:help:
hi there
have the possibility ( nothing concrete yet ) to ask a producer in China ( already famiclom clones and games producer ) to start producing new carts ( the famous pirate or, better now because copyright no more needed, unofficial games ) for this system ( but also MS SFC MD-Genesis.. .
I would like to see if as a private or as a company I could have some business with retrogames.
This company told me they can produce any Fc game I want. also multicart are possible, depending on the memory. Because we are used to buy this kind of multicarts on Ebay I asked them if it is possible to choose the games to build in. The reply was affirmative. 4in 1, 8in 1, 21in 1, 65 in 1 are possible combinations so, we can eventually ask for specific multicarts, one cart the best shoot-em-up, other multicart for the best platformer and so on.
Or simply the game we need with specific label
In this way some hard to find games, rare games or hacked collectible games would be finally available for all FC fanatics.
But...but...that's the point, have to give them minimum orders of some hundreds per time.
Still have no idea of the costs, numbers, shipping, custom tariffs and local taxes....but it would be interesting to have your opinion
I am an avid collector for older systems but have NO idea of the FAMICOM community numbers and no idea of the most rated or of the most desired ( and hard to find ) games.
So my question is :
Can we start a poll where all of you tell me the
A - the game you would like to buy as single cartridge
B - the 4 games you would like to have on a multicart
C - the 8 games (or more) you would like to have on a multicart
the best would be to introduce here a poll but how to do it ?
I reserve the possibility to keep note of all yr. indications here and to inform the producer of "our" requirements. Will revert you after having collected some numbers here in, hope, a brief time.
Sounds interesting, but will probably be too expensive.
Multicarts with
- Rockman 1-6 & Rock Board
- Adventure Island 1-4
- all Kunio games
would sell well.
Quote from: manuel on June 20, 2012, 07:30:58 am
Sounds interesting, but will probably be too expensive.
Multicarts with
- Rockman 1-6 & Rock Board
- Adventure Island 1-4
- all Kunio games
would sell well.
For the first one ask
jpx72 and for the last one ask
FARID
I'd only be interested in the Rockman one.
And I'm following your & jpx72's progress on that one. ;D
My interest would be if you can supply the roms. I would like English patched versions of several titles (mostly RPGs.) Also some pirate originals like Super Mario World or any of these: http://www.gamesniped.com/2010/01/14/famicom-chinese-original-games-diablo-chrono-trigger-resident-evil-zelda-harvest-moon/
Of course a Recca cart is always interesting.
A multicart with RPGs with english translations on them would be the best thing ever.
Quote from: manuel on June 20, 2012, 08:41:53 am
I'd only be interested in the Rockman one.
And I'm following your & jpx72's progress on that one. ;D
Oh, good. A bit slow at moment, but moving forward :) Should we(me and jpx72) start do pre-orders?
Quote from: GohanX on June 21, 2012, 05:26:00 pm
A multicart with RPGs with english translations on them would be the best thing ever.
Which ones? You have to be more specific - there is few different mappers, so ROM's have to be patched for one mapper. Just make list.
Oh, i know :) DragonQuest 4-in-1 with saves :)
This'll never happen. But if it does, Adventure Island 4-in-1 and a Recca please.
Quote from: 80sFREAK on June 21, 2012, 07:42:04 pm
Quote from: manuel on June 20, 2012, 08:41:53 am
I'd only be interested in the Rockman one.
And I'm following your & jpx72's progress on that one. ;D
Oh, good. A bit slow at moment, but moving forward :) Should we(me and jpx72) start do pre-orders?
Definitely! ;D
2 OZMA WARS i don't think your chinese friends will be interested in manufacturing unique cartriges in amount range 10-15. Or price will be not like volumerates one.
It's a mimimum 1000 piece order, 500 if you're lucky or can negotiate a good deal. Not necessarily easy especially if you're non-native.
I looked into this before with the aim of building the best multicart out there, but it already exists and as I'd need to sell them to cover costs, I didn't want to become a pirate and draw any attention that way.
So we talking about $2k-3k for a batch of ONE title.
Well, one cartridge at least yes. But it means you get 1 unit for about a buck and a half, plus you can choose your own multicart of course.
and you have to sell 999 others...
And you might face copyright infringement charges when you live in the wrong country...
Quote from: Duke.Togo on June 21, 2012, 04:54:42 pm
My interest would be if you can supply the roms. I would like English patched versions of several titles (mostly RPGs.) Also some pirate originals like Super Mario World or any of these: http://www.gamesniped.com/2010/01/14/famicom-chinese-original-games-diablo-chrono-trigger-resident-evil-zelda-harvest-moon/
Of course a Recca cart is always interesting.
Cart with SMW, Super Bros. 8, Mario Lottery and Super Mario IV; that would be a crazy money maker.
which infringments of laws ? since years Nes and snes clones are authorized, simply have not to refer to nes/fc copyrighted official names. the point they are 99% produced in China it is clear, none can beat them on prices.
