This is a thread dedicated to the gaming system that took over the torch and basically saved the whole gaming industry after the video game crash of 1983, I believe it was. Details aside though, it became a tremendous success for Nintendo and gained gaming fans all over the world. It´s a system that still has a lot of popularity long after it was taken off the shelves and it is equally iconic and infamous at the same time.

But this thread isn´t mainly about that. It´s about the games and the accessories and the memories. As many of you know, I collect games for my own console I got as a kid. It still works and since I made the decision to take it apart to clean it and cut the 10NES lockout chip (preventing games not approved by Nintendo to be played), it works even better now than when it was new since the lockout chip can also screw with legal games.

I plan to write about games I´ve gotten and ones I´m getting and about the games in general, but as I realize this is a topic not shared by too many here, I invite you to write about any other old gaming system you may have played or simply know something about that you want to share. The only requirement I ask you to follow is that it´s about a cartridge-based system.

Happy gaming!

I just got spare parts for one of my controllers. As much as I´d like to keep it all original, it might be a good idea to get new guts inside for better response. The other controller is fine, though.

I also got a Super Mario Bros 3 watch, just like the one I had as a kid! However I know I threw that away when I got bored of it. *kicks self through space-time continuum*

It's great fun to watch mirocu as he flutters and flitters down nostalgia lane.

As I´m still trapped in that age, it´s not really nostalgia lane for me. It´s present time!


Today I got a complete copy of Kid Icarus. It was all in good condition except for the cover of the manual, but it wasn´t too bad so I can live with it. Didn´t even need too much of a cleaning

I still have my parents' 101 model of the NES tucked away somewhere. I just dn't have the cord that you plug into the TV. Our old games are still around too. My favorite was Super Pitfall though I never beat it. I could never figure out how to rescue the girl :/

Never played Super Pitfall but I have seen the Nerd´s review. It didn´t make me wanna play it, tbh..

But maybe I will get it off ebay later anyway, just to have it as a gimmick. I´ll put it next to my copy of Mr Gimmick so I can giggle every time I see them together. No one will know the gag but me!

Is this one of the console systems you have mirocu?

mirocu have you (or anybody else) played Faxanadu? It is a side-scrolling action RPG in which the player character climbs a giant World Tree. Goes on and on. All kinds of adventures in that game. I remember playing when I was in college, which would have been early '90s.

One of the things I liked about Faxanadu was you could go all the way back to the beginning, if I remember correct. It had that small bit of freedom so far as exploration goes.

@SubRosa - Not quite what I usually play on...

@Renee - Nope, never played that game. Never payed any attention to it due to its strange name

Other games you can walk all the way to the beginning are Shadowgate and Street Gangs, or as it´s also know River City Ransom

Lately when I´ve come home from work I always popped in Bubble Bobble and just went nuts with the turbo controller I have. Haven´t played as much now though, but I blame the Christmas tree I have standing right in front of the TV cause I don´t have room for it anywhere else...


Somehow feel like in the mood for Shadowgate but I reckon I have to wait.

That's a shame, sort of. I wouldn't want to play it now, but back in the late '80s Faxanadu was one of those rare games which bridged the gap between table-games and video, in the sense that it had some of the elements found in table-games. It also had a story as you went along. A mostly linear story with (I think) a few choices here and there.

Bubble Bobble? There's a name I haven't heard in .. sheesh..... a very long time.

I think I may have liked it for all that, but I don´t think the graphic style of the game would have appealed to me. Too much brown and grey. And at this time I was all into Super Mario 3 and other games with a more "just rush through" attitude. I can be very impatient sometimes..

And yeah, Bubble Booble!

As I was playing Darkwing Duck last night something hit me. I have that game and Ducktales 2 on both the NES and the Gameboy, and I much prefer the Gameboy versions. You would think I´d like the NES ones because they´re in colour and all, but no. I actually find the colour in both games to be meh and that really surprised me. I thought they´d be much more nice and colourful. Plus a few aspects are not quite the same but I blame that on my familiarity with the Gameboy versions.

Tough luck, really. Both the NES versions were quite pricey...

And here we see mirocu's fine eye for discernment when it comes to antiques.

