Difference between square button famicom and newer models

Started by Salduchi, November 14, 2017, 09:04:38 am

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Salduchi

I got my brand new square button Famicom in the mail a couple days ago, and I've been doing a lot of comparing between it and 2 other Famicoms. One is just a year or so newer with serial number H35xxxxx with round buttons and another one even newer with serial number H101xxxxx

Of course the square button Famicom has a smooth bottom. But some other things I noticed are slight font differences on the 2 stickers above the power switch and reset button. It's extremely hard to noitice. Also, the top shell is more textured where on newer models it's smooth. For example, inside the cartridge slot and the area where the controllers go have more of a textured finish as opposed the smooth finish of my newer consoles. These are very subtle differences that most people would probably never notice.

I have not opened the Famicom to check its board revision, but it is brand new with a H21xxxxx serial number.

Perhaps maybe all square button units have these subtle differences and maybe this could help people identify units that have had swapped top shells. This is something the vast majority of people will not care about, but I thought I would just post anyways. Thanks for reading.

P

Thanks for sharing this information. :)
I heard previously that the top is identical and only the smooth bottom is different. It's good news that there are ways to tell the old top apart from a new one after all.

I'm curious does your older Famicom has square buttons as well?
And if you ever decide to open it up be sure to post on the forum and report board number and revision numbers of the CPU and PPU. If you are worried about breaking something when opening it, you can practice by opening one of your other Famicoms first. You can hold a finger on some metal housing like the RF-modulator to make sure no static discharges from your body fries anything.

Also I would like to hear if looped noise works on it as discussed in that other thread.

Salduchi

You are welcome!

I made a mistake in my post. The Famicom I said was even older is actually newer. It has an extra number is the serial number. I need to go back and edit that post. Sorry for any confusion.

Are there other games that have looped noise other than Megaman/Rockman 1 & 2? I don't own either of those games but I do have over 100 NES games I could potentially test.

P

I see, the only other game I remember using it is Balloon Fight. It uses it unintentionally at the end of the Game Over melody because it loads garbage into the noise register at that point (the game was possibly developed before the looped noise APU was made).

If you want to google for games using it, you might also want to try search for "periodic noise" as that is another name for looped noise.

Also of course if you have or plan to get an Everdrive or other flashcart you can just use my noise test program I just made in the other thread.

L___E___T

 
Quote from: Salduchi on November 14, 2017, 09:04:38 am
I got my brand new square button Famicom in the mail a couple days ago


Is it BRAND NEW and unopened?  I have never seen a brand new Square Button Famicom before.  If so I'm surprised you started using it!
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。

Salduchi

P, I think I have balloon fight. I will have to check and see.

L_E_T, yep it's brand new. I will post some pictures later. Famicom boxes were never sealed like here in the US. I had to open it up and take a look at it. It is a beautiful system BUT the more I look at it the more it seems...off. It's super white, almost like it has been painted. But the smooth bottom and both controllers seem completely new. It's only the top case that seems to have been coated with some sort of paint. I can tell because the plastic inside the cartridge slot and the holders for the 2 controllers have a kind of texture to them, where as my other 2 Famicom have smoother plastic. Maybe square button famicom were painted different than newer round button released? Can anyone confirm this?

Post Merge: November 15, 2017, 10:22:05 am



Post Merge: November 15, 2017, 10:32:12 am

The first picture is just the Famicom. Brand new. Beautiful. But evidence of it being painted comes in the next 2 pictures. The 2nd picture you can see on the bottom of the red Family Computer plate a bit of yellow. I thought it was odd when I saw it. In the 3rd picture it looks like a bit of paint got smeared on the red plate just a tad. It's weird though because the rest of the Famicom is painted perfectly, if it really is painted which I am not sure. Maybe this is just how original units came. It's odd how the front of the console, the part that you see the most, would have a mistake and that makes me think that it could perhaps be a manufacturing error and not a paint job.

Any opinions would be nice. What do you think of the pictures?

L___E___T

 



Thanks for the pictures - it does look painted, what you see there is likely where the label was masked off.  Tea4Two offer painting as a service for example.

Very nice though.  Is the box brand new as well though?  I have to admit, I thought you meant your Square Button Famicom was brand new!  

There are brand new regular Famicoms out there still, but a brand new Square Button Famicom could be quite a find indeed!
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。

Salduchi

Well I did buy it as brand new and was severely disappointed to find it painted. Luckily the guy I bought it from in reimbursing me $800. I paid over $1200 for this. The box is in very nice condition. And so is the bottom of the Famicom and the controllers. Those look brand sparking new. That's why this is all so confusing!

What did you mean by the label was masked off?

Post Merge: November 15, 2017, 06:26:55 pm

Here are some other pics to show how damn nice this 'painted' Fami really is. Like I said it's really only the top shell that isn't right. But it's probably still original since someone took the time to paint it and not replace it with another shell. Regardless of wheather it's painted or not, it's still one of the best looking specimen of a square button famicom I have ever seen.

I'll upload more pictures once I can make a separate post.

P

Since they aren't sealed it's not really possible to tell if they are really new, and not using it would be a waste, how would we know it's not broken? Someone before probably already have taken its virginity anyway.
Good to hear you got partly refunded. If it's painted it's most likely not new. So the difference in texture of the top part was because of paint.

It does look new or have seen very little use, but new or not Famicoms do yellow anyway so it's not common to see a real white Famicom. Only the top part is vulnerable to yellowing because it's made of white plastic, so it makes sense only that part is painted.


QuoteP, I think I have balloon fight. I will have to check and see.

OK, it's the final buzz in the Game Over jingle. For reference you can check the NSF file in Mesen or an NSF player that can ignore the flag.

Salduchi

Here's a few more pics...

Post Merge: November 16, 2017, 06:21:40 am

P, turns out I don't have Balloon Fight. I might pick it up on eBay soon if I can find a good 5 screw copy.

Great Hierophant

Whomever did the paint job seemed to do a very good job.  The photos look nice.  Maybe up close you can tell that there is paint on this plastic.  I would consider doing that myself to my own Fami.
Check out my retro gaming and computing blog : http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/

L___E___T

 



It is beautiful but I think it is also right for you to get  a partial refund as it is not as described.  When I said masking - I mean that it's required to tape over the label so it doesn't get painted.  

That would explain the slight inaccuracy as it's very hard to get that seamless.  The box is also in very good condition.  If it helps you to claw some money back, I'd consider buying the box if that helps.

I still think you should be really pleased overall - it's very low usage, and that is hard to find!  I have one similar that I bought from Pikkon on here years ago I think.  But I never saw an unused one (square button).
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。

P

Quote from: Salduchi on November 16, 2017, 05:50:58 am
P, turns out I don't have Balloon Fight. I might pick it up on eBay soon if I can find a good 5 screw copy.

OK I was just reminded of Solstice as another game using the flag. It's using the looped noise to simulate a triangle (the real percussion instrument, not the triangle waveform sound) in its main theme.

Salduchi

So the triangle ding sound will sound like white noise garbage on an old Famicom?

P

Yes it will sound like "white noise". You have that game?