge in US/Europe! "No" loading times! Exactly like PlayStation 5 :-) Sometimes I think about the different audio/music in Zelda 1 for NES and FDS. Which version is best? I think I prefer the NES version. Have also seen comparisons for Zelda 2 on NES and FDS. Zelda 2 is really really better on NES! I wish the japanese market could get the NES versions of Zelda 1 and 2!
Riley European Nintendo customers are so lucky! They got the best edition (from US vs JP). But it's 50 fps and not 60 fps in Europe. PAL you know. Not NTSC. So the music and games are often 10-20 percent slower in Europe, if the games are developed for NTSC and quickly ported to PAL. I've read the "some games" (no idea which ones) that had been ported to PAL has also been adjusted for the 50-60 Hz "thing/problem". But notice the gamepads for Famicom! Gamepad 1/A got select and start. Gamepad 2/B doesn't have that. European/JP SNES looks sooooooo good!!! Also love Nintendo 64! Finally same console design in all regions! I would say that Nintendo 64 is the best looking Nintendo console of all time! But the N64 Gamepad is horrible. A dream: the N64 chassi and Switch's internals and possibility for crazy much storage! No big need for 4K gaming graphics. Better to focus on good framerate for 1080p!
@@cjeelde That's probably because they added a lot of QoL features during the FDS to NES conversion. Same thing with the transition from Doki Doki Panic to Super Mario Bros 2. Lol
Man, this brings back so many memories. I still have my original Famicom from back then and it still works. :D I have over 200 games for it. I have some 5 in 1, 10 in 1, 100 in 1 and my biggest 1000 in 1 game cartridges. The dance floor pads, the boxing game suite. the zapper gun and some many other peripherals made for it back then. My Famicom thought I painted it black so it would be unique. Those were the days. :D
Whenever you see something janky about the Famicom, like the side cord on controllers or the really loud power button, you have to remember that when they made this system, nobody knew it was going to be successful. It was essentially the equivalent of your TV plug-and-play games, but it had a catridge port. The cartridge port allowed extra chips to be contained in the cartidge itself, and things just kind of spiraled upward from there.
Ah the family computer, my 1st console. Whole family played this. Me and my brother after school. Mom and dad at night with tetris and battle city and my grandma during the day with circus charlie. So much good memories and blistered thumbs.
To preserve my old childhood NES, I use a pin adapter on my Twin Famicom to play my NES carts. The Twin Famicom still has wired controllers, so if the controllers work, the cart port part of the system usually does as well. It’s the disk drive that falls apart.
Ch 95-96 for RF, but these guys are pretty easy to mod if you want composite out. You don't need a new power supply, just don't leave it plugged into the wall.
The SNES changed the way we hold controllers with our index fingers on the shoulder buttons. On the NES, your index fingers stayed underneath the controller to brace it as your thumbs pressed the buttons.
Yours is a later model, you can tell from the stylized "FF" logo on the front. Modifying the system for composite video is pretty simple, my dad helped me with it and we got it done in probably 2 hours. Really helps for TV compatibility, since Japan's channel 1 is our channel 95, which isn't commonly accessible.
Im from Colombia and i had one of these, love that little bastard. Quite amazing u got the original adapter, it used to burn out a lot, i remember having like five of those, non branded after the first one cought up fire. Mine also had the controllers at the front, and you could detach them.
Nice video, quick correction: the 72 pin connector on the NES isn’t the reason they blink. The lock out chip goes bad on 90% of NES. Open it up, cut a single pin on the chip, and your NES will load games every time and won’t blink anymore. Disabling the chip causes the NES to load games as easily as a SNES, N64, etc.
As Frank from Channel 33 RPM would say concerning vinyl records, "records are made to be played." Watching your videos showing what makes the systems fascinates me greatly (yes, I have seen quite a few of them.)
I have a Famicom top-loader with an Everdrive, I modified it to use a NES Zapper and I love it, I can also load Disk System games with the Everdrive and the extra audio channel is nice with games that support it. Fun fact it was sold and supported in Japan till 2003!
In 1991, I played the similar shape called Micro Genius, it is actually a fake Nintendo Famicom, but it actually works. We can play Super Mario Bros., Islander, Battle City, Contra, Bomberman, and more.