A multicart : 16 and 21 in 1 are approx. 6 USD. Then have to clarify all other points but in 2 - 4 weeks should have clear ideas.
Despite I have with producers corrispondence in english it seems we speak of two different thing all the times and always have to restart from zero.... will revert you asap
We're not talking about hardware, but software - the games.
From the point where you put copyrighted software on carts and sell them for a profit, you are doing something illegal in most jurisdictions of the world.
You can build hardware clones as you like, but the software is still protected by copyright and you are not allowed to make profits off somebody else's intellectual property.
I and most others here don't care about that. But if a company does, they might sue the producer of those carts for copyright infringement.
Manuel is correct. The hardware was protected by patent, which lasts only 20 years and for the Famicom expired in 2003 which is why Famiclones are now legal.
The software on the other hand is still covered by copyright, which lasts for the entire life of the creator of the game plus 50 years (70 years in some countries including the US). It will be several decades before the copyright on any Famicom games expire.
With pirated carts the authorities might turn a blind eye to collectors sending single carts to each other for personal use, but if you start ordering them by the thousand then that becomes the sort of thing which customs will take an interest in and you could well find yourself in jail. I don`t recommend it.
Copyright is pretty much infinite.. everytime disney is in danger of mickey mouse expiring they bribe someone to extend it and the us forces then everyone else to do what they do... the punishment will most likely be suing your grandma and possibly putting thumb screws on her.
noted. :-\
anyway, sent a letter to the Producer who confirm most of their customers are not companies but single persons ( no juridic form ) that send small and minimum orders like of 30 consoles PS1clones per month with 200 ps1 games built in, 6 mini-arcade cabinets 3500 jamma in 1, and 400 FC carts..this the minimum they ask.
So, all of us have in their collection some pirate carts and we buy them from private guys on Ebay..
I understand here the topic not of interest but I will try to know more on the matter.
it is abandonware. Nintendo and other companies don't get any profits on those game nowadays. They'd already earned all money they can earn. They really don't care about 0.00001% of people who still plays famicom.
They do care, but it's not a priority.
Quote from: famifan on June 27, 2012, 01:47:20 am
it is abandonware. Nintendo and other companies don't get any profits on those game nowadays. They'd already earned all money they can earn. They really don't care about 0.00001% of people who still plays famicom.
They get profits on selling them via Wii and 3DS Virtual Console, I guarantee they still have plenty of interest in not abandoning the copyrights to some pretty beloved IP. But yeah for the most part, stuff like this is largely ignored.
Also don't forget the rule in US law that if you don't act to preserve your IP, it's validity can be questioned at a later date.
So basically, protect it or lose it.
^ Thats actually just a myth that companies pretend to believe as an excuse to sue people.. There is something to that for patents I think (although still not in the way the companies pretend), but definately not for copyright. Your copyrights don't go away, or change at all in any way from not "protecting" them (ie: not suing people).
Quote from: L___E___T on June 27, 2012, 08:50:56 am
Also don't forget the rule in US law that if you don't act to preserve your IP, it's validity can be questioned at a later date.
So basically, protect it or lose it.
Crade`s response to this is mostly correct.
Copyright and patent protection doesn`t go away simply because you don`t use it, it just automatically lasts as long as it is supposed to.
Trademark, on the other hand, DOES lose its validity if you don`t use it like you said. Trademark just protects the names and symbols used on products. So if Nintendo changed its name and completely stopped using the name `Nintendo` then after a while they would lose their trademark in it. Of course there is no danger of that happening in this case.
About abandonware even that remains under copyright protection. Not that Famicom games are abandonware, Nintendo still makes money off of them and still uses the characters (Mario, Donkey Kong, etc) in newer games as well and will want to protect them.
so
one year later and after some visits to China ( because of metal business, not for hobbies ) I can report that some chinese producers STILL produce FAMICOM clones and GAMES, mainly multicarts.
One of these companies accept to eventually produce limited copies of 4in1 and 7in1 and 23in1 cartridges. I have to order at least 300 and a max of 3 combinations ( for example 100 4in1 + 100 23 in 1 + 100 7in1 or 100+200 and so on ).
Which games you would like to have that you do not find as single cart because too rare or too expensive ?
I suggest you go for a poll and mention which are yr. 4 or 7 or 23 WTB games and may be I can order a first bunch of carts.
This people not so easy to speak with, they need cash first and discussion later...thing that we, as collectors, cannot do. That's why, before to go them back, I would like to have yr. eventual comments.
Each cart should have a final price of 30 USD each, new with label but no box.
I would like to have 300 comments at least to have a clear statistics of the most required games.
Many thanks in advance.
MAX
Post Merge: May 09, 2013, 01:14:40 am
ops
to be correct I think 30 USD my selling price
the cost to the Producer would be 3 usd per cart + shipment to europe + customs and duties that I would pay as a company.
