Hi everyone! I just wanted to say hello as I think this place is going to be a great resource. I kind of stumbled into the Famicom world, totally by chance.
A couple of weeks ago I was in Japan on vacation, and on the second to last day stopped by Akihabara. I happened to stop in a shop called Retro Game Camp, and was floored at the amount of stuff there. I decided I wanted to get something 'from Japan', so I picked up Super Mario 2 on FDS for 2400 Yen, which I thought was an OK deal. It was cheap enough for just 1 game and an 'oooh' factor. :)
Fast forward to a few days after I'm back, and I'm looking up FDS info, and realized that they had a few of the Twin Famicom systems at the shop...but I didn't want to buy anything for $200. But, the more I read, and all the cool stuff I saw....I bought a Twin Famicom from a US seller for $135, and it should be here on Friday. I can't wait.
I also dug through some of my old stuff, and realized my old US NES still works, and much to my surprise, so does my Zelda cart! It still has my saved data from the 80s. Craziness.
Anyway, I will post some pics of the twin in action once I get it set up.
Anyone have a FAQ on importing this stuff from Japan into the US? If I'm going to start buying carts and disks from Japan...I don't want to have any issues with customs..
So in summary, this place looks like a fun community, and I'm looking forward to playing some of the more unique games from Japan.
-Matt
Hello Matt, welcome to the family that is the Family Computer. I think you'll have a lot of fun with this hobby, but I understand you may have some concerns. While I don't know of any FAQs on getting started, I wouldn't mind writing my own one for you.
Q: How do I go about purchasing games from Japan?
A: Yahoo Auctions Japan and Amazon.co.jp are both wonderful sources, however, you'll need a contact in Japan to help you purchase games from there. Luckily, we have a few of those on this very forum, so feel free to ask around!
Q: And just which shipping service should I opt for?
A: (http://i.imgur.com/EIRBP3C.gif) (http://i.imgur.com/UVLOfT0.gif) (http://i.imgur.com/V1rMzvM.gif) is the way to go. It's fast, and you get tracking on your games, both of which are good things.
Q: But which games should I be on the lookout for?
A: Excellent question! Well, if you're mainly looking for Japanese exclusives, than I'd go ahead and recommend Mitsume Ga Tooru, Holy Diver, and Cocoron. Give 'em a shot, they're good!
If you have any others questions, let me know.
Thanks for the hearty welcome!
Clearly I should use EMS for shipping from Japan to the US. :)
I've seen some on Ebay from Japan, and some here in the Buy/Sell/Trade section. I guess I was looking for more guidance on what happens after the package is in the mail type of thing. Do I have to give a filled out customs form to EMS? Does EMS fill it out based on seller provided info?
I'll definitely look into the three games you've mentioned.
-Matt
Armadillo, Ikki, Argus, New Ghostbuster II, Hi No Tori, Snow Bros, Mappy Land, and All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros.
Those are must have games!
^ I can second this man's recommendation of Armadillo, Armadillo is actually the game that got me into Famicom... in addition to Choujin Sentai Jetman, Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 2, Samurai Pizza Cats, Daiku no Gen San, and Joy Mecha Fight.... (which are all games I suggest, by the way)
And EMS is pretty simple, fear not. It does mean that you'll have to sign for your package (or pick it up from the post office the next day if you're unavailable), but it's totally worth the added convenience of faster shipping and a tracking number.
Some sellers will also offer Fedex International shipping, which has always been very fast when I've used it.
True, FedEx shipping has also been a good option for me. StJackie uses it who has a thread here where he has tons of Famicom games for sale, I'd advise checking that out to get started. Manuel's thread as well, he has plenty of good stuff.
Welcome, Matt.
I think Air Mail isn't so bad, but I'm cheap. Not cheap enough to torture myself with SAL, though.
Try Castle Quest. It's like a cross between chess and a board game and an RPG. It's a neat game once you figure out the menus. I personally don't "get" Armadillo. I find the controls clunky and weird, and the gameplay a bit bland. I never got that far, so maybe it improves later?
I only use EMS if I buy something expensive like a console. If I had used EMS every single time I bought a few games the total cost would have been much bigger than what I loose if a game is lost once in a while.
For recommendations, what genres are you interested in?
Thanks for all the info and insights everyone.
A quick initial list of games that I think I will get is:
Cocoron
Dragon Ball Z
Pac Land
Tetris Flash?
Tetris 2?
Yoshi's Cookie
Yoshi's Egg
Pinball
I'm looking for stuff that was either not on the NES, or is very good, or is a fun little game. I definitely like platformers like Mario stuff, I love Zelda (and am looking to learn more Japanese, but maybe not immediately hehe), and silly racing games like I had both Rad Racer and RC Pro Am for the NES, but sadly I lost a bunch of my old games due to lending them to a family member I shouldn't have. :(
I haven't looked into all of the suggestions in this thread so far, so expect this list to grow.
Oh, and of course FDS exclusive stuff too!
-Matt
A few others that you might look into:
Daiku no Gen-San (AKA Hammerin' Harry)
Crisis Force
Gradius 2
Getsu Fuuma Den
Door Door (fun little arcade-style game, programmed a guy who later went on to help create Dragon Quest)
None of those were released on NES, and all of them are pretty accessible with little to no knowledge of Japanese. (Getsu Fuuma Den has some text but there are plenty of guides online)
There's tons of great stuff on Famicom - its library is something like 1400 games, compared to the NES' 800 or so. And many of them have subtle differences between the US and Japanese versions - the Famicom version of Castlevania III, for example, has better music and a more bearable difficulty level.
I like Getsu Fuuma Den, it's a really fun game for sure.