I had a famicom growing up never knowing it was a Japanese version of the NES, my brother had the NES and I was pissed thinking it was some bootleg console lolol
On my last trip to Japan I got a used Famicom without guarantee or extras like the box, tv cable or power adapter for 1100¥ (unter 10$). Got it home, bought some adapters etc. and tested it with games I also bought in Japan (100-10000¥, depends on the game). It's working.
I bought a boxed untested one on ebay from japan for $39.99 and it worked perfectly. It was very very yellowed. I then bought a whiter one for $8 that was listed as Not working. I was going to do a shell swap with the other but when I got the non working one I tried it and after I wiggled the AC port in the back it came on and worked just fine. So under $50 for two working Famicoms one boxed!. I did a video on the boxed one when I got it, bad lighting cause it was one of my first videos.
I literally have one from my father, who played it as a kid. It was still functional, so that was cool. Sadly, he lost most of the games when he moved into Shenzhen, and all that remained were the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. Kind of sad he lost Contra.
It's a lovely system, so cute and I love carts - bright colours and better art on them than western carts. I've modded mine for AV which gives a great picture and I made the player 1 controller cord longer
To hook it up just get a cheap VCR with a coax antenna input on the back and composite output. Then go to channel 98 on the VCR or whatever it is the Famicom displays on. That is what I do for all my systems stuck on RF so it should work.
You may know this already, but you can use the front expansion port for 3rd party controllers with longer cables. Or an adapter to use NES controllers! The cables are pretty short on my twin famicom turbo as well, but it's being used on a 21" CRT so it's not too bad.
I know why the made controller wires so short it's because back in the past they had CRT tvs which are the cube shaped tvs and they were a bit small that people put them on a desk
Here in Argentina, we get the original from japan or a clone from that same model, we got that famicon look and the toploader system, was my childhood console, I love it and I also love your video!
Oh such sweet memories of my old SMB3 edition NES, the many many many long hours and getting told off cos not wanting to turn it off after cycling SMB1 god knows how many times and everything is like super elite mobs. What is a cracking game from that time is Solstice, abs huge maze puzzler with a cracking bgm too and even now I can hear the plaintive wailing of the main char when he expires.
Got one recently myself with a famicom disk system at CORGS (Columbus, OH). First two Tv's and two VCR's did not work. You need channel 95/96 not 1/2. Third TV tuned to 95. You know the box was not sealed now because the rf adapter is not original as someone else mentioned. You can get cheap multicarts for it as well.
Oh god, I remember those! My friend had chinese version of famicom and I got Sega master system II (our first consoles). Then we visit vendor and it was like suprise (becuse bootleg games) what we get. Good times.
I know you are trying to probably put it on a more hi definition tv when you hook it up, but for mine i play it on an old trinitron. Issue is, is Japan's channel 2 or 3 translates honour channels like 96 and 97, and thebold trinitron doesn't go that high. That being said I bypassed THAT issue by hooking it up to a VCR (from the goodwill) and changing the channel on that instead. Good luck hooking it all up. Also side note because it requires so little power when you get a disk system rather than a second power brick you can just get a splitter.
There are 2 types of famicom the other famicom does have a detachable controllers and was built in with AV cables. That is the famicom we have during the 90's
Wow, I'm very impressed in Nintendo! So sleek and simple, straight forward design! I mean, I've seen the FamiCom before, but never have I seen the inside on one. I wonder how simple it would be to mod the FamiCom to having plug in controllers on the front. I see that simply drilling 2 holes in the front, and moving the rubber pieces on the cords forward; would totally give up nearly a whole foot of cord length. But plug ins would still be better, plus we got the controller extension cords here in America too.
I just recently bought my own Nintendo famicom that has the floppy Drive add-on built in. Should be getting it soon, looking into playing those floppy only games.
Really neat tech wave Jon(SW). You can't beat the OG Japanese Famicom, it changed Gaming forever and that is why we are all heavily into Gaming now :-D. The NES is my 3rd Fave Consoles of all time, loved playing it growing up. I think I prefer the Front Loader guys, remember the magic blowing into the bottom of the Cart too make it work lol priceless.
The only thing that comes to mind as to why the controllers are the way they are is that because the average Japanese home was/is much smaller than a western home, space is a commodity and Nintendo knew this. They made the controllers built into the system so that way people and families didn’t have to worry about a place to store the controllers, it’s already built in and stored with the system, no worrying about losing controllers. I could be wrong, but it’d make sense, at least to me. I’m curious to know how would anyone replace the controllers if anything to happened to them. Future video, perhaps?