Could try doing an interest check over at Nintendoage, but they do NOT allow "pre-orders" (that involve taking money up front), but you can make a thread for interest check. Lots of people are into repros over there.
Quote from: 80sFREAK on May 09, 2013, 01:44:51 am
Sorry, dude, for most community China=volmerates=$3.99FREE_SHIPPING
Yeah, pretty much. It's not a bad idea, but $30 for a cheap multicart probably isn't going to generate a lot of interest here.
i have no problems paying $30 for a multi if the game list has some rare titles most sub $5 multi have pretty much all the same lineup of games.
I know that China is still manufacturing some Famicom multis as well. I have a few that have come from there. They are big blue (square) multis, that actually have a good selection of newer game on them. From my experience though, with my multis, it has been hard to sell them here for $20, which is what they cost me in total.
I'm not sure I understand why Multi-Carts are of any interest in this day and age with the release of Flash carts for Famicom coming along with a wide range of Mapper support.
You can patch your own Japanese games to be English and run them on there. and you could store complete archives of every game on it.
I know pirate carts have a certain feel to it, the kooky label, the weird shaped cart but i mean, all that can be replicated by ourselves now. The only part I understand is unlicensed games that are new content, that's like an entirely different story.
If anyone cares to explain the desire for this I'd be interested in hearing.
I think the appeal of pirates today is the same as it was 20 years ago: they're a cheaper way to game. That's a lot of the appeal with flash carts as well, to be sure. But flash carts are still more expensive than most pirates.
There's also the appeal that pirate multis and flash carts are space savers, as both take up less space than the pile of original carts that are being mimicked. For many collectors, both are also an excuse to keep their originals up on a shelf out of harm's way -- to stay pristine forever.
I think there may also be a convenience factor involved in choosing a pirate multi over a flash cart. While some may get a lot of use out of loading their flash cart with all the right games/language patches/etc., I could also see other gamers shying away from that as a lot of work. With a pirate, you just pop the sucker in, and you go straight to the gaming.
But take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm the kind of collector that goes out of my way to do my gaming on original copies. I primarily rely on repro carts to play unreleased games and translated imports. I don't have a flash cart, and I've never used one. I only have two pirate multicarts.
Quote from: 80sFREAK on May 09, 2013, 01:44:51 am
Sorry, dude, for most community China=volmerates=$3.99FREE_SHIPPING
P.S. FW will not consume 300 carts, i bet for 100 max
Is volumerates even open still? Last few times I tried to check their inventory, the site was down.
Volumerates is gone, but similar sites pop up now and then for a few weeks.
Quote from: Magicantian on May 18, 2013, 04:51:01 pm
I'm not sure I understand why Multi-Carts are of any interest in this day and age with the release of Flash carts for Famicom coming along with a wide range of Mapper support.
You can patch your own Japanese games to be English and run them on there. and you could store complete archives of every game on it.
I know pirate carts have a certain feel to it, the kooky label, the weird shaped cart but i mean, all that can be replicated by ourselves now. The only part I understand is unlicensed games that are new content, that's like an entirely different story.
If anyone cares to explain the desire for this I'd be interested in hearing.
If I can have a multicart or a single cart with the same game on it, I will choose the single cart any day of the week. This goes for unlicensed stuff, pirated stuff, etc, and if I were trying just to get the games on multis, I might even be done collecting by now.
Sometimes I like multicarts just to have quick access to some games (I would rather play on a multicart than a flash cart, flash cart is just bottom of the food chain for me). On the other hand, most of the multis in my collection are just for historical purposes only, and don't get played too much,
This is a good idea but the price is really high and there is not much people willing to support.
As a FC and NES fan I have always enjoyed with FC and NES stuff, until recently by playing the games and now by designing the cartridges and maybe in he future by designing the games!
Remaking a cartridge PCB is really easy and everyone can do it at home.
For example this is what I made last week at home (http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10209) :
(http://krauser.persiangig.com/Microbaz/post38/Front.jpg)
(http://krauser.persiangig.com/Microbaz/post38/Back.jpg)
But still I really have a hard time on making the connector!
I wonder if it is possible to just order the connector and plastic case of it?
So that we can remake any games that we want at home easily!
Also we can help each other to make more complected designs and learn a lot and have fun along the way!
What do you think? :D
Quote from: 80sFREAK on July 12, 2013, 01:29:34 am
All good. Think about mapper 90 ::)
Is it possible to make it with TTLs then emulate it on a CPLD?
Anything is possible.
Quote from: 80sFREAK on July 12, 2013, 04:11:25 pm
Anything is possible.
Nice!
What software and CPLD is the best for this purpose?
Do I need to use programming language (VHDL or Verilog) for designing every gate?
Is there any software to design the gates visually?
I have a lot of Xilinx XC2C64A in my stock, but I have never used iMpact, can I use them for this purpose?
You know, my choice is always discrete logic chips :P