Introduction and a bunch of questions

[Kiddo]

Hi there!

My name is Kiddo and I'm from Iceland. Just happened up on this forum after looking for answers to alot of Famicom related questions so I thought why look when you obviously have a group of experts right here on this forum you can ask. 
Anyway, as a kid I was the only kid in town that had a Famicom console while all my friends had the NES. So exhanging games with friends was out of the question. Sure I could play their games with the adaptor but they couldnt play any of my games.

Yesterday I just happened upon a Famicom console through a popular online shopping website here in Iceland and what's more it was MINT condition straight from the box. Or so I thought, after a bit of browsing it turns out that it's a Famiclone, a concept I just learned of today. But nonetheless it still plays all my Famicom games.

Anyway I'm thinking about trying to get my hands on a few more games to play so I have a few questions regarding the Famicom.

Do the Famicom games have a Region setting as the NES had or can I play any and all Famicom cartridges I find? And on a sidenote, can I also play every NES cartridge?

The girl that sold me the console told me that the guy who she is selling the consoles for has a bunch of them and they are all in mint condition. There are two Famiclone variations that they are selling. The one I bough was the polish Pegasus IQ-502 (Kinda looks nothing like original Famicom) while the other one is the Televison Computer system HT-767 (Looks similiar to the Famicom). I was wondering if there is a market for selling these online or if they are shunned by the Famicom community for being clones.   
The reason I ask is because they are selling them for a very low price and it crossed my mind that if I bought them all I might turn a small profit by selling them again.

On the Pegasus IQ-502. Is there anything you can tell me about it? Is it reliable, does it play all games etc? Also is it possible to get a light-gun for it?

And a bonus question. After learning about the Famiclones I got wondering if my old Famicom might be a clone as well. It looks just like the Red/White Famicoms but it is Grey/White. Also it doesn't have a Microphone on the second controller but it has turbo settings. Is my old Famicom a clone?

Thanks a bunch in advance!

[cubelmariomadness]

Clones technically should play all Famicom and NES games, with the exception of some games like Castlevania 3. ( Only if they're NOAC, which means they only have one chip to emulate everything.)
Lots of people have clones. They're not shunned.  
Also, the Famicom doesn't have region lockout besides the different cartridge shape.
Your old famicom: If it has turbo buttons and different coloring, it's a clone.

Welcome to the fourms.  

[nintendodork]

Hey Kiddo!  Welcome!

There is a market for Famiclones.  Some people like to collect those because of all the different variations of them you can find.   For example, I believe another member on here has a clone that looks almost exactly like a Famicom, but instead of red and white, it's green and white!  The Pegasus clone you have is quite popular, and some people like it because it looks somewhat like a Super Famicom, along with it's controller, which does resemble a Super Famicom controller quite a bit.  Even with this in mind, most clones aren't worth much at all, no matter what eBay says.

I've personally never seen or used that particular clone, but I'll go ahead and assume it uses 9-pin controller ports, which is the standard for most clones, and as such, most light guns made for any clone system will work with your Pegasus.  If you've ever seen the controller ports on a Sega MegaDrive, it's the same as those.

As CMM, said, and the same goes for all official models of the Famicom as well, clones do not have any kind of lockout.  If you have a converter to play NES games, you can play virtually every NES/Famicom game ever made.  However, and this varies from clone to clone, there are some games that won't work because most newer, if not all, clones are made using an NOAC, which stands for NES On A Chip.  In layman's terms, this means they took everything inside the original NES, and put it on a chip like this:
 

Because of it's small size, and it's lack of actual hardware, it doesn't have the proper chips to correctly play some games, such as Akumajo Denetsu, also known as Castlevania 3.

Pretty amazing stuff!  

[satoshi_matrix]

Welcome to Famicom World! I'll try to address your questions as best I can.

Q: Do the Famicom games have a region setting as the NES had or can I play any and all Famicom cartridges I find? And on a sidenote, can I also play every NES cartridge?

