Family BASIC

[Doc]

Continue discussion from there:
http://famicomworld.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=famicom&action=display&thread=1134514887

to here.

[Doc]

I own this, very interesting little item. You can even make games with it! I'm going to one day sit down and figure it out...

[vealchop]

Cool! I have it too, plus I have the cassette recorder. I also just recently got my hands on a MIB (the game cart is still wrapped in plasic and the manual hasn't even been cracked open!) Family Basic V.3 software pak. I heard theres three games programmed into it but I don't think I'll be busting the plastic on it anytime soon!

-chop

[Doc]

OOOO, take pictures pronto! That version is rare, I never see it on eBay!

[featherplucknfilms]

Yeah! V.3 is pretty rare and really expensive even in Japan....

[Doc]

Yeah! V.3 is pretty rare and really expensive even in Japan....

I know, I rarely even see pictures of it! I'm hoping to find one one day though...

[vealchop]

Yeah I got really lucky with that. The guy who sold it didn't put the word "famicom" in his auction so I'm sure tons of people missed it! I just happened to search for it and it came up. Got it for $30. I'm planning on taking a bunch of shots of some of my stuff soon so I'll link em as soon as I get done with that.

Also, awesome to see featherplukin postin' here! What's up man! Your auctions are a breath of fresh air in the famicom community! Keep it up! I just won one of your famicom books that I'm DYING to check out!

[Doc]

Hahahaha, that's just AWESOME! Lucky S.O.B., lol.

[satoshi_matrix]

Unlike most kids of the 80s, I didn't have a Nintendo Entertianment System. What I grew up with was  the Commodore 64. The Commodore's loading process was something I learned and profected at an early age. From my teens, I became much more focused on the NES I never had and in the last five years my intrist has grown to emcompass the Famicom as well. Something that I've heard a lot about is The Family BASIC keyboard. I'm thinking of buying one. Does anyone have any experience using it? Also, is it absolutely nessesary to also have the Famicom Data Recorder as well? I've been looking up ebay to no avail on that. I've been studying Japanese for about two years now and can read most japanese outside of kanji. I want to test my skills with the Famicom BASIC. Just wanted to get some insight regarding that. Thanks. 

[Doc]

I've used it briefly, it's quite confusing if you don't know Japanese or BASIC, and the Date Recorder can be used to save the game or music or such, so yes it's pretty important.

[kite200]

BASIC is pretty simple to learn, so I think if you know basic the japanese shouldn't be too intimidating, the actual programming is in roman characters i assume

[satoshi_matrix]

I emailed featherpluckinfilms, and in part this is what he had to say:

"Apparently, you could use a generic brand one[tape recorder] as well. I think they may have made the same thing to use with computers around that time, so that may be a cheaper alternative."

Can anyone confirm/deny this? I want to get into the Famicom BASIC, but I also want to be able to actually save my creations.

[madman]

I don't know what the Famicom basic's output jack is like, but the computer tape recorders were no different than a regular recorder, just with the proper input.  It should be a 1/8" plug, just make sure the recorder you buy supports inputs other than a built in mic.

[chimyfolkbutter]

I emailed featherpluckinfilms, and in part this is what he had to say:

"Apparently, you could use a generic brand one[tape recorder] as well. I think they may have made the same thing to use with computers around that time, so that may be a cheaper alternative."

Can anyone confirm/deny this? I want to get into the Famicom BASIC, but I also want to be able to actually save my creations.

  I am wondering, if one plays a famicom basic tape in a tape deck, is there any audio coming out of the speakers?  If there is, then it should work if the casstte player has the right audio plugin.

[madman]

CFB, yea, there's sound.  Back in the day when I had my C64 I used a standard tape deck.  Saving stuff to tape is such a pain, as there's no random access obviously.  If you saved something that's at the end of the tape, you still have the play the whole stinking side back until it gets to what it's looking for.