The controller cables are short because Japanese houses are notoriously small and there wasn't so much space to begin with. Also, it's not like in the 80s there were 80 inches TVs in their living rooms :D
Now you have to get the AV Famicom, it's what Nintendo of America took and replaced the AV with RF jack o3o which they must had realize was a mistake as later versions do use AV out. And even rarer is the version that has both AV and a RF jack.
We were super lucky to live in Japan in 1985/86 (I was 10) and my Dad bought us Famicom and Disk System which I loved. Somewhere along the way they broke down or got lost but I remember being the envy of all my friends when we brought it back to Australia because the NES hadn't released here yet. So much nostalgia now playing those Famicom games on my Nintendo Switch!
Now you opened pandora box, you have to get the disk system.
and the modem and the light gun ;)
And the 3D System.
You can actually get a great deal on those on Ebay. Had a guy from japan replace the bands for me and give me about 20 replacement bands.
This video remembering my childhood days.... Really loved it now technology has been improved but I love to play with Famicom nice video bro
I predict that excepting any further video content, this lives in a box on his wall. 🙄
that "Nintendo-branded RF" is actually from a NES. The actual Family Computer RF is way different than that.
Is this why i can't get my famicom to work? :( just got it on ebay works in Japan i told seller if he can send me the RF when i buy something else. .. he told me to try sega Rf but doesn't work
Sara love Z z try using a different channel. There’s an article somewhere that shows which channel you should actually use. It’s not channel 2,3, or 4
@@rastasega apparently, there are a few articles which say it will pop up on channel 96, however, there is no sound.
@@criss1234ful a little fine tuning and you’ll get sound
@@segagirladventurespico It's made for Japanese TVs, and while Japan uses basically the same composite video format as the US, their channels are different so a US TV probably won't be able to tune to Japanese RF.
However if you have a newer analog TV that can tune to channels 95-97, those correspond to Japanese channels 1-3. In the US these channels were only used on cable, never broadcast.
most modern tvs still have rf, its how cable hooks up so its not hard to find since you already have the stock converter box
I'm surprised that you don't have a VHS player, that's what I use to play old consoles, using the RF in and scart out to the tv via converter.
I heard you can use the vcr i have to try cuz my famicom isnt working
That's cause you can't use a VCR. You have to use a retro crt tv to get video signal. Cause Japanese use different RF signals. So u have to tune your tv to 95 or 96.
I have about 30 famicoms. Channel 1 is 95 and Channel 2 96 on U.S. televisions. Tv's channel frequencies vary though so some TV's have lots more interference than others. You need to use a nice shielded subwoofer cable (shorter the better) and the Coaxial to RCA adapter and actually you can get a great picture that way. If their is buzz it's generally the mic on controller 2. Simply take the controller apart and use metal polish to polish the slider contact and use rubbing alcohol to clean the board it slides around. If the black electro coating material is worn off simply use a pencil to remark it thick and use a toothpick to bend the little slider springs out for better contact.
The Famicom+Disk System and the white PC-Engine were the two best looking systems ever made.
This was my first console, I still see it in my dreams.
Famicom is not a weird console to me as in Malaysia and most South East Asian Country in the late 80s and early 90s, Famicom are sell everywhere like hot cake. The NES is very hard to find back then to be honest in my country generally. Showing this Famicom really bring a lot of nostalgic moment when i still a kid.
My first console!! Glad that I had my first gaming experience with it.
Still jealous of when you picked that up at toomanygames lol sweet find 👌
They’re not really rare or expensive
Got mine for 70 n guy had a yellowish one for cheaper in box still also.
Look on your local facebook marketplace for an older TV. People give them away for free all the time rather than pay to recycle them. I actually just picked up a nice 32 inch with an RF port and 2 sets of RCA/AV ports.
I got 7 CRTs of all different sizes for free in like 3 months. If you live in a city they’re super easy to get
nostalgic. I remember having one and playing super Mario bros for the first time. we weren't allowed to use it on the color TV and so me and my bros only played it on black and white
I too picked up a Famicom about a year ago along with a disk system (for the complete package) and as I held it in my hands I couldn't help thinking about what little Japanese kids once sat in his parents livingroom playing Mario, Zelda, or Dragon Quest on it.
