I’m so sad you stopped doing these videos. You’re a very good story teller and the angle using court to tell that story is very entertaining. I hope you come back to making these.
14:58 This point is often misunderstood. The Famicom was not designed to be left by the tv with players on a couch on the other end of the room. Not even close. If you look up vintage photos of kids playing the Famicom, they pull the whole console close to themselves, either setting it on the floor or on a table, while the player sits on a tatami mat either crosslegged or knees bent down, and then stow the Famicom away when they are finished playing it. Essentially, the Famicom was designed to be about as far away from the user as a the screen of a laptop is from the end user. This is why the controller cords aren't longer. If they were, it would be bothersome as the length would get in the way. So with a Famicom, do as the Japanese do: plug the system in, then put it on the floor, and then sit yourself on the floor next to it for a good ol' time.
Great job! You clearly put a lot of thought, time, effort, and money into this. I like that you didn't bash the quality of RF or composite as others often do.
I'd argue that that AV Famicom is probably the best option if you're looking for compatibility for both Famicom and NES games. Not only do you have NES controller ports on the front but also the 15-pin expansion port is on the side for either external controllers or other accessories. The only real downside of the AV is the somewhat poor audio mixing for expansion audio but mods exist to fix that issue and if you're using an Everdrive N8 Pro you can adjust expansion audio to be tuned to work fine on the AV.
He made it very clear; it's not as cool. Famicom with a disk system attached looks unbelievable, especially in person. You could try putting an AV Famicom behind a Famicom and run the video and controllers from the AV Famicom. Everyone would be stunned by the beauty of the Famicom to see the AV Famicom behind it, which probably would blend into the wall anyway. Great first video 8 Bit Esquire!
13:05 OBJECTION! Konami was _not_ the only developer to impliment expansion audio - just the most famous example. Additional sound channels first came with the release of the Famicom Disk System, the hardware expansion having wavetable synthesis. Later on, expansion audio chips were built into cartridges themselves. There was as you mentioned Konami, with their VRC6 and VRC7 mappers capable of expansion audio in games such as _Madara_ and _Lagrange Point_. Namco had their N163 mapper which produced rich expansion audio in games like _Megami Tensei II: Digital Devil Story_ and _Erika to Satoru no Yume Bouken_. Sunsoft had their 5B mapper in _Gimmick!_. Nintendo themselves developed the most complex mapper the hardware ever saw, the MMC5, which added two pulse wave channels and a higher quality PCM channel than the stock hardware was capable of for use in games such as _Just Breed_ and _Shin 4-Nin Uchi Mahjong_. Finally, there are some obscure examples from Jaleco and Bandai that had PCM channel expansion audio for cleaner voice clips. Expansion audio was pretty rare on the Famicom for sure, but it wasn't just Konami. In fact, even if you ignore the FDS, it was Namco that produced the most games with expansion audio, not Konami.
Nice video and pretty thorough! Would've liked to have heard a bit about the Sharp Twin Famicom too, but you probably left that out for the same reason that the AV Famicom wasn't a main focus, and that's valid. One nitpick, the audio mixing was a bit weird, especially for the first couple minutes of the video. Some of the sound effects and background music was louder than your voice, so I kept adjusting the volume during scene transitions.
Great video, a pleasure to watch! If I may, the video looks a little dark, is that maybe on purpose, in order to look like a old Law & Order episode, like the font? If so, nice touch. 😊
Yoo first video, this is the beginning of the channel ?? Yeah, i'm in 😄. When i was a teen i was on the Sega team, but that famicom always fired up my imagination. Great video btw.
6:10 random NES/Famicom factoid, Mahjong is actually on the highest selling software list for the system (pooling both NES and Famicom sales together) with 2.14 million sales, putting it at the number 26 spot For perspective, it outsold games like the first Dragon Quest, the first three Final Fantasy's, and Kirby's Adventure, to name a few This is all to say, there were a lot of grandpas eating this shit up
Also worth mentioning just about every Famicom I have ever tested has had annoying microphone feedback from the controllers, even after cleaning the volume slider contacts. Not an issue with AV Famicom or emulation options.
@@8bitesquire it's kinda fun when you're playing a sports title or something and can act as a commentator. It's the privilege you get for not having access to Start and Select.
