The Famicom / NES Needs to Die - Take It out back and Shoot It!

[fcgamer | 4,804]

I've had these thoughts for almost a year now, but honestly, the Famicom / NES needs to die. Give it the dignity it deserves, and let it remain in our minds as the glorious and iconic machine it originally was. 

I originally started having these thoughts while hanging out on a preservation discord group. People were buying up plug n play game machines featuring new software - card games, fishing games, etc, ripping them apart and dumping the ROMs, since at the end of the day the cheaply-made machines were running off of NOAC hardware, with game software that once dumped, would ultimately run on NES/Famicom emulators and flash drives.

Then there's the recent breed of clones that have been hitting markets. Some of them are sort of fun, i.e. they look like a PS4 or whatever, but then there's the others, which just reduce the glorious machine down to the foulest piece of shit you've ever laid eyes on.

Take the 'Super 8 Bit Game', for example. I've always hated the Polystation / PlayStation Famiclones from the late 90s, but this thing just takes it even further. Smaller size, cheaply made garbage.

Then there's the 'FC Compatible Player X', which I picked up locally for the sole purpose of the game cart that came with.

This machine is small, compact, and ugly. Ugly controllers, hideous cancerous diarrhoea yellow. Controllers have USB plugs, av cables built into the machine, and I guess you need to actually use your TV's USB port to power this thing, too. Maybe the motion games on the cartridge with the racket are fun, but I'll never know since I can't properly hook this up to my TV.

I guess what I'm getting at is this sort of crap, albeit very much related to the Famicom / NES, is at the same time so far removed from the glorious heydays of the machine. I hate seeing the console that I hold as the GOAT being reduced to this, to such a point I think I'd rather not see any of this crap, to seeing what I am currently seeing. 

I hope the Famicom / NES dies, and I wish it would die with dignity.

[Hammerfestus | 3,974]

I think the yellow thing looks kind of neat.  People pay good money for pikachu n64s or whatever with the same coloring.

[G-type | 2,672]

a very roundabout way to say "I don't like a lot of these cheap clone systems"

[RH | 5,058]

It's really a testament to the longevity and playability of the games. Sure, this is cheap knock-off hardware but I'm assuming that most of these come backed in with stolen roms of popular titles.  Nintendo has always had the stance that "if the games are fun, people will buy the hardware".  This meant that they never had to have cutting-edge hardware to make a good playing experience.

Little did they know that 30-40 years later, they would be so right on the money with that philosophy that even though they would create new and improved gaming hardware and experiences, knock-off companies could still turn out profits manufacturing cheap versions of the original.

Think about it.  At no point are these companies saying, "You know what?  These things are selling any more, so it's time to make SFC-on-a-chip knock offs!" Nope.  They are still turning profits with FC/NES knock offs because someone is still buying them.  I know this stuff is cheaply sourced and made, but if they could only sell 1,000 these, or less, they wouldn't be worth the time or investment to engineer.  Yes these look awful and suck, but people must continue to buy them because they are fun.  That's all thanks to Nintendo making really fun games.  Well, that's what I think.

[fcgamer | 4,804]

30 minutes ago, G-type said:

a very roundabout way to say "I don't like a lot of these cheap clone systems"

Not really, I wasn't overly whipped up about the mini consoles either.

Edit: And for the plug n plays I was referencing, they aren't clone consoles, they don't run cartridges. 

Edited June 2, 2021 by fcgamer

[docile tapeworm | 4,210]

cool idea. thats using the ole noggin'

your right. shes been rode hard and put away wet, thats for sure. girl still kicking too. a shadow but still as good once as she ever was.

[mbd39 | 2,039]

Clickbait thread title. It worked on me.

 

[Sumez | 3,040]

Well this is a fcgamer thread alright

  

49 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

I hate seeing the console that I hold as the GOAT being reduced to this

 

49 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

I hope the Famicom / NES dies, and I wish it would die with dignity.

What's the relation between these two statements?
The hardware profile that the NES is based on has become the basis for these clone consoles, because it's a well known and easily replicatable platform, and it makes it easy to both create new cheap games, or just bootleg existing ones with a reskin, depending on where your moral cutoff is.

But that doesn't make it an NES. The NES and the Famicom is more than just a hardware profile (which by all means is very standard, and primarily ripped off the Colecovision). It's a brand, it's a piece of history, it is video game culture, and it's a collection of recognized game titles.
No one looks at plug-n-play systems based on a NOAC design and says "Oh, this is an NES". Most people won't even realise the connection that nerds like us will spot right away.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Sumez

[fcgamer | 4,804]

3 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Well this is a fcgamer thread alright

  

 

What's the relation between these two statements?
The hardware profile that the NES is based on has become the basis for these clone consoles, because it's a well known and easily replicatable platform, and it makes it easy to both create new cheap games, or just bootleg existing ones with a reskin, depending on where your moral cutoff is.