The Mic is used in the Famicom version of The Legend of Zelda, where in the manual it says that certain enemies are sensitive to sound. :)
Regarding your complaint about the cord location on the controller: remember that back when this was popular, there were no game controllers with shoulder buttons. The L and R buttons first appeared with later generations of game consoles and handhelds. Most people would tuck all their fingers together about halfway up the back and press buttons from under the bottom or around the side of the lower half. Holding the bottom allowed for easy access to the Start and Select buttons by sliding a hand inward.
Spawn that isn’t a official famicom RFadapter. Those were white and had those screw holes in it. I’m sure that put the nes one in there for US compatibility
Agreed. Also, his outlet plug isn't original. US power plug wouldn't be included by default.
Robert Finley I have a original set that’s why I know lol.
Japan and the US have the same plug. Japan was making pretty much all the electronics for the US for a few decades. But it is a different plug. The original was black with a small silver rectangle with red writing in Japanese.
It's important to remember when the Famicom was released. In 1983 RF was really the only way to hook up a video game system (or VCR for that matter) on the majority of televisions at the time. A few systems at that time period had their controllers hardwired. Probably the most prominent of them was Mattel's Intellivision. Although they did release a revision that had detachable controllers in the latter half of 1983.
Protip: if you ever intend to hook it up to an old CRT, you'll need to set it to channel 98/99 due to that being the frequency equivalent to Japanese channel 1/2.
That’s IF your crt can go to those channels at all
95/96
95/96*
I had several Famicoms during the years. Your Revision is a newer one, you can see it based on the metal shielding at the cartridge slot. I guess the model must be manifactured around 1988,1989. Older ones had just the blue plastic pin connector.
We got that exact model in South America.
You can plug it in a VHS player with TV sintonizer and the put channel 2 or 3 to play.
Mine came with some games in "memory", so if you turn it on without any cartbridge you can play those games.
Some years later I found that the console has a second cart slot and there was a board with the games "in memory", you could replace this board with any other game that is accessed when you turn the console on without a cart in the main slot 😎
I played a Famicom when I was in Japan. One of the AirBnbs I stayed in had several game systems and games.
I already found the converter you would need, though I’m not sure how to send you the link.
DM him the link to him via Twitter
Is his Twitter open to DMs?
Just copy and paste it
Copy and paste it here?
@@ultimatums1 pretty sure that's only if the channel sets it to mark it as spam. I've posted multiple links on videos that's never been marked as spam.
I actually saw you at toomanygames spawnwave you were by the smash tournament next to the Mario kart speedrun. I should have said what's up but I missed the opportunity
9:42 The 7805 in the RF can was where i learned to solder. Especially on the later models and the copies with smaller heatsinks. on the last model i had, i had moved the 7805 to its own external heatsink covering the vents behind the cartridgeport.
Me: “John, it’s only $200 for a famicon. You should get it. It’s a tax write off”
Spawn: “ok.... I’m going to open it up.”
Me “......or that.”
Giving John a video game system is like giving a child a giant birthday cake: he's gonna get into it and it may just get messy.
Famicoms arent worth that much, it was likely a reseal which is pretty common, mine was a reseal as well(Its still in the shrink because I bought 3 $10 junk systems) I got my complete in the box system for $60
There are people who don't immediately take apart their consoles to see how they work???
Opening it up is kind of what makes it a tax write off..
Famicom*
In Japan saving space is a high priority so their living rooms are generally much smaller than western style. That's why the controller wire is short and why they come out on the side so that you have a low vertical profile and can store it away on a shelf.
Still think the controllers coming out on the side makes no sense. “A low vertical profile”....... what?!?
@@rap6439 There's a 15 pins expansion port on the front that you can plug in 3rd party controllers with longer wires...I use a Hudson one on mine
I assume you're intended to run the console to the TV with a long wire and the Famicom sits next to the gamer, similar to how the Atari 2600 and other early systems would. (Atari you have to flip all sorts of switches on the console to make the games work) - Nintendo making the controllers long in the US was probably part of the "entertainment center system" look - so you would slot it in with your VCR, and not use it "like a games console".
Great video! Thank you. I am in Japan right now and these sell at resale shops for $12 each and games are about $2 each. After seeing your video I will have to grab one! Thank you
Always loved the look of the Famicom. Almost prefer this over the American version.
Definitely superior to our top loader.