Found this video via Twitter and very glad I watched. This is full of passion for the topic, and clearly shows that you had tons of fun while also putting a lot of thought and work into the video, which is the essence of what makes good content on RUclips. Got an insta-sub out of me! As for the evaluation of the Famicom, I agree that in spite of the many software and FPGA-based emulation options being available and excellent, nothing can replace for me original hardware when it comes to this system. I grew up with the NES, but also prefer the Famicom for pretty much all the reasons you discussed. The key reason why I prefer OG hardware for this system in particular is because I need the original NTSC video output to feel like I'm actually playing this system. No RGB palette in emulation or even the NESRGB ever feels good enough. I also avoid the AV Famicom not because it's uncool as you rightly pointed out, but mainly because it uses a revised CPU that actually produces a noticeably different sound. The Twin Famicom is a decent alternative if you like the extra muffled sound it outputs. As far as the original Famicom goes, RF and composite mods are both good options, RF being less sharp but also reducing the dot crawl that straight composite has. At the same time you do need a jailbar fix mod to get rid of the jailbars in the picture that all Famicoms have. Another downside is that all original consoles also have buzzing in the audio from PPU activity, which is not a big deal if you use speakers but can be pretty bad if you use headphones. But again, all worth it in spite of these inconveniences.
I like the format you have, and putting stuff on trial (lol) is a fine way to get down to the nitty gritty with gaming products, it's a fun and novel way to go about these subjects. I know this is a North American focused channel, though i'd very much like to see a European SEGA Master System and it's many games (the large majority of which were never released in North America or elsewhere, except Brazil maybe) put under the microscope for the multitudes of gamers that never got the chance to play some of these exclusive gems. Liked & subscribed. Cheers.
@@8bitesquire Thanks for replying. I know the Master System isn't the most beloved console of choice, but it really is very under-rated, and i'd very much enjoy you putting it on trial lol. Maybe some time in the future i'll look forward to watching that video, until then i'll keep watching the quality content you're putting out. Cheers.
I emulate it, and have every Famicom there is. Well except the Twin Turbo. I love collecting for the Famicom and FDS. I live inserting that yellow disk and hearing all of the clicks and clanks of the disk system starting up after the bios screen. I just had to play the original Zelda no Densetsu with the microphone and added music channels. Then I fell down the rabbit hole. My red RGB Sharp Twin has so much personality. It is my favorite console that I own. Plus there are so many other mods that are being made for it to this day. Play it any way you want, import it or emulate it. Just don't forget it.
I'm more in the emulation camp cause like Zez was saying, unless you have some one off Famicom cart with a mega obscure memory chip in it you're good to go. The 99% compatibility mark with games was reached over 10 years ago and with the latest advancements in CRT shaders we're at the cusp of not really needing a tube TV anymore either. But great episode and I can easily see your channel blowing up in no time. 😀
If I have kids, no ipad, no internet, just emulators of old consoles, starting with nes and working up. Ive been on RUclips since I was 3, and while i wouldn't change it ofr myself, I'm not taking that chance again.
LOL you proceeded to tell us all the Famicom cons like short controller cords and RF only, but then told us that the AV Famicom which fixes them all is just uncool. AV Famicom + RGB mod + Famicom Everdrive N8 Pro = Ultimate Famicom solution.
Very bizzare to me there was no mention of the sharp twin famicom which is probably the objective best nes/famicom. A little bit more than the og famicom but only like $100 has a built in disk system, outputs av, with Jeff chen's twin diamond you can use nes (and snes!) controllers and most importantly, it's cool unlike the av famicom
The AV Famicom is a Famicom. It says so in the name. Also you don't got to mod it to make it tolerable to use, or do anything weird like run extension cables for the power and RF to get around how short the controller cables are, or mod it to accept a controller. It just works out of the box. The OG famicom is cool looking but it's terrible, absolutely terrible, it's a miracle that thing spawned the major success that Nintendo would become with such a bad design. Even if you had a TV that accepted channel 96, the cords are like 5 inches long and the cord comes off the side where your hand is supposed to be. It's so bad, that if I were to design a "functional" game console intentionally to be bad as a joke, it would be better than the Famicom.