Antiques? It´s only surpassed by the Super Nintendo, right...? Oh, yeah! There is that new Nintendo64! How could I forget that..?


Moving on I will now compare the original Gameboy with the Pocket Light version because those are the ones I own. I´ll throw in the Pocket too just because that´s what the Light is built on.



This is the original Game Boy that came out around 1989-90 and was a huge success to say the least. It relied on even then old technology which was why it didn´t have any colours beyond green/yellow nor any backlight. This of course made it a little tricky to see what was happening on the screen if the lighting wasn´t optimal where you played. They did that purposely because that meant no new R&D was required and they could instantly make games with very good quality which of course was a huge reason it got so popular despite the screen issues. Also, playing on the go was very new at this time so those issues were easily overlooked by gamers who for the first time basically could take their NES on trips!

It used four AA batteries and also had an AC output. I also have the clear version.





The Game Boy Pocket was released about seven years after the original. Yes, they were still making new hardware for the same games seven years later! Talk about success, eh?
This version was not only smaller in size but also had another screen. It was slightly larger and much clearer and unlike the original it was in real black/white. Still had no backlight.

It used two AAA batteries.





The Light version came out in 1998 but only in Japan. You could play with or without the backlight and it took two AA instead of two AAA because of the increased power demand. 1998 was also the year Game Boy Colour came out but I´ve never played on one so I can´t give an opinion about it.




Conclusion: I still prefer the original Game Boy. The Light is very nifty but after all these years I´m so indoctrinated with the screen of the original and it´s just not the same playing on the Pocket´s black/white screen. The light makes it greenish but it´s still not the same and since nostalgia has me firmly in its bosom I can´t love it as much as my childhood version. Plus the Pockets are a bit too small for my hands. The original Game Boy is much more bulky and that suits me perfectly. Even as a kid I liked holding it because it felt so sturdy.

I hoped you liked reading about these early hand-held devices and I hoped you read carefully! There´ll be a quiz later....

Thanks, mirocu, but where are the buttons to push to make phone calls on those things?

So the Game Boy Pocket Light is actually heavier than the Game Boy Pocket?

Newspeak!

You guys

Speaking of the Game Boys, I just got a new game for them! Well, not exactly new per say but at least new for me and in very good condition

It´s Bugs Bunny´s Crazy Castle! Not much to bring out the heavy guns for to salute with or anything, but it´s complete with the manual and plastic inner shell and I´m sure the game can if not kill then at least stun a few minutes

Been playing Little Nemo: Dream Master on the NES. God platformers are so much harder than I remembered. I still need to go dig out my games from storage and get a working NES of my own.

Sweet!


I played this game when I was a kid but never owned it. But since I´ve been getting games I remember from my childhood I do have it now and yes, they actually are quite hard
Never got far in Little Nemo but I liked the music and throwing candy at animals


YES!! Do it, man!

[April O´Neil]
You have my support
[/April O´Neil]

So today I got my Gameboy game in the mail and how wonderful to open it up and see it in its full glory



It looks great! The manual and case are in really nice condition and the game works perfectly. I even got a promotion for Gameboy Colour and N64 as a bonus

Bugs in all his Bunnified glory!

And yet, he can´t jump in this game!

Gameplay footage

(Don´t feel obligated to watch it all. It´s over an hour.. )

Awesome sauce. I still have an Atari 2600, but it got rained on at some point. Really wonder if it still works.

You better test it and report back, Renee!

Another package of games soon arrives at Casa del Rocu!

I bought them all from the same guy which is convenient. I got all I bid on except one but I can get that some other time. Luckily these games weren´t that expensive. How expensive, you ask? Well, lets just say I have bought single games for much more than these cost...

The games I got were:

Balloon Fight
Paperboy
Super Off-Road
Pro Wrestling
Popeye

The last two are in the first series that Nintendo released, commonly referred to as the Black Series.


[Full British mode]
I say, I am ever so excited to get these games!
[/Full British mode]

Is it time to expand the Game Wing of Casa del Rocu yet?

I may have to knock down a wall and take some space from a neighbour...


As early spring is upon us I have a small desire to play Battle of Olympus and Pinball on the NES. As you know I have a strange habit of doing the same stuff around the same time of year every year gamewise and as a kid I played those games around Easter one year. That was enough to leave an imprint on me so I reckon those games are soon gonna go warm in the toaster!

