General Famicom Questions

[Kreese]

Oh no you think, not a totally Famicom-newbie! 

Well, let's start off by introducing myself. I live in Sweden, and I've been collecting NES-games for 3-4 years. I started off by having a goal to collect all 210 games that was released in Sweden. 6 months ago I was less then 20 carts away from my goal. Now I've been selling off the most of my collection. I got tired of collecting games that I didn't really want to play. ow I just buy games that I will play!

Well, now to the questions. I've just bought my first game for Famicom on eBay! Castlevania 3... Now I am planning to get a Famicom! Wich model should I go for? Here in Sweden we have the PAL system (PAL-B) and there seems to be problem using Famicoms/NES from other regions with RF cable. So I guess the AV Famicom should fit me best?

I've read about, and seen some Famicoms that have AV mods. Does that make the original Famicom work just as fine as the AV Famicom on a PAL system?

Is there any negative sides if I choose an AV Famicom, except that I don't get the microphone in controller 2 and a newer design...?

[133MHz]

You need a Multisystem TV to play Fami, and those usually only support NTSC through the baseband inputs (aka RCA jacks), so it's wise to get an AV Famicom or an AV modded Famicom.

I live in a NTSC-M country, here multisystem TVs are pretty expensive and rare, but as far as I know multisystem TVs are pretty common (and cheaper) in PAL/SECAM countries, is that true?

[satoshi_matrix]

Remember, you don't nessesarily need a Famicom to play Famicom games as the NES and Famicom share the same hardware, just differently shaped so your best bet might be to simply find a NES-to-Famicom 72-60 pin converter. Since your in Europe you hsould be able to find them very cheaply as most are either made and sold in Britian France and Germany. A good converter costs more than a cheap one, but you pay for what you get.

As for Famicom recommendations, I suggest the AV model. It not only supports everything the original has (except for RF and the mic in controller 2 which was hardly ever used) but you can use NES controllers you already have on it and its small, light and just awesome.

Regardless of what Famicom you're looking into, keep in mind the voltage difference. Japanese electronics use 100v which even 120 v North American AC adaptors can damage. Let alone European 240. Buy either a step down converter rated for 100v or a universal adaptor rated up to 240 input.

[133MHz]

Yup, forgot that thing about the voltage . Chile is a 220V country and I assume Sweden is too. I have several step-down transformers lying around the house so I can use 110V appliances

[Profeta Yoshitake]

Is there any negative sides if I choose an AV Famicom, except that I don't get the microphone in controller 2 and a newer design...?

I think that the negative side of it is that you shall
never look the original Famicom the same way...
Because it is very better!

[Nintega]

Is there any negative sides if I choose an AV Famicom, except that I don't get the microphone in controller 2 and a newer design...?

I think that the negative side of it is that you shall
never look the original Famicom the same way...
Because it is very better!

Meh I still perfer the original Famicom.  I like the redesign of the 1993 one but I don't know if the Famicom Disk System is compatible with it.

[satoshi_matrix]

The FDS is perfectly compatible with the AV Famicom.

[Kreese]

Woohoo, I won this auction today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290145576179&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=019

You might think this is overpriced, I really don't know, but I am still happy!

Now to the question... What kind of power adapter should I be getting for this console? Here in Sweden we have 220 volts.

[manuel]

I don't think it's overpriced. It had the box and 15 games with it.

[Kreese]

A while ago I got myself a backup-unit for Game Boy, for using LSDJ, the music program. I got it from this webshop: http://www.robwebb.clara.co.uk/shop/copiers/copiers.htm ...

For that backup device I bought a compatible AC-DC Adapter, that works here in Sweden. When I looked thoriugh the pages once again, I found that on this page: http://home.clara.net/robwebb/shop/nes/nes.htm

Power Supply Unit (UK) £6

AC 230V to DC 9V power supply/adapter for use in the UK
Output 9V DC, 1.2A, center negative

For use with:

Sega Master System 2
Sega Game Gear
NEC PC Engine
Atari Jaguar
Atari Jaguar CD Unit
Nintendo Famicom
Nintendo Super Famicom
Gameboy Transferer
Gameboy Xchanger
N64 CD64
SNES/SFC Game Doctors
all Pro Fighters
all Wild Cards/Magicom etc.
Super UFOs

Since the adapter that I have for my Gameboy Transferer works fine, perhaps it even works with the AV Famicom... Are the Famicom adapters and the AV Famicom adapters the same?

[2A03]

Are the Famicom adapters and the AV Famicom adapters the same?

Yes.

[satoshi_matrix]

Kreese, just a suggestion - you might want to look into getting some other NES or maybe even a North American NES 2 controller to go with your AV. Although the AV controllers are nice they are still the same length as the original Famicom - 3'. the US version (same controller exactly otherwise) is around 9'. Keep in mind the AV Famicom has the same input ports as the NES so if you prefer the old boxy controller you can use that too.

[Kreese]

Thanks for the advice! Right now I have an NES 2 here at home, borrowed it from a friend. But we can't get the sound to work through the RF... The picture is nice, but the sound is not working, just noise and stuff. If I adjust the channel-searching thing, I get some sound (but still really bad, but I can hear some music) but then the picture goes bad... I'm planning to let my father do a modification to this NES 2: http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/nes2avmod.htm - I hope that it will fix the problems.

Anyway, I could use this dogbone for the AV Famicom then. Great to being able to use sandard NES-controllers too!

At our Swedish NES-fan-site ( www.nesdb.se ), we are currently discussing the NES-controllers compabilty. I guess any controller would work on AV Famicom, an US NES. But on some european NES's there are some problems using either NES-004 or NES-004E controllers... That's so strange, how come my Scandinavian NES take all the controllers while a NES from Holland or something can't take NES-004 controllers? Pretty wierd!

[Kreese]

I wonder what it says on the Famicom Power adapter & AV Famicom adapter. Here at home I have a Swedish NES-adapter and an Canadian one.

Swedish:
AC ADAPTER NES-PAL-002
INPUT: AC 220-230V/50Hz
OUTPUT: AC 9.8V/1.3A

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Made in Japan

Canadaian:
Nintendo
AC ADAPTER
MODEL NO. : NES-002
INPUT AC120V 60Hz 17W
OUTPUT AC9V 1.3A
POWER SUPPLY FOR USE WITH VIDEO GAME NES-001
ONLY

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Made in Japan   LR83366

[JC]

http://www.famicomworld.com/Workshop/Famicom_AC_Adaptor.htm