First off, don't buy the original model unless specifically for the novelty of owning it. Buy the AV famicom and you won't be disappointed. The AV famicom is better than the US NES, simply for being a top loader, games just actually work when you put them in. The stupid bending spring pins on the NES are just terrible, the NES had a top loader too but it only had RF for some reason, but the Japanese got the better toploader with AV out. The dogbone controller is also cool too, but that's kinda just down to preferences, it is a little more comfortable to hold but not a big deal either way. Just the consistency of the top loading, and higher quality audio and video, and I got a boxed AV famicom for like less than 100 bucks I think, that was a few years back, but it's not that expensive.
100% right on the atari games, the reason they're so cheap even to this day is beause they have zero sentimental value to even those boomers who played them as kids. the games were 100% shovelware. Famicom games created stories and adventures that set the stage for modern gaming.
@@8bitesquire True. But we have very affordable healthcare so it's all good. Between that and readily-available maple syrup, we can make it work. :) Our beer's better, though.
I’m so sad you stopped doing these videos. You’re a very good story teller and the angle using court to tell that story is very entertaining. I hope you come back to making these.
@@ConsoleCombat thank you! I’ll be back! I promise
14:58 This point is often misunderstood. The Famicom was not designed to be left by the tv with players on a couch on the other end of the room. Not even close. If you look up vintage photos of kids playing the Famicom, they pull the whole console close to themselves, either setting it on the floor or on a table, while the player sits on a tatami mat either crosslegged or knees bent down, and then stow the Famicom away when they are finished playing it.
Essentially, the Famicom was designed to be about as far away from the user as a the screen of a laptop is from the end user. This is why the controller cords aren't longer. If they were, it would be bothersome as the length would get in the way.
So with a Famicom, do as the Japanese do: plug the system in, then put it on the floor, and then sit yourself on the floor next to it for a good ol' time.
Great job! You clearly put a lot of thought, time, effort, and money into this. I like that you didn't bash the quality of RF or composite as others often do.
RF can be good!
I'd argue that that AV Famicom is probably the best option if you're looking for compatibility for both Famicom and NES games. Not only do you have NES controller ports on the front but also the 15-pin expansion port is on the side for either external controllers or other accessories. The only real downside of the AV is the somewhat poor audio mixing for expansion audio but mods exist to fix that issue and if you're using an Everdrive N8 Pro you can adjust expansion audio to be tuned to work fine on the AV.
Yeah, sure, but is it cool?
He made it very clear; it's not as cool. Famicom with a disk system attached looks unbelievable, especially in person. You could try putting an AV Famicom behind a Famicom and run the video and controllers from the AV Famicom. Everyone would be stunned by the beauty of the Famicom to see the AV Famicom behind it, which probably would blend into the wall anyway. Great first video 8 Bit Esquire!
@@8bitesquire it is not sadly
@@Bro3256 🤣
@@dlang6487 Thanks!
13:05 OBJECTION! Konami was _not_ the only developer to impliment expansion audio - just the most famous example. Additional sound channels first came with the release of the Famicom Disk System, the hardware expansion having wavetable synthesis. Later on, expansion audio chips were built into cartridges themselves.
There was as you mentioned Konami, with their VRC6 and VRC7 mappers capable of expansion audio in games such as _Madara_ and _Lagrange Point_. Namco had their N163 mapper which produced rich expansion audio in games like _Megami Tensei II: Digital Devil Story_ and _Erika to Satoru no Yume Bouken_. Sunsoft had their 5B mapper in _Gimmick!_. Nintendo themselves developed the most complex mapper the hardware ever saw, the MMC5, which added two pulse wave channels and a higher quality PCM channel than the stock hardware was capable of for use in games such as _Just Breed_ and _Shin 4-Nin Uchi Mahjong_. Finally, there are some obscure examples from Jaleco and Bandai that had PCM channel expansion audio for cleaner voice clips.
Expansion audio was pretty rare on the Famicom for sure, but it wasn't just Konami. In fact, even if you ignore the FDS, it was Namco that produced the most games with expansion audio, not Konami.
Nice video and pretty thorough! Would've liked to have heard a bit about the Sharp Twin Famicom too, but you probably left that out for the same reason that the AV Famicom wasn't a main focus, and that's valid. One nitpick, the audio mixing was a bit weird, especially for the first couple minutes of the video. Some of the sound effects and background music was louder than your voice, so I kept adjusting the volume during scene transitions.