Fr
This is interesting: the european design!
European NES = the US design
European SNES = the JP design (not the US design)
European machines are PAL. Not sure how they did in France. France got SECAM instead of PAL.
Japanese Zelda 1 on FDS (Famicom Disc System): those LOADING TIMES when Link walks into dungeons! Crazy!
Glad that Zelda 1 was released on cartridge in US/Europe! "No" loading times! Exactly like PlayStation 5 :-)
Sometimes I think about the different audio/music in Zelda 1 for NES and FDS. Which version is best? I think I prefer the NES version.
Have also seen comparisons for Zelda 2 on NES and FDS. Zelda 2 is really really better on NES!
I wish the japanese market could get the NES versions of Zelda 1 and 2!
Riley European Nintendo customers are so lucky! They got the best edition (from US vs JP).
But it's 50 fps and not 60 fps in Europe. PAL you know. Not NTSC. So the music and games are often 10-20 percent slower in Europe, if the games are developed for NTSC and quickly ported to PAL. I've read the "some games" (no idea which ones) that had been ported to PAL has also been adjusted for the 50-60 Hz "thing/problem".
But notice the gamepads for Famicom! Gamepad 1/A got select and start. Gamepad 2/B doesn't have that.
European/JP SNES looks sooooooo good!!!
Also love Nintendo 64! Finally same console design in all regions!
I would say that Nintendo 64 is the best looking Nintendo console of all time! But the N64 Gamepad is horrible.
A dream: the N64 chassi and Switch's internals and possibility for crazy much storage! No big need for 4K gaming graphics. Better to focus on good framerate for 1080p!
@@cjeelde That's probably because they added a lot of QoL features during the FDS to NES conversion. Same thing with the transition from Doki Doki Panic to Super Mario Bros 2. Lol
Man, this brings back so many memories. I still have my original Famicom from back then and it still works. :D I have over 200 games for it. I have some 5 in 1, 10 in 1, 100 in 1 and my biggest 1000 in 1 game cartridges. The dance floor pads, the boxing game suite. the zapper gun and some many other peripherals made for it back then. My Famicom thought I painted it black so it would be unique. Those were the days. :D
Whenever you see something janky about the Famicom, like the side cord on controllers or the really loud power button, you have to remember that when they made this system, nobody knew it was going to be successful. It was essentially the equivalent of your TV plug-and-play games, but it had a catridge port. The cartridge port allowed extra chips to be contained in the cartidge itself, and things just kind of spiraled upward from there.
Look, growing up in 90's South Africa, we had a Famicom, but the cables on the controllers were longer and they also had "turbo" buttons on them.
Whenever you buy used consoles (and most other items) from shops in Japan, they wrap it in cellophane.
Ah the family computer, my 1st console. Whole family played this. Me and my brother after school. Mom and dad at night with tetris and battle city and my grandma during the day with circus charlie. So much good memories and blistered thumbs.
I also got one, that same model. In 1988. My first game was Mighty Bomb Jack. Good times
To preserve my old childhood NES, I use a pin adapter on my Twin Famicom to play my NES carts. The Twin Famicom still has wired controllers, so if the controllers work, the cart port part of the system usually does as well. It’s the disk drive that falls apart.
Ch 95-96 for RF, but these guys are pretty easy to mod if you want composite out. You don't need a new power supply, just don't leave it plugged into the wall.
The SNES changed the way we hold controllers with our index fingers on the shoulder buttons. On the NES, your index fingers stayed underneath the controller to brace it as your thumbs pressed the buttons.
Yours is a later model, you can tell from the stylized "FF" logo on the front. Modifying the system for composite video is pretty simple, my dad helped me with it and we got it done in probably 2 hours. Really helps for TV compatibility, since Japan's channel 1 is our channel 95, which isn't commonly accessible.
Im from Colombia and i had one of these, love that little bastard. Quite amazing u got the original adapter, it used to burn out a lot, i remember having like five of those, non branded after the first one cought up fire.
Mine also had the controllers at the front, and you could detach them.
It's 2:30 in the morning and I just found this guy and I can't stop watching his videos
Nice video, quick correction: the 72 pin connector on the NES isn’t the reason they blink. The lock out chip goes bad on 90% of NES. Open it up, cut a single pin on the chip, and your NES will load games every time and won’t blink anymore. Disabling the chip causes the NES to load games as easily as a SNES, N64, etc.
