Famicom hardware buying guide

[boye]

Here's a small Famicom hardware buying guide.

Famicom:
It's the most basic of basic Famicom consoles. It only plays carts. Released 1983.
+ Hardwired controllers
+ Controller II mic

- Hardwired controllers
- RF Only
- Requires standalone FDS for disk games
- Impossible to tune to on some TVs
- No Controller II start/select buttons

AV Famicom
Has the same functionality of the OG Famicom, but with some improvements. Released 1993.
+ AV Out
+ Removable controllers

- No controller II mic
- Requires FDS for disk games
- Proprietary AV Out port

Front-loader NES:
The original version of the NES, which was the American/European version of the Famicom. Released 1985.
+ AV Out
+ Removable controllers

- No controller II mic
- No expansion audio
- Unreliable cart connector
- 10NES chip

Top-loader NES:
The American/European version of the AV Famicom. Released 1993.
+ No 10NES
+ Better cart connector
+ Removable controllers

- RF Only
- No expansion port

Twin Famicom (AN-500):
A hybrid of a Famicom and a Famicom Disk System, released by Sharp, under license by Nintendo. Released 1986.
+ Built-in FDS
+ AV Out
+ No proprietary AV connector
+ Controller II mic
+ Hardwired controllers

- Hardwired controllers
- FDS section requires maintenance
- No Controller II start/select buttons

Turbo Twin Famicom (AN-505):
A Twin Famicom, with built-in turbo controllers and some aesthetic changes. Released 1987.
+ Built-in FDS
+ AV Out
+ No proprietary AV connector
+ Controller II mic
+ Built-in turbo controllers
+ Hardwired controllers

- Hardwired controllers
- FDS section requires maintenance
- No Controller II start/select buttons

Sharp Famicom Titler:
A version of the Famicom used for video production. Released 1989.
+ S-Video Out
+ Ability to overlay graphics over video
+ Hardwired controllers

- Extremely high price
- RGB PPU is incompatible with some games
- PPU displays incorrect colors
- Hardwired controllers
- Requires FDS for disk games
- No Controller II start/select buttons

Sharp C1:
A Sharp TV with a built in Famicom.
+ Famicom internally connected using RGB
+ Removable controllers

- FDS RAM adapter does not fit in cart port
- RGB PPU is incompatible with some games
- PPU displays incorrect colors

Sharp Nintendo Television:
The American version of the Sharp C1. Released 1989.
+NES internally connected using RGB
+Removable controllers

- No controller II mic
- No expansion audio
- Unreliable cart connector
- 10NES chip
- RGB PPU is incompatible with some games
- PPU displays incorrect colors

[FAMICOM_87]

what about ,Famicom Titler, and Sharp Nintendo Television NES and Famicom versions 

[boye]

Thanks!  They have been added.

[Pikkon]

Nice info but the Sharp Nintendo Television is wired for composite only.

[Great Hierophant]

The RGB chips in the C-1 and the Titler are a negative due to incompatibility with certain games.

[L___E___T]

 



Even on all games, the colours from a Titler / PC10 / Sharp C1 are generally considered to be incorrect.  The VileTim RGB solution is a better quality picture.

[boye]

The RGB chips in the C-1 and the Titler are a negative due to incompatibility with certain games.

Even on all games, the colours from a Titler / PC10 / Sharp C1 are generally considered to be incorrect.  The VileTim RGB solution is a better quality picture.

Added. Thanks for pointing that out!

[P]

I'd also add the lack of Con II START/SELECT buttons on any hard-wired system as a negative (or the addition of them on the others as a positive) to clarify the downsides of hard-wired. It's a bit annoying in games like NES versions of Battletoads that requires it for 2 players, and in NWC which requires the second controller to start the game at all.

There are also games that requires the 10NES chip (at least NWC do) but there are workaround mods for that, and it may be out of scope of a general hardware guide like this.

The RGB PPU (2C03) is also missing two greys, which is another potential compatibility problem (although I don't know if any games uses these), so I guess leaving it as "incorrect colors" is fine.
Edit: The Three Stooges does use these colors on the title screen among other places. The title screen would look strange on an RGB PPU (Sharp My Computer Televi C1, Famicom Titler etc) because of this.

[boye]

I'd also add the lack of Con II START/SELECT buttons on any hard-wired system as a negative (or the addition of them on the others as a positive) to clarify the downsides of hard-wired. It's a bit annoying in games like NES versions of Battletoads that requires it for 2 players, and in NWC which requires the second controller to start the game at all.

I've added that, despite the isolated instances where it would be a negative.

[Yelir]

Could probably point out a positive (+) on the Twin 505 had longer controller cords over the 500. 

[KirbyGod]

Does anyone know if everdrives work with sharp famicom tv's?

Thanks

[P]

They should work since it's not a clone, but I don't have one to test with.

[KirbyGod]

I'd figure that as well. I wish there was a master compatibility list for all NES variants.

[P]

NES is quite consistent in compatibility AFAIK. The oldest NTSC NES had a CPU revision E and PPU revision E-0 which are both common on semi-early Famicoms but rare on the NES. The PPU is missing a few readable registers which makes Micro Machines (and other Codemaster games) menus shake but are otherwise very stable and works with pretty much any game.
The majority of all NES models has newer chips without these problems, as these chips were only found on early test market NES models with very low serial numbers.

Early Famicoms are more in unknown territory since the earliest Famicoms are very rare.
Most licensed games writes the palette in a weird way that have long been thought to be cargo cult programming that developers just copied without understanding why, but we know now that it was necessary for compatibility with early PPUs. An early version of Xevious fails to do this and has some characters turning completely white during the game on early Famicoms. All NES models are probably safe from this bug, or if not only those very rare early units would suffer from it.

The earliest CPUs are also missing periodic noise feature which makes the static noise sound become a metallic/electric buzz sound when used (Rockman and Rockman 2 notably uses it in the drums Fireman and Quickman level BGMs).
No NES has these CPUs though, only very early Famicoms and some Nintendo arcade systems that uses the Famicom CPU chip (Punch-Out, Super Punch-Out, Donkey Kong 3 and VS System machines).