TODAY, TOMORROW, & YESTERDAY

A few weeks ago, I was informed by a friend that a new video game store/arcade would be opening in town.  I became really exciting after learning that the guys opening it were former employees from a used book/music/game store that I regularly frequented and I knew they were really into gaming.  This past Saturday was their grand opening and needless to say, I've already been 3 times....did I mention they were closed on Sunday? They have an array of arcade cabinets/sit downs, 10 pinball machines, and an incredible variety of games for modern and retro gamers alike, including a very nice selection of Famicom games.





For those of you who don't know me, which is probably all of you, but one person on here, I grew up in a fairly tattered, rural, mill community in North Carolina.  I attended college and grad school and moved from my hometown several years ago to a more urban community.  In a larger city, I've had better opportunities to pick up games and really develop my hobby in a much broader way.  Why do I tell you these stories?  The answer is to help you better understand my outlook on gaming and the passion that drives me to collect and play systems I've never experienced until recently.

I've always been a bit standoffish when it comes to discussing foreign gaming mostly due to ignorance.  I've always been under the mindset that other countries had nothing better to offer, and besides, why would I waste my time and money paying for titles off sites like eBay when the language barrier would be so daunting that I couldn't even play them.  So imagine my surprise when after 34.5 years of age, I saw Famicom systems and games for the first time this Saturday. That probably sounds ridiculous to many of you, but it's true.  Slowly, I wandered over to the games out of curiosity; surely it couldn't hurt to check out a few titles and browse the rather cool retro labels of a few of the games.  Needless to say, I looked at a few of the price tags and found myself quickly plowing through a bin of $1 - $3 Famicom games. 

I remembered several months back that I had randomly come across a video on YouTube that discussed playing Famicom games on the NES via converters hidden in early NES games.  I didn't have much use for a converter then, but I decided to check the local stores to see if I could find a few of them to flip on eBay, so that I could accumulate funds to purchase rarer titles that I couldn't find locally.  I checked several of the usual places in the area, and found many copies of the games that could possibly house a converter, but none of them "qualified" (as I will discuss later)....except one.  I paid a buck for the game, cracked it open, and sure enough, there it was.  The collector in me decided to hang on to this one, just until I found another.

(So to continue my present day story via going from past to present more than "Pulp Fiction")

While digging through that box of cheap Famicom carts, I remembered having the converter at home.  I began talking to the shop's proprietor and he brought up some valid points: 1. many Nintendo games were never released in the U.S. and 2. the language barrier really only existed in the RPGs.  My thought process went mathematically as such: $1 converter already at home + $1 - $3 games I've never played (except the $6 CIB copy of King Kong 2 I sprung for due to the shop owner's recommendation) = a whole new untapped world of gaming goodness.  Hook.  Line.  Sinker.

Converters: What to Look and Feel For

Picking up converters can be tricky and you don't want to waste a lot of money grabbing games without them.  Since you can't open the carts in the store, here is a list of the best identifiers to aid in your hunt:

Tip #1: If the store you purchase games from takes them apart and cleans them, 9 times out of 10, you won't find one there.

Tip #2: Converters are found only in early 5-screw games released by Nintendo and are most common in Gyromite and Stack-Up (the former being much cheaper).  They have also been found in copies of Hogan's Alley, Excitebike, Pinball, and Kung Fu (the best advice is to check them all).


Tip #3: Look at the end label on the cart where the title is.  If your cartridge has tabs that snap the cart together on the left and right, it will not contain a converter.  The older carts were simply held together by the 5 screws.

Tip #4: Cartridges with a converter typically weigh a little more.  Although it is a very slight difference, you can tell if you have handled one before.  Make sure that the store will let you examine the carts.  It's always best to act like you are checking the cart for condition.


Tip #5: (The Clincher)  The most notable variation in carts with converters and those without is the difference in the pins.  If you look closely at the end of the pins, you will notice how the rectangular pin tapers into a point (much like a candle wick).  In most games this "wick" is located in the center of the pin, but in games with converters, the "wick" is offset to one side of each pin.

Tip #6: (optional) There is a slight variation in color of the R.O.B. the Robot symbol on the front, left label on the front of the cart.  Carts with converters are more bluish purple, while those without are brighter purple.  This is not always a good indicator of a converter, so be sure to use the other methods to ensure success.

I Found It!!!!! ........ Now What?

1.  Unscrew and take apart your cart with a small flathead screwdriver.


2.  Unscrew the converter and boards from the cart with the same screwdriver.

3.  Pull the top green board with the two black squares on it out of the black converter.  This is a copy of the game and you can toss it if you want.....BLASPHEMY!!!!


4.  Pull out the green board on the bottom with the pins.  Flip it over to expose the other set of pins and insert this board into what was once the top of the black converter.


5.  Slide Famicom game into the other end of the black converter.  In order to do this, you may need to trim some of the black plastic off of the side of the converter with a utility knife or Dremel tool.  It doesn't have to be pretty, you just want your cart to fit.


6.  Once you have the game on push it down into your system.  For a NES (toaster),  the main label of the game should be facing down with the side with the warning label up when placing it in your system.  For a NES2 (top loader) your game should be facing backwards with the warning label facing you.



7. Enjoy a new world of gaming without the cost of a new system!


For the more adventurous and technical....
There are several websites that show you how to modify your old game casing to so that the cartridge goes in your system better and will be easier to retrieve.       

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