But that doesn't make it an NES. The NES and the Famicom is more than just a hardware profile (which by all means is very standard, and primarily ripped off the Colecovision). It's a brand, it's a piece of history, it is video game culture, and it's a collection of recognized game titles.
No one looks at plug-n-play systems based on a NOAC design and says "Oh, this is an NES". Most people won't even realise the connection that nerds like us will spot right away.

If the software runs on an everdrive, it goes on the list. If it goes on the list, it's NES / Famicom. 

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,210]

its like that old f-150 with 300k on it...its far removed from what it once was but as long as it can still get the job done, one more time....your still gonna use it to make $.

[fcgamer | 4,804]

@Sumez : It's even marketed somewhat in this way, here is a plug n play, no space for carts.

[Gloves | 11,997]

[Optomon | 65]

The NES is too invincible, immortal, and desirable for the human race to unexist. It can't die any more than alcohol, cigarettes, jazz music, cars or cookies can't die.

Cheaply sold things with no ability to bring pleasure and artistic merit, like clone machines and pirated games, die. They just die and come back the way insects do.

[Sumez | 3,040]

45 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

If the software runs on an everdrive, it goes on the list. If it goes on the list, it's NES / Famicom. 

That's the software though, not the clone console itself.

[Gloves | 11,997]

"I collect bootlegs and clone consoles! I hate them so much."

[fcgamer | 4,804]

8 minutes ago, Sumez said:

That's the software though, not the clone console itself.

So is a plug n play hardware or software? I'd personally say it is both.

[phart010 | 1,718]

 @fcgamer do you think you may be experiencing some feelings of cognitive dissonance. 
 

Sometimes I feel that there is so much I’m interested in collecting, that I hope the next gen consoles will have no physical media. Then I would have no obligation to collect for them (hence would not even play any new gen games either), giving my quest as a collector an attainable end goal.

Being a person who is interested in collecting Famicom knockoffs, I wonder if you hate these new knockoffs because at some point in the future you may have some inclination towards collecting them, but maybe you don’t want to do that knowing how crappy they are?

Edited June 2, 2021 by phart010

[Reed Rothchild | 9,680]

"Hmm, maybe this isn't another bootleg thread disguised as something else with clickbait."

clicks

"Nope, I was wrong."

[fcgamer | 4,804]

2 minutes ago, phart010 said:

Being a person who is interested in collecting Famicom knockoffs, I wonder if you hate these new knockoffs because at some point in the future you may have some inclination towards collecting them, but maybe you don’t want to do that knowing how crappy they are?

Well it's certainly an interesting thought to bring up!

I don't feel overly compelled to buy this stuff, rather I just feel ... sad ... seeing this stuff, I guess. 

Unlike in the USA where the NES had died and was then revived via homebrew games, the Famicom never really died. When I came to Taiwan in 2011, you could walk into any store and grab a semi-decent Famiclone and a multicart of quality games for about $40 or $50. Up through the late 90s companies here were still making decent original Famicom games, and even after they stopped, companies in China continued to do so. So there seemingly was no real death.

By now though, the stuff that is coming out just looks to be a shadow of its greatness, imo, and it's sad. I mean, Famicom / NES clones even appearing in those claw / crane machines as prizes, it's basically been reduced bro the value of a bottle of Coke, and at that point, I'd rather just see it die with its dignity.

[fcgamer | 4,804]

4 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

"Hmm, maybe this isn't another bootleg thread disguised as something else with clickbait."

clicks

"Nope, I was wrong."

I look in terms of compatibility and hardware. Being licensed is a silly construct that was disproven, see NES vs Famicom Videomation for details

Edited June 2, 2021 by fcgamer

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, docile tapeworm said:

its like that old f-150 with 300k on it...its far removed from what it once was but as long as it can still get the job done, one more time....your still gonna use it to make $.

I'm intrigued as to how you got 300k miles out of a F-150!

Edited June 2, 2021 by Bearcat-Doug

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

@Sumez : It's even marketed somewhat in this way, here is a plug n play, no space for carts.

I thought this was a box of cereal at first.

[mbd39 | 2,039]

14 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I thought this was a box of cereal at first.

[docile tapeworm | 4,210]

55 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I'm intrigued as to how you got 300k miles out of a F-150!

i ran it hot, no water, low oil....the b just wont die. 

[docile tapeworm | 4,210]

neglect killed ot though. no anyi freeze one winter poped the freeze plug in between the bell housing amd block. still could have fixed it but was too laz to drop the cross memeber and tranny for a chance at reaching that freeze plug...if it wasnt the block cracked...