SNES to SFC converter?

[qras | 2]

Does anyone know if these converters that allow you to play SNES games on a SFC can mess up the either the carts of the console itself? I went to Japan recently and I've played a few games finished Mother 2 just finished Mario RPG but my Japanese is no where near good enough for me to properly enjoy something like FFIV or DQIV

Edited August 3, 2023 by qras

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 540]

They shouldn't mess with it, they are just extenders to raise the cartridge, it shouldn't need active circuitry as super famicom and north american SNES are compatible other than the shell.

I don't have one to tell you for sure though.

[Sumez | 2,951]

3 hours ago, SNESNESCUBE64 said:

They shouldn't mess with it, they are just extenders to raise the cartridge, it shouldn't need active circuitry as super famicom and north american SNES are compatible other than the shell.

This is assuming they are using an adapter made for that purpose, thoug? A regular SNES import adapter will have a second cartridge connector on the back or behind the other, for a donor cartridge to act as the region check.

That said, no, no harm will be made to your console or cartridge. That was just evil rumors floating in the 90s...

[RH | 4,903]

7 hours ago, Sumez said:

This is assuming they are using an adapter made for that purpose, thoug? A regular SNES import adapter will have a second cartridge connector on the back or behind the other, for a donor cartridge to act as the region check.

That said, no, no harm will be made to your console or cartridge. That was just evil rumors floating in the 90s...

Beyond the physical shape of the carts and console, there’s region lock functionality built in the SNES like the NES? I thought they dropped that.  They certainly did with the N64 because all you need with that thing is a simple mod installing a 3D printed cart/tray holder on the inside of the unit.

[Ankos | 439]

If my understanding is right the only thing that stops SFC games from working on a SNES is the plastic mold. Just take the cart out of the shell and put it in a different one and it should work. Some people clip off parts of their SNES to make the SFC carts fit, but I don't encourage that

[Tulpa | 3,494]

43 minutes ago, RH said:

Beyond the physical shape of the carts and console, there’s region lock functionality built in the SNES like the NES? I thought they dropped that.  

The SNES still used one. That's why Super Noah's Ark 3D had a pin connector on top, so you could attach a licensed cart and use its chip to fool the console.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Tulpa

[Ankos | 439]

3 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

The SNES still used one. That's why Super Noah's Ark 3D had a pin connector on top, so you could attach a licensed cart and use its chip to fool the console.

I don't think it differentiates between Japanese and NA games. I was under the impression the Super Noah's Ark 3D thing more of had to do with the game being unlicensed (though I've seen some unlicensed SFC games that don't require an additional cart to be plugged in, so I guess there are multiple workarounds). Here is a video that details the old practice of cutting the tabs off an SNES

 

[Tulpa | 3,494]

20 minutes ago, Ankos said:

I don't think it differentiates between Japanese and NA games.

It doesn't. You're right that it isn't a region lock, but it is a lockout.

When the Famicom rolled out, they didn't think of locking anyone out, and the sudden flood of unlicensed Famicom games clued them into doing it for the NES and later consoles.

 

[Sumez | 2,951]

4 hours ago, Tulpa said:

It doesn't. You're right that it isn't a region lock, but it is a lockout.

Uh yeah it's a region lock, I figured this was pretty common knowledge. That's why Snes import adapters have the donor cart slot I was talking about.

The only reason you can play Japanese games on a North American Snes is that those two use the same region coding, so you don't need an adapter for those, you just need to make the cartridge fit because American Snes games use a different mold from the rest of the world.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Sumez

[Tulpa | 3,494]

Dammit, I keep forgetting about you Europeans, what with your SFC shells and SNES names.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Going with putting a SNES game into a SFC shell isn't really easy, you'd have to do some serious cutting damage to fit it.

I'm sure there are adapters, problem is so few of them left out the expanded pinouts for games using special chips.  So while you can run most games, if you were hoping to run SNES games using the C4, FX1+2, SDD1, SA1, etc chips you're out of luck.  There is one, a model of the pro action replay that has the extended pins, rarely pops up though which sucks, and usually costs a bit more because of it.  You're better off using a dremel and smoothly filing out the tabs, that's free.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Tanooki

[fcgamer | 4,723]

Here we go, let's see what a SFC to SNES adaptor does.

Enjoy

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Gimme gimme