It’s because I have no idea what I’m doing 😂
Just gonna say I love the intro, hopefully the channel gets some traction!
Appreciate it!
Absolutely love this! Keep them coming!
MY MAN, you made the video happen!
Great video, a pleasure to watch! If I may, the video looks a little dark, is that maybe on purpose, in order to look like a old Law & Order episode, like the font? If so, nice touch. 😊
No its because I have no idea how to use my camera
@@8bitesquire I suggest a cheap key-light
Yoo first video, this is the beginning of the channel ?? Yeah, i'm in 😄. When i was a teen i was on the Sega team, but that famicom always fired up my imagination. Great video btw.
Glad you liked it!
fun video, looking forward to the rest of the series!
Hey me too!
More please! I love these. Time well spent!
Awesome video! Keep it up!
Thanks!
Fantastic video dude, well done and well made points!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love the format and style
Thanks!
6:10
random NES/Famicom factoid, Mahjong is actually on the highest selling software list for the system (pooling both NES and Famicom sales together) with 2.14 million sales, putting it at the number 26 spot
For perspective, it outsold games like the first Dragon Quest, the first three Final Fantasy's, and Kirby's Adventure, to name a few
This is all to say, there were a lot of grandpas eating this shit up
It is the family computer after all
Also worth mentioning just about every Famicom I have ever tested has had annoying microphone feedback from the controllers, even after cleaning the volume slider contacts. Not an issue with AV Famicom or emulation options.
I didn't even mention that stupid microphone, lol. I've never used it outside of the first Zelda.
@@8bitesquire it's kinda fun when you're playing a sports title or something and can act as a commentator. It's the privilege you get for not having access to Start and Select.
Found this video via Twitter and very glad I watched. This is full of passion for the topic, and clearly shows that you had tons of fun while also putting a lot of thought and work into the video, which is the essence of what makes good content on RUclips. Got an insta-sub out of me!
As for the evaluation of the Famicom, I agree that in spite of the many software and FPGA-based emulation options being available and excellent, nothing can replace for me original hardware when it comes to this system. I grew up with the NES, but also prefer the Famicom for pretty much all the reasons you discussed. The key reason why I prefer OG hardware for this system in particular is because I need the original NTSC video output to feel like I'm actually playing this system. No RGB palette in emulation or even the NESRGB ever feels good enough. I also avoid the AV Famicom not because it's uncool as you rightly pointed out, but mainly because it uses a revised CPU that actually produces a noticeably different sound. The Twin Famicom is a decent alternative if you like the extra muffled sound it outputs. As far as the original Famicom goes, RF and composite mods are both good options, RF being less sharp but also reducing the dot crawl that straight composite has. At the same time you do need a jailbar fix mod to get rid of the jailbars in the picture that all Famicoms have. Another downside is that all original consoles also have buzzing in the audio from PPU activity, which is not a big deal if you use speakers but can be pretty bad if you use headphones. But again, all worth it in spite of these inconveniences.
I like the format you have, and putting stuff on trial (lol) is a fine way to get down to the nitty gritty with gaming products, it's a fun and novel way to go about these subjects.
I know this is a North American focused channel, though i'd very much like to see a European SEGA Master System and it's many games (the large majority of which were never released in North America or elsewhere, except Brazil maybe) put under the microscope for the multitudes of gamers that never got the chance to play some of these exclusive gems.
Liked & subscribed.
Cheers.
Hey I really appreciate the kind words! SMS is certainly something I've been considering, especially given the steep price of the US releases.
@@8bitesquire
Thanks for replying.
I know the Master System isn't the most beloved console of choice, but it really is very under-rated, and i'd very much enjoy you putting it on trial lol.
Maybe some time in the future i'll look forward to watching that video, until then i'll keep watching the quality content you're putting out.
Cheers.
Dude sold me Space Megaforce! Subscribed
Hahaha
I have owned a famicom for almost 15 years now since I was 19 and I really enjoy it.
Same here. I was 33 at the time I bought a Famicom at a game expo and bought it mainly for the Japan-exclusive games.
Nice! Subbed
Thanks for the sub!