A few FDS recommendation threads: http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=10782.msg149416#msg149416
If you like RPGs there are tons of Famicom exclusives, and many are fan translated so you just need to grab an Everdrive if you want to play them in English.
A few fun boardgames: Itadaki Street (by Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii), Hyaku no Sekai Monogatari (has a translation patch).
If you like puzzle I recommend the Eggerland games (several of them wasn't released on NES), Solomon no Kagi (Japanese Solomon no Kagi 2 uses battery backup). Can't think of anything more at the moment.
So many games. :)
On an annoying note, I got the Twin Famicom today, but the disk drive is not working. The seller described it as needing a belt replacement 'soon,' and included a clear, thin belt, but apparently soon is now.
I will do the replacement tomorrow night and then put some pics up here.
-Matt
Good luck with your fix - the various versions of the disk system are all notoriously prone to breakage and other issues. When I got mine, there was a weird issue with the RAM adaptor causing the graphics to become garbled. I now have three RAM adaptors, only one of which works properly. :upsetroll:
Arrrrrgh
Replaced the belt, and now I get Err 22. Head is aligned according to the guide I used to replace the belt.
I cleaned the head with alcohol. No change. Still Err 22.
https://youtu.be/LEzKdJTtm-U
shows what the drive itself does.
Any ideas?
Bad disk?
I'd hope not. It is my only disk though, so I'm not sure.
Post Merge: April 18, 2015, 07:50:45 pm
Well, I went to both Video Games and More and 8-Bit and Up in NYC. My god, sticker shock! Things are mighty expensive, and selection for Famicom is not great.
8-Bit and Up had a single bin of dust covered games mixed between Famicom and Super Famicom. Carts were 20-24 each. No disks. NES games were $30 a piece! It was crazy.
Video Games and More had a lot in the front, lots of bootleg carts, and disk system games. There were some 'OK' games for ~$8, and a couple for $20. They had disk systems in pretty shrink wrap - for $199!
I ended up getting some Chess game from SNK for $5, and Rad Racer for $9 for the NES.
Still no idea if my drive is OK though.
-Matt
Post Merge: April 18, 2015, 07:55:23 pm
Is this a good Mario game?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kaettekita-Mario-Bros-Nintendo-Famicom-Disk-System-FDS-Instructions-US-Seller-/131471198652?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9c4b49bc
That's a cool version of the original Mario Bros game with some new features (for example you can change the direction of your jump in the air). It's a bit rare but that one seems to have a reproduction manual which is why it isn't that expensive I guess.
I decided to skip out on that one and got:
Hello Kitty World (because Japan)
Mario Golf US Course (FDS)
Yoshi's Cookie
Tetris
from waterclocker's auctions on Ebay. Considering they were free shipping, I think the pricing was pretty good. Hopefully now I can figure out of my drive needs work or if I got a bad copy of Mario 2.
-Matt
Quote from: mdrobnak on April 19, 2015, 08:55:25 pm
I decided to skip out on that one and got:
Hello Kitty World (because Japan)
Mario Golf US Course (FDS)
Yoshi's Cookie
Tetris
from waterclocker's auctions on Ebay. Considering they were free shipping, I think the pricing was pretty good. Hopefully now I can figure out of my drive needs work or if I got a bad copy of Mario 2.
-Matt
Hey, that's me! :) Thanks for the business! Glad to help a fellow FW member with their collection! Will be listing more soon :)
Hello Kitty World is great!! I was getting friends to play it a couple weekends ago at the Midwest Gaming Classic. Pretty funny to see grown men playing and enjoying Hello Kitty ;)
The alignment of the FDS is really important. Check out the section about the spindle hub alignment here. http://www.famicomdisksystem.com/tutorials/fds-repair-mod/belt-replacement-adjustment/
Ah ha! I was moving the spindle by too much during my adjustments. I now have Super Mario Brothers 2 loading, but not what's on the other side of the disk. Will mess with it a little more tomorrow.
Note to others - yes the alignment is VERY touchy. Like move in really small increments each time...
Oh, and I bought more games. :-D
Yoshi's Egg, Kirby's Adventure, Hatris, Tetris Flash. (Yes, I like platformers, and I like Tetris. :) )
-Matt
PS Lol @ Grown men remark. Yes, the game looks like fun.
What's wrong with liking platformers? Doesn't everyone?
If you're going to play Famicom games, liking platformers is kind of a prerequisite! ;D
Indeed, everyone should like platformers. :)
Post Merge: April 22, 2015, 06:10:12 am
Ok, I got the disk drive working!
It reads super mario 2 without any problem (side a), but Baseball on side b I only got to work once, holding the drive exactly level. With side B, it doesn't move far back enough to hit the switch. I think it needs some extra lubrication or the return spring is too weak.
What are recommended replacement parts for the spring, and what kind of lubricant is used on the rails?
-Matt
If the rails are metal, just about anything will do as a lubricant. However, If any lubricated component is plastic, you have to be very careful about the type of lubricant you use. The majority of lubricants out there will dissolve plastic over time. My advice is to use something silicone based, but be aware of any additives. Definitely never anything petroleum based.
The rails on the I'm speaking of are indeed metal. It looked like a fairly thick goo was on there currently..
Ok, so after a bit of trial and error, I had all 5 of my games loading without a problem. The belt was not on completely straight, it is now. I tweaked the alignment until all my games loaded.
But, when I finish putting the bottom plate back on, and put it back in the Twin Famicom, only 4 of the 5 games load... Metroid was the most finicky when I was still tweaking it, and is now the only one that wont load.
What does it mean when it has to be perfectly horizontal for it to work? I already moved the spring to the back hole...
-Matt