A: All Famciom games are NTSC and typically won't work with PAL 50hz televisions. If you can display one, the rest will all work. Famiclones through pin adapters should be able to play nearly every North American NES game save for a select few games that have expansion hardware such as the MMC5 (Casltevania 3).

Q: I was wondering if there is a market for selling these [famiclones] online or if they are shunned by the Famicom community for being clones.

A: There is indeed a market, a flooded one in fact. Just check ebay for NES and most of what you'll find are clones. You will probably not be able to buy low and sell high. Expensive Famiclones don't sell very well.


Q: On the Pegasus IQ-502. Is there anything you can tell me about it? Is it reliable, does it play all games etc? Also is it possible to get a light-gun for it?

A: I can't speak for this specific Famiclone, but in general, Famiclones tend to be the same under the hood, with a simple NOAC super small, super light motherboard. Most use their own controller designs (most are DB-9 like the Megadrive or Atari) so you'd need to find a specifically made Pegasus IQ-502 lightgun if you want to use one. A Famicom one or an NES one will not work. For more info on your particular clone, check out the wikipedia entry on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_%28video_game_system%29

Q: I got wondering if my old Famicom might be a clone as well. It looks just like the Red/White Famicoms but it is Grey/White. Also it doesn't have a Microphone on the second controller but it has turbo settings. Is my old Famicom a clone?

A: Definitely a Famiclone.

[Kiddo]

Thanks for all the quick answers guys, much appreciated.

After reading a little more about Famicom I've come to the conclusion that all my games must be pirated. I have 23 cartridges and frankly none of them has the Nintendo logo. I guess the Famicom supplier for Iceland must have been a shady businessman 
I never thought about this until now but it was kinda weirds that my Batman cart had a picture of Dracula, and Ducktales just a pic of a plain old duck.

I'll try and take a pic of the carts and post it here for your judgement on if any of my carts are authentic nintendo.

[botulismo]

Also, I just wanted to say, nobody explained the NOAC acronym, so in case you don't know what it means, it stands for "Nintendo On A Chip."

Also, if your cartridges are Japanese Famicom, they won't necessarily have the Nintendo logo on them. In the US the NES games would all have the "Nintendo Seal of Quality" - Not so in Japan. Only if they are Nintendo first party games will they have Nintendo on them.

Even if they are all pirate cartridges, you might find they are worth more. Many Famicom games are really common and only worth 2-3 US dollars apiece. Some people collect pirate cartridges, so they might be worth a few dollars more to the right person. I like that it's perfectly accepted to talk about/discuss/buy and sell pirate and unlicensed merchandise on here! That's one reason I like this forum.

[nintendodork]

Also, I just wanted to say, nobody explained the NOAC acronym

I did.  That's why I put that big picture at the bottom... >_>

[botulismo]

Also, I just wanted to say, nobody explained the NOAC acronym

I did.  That's why I put that big picture at the bottom... >_>

OH NOES! Sorry, didn't mean to steal your thunder. Haha. I didn't see it. I must have been distracted looking at your picture. :3

[Kiddo]

Ah I see. So maybe some of these are official, although I doubt it 
If you have any info for me on these games I'd appreciate it. I don't even know what some of these are called since some are all in japanese.


Terminator
Sky Destroyer
Castlevania
Dick Tracy


Crossfire
Ducktales (Funny sticker)
Robocop
Super Mario Bros (Mario is missing on the label for some reason)


Jackie Chan
Adventure Island (Cart says Whirlwind Manu)
Batman (Funny sticker)
Galaxian


Tennis
21 in 1 (Galaxian, Circus, Mappy, Lacrosse, Bomberman, Donkey kong and more)
Taito Basketball
Duckhunt (Requires lightgun)


Dragonball
(This cart has only worked once and when that happened I played it for hours not wanting to shut it down. Some kind of ninja game if I remember correctly)
Chip & Dales
Crossfire II


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (Love this sticker, the turtles are all wearing sunglasses and holding funny weapons like, bow & arrows, shield & stoneage axe and boomerang)

Wild Gunman (Requires lightgun)


Any chance some of these are official?
Post Merge: November 13, 2010, 06:15:27 am
Thought I'd throw these in as well since I already uploaded the pics anyway:


My old Famicom


My new Famicom


My NES carts and 2x adaptors


My SEGA games

Just for fun ... 