Great videos keep ‘‘em coming
I emulate it, and have every Famicom there is. Well except the Twin Turbo. I love collecting for the Famicom and FDS. I live inserting that yellow disk and hearing all of the clicks and clanks of the disk system starting up after the bios screen. I just had to play the original Zelda no Densetsu with the microphone and added music channels. Then I fell down the rabbit hole. My red RGB Sharp Twin has so much personality. It is my favorite console that I own. Plus there are so many other mods that are being made for it to this day. Play it any way you want, import it or emulate it. Just don't forget it.
I'm for sure doing a video on the FDS in the future! Stay tuned.
I'm more in the emulation camp cause like Zez was saying, unless you have some one off Famicom cart with a mega obscure memory chip in it you're good to go. The 99% compatibility mark with games was reached over 10 years ago and with the latest advancements in CRT shaders we're at the cusp of not really needing a tube TV anymore either. But great episode and I can easily see your channel blowing up in no time. 😀
I really appreciate that!
Just get the AV famicom, you can use square NES controllers and composite video. Or, get the Sharp Twin Famicom
You never brought up getting an NES to Famicom adapter or even vice versa as options. Is there any reason for that?
Solid
Thank you very much!
More please!
Working on it!
The controller cables aren't too short. They're perfect. The only thing wrong with the Famicom is jailbars
I address that in On Appeal!
@@8bitesquire Watching now! Loving these Famicom and CRT videos. Thanks for making them
If I have kids, no ipad, no internet, just emulators of old consoles, starting with nes and working up. Ive been on RUclips since I was 3, and while i wouldn't change it ofr myself, I'm not taking that chance again.
LOL you proceeded to tell us all the Famicom cons like short controller cords and RF only, but then told us that the AV Famicom which fixes them all is just uncool.
AV Famicom + RGB mod + Famicom Everdrive N8 Pro = Ultimate Famicom solution.
That's right
As owner of said toy robot, forgot what I was going to say. I think I got defensive hearing him be called a toy. Me and R.O.B grew up together.
Very bizzare to me there was no mention of the sharp twin famicom which is probably the objective best nes/famicom. A little bit more than the og famicom but only like $100 has a built in disk system, outputs av, with Jeff chen's twin diamond you can use nes (and snes!) controllers and most importantly, it's cool unlike the av famicom
I'll talk about it soon!
Elderly Kyle Rittenhouse! Hahaha. Good stuff 8bit Esquire!
The only thing I've ever murdered is a Fajita platter
The AV Famicom is a Famicom. It says so in the name. Also you don't got to mod it to make it tolerable to use, or do anything weird like run extension cables for the power and RF to get around how short the controller cables are, or mod it to accept a controller. It just works out of the box. The OG famicom is cool looking but it's terrible, absolutely terrible, it's a miracle that thing spawned the major success that Nintendo would become with such a bad design. Even if you had a TV that accepted channel 96, the cords are like 5 inches long and the cord comes off the side where your hand is supposed to be. It's so bad, that if I were to design a "functional" game console intentionally to be bad as a joke, it would be better than the Famicom.
First off, don't buy the original model unless specifically for the novelty of owning it. Buy the AV famicom and you won't be disappointed. The AV famicom is better than the US NES, simply for being a top loader, games just actually work when you put them in. The stupid bending spring pins on the NES are just terrible, the NES had a top loader too but it only had RF for some reason, but the Japanese got the better toploader with AV out.
The dogbone controller is also cool too, but that's kinda just down to preferences, it is a little more comfortable to hold but not a big deal either way. Just the consistency of the top loading, and higher quality audio and video, and I got a boxed AV famicom for like less than 100 bucks I think, that was a few years back, but it's not that expensive.
Objection! The decision is biased despite irrefutable evidence of the accuracy of NES/Famicom emulation! But dammit I do love my Famicom.
100% right on the atari games, the reason they're so cheap even to this day is beause they have zero sentimental value to even those boomers who played them as kids. the games were 100% shovelware. Famicom games created stories and adventures that set the stage for modern gaming.
SECOND
FIRST
Yeaaah... the jab at an entire nation was not particularly in good taste.
You know what's not particularly in good taste? Canadian coffee
@@8bitesquire True. But we have very affordable healthcare so it's all good. Between that and readily-available maple syrup, we can make it work. :)
Our beer's better, though.