6 ms·

> Sadly you can't use your original NES carts with the console - something even the most basic "Famiclone" offers - and there doesn't seem to be any means of ge

by smaili 10y ago

> Sadly you can't use your original NES carts with the console - something even the most basic "Famiclone" offers - and there doesn't seem to be any means of getting new games onto it. Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible?

fredoralive 10y ago
> Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible? Depends if it's a NES on a chip type system like most clones, or if it's something like an ARM SoC device running an emulator[1]. If it's the former it would be possible with just space issues for the slot, the latter would be quite hard, certainly more trouble than worth for a cheap novelty device. [1] It uses Wii controllers and has save states so it seems a bit more than the average clone at least.
nsxwolf 10y ago
It would have been much larger. As in, the exact size of the original.
- carrier_lost 10y ago
  There was a later version of the NES console that was smaller than the original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_(Model_NES-101) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_...
Tomte 10y ago
Including a compatible cartridge reader? Of course that's a lot of effort and costs, making the price point untenable. The beautiful thing about his console is that for the price of a new Nintendo game you're getting the console and 30 games, without any hassle (swapping cartridges etc.). It's certainly a compromise, but a very enticing one.
- mikejmoffitt 10y ago
  The NES cartridge's pin pitch is nonstandard, and making a new slot for it is actually a very expensive endeavor. You can get "close" with standard parts, but the resulting tolerance is extremely low.
oddevan 10y ago
Considering they'd have to add a physical interface for said games then make sure that whatever emulator they're using can emulate perfectly, yes.
spydum 10y ago
Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.
- chipsambos 10y ago
  But blowing the cart and hoping it would work was part of the fun. I hope (and assume) it could be updated somehow though e.g. usb or micro sd
  - mkesper 10y ago
    The blowing actually damaged the connectors, though: http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-because-of-weird-psychology/ http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-becaus... http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-ca...
- techdmn 10y ago
  They do pretty well if you keep both the carts and the console clean. I have an original that works as well as it did when it was new. You had to blow on the games then too. :-) (By keep them clean I mean that you have to actively clean them periodically.)
- fzzzy 10y ago
  The ZIF connector on the original NES was unreliable. The carts are perfectly reliable. The NES 2 does not have the ZIF connector and doesn't have issues.
  - msbarnett 10y ago
    > The carts are perfectly reliable Depends on the cartridge. Any of the ones with a battery save (like Zelda or Final Fantasy) need to be opened up, have the welded in battery clipped off the board, have a CR2032 socket soldered on instead, and then put a new battery in and reassemble. It's a LOT of pain to get a NES cart with a dead battery working again. That's probably why they opted not to put a slot in this thing -- many people's dusty old carts are dead, and not knowing any better, they'd blame the new console.
paulcole 10y ago
Yeah, I was hoping this tiny emulator would play SNES and N64 carts as well as GameCube discs. I mean seriously how much extra effort would it have been?
- vlunkr 10y ago
  Probably a lot more actually. Tons more hardware for all the interfaces, (including a disk reader). And much beefier hardware to emulate a GameCube.
  - paulcole 10y ago
    Yeah, I didn't realize that. Thought it would be super simple to make a product designed to do one thing do something completely different.
weego 10y ago
Anyone who has cartridges that they would care to play has a console already. What possible business benefit is there to adding that in?
- jchendy 10y ago
  The original consoles won't last forever. It would be nice to have a backup option for when it dies.
JustSomeNobody 10y ago
At this point, just rerelease the original?
gambiting 10y ago
I would bet that the people who still have original NES cartridges are people who still have a working NES, or one of many HD-compatible clones. This is not a product for them. This is a product for people who played NES games when they were young and now will buy this to get a gust of nostalgia. There's nothing wrong with that, of course.

by smaili 10y ago

fredoralive 10y ago

> Would it really have been that much extra effort to make the console backwards compatible? Depends if it's a NES on a chip type system like most clones, or if it's something like an ARM SoC device running an emulator[1]. If it's the former it would be possible with just space issues for the slot, the latter would be quite hard, certainly more trouble than worth for a cheap novelty device. [1] It uses Wii controllers and has save states so it seems a bit more than the average clone at least.

nsxwolf 10y ago

It would have been much larger. As in, the exact size of the original.

carrier_lost 10y ago
There was a later version of the NES console that was smaller than the original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_(Model_NES-101) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_...

Tomte 10y ago

Including a compatible cartridge reader? Of course that's a lot of effort and costs, making the price point untenable. The beautiful thing about his console is that for the price of a new Nintendo game you're getting the console and 30 games, without any hassle (swapping cartridges etc.). It's certainly a compromise, but a very enticing one.

mikejmoffitt 10y ago
The NES cartridge's pin pitch is nonstandard, and making a new slot for it is actually a very expensive endeavor. You can get "close" with standard parts, but the resulting tolerance is extremely low.

oddevan 10y ago

Considering they'd have to add a physical interface for said games then make sure that whatever emulator they're using can emulate perfectly, yes.

spydum 10y ago

Don't you recall how unreliable that media/interface was? I don't think most carts aged well.

chipsambos 10y ago
But blowing the cart and hoping it would work was part of the fun. I hope (and assume) it could be updated somehow though e.g. usb or micro sd
- mkesper 10y ago
  The blowing actually damaged the connectors, though: http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-because-of-weird-psychology/ http://nerdist.com/we-blow-into-video-game-cartridges-becaus... http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help http://mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-ca...
techdmn 10y ago
They do pretty well if you keep both the carts and the console clean. I have an original that works as well as it did when it was new. You had to blow on the games then too. :-) (By keep them clean I mean that you have to actively clean them periodically.)
fzzzy 10y ago
The ZIF connector on the original NES was unreliable. The carts are perfectly reliable. The NES 2 does not have the ZIF connector and doesn't have issues.
- msbarnett 10y ago
  > The carts are perfectly reliable Depends on the cartridge. Any of the ones with a battery save (like Zelda or Final Fantasy) need to be opened up, have the welded in battery clipped off the board, have a CR2032 socket soldered on instead, and then put a new battery in and reassemble. It's a LOT of pain to get a NES cart with a dead battery working again. That's probably why they opted not to put a slot in this thing -- many people's dusty old carts are dead, and not knowing any better, they'd blame the new console.

paulcole 10y ago

Yeah, I was hoping this tiny emulator would play SNES and N64 carts as well as GameCube discs. I mean seriously how much extra effort would it have been?

vlunkr 10y ago
Probably a lot more actually. Tons more hardware for all the interfaces, (including a disk reader). And much beefier hardware to emulate a GameCube.
- paulcole 10y ago
  Yeah, I didn't realize that. Thought it would be super simple to make a product designed to do one thing do something completely different.

weego 10y ago

Anyone who has cartridges that they would care to play has a console already. What possible business benefit is there to adding that in?

jchendy 10y ago
The original consoles won't last forever. It would be nice to have a backup option for when it dies.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago

At this point, just rerelease the original?

gambiting 10y ago

I would bet that the people who still have original NES cartridges are people who still have a working NES, or one of many HD-compatible clones. This is not a product for them. This is a product for people who played NES games when they were young and now will buy this to get a gust of nostalgia. There's nothing wrong with that, of course.