[botulismo]

Wow, Kiddo, I actually quite like your Famiclones. It almost makes me want to get one, except I don't have a PAL TV, and I don't know where I'd put it if I did.

Some of them really look like pirates, others I'm not so sure of. I'm sure you'll have to get a more experienced person who happens to own the originals of these to identify for sure. Tell us, is there a warning in Japanese on the back of them? On all of my original cartridges, there is a warning on the back side of the cart. Also, the codes in the codes on the corners like "LB35" and "LH103", I've never seen them on any of my cartridges. Nintendo codes look different, like "HFC-DO." No matter what, they're cool! I wouldn't regret buying them one bit.

Also, two of your Nintendo Entertainment System games look off-color and like pirate cartridges: the one with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and the one with a basketball looking guy.

Nice pictures!

[NintendoKing]

Kiddo, they are all pirated games but they are good pirates if you like to play them. Many of my games are pirates with maybe 1/3 of them being official cartridges.

Also cool, "Micro Genius" famiclone; those tend to be very nice.

[Kiddo]

Nope no warning in japanese, only in english:

Sorry for my lack of photography skills,  but this should give you an idea of what the warning labels look like, although you can't really read anything from these pics:


This is on most of my games.
It says:
"The unique manufacturer adopting high class IC and processed by not oxidized gold plate on the apparatus, to protect protect your IPU.
REMARKS:
Since this is a sophisticated apparatus, should availd to operate or to store under extreme temperature, also avoid violent bumps is necessary; moreover, never disassemble it. The reasons causing defauts are: Touching the end field by hands, or cleaing by wet materials."
Note that typos and words appearing twice in row are not my mistakes but what actually says on the sticker.


This is on two of my games. Tennis and Duckhunt.
It says:
"REMARKS.
Since this is a sophisticated apparatus, should avoid to operate or to store under extreme temperature, also avoid violent bumps is necessary; moreover, never disassemble it.
The reasons causing defaults are: Touching the end field by hands, or cleaning by wet materials. Japan"


And this is on the back of my 21 in 1 cart. It just lists the games both in japanese and in english. The top says; "1992 21 in 1 (I)"


I also found this lone sticker on the side of my duckhunt game. It says:
"MARIO FAMILY GAMES
BII 4.08 KOMTAR 10000 PENANG
MALAYSIA
TEL: 04 611088, 622567. FAX: 04-820550"

As for the NES carts that you said looked pirated this is what is on front of them both:

Alot of my friends had carts like these with that mouse-pirate guy on front but a smaller sticker on the back that gave some clue to what game it actually was. For some reason these carts went by the name of "NASA" carts here in Iceland and if I remember correctly not all NES consoles were able to play them.

(Damn, just previewed, the pics look awful) 

[cubelmariomadness]

If it has those silly remarks stuff on the back, has tv fun game, or cassette, it's a pirate.
All NES games are this shade of grey

If it has supervision or if they are a different shade, it's also a pirate.

All pirates aren't bad though. Some people hunt down NES pirate cartridges. 

[satoshi_matrix]

damn, the guardian legend pal version looks awesome. anyone got a copy for sale?

[shoggoth80]

Kiddo. Those are some nice looking clones! Both of them. Pity that place you got it from doesn't have NTSC/US versions? Clones are a neat subsect of Famicom collecting... tons of variety, and from many different places from across the globe. The way I believe it is, is that many members here have clones, and original units. I have a few clones, as well as a Sharp Twin Famicom (officially licensed product, and pretty well built). The Twin is a boxed, though not sealed... I tend to pamper it a bit. Clones get more play time.