SHUT UP I’VE MADE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SELLING NEW 72 PIN CONNECTORS TO PEOPLE!
NOBODY LISTEN TO THIS GUY!
As Frank from Channel 33 RPM would say concerning vinyl records, "records are made to be played." Watching your videos showing what makes the systems fascinates me greatly (yes, I have seen quite a few of them.)
Wow that Famicom is truly a fossil of gaming history. Good shit!
"you know you're turning this thing on when you hit it like that" - awwe yeahhh
hmh. you could just do holes for controller wires on the front of the device and make them a bit longer.
The mic works in LoZ for the rabbit bad guys. Spose to make a noise and it gets them gone. Impossible to do for NES since it had no mic.
I have a Famicom top-loader with an Everdrive, I modified it to use a NES Zapper and I love it, I can also load Disk System games with the Everdrive and the extra audio channel is nice with games that support it. Fun fact it was sold and supported in Japan till 2003!
By top-loader I mean the Famicom Model 2 (HVC101)
In 1991, I played the similar shape called Micro Genius, it is actually a fake Nintendo Famicom, but it actually works. We can play Super Mario Bros., Islander, Battle City, Contra, Bomberman, and more.
They make RF converters and you can pick one up at Walmart
I hope this Famicom box joins the rest on your wall!
I had a famicom growing up never knowing it was a Japanese version of the NES, my brother had the NES and I was pissed thinking it was some bootleg console lolol
Man that box art brought me a wave of nostalgia when it was given to me on my birthday.
I wish the bright red and beige and brass was Nintendo's official color scheme for every hardware thing they do.
On my last trip to Japan I got a used Famicom without guarantee or extras like the box, tv cable or power adapter for 1100¥ (unter 10$). Got it home, bought some adapters etc. and tested it with games I also bought in Japan (100-10000¥, depends on the game). It's working.
I bought a boxed untested one on ebay from japan for $39.99 and it worked perfectly. It was very very yellowed. I then bought a whiter one for $8 that was listed as Not working. I was going to do a shell swap with the other but when I got the non working one I tried it and after I wiggled the AC port in the back it came on and worked just fine. So under $50 for two working Famicoms one boxed!. I did a video on the boxed one when I got it, bad lighting cause it was one of my first videos.
I literally have one from my father, who played it as a kid. It was still functional, so that was cool. Sadly, he lost most of the games when he moved into Shenzhen, and all that remained were the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda. Kind of sad he lost Contra.
I always want to be a collector like you. I love those kind of games and systems back than..
My cousin had the famicom. It played bootleg Japanese games too. I remember one was tiny toons with Mario instead of buster bunny
It's a lovely system, so cute and I love carts - bright colours and better art on them than western carts. I've modded mine for AV which gives a great picture and I made the player 1 controller cord longer
That was my NES. Fond memories playing "Bad dudes" and Zelda.
The famicom unboxing/teardown video I never knew I needed
To hook it up just get a cheap VCR with a coax antenna input on the back and composite output. Then go to channel 98 on the VCR or whatever it is the Famicom displays on. That is what I do for all my systems stuck on RF so it should work.
Get an RF to coaxial cable plug
The controllers look alot like the Game&Watch
I thought it was mini version, not the actual original. Nice.
You may know this already, but you can use the front expansion port for 3rd party controllers with longer cables. Or an adapter to use NES controllers! The cables are pretty short on my twin famicom turbo as well, but it's being used on a 21" CRT so it's not too bad.
I know why the made controller wires so short it's because back in the past they had CRT tvs which are the cube shaped tvs and they were a bit small that people put them on a desk
Here in Argentina, we get the original from japan or a clone from that same model, we got that famicon look and the toploader system, was my childhood console, I love it and I also love your video!
That will still work in your TV’s coaxial cable input and tune into channel 3. It’s how I play my Sega Genesis.
Oh such sweet memories of my old SMB3 edition NES, the many many many long hours and getting told off cos not wanting to turn it off after cycling SMB1 god knows how many times and everything is like super elite mobs. What is a cracking game from that time is Solstice, abs huge maze puzzler with a cracking bgm too and even now I can hear the plaintive wailing of the main char when he expires.
I've got one (AV modded) and love it. There's tons of great games for it and it's way cheaper than NES.