Played some Battle of Olympus and Pinball early this morning. These games bring back sooo many memories, especially this time of the year!

Also I just bought a Nintendo magazine on ebay. I think this issue is one of those I had as a kid. We´ll see if I recognize it

I´m thinking about getting a second NES system, for two reasons.

One, it can serve as a backup on a just-in-case basis. Second, as I´ve mention I have disabled the 10NES chip on my own system and I kinda want one that has it intact. That way I can more easily tell if a game is sold as PAL but is in fact NTSC as it won´t boot up. You can tell by different music speed and so on, but still.

If I get one I´ll post an update, I know how much you guys care about this...

Second system on its way!


I decided to go for full box instead of just a system. I went for the Action Set that includes a Zapper (even though I already have one of each colour), two controllers, the Super Mario/Duck Hunt cart, a manual and the styrofoam. I think it misses the Zapper manual but I can hunt one down later

Super Mario Bros!!!! In all these years, I've never even tried Duck Hunt, lol. But have played Mario Cart, just didn't enjoy it as much as Mario and Luigi.

Duck Hunt was da [censored]!

Still fun, and I also like the skeet shooting part

So, yesterday I picked up my very early Christmas gift from me to me


It all looks very nice but are in need of some cleaning. For now I cleaned the contacts within the system and I also cleaned the game cart just to test it out. So much fun to play Super Mario again, haven´t done it in months!

Anyway, it all worked first try so that´s all good. I don´t know if the system has had the 10NES chip removed but I can test with an American cart later. I don´t care, really, but I want to find out. Also when I move back home from the cottage in October I will pick apart the controllers and clean them out completely just like I did with my childhood ones.



SO MUCH FUN!!

What is that about the chip being removed? What does that do?

Nintendo put that there to prevent pirate carts to be played. Early DRM, sort of. But it also has the downside of prohibiting legit carts to be played if the specific 10NES contacts are dirty and I guess the chip itself could malfunction after all this time. So it really serves no purpose whatsoever anymore and has nothing to do with the game system gameplay-wise which is why I removed it from my own console even though I want to keep it as original as possible.

I may be interested in learning what to remove/where and how, because I have to clean the cartridges all the time for them to play. I have been thinking about pulling my NES out and playing, but I have to pass my PC to get to the NES, and ESO calls me as I'm passing the PC, lol.

Removing that chip won´t relieve you of cleaning the carts, it will still be a must. However it will still increase the chances of a cart to work and you will also be able to play any cart from any region in the world, including pirate carts.

Well, I just want to play all my Mario Bros games, lol. But every time I pull the old NES out and try to play it, it takes hours of cleaning the cartridge and blowing in every crevice of the console to get it to play, lol.

And I still love the Mario music, it gives such a nostalgic feeling to hear it! 9 Inch Nails did a mix with it on "Closer" that made me pull the game out and play when it came out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys3oP7Ax6nM



And right now they have an ad on TV that plays it, lol.

No blow!

Moist from your breath can make the contacts corrode. You need to pull out the mighty qtip and a cleaning agent (not Smith) like Windex or something. This guy will show you how it´s done - take it away, mr Koralik!


(If you don´t want to see when he takes apart and cleans the system skip to 11:25)

Huh? Don't ... er ... blow? That's the first time I ever heard that,



Rohi - cover your eyes!!!


Edit: Oh, what a great vid! Thank you for that!

Just found The Gaming Historian on youtube. He´s good and quite interesting to listen to. Here he talks about Super Mario Bros 2 and how different it was for us compared to Uleni´s the Japanese version.

Wow, doesn't that make you want to play that original hard Japanese version? I WANT IT !!!!

Yeah, I´d love to play it!

Didn't he say that the "Lost Files" was a watered down easier version of it? I want the original one, not the watered down version, lol.

Same here


Maybe Uleni can get me a copy..?

UUULEEEEEENIIIIIIIIII !!!!!!!

Pat the NES Punk - NES 30th Anniversay panel talk (with Ian)


This system was so awesome, had such an impact and it deserves recognition

I still have it!