Gotta Love That Fresh “AV Famicom Smell”
February 23rd, 2006 by RedWolf
David the postman woke me up at the crack of dawn this morning (…11:00 AM…) with a special package delivery, shipped express from Japan. I quickly signed for it and dove into the box with earnest. Out popped a like-new condition AV Family Computer (Famicom) console with two “dog bone” control pads, one A/V cable, an AC Adapter, and 18 games! Yes; I was quite excited. But of course, people don’t just randomly ship like-new AV Famicoms to your doorstep. Nope — it takes some form of coercion (hopefully peaceful, like money) to get that to happen. I’ll admit: I bought it off of eBay, and perhaps paid a tad too much for it, but I am very happy with my purchase. During the whole Generation NEX fiasco, many VC&G readers were talking about how much the AV Famicom rocks. And after playing with it some today, I would have to second that emotion.
What rocks about it? Well, call me a weirdo, but I really love the fact that it has a standard Nintendo multi-AV socket on the back (hence the “AV” in “AV Famicom”). For your info, the cable that plugs into this type of socket is pictured on the left. There’s no RF-out here (the top-loading American NES has RF-out only) — just pure composite goodness. Yeah; I am quite aware (and happy) that the original NES has RCA audio and video outputs, but the standard AV jack on the AV Famicom means that I can have all four generations of Nintendo console units (Famicom, SNES, N64, and GC) sitting next to each other, and if I get tired of playing one console, I can simply unplug the AV cable from the unit and plug it into the back of another. Also, there’s the obvious reason that the video quality from a composite video output is superior to RF any day of the week. So that’s the video part. What else? Well, it plays Famicom games, and it plays them very well. It came with an AC adapter that works in US power outlets. And it has…get this…detachable controllers.
The original Famicom had built-in controllers. What’s more, the AV Famicom uses US NES-style controller ports, so you can use all your favorite NES control pads with the unit. I’m not sure if the light gun would work in port #2 though: the original Famicom’s light gun plugged into a special DB-15 accessory port on the front of the unit, and the AV Famicom replicates this port on the right-hand side, so I’m not sure if the AV’s port #2 wired to work properly with a US light gun. But I can’t talk about AV Famicom controller ports without mentioning the SNES pad-influenced “dog bone” controllers, which people either really love or…don’t really care. I’m a big fan of the original rectangular NES pads and don’t find them uncomfortable, so the dog bones tend to say in the closet. However, the AV Famicom iteself will be spared from the closet and instead will hold a special place in my entertainment center for years to come. If you have the cash and are serious about playing Famicom games on the real hardware, there’s no doubt about it: you should get an AV Famicom.
February 24th, 2006 at 2:08 am
RedWolf, a few questions. Is this an officially branded Nintendo product? I don’t remember them releasing a famicom shaped this way in Japan, and the controller is undranded, but odds are I’m misremembering. Also, as a corrolary to the first question, if it isn’t Nintendo branded does it use the NesOnAChip? Thanks.
February 24th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Brian: yes, it’s an officially branded Nintendo product. It’s the Japanese equivalent of the NES model 2 that was released in the US about the same time (1993 or so). The main differences between the NES 2 and the AV Famicom are: 1) NES 2 plays NES carts, AV Famicom plays Famicom carts, 2) the top of the NES 2 where you plug in the cartridge is rounded, whereas in the AV Famicom it is flat to accommodate the Famicom Disk System adapter, 3) the AV Famicom has AV plug video only, NES 2 has RF-out video only, and 4) the NES 2 lacks the 15-pin accessory port that the AV Famicom has on its right side (the port was never on any US hardware).
As far as the NES-On-A-Chip goes: definitely not. The term “NES-On-A-Chip” typically refers to inferior clone hardware (with a reduced Famicom chipset put onto mostly one chip instead of many) that’s pumped out on the Asian black market by the millions so that cheap and plentiful Famicom clones can be made. That doesn’t mean that Nintendo didn’t reduce the chipset on this model, though — in fact, they likely did combine a few chips to save money, as it seems to me that both the second gen Famicom and NESes (especially the NES) were cost-saving machines (the NES 2 retailed for $50 new, if I recall correctly). So they slimmed everything down to save money and did some design improvements along the way.
February 24th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Heh, I bet this spanks the NEX, huh… ^_^
February 24th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Thanks RedWolf for the clarification. This thing is much more attractive to me now that I know it’s official and not an NOAC clone. I have two toploading NES’s, and because of the graphics clarity I usually actually play through a pristine original version because of the RCA video.
Keep up the great work. I love your writing. (And willingness to spend money on things so I can get the cream of the crop)
February 24th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Argh now you have me coveting this auction… http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-Famicom-Top-loader-AV-and-Disk-system-with-Games_W0QQitemZ8261026153QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I’ve wanted an FDS for awhile too, so this would be an economical way to get both…
February 25th, 2006 at 12:32 am
MegaKitsune: yep, it spanks the NEX hard — there’s really no comparison between the real thing and a cheap imitation.
Thanks for the kind words, Brian. That auction looks cool.. considering it’s already in the US and the FDS comes with it (and especially if the FDS works), it’s not a bad price at all. Buy that from Japan and you’ll pay ~$50 shipping. AV Famicoms go for ~$70, and FDSes — well, I’m not sure, but they ain’t cheap. So go for it!
Either that or get one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-Twin-Famicom-famicom-disk-system-12games_W0QQitemZ8261810780QQcategoryZ4315QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I have one but still need to replace the belt. If it were working properly, it would kick ass though.
February 27th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
You make stuff I know absolutely nothing about seem as simple as making arroz con leche.
February 28th, 2006 at 2:34 am
Why thank you, Shash.
March 4th, 2006 at 10:35 am
I have a old Famicom (Classic model from 1983 that uses a RF-out) and I can’t get it working in my Brazilian TV. I’m thinking about buy an AV Famicom.