Spawn Wave When Playing Famicom: I Can't wait to scream into the microphone to kill the poll's voice.
It doesn’t sound like he’s even aware of that yet.
Yeah but, it was as a joke also, I wanted to see who got the reference. So Congrats Tim Walden! xD
I got my Famicom and Disk System a few months back. Here’s a tip: download Google Translate and you can translate the Japanese in real-time. 👍
Got one recently myself with a famicom disk system at CORGS (Columbus, OH). First two Tv's and two VCR's did not work. You need channel 95/96 not 1/2. Third TV tuned to 95. You know the box was not sealed now because the rf adapter is not original as someone else mentioned. You can get cheap multicarts for it as well.
To my knowledge, every tv has rf, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Oh god, I remember those! My friend had chinese version of famicom and I got Sega master system II (our first consoles).
Then we visit vendor and it was like suprise (becuse bootleg games) what we get. Good times.
Just got my own Famicom AV modded... can't wait to hook it up tonight :)
this is what i used to have back in the 90s in the philippines
I know you are trying to probably put it on a more hi definition tv when you hook it up, but for mine i play it on an old trinitron. Issue is, is Japan's channel 2 or 3 translates honour channels like 96 and 97, and thebold trinitron doesn't go that high. That being said I bypassed THAT issue by hooking it up to a VCR (from the goodwill) and changing the channel on that instead. Good luck hooking it all up. Also side note because it requires so little power when you get a disk system rather than a second power brick you can just get a splitter.
The top loading nes was missing the av ports .. but it took the same cables as the snes .. so you could still get that output
RF still works on any TV. Just plug it into your antenna port. The issue might be that it's pal or some different method of encoding.
You can get an adapter cable for the front AUX port so you can plug in NES gamepads.
There are 2 types of famicom the other famicom does have a detachable controllers and was built in with AV cables. That is the famicom we have during the 90's
Wow, I'm very impressed in Nintendo! So sleek and simple, straight forward design! I mean, I've seen the FamiCom before, but never have I seen the inside on one.
I wonder how simple it would be to mod the FamiCom to having plug in controllers on the front. I see that simply drilling 2 holes in the front, and moving the rubber pieces on the cords forward; would totally give up nearly a whole foot of cord length. But plug ins would still be better, plus we got the controller extension cords here in America too.
My 1st console, I liked the idea that it's not made for everyone cause its games are f hard to beat.
I just recently bought my own Nintendo famicom that has the floppy Drive add-on built in. Should be getting it soon, looking into playing those floppy only games.
So did you get it?
I JUST NOW learned what "Famicom" means...Family Computer. 🤯
The 1st console in my gaming life!!!!
2:32 Your TV doesn't have an RF connection? Mine is only a few years old and has one.
Really neat tech wave Jon(SW). You can't beat the OG Japanese Famicom, it changed Gaming forever and that is why we are all heavily into Gaming now :-D. The NES is my 3rd Fave Consoles of all time, loved playing it growing up. I think I prefer the Front Loader guys, remember the magic blowing into the bottom of the Cart too make it work lol priceless.
This is what we used to play with in Kuwait 🇰🇼 in the 80’s and 90’s the famicom
This was also sold in Mexico. Not sure if officially lol but people in Mexico had this one.
The only thing that comes to mind as to why the controllers are the way they are is that because the average Japanese home was/is much smaller than a western home, space is a commodity and Nintendo knew this. They made the controllers built into the system so that way people and families didn’t have to worry about a place to store the controllers, it’s already built in and stored with the system, no worrying about losing controllers.
I could be wrong, but it’d make sense, at least to me.
I’m curious to know how would anyone replace the controllers if anything to happened to them. Future video, perhaps?
The controller cables are short because Japanese houses are notoriously small and there wasn't so much space to begin with. Also, it's not like in the 80s there were 80 inches TVs in their living rooms :D
Im pretty sure its made like that so the console is next to you and the back cords are super long. Its like a desk setup.
Now you have to get the AV Famicom, it's what Nintendo of America took and replaced the AV with RF jack o3o which they must had realize was a mistake as later versions do use AV out. And even rarer is the version that has both AV and a RF jack.
you can connect it to coax connection even modern tv's still have the coax connector
I bought a Famicom in 2008 and had great fun with it, hope you'll like it.
Funny you post this video today because i got a family computer mini today 👍
Just seeing you opening this system is so beautiful to see.