Was there ever an official Famicom and games released in Taiwan?

[fcgamer]

I am curious as to whether an official Famicom and any official games were ever released in Taiwan or not?  I know that Hong Kong received an official Famicom and an official NES, and official NES games, so I don't think it is that far of a stretch.  Once I saw a "Taiwanese" Famicom for sale, but without box or anything, it was really hard to tell if it was a clone or a genuine thing.  Therefore, does anyone have proof one way or the other?

Thanks.

[Frank_fjs]

Not that I know of, but I haven't really researched the topic.

I do have a Taiwanese Mega Drive 2, which is pretty cool, but not all that helpful to this topic.

[Cheetahmen]

I think there is; as far as I can tell it's the same as the Japanese version with the text translated into Chinese.

[L___E___T]

Probably the Asian NES...  Released in Hong Kong, Singapore, maybe Taiwan as well?  Might even have been made there...

[fcgamer]

Probably the Asian NES...  Released in Hong Kong, Singapore, maybe Taiwan as well?  Might even have been made there...

An Asian-version NES?  I know there are some Asian NES carts, but I do not know what regions they were for.

[L___E___T]

There are definitely Hong Kong famicoms of course, but the 'Asian NES' was specifically called Asian and not just Hong Kong.  It was also sold in HK though..

So, this made me wonder whether it was distributed to other areas like the Phillipines, Taiwan, Singapore and maybe even Malaysia?  
If we have members from those countries please pipe up and let us know!    
I know it was called the Comboy in Korea due to legislation (it was just a rebadged NES) and I believe in China it was not officially distributed anyway as games consoles were not legal and the country pretty closed to the game industry back then.

I'm really interested in this anyway, so I hope we can finmd our answers without having to ask on NintendoAge.

[ulera]

Asian NES? Are you sure it's not a bootleg? Any pics?

[P]

Just google NES Asian version. It even has it's own version of the lockout chip I think. But Taiwan has NTSC and Hong kong and China has PAL so they would need two versions if it was released in both regions. Oddly enough Nintendo also made a Hong kong version of the Famicom as L_E_T just said (probably to compete with the unlicensed modded imports of the Famicom that was sold in Asian countries before they released the Asian NES).

[L___E___T]

I just realised I have a CIB mint one for sale, buyer never paid.

[fcgamer]

Asian NES? Are you sure it's not a bootleg? Any pics?

I know there are official "Asian Version" NES carts, so it would make sense that there would be an Asian version NES to go with.

Also know that there are Hong Kong, Asian, and Taiwan versions of N64 games, for example.  That makes me wonder just what countries were meant to receive the "Asian version" games, if HK and Taiwan received their own.  That is how it was with N64 and GBA, but I don't know about other systems.
Post Merge: August 09, 2012, 11:07:12 am

There are definitely Hong Kong famicoms of course, but the 'Asian NES' was specifically called Asian and not just Hong Kong.  It was also sold in HK though..

So, this made me wonder whether it was distributed to other areas like the Phillipines, Taiwan, Singapore and maybe even Malaysia?  
If we have members from those countries please pipe up and let us know!    
I know it was called the Comboy in Korea due to legislation (it was just a rebadged NES) and I believe in China it was not officially distributed anyway as games consoles were not legal and the country pretty closed to the game industry back then.

I'm really interested in this anyway, so I hope we can finmd our answers without having to ask on NintendoAge.

Are you on NintendoAge?  I honestly doubt they would know more than the people here, regarding these sorts of things.  I have posted tons of stuff over there in the past regarding this kind of stuff, and most people don't really seem to know much about it or care either.

[L___E___T]

That doesn't surprise me.  
No I'm not on there, I don't think they are a bad bunch but I stay away, it's got a comic-book-guy (from the Simpsons) vibe about it that I don't care for.

Also Famicom > NES 

[JC]

Nintendo released a Taiwan Famicom, I believe, because Nintendo definitely released licensed pulseline carts in Taiwan, a couple of which were never released as pulselines in Japan. I own a few of the licensed Taiwan Nintendo pulselines. I think Nintendo gave up quickly because of the robust Taiwanese pirate market.

[fcgamer]

Nintendo released a Taiwan Famicom, I believe, because Nintendo definitely released licensed pulseline carts in Taiwan, a couple of which were never released as pulselines in Japan. I own a few of the licensed Taiwan Nintendo pulselines. I think Nintendo gave up quickly because of the robust Taiwanese pirate market.

Wow!  That is the information I like hearing.  Do you think you could show me some pictures (either here or by email) of the Taiwan Nintendo pulselines that you have?

[L___E___T]

a couple of which were never released as pulselines in Japan

Pics please JC-sama!

[JC]

I'll try to find time to dig them out and post them soon.