The Game Genie is without a doubt the coolest peripheral I’ve ever owned for the NES. When I was bored with regular old NES games, I could essentially “reprogram” them with the device and make them more interesting. Tired of being told by game designers that I had to play the games their way, I delighted in manipulating game mechanics. After all, I thought, I bought the game, and I should be able to play it however I want (“Game Genie: empowering the gamer since 1991”). Before long, the codes included in the official Game Genie booklet got boring, so my brother and I made up our own. This resulted in some particularly reality-bending codes, the best of which I have included here. Some of these codes might have been discovered by other fellow Game Genie enthusiasts since then, but I assure you, these are straight from my circa-1994 spiral-bound, home made Game Genie Book. This first entry on GG codes deals only with Super Mario Bros. More specifically, the Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt cartridge was used to make these codes. Try them out yourself and have fun. Also, feel free to share your own codes in the comments section!

Code: LUIGIO
Totally whacks up the graphics, and the game freezes at the third pipe. Why use it? Just because you can (…it spells Luigi-o).

Code: YLYYYA
Permanent ice-skating Mario. This was always one of my favorites. Everything else seems fine.

Code: SOSSSO
You get an extra life with every stomp, on every type of enemy. Awesome!

Code: OZOPPI
Coin blocks are in weird positions, but inside every one is a mushroom / fire flower. You can only have one power-up on the screen at a time though.

Code: PISPEG
This is hilarious: the regular floor is replaced with water. Mario falls down and dies not only on the first stage, but the title screen as well.

Code: OZTLLX
Ah, one of the classics. With this code you can be regular small Mario and still have the fire flower. You can’t break blocks though.

Coming Soon: Game Genie codes for Super Mario Bros. 3. There are some awesome ones for it in my personal code book, so stay tuned.

I was just poking around on Ebay today, looking at Famicom stuff when I noticed that this guy is selling generic Famicom to NES converters. He has three auctions at the moment — one for a single converter only, one for a lot of six converters, and one for a lot of twelve. It’s likely that this guy has a million of these things, so if you buy one, don’t bid it up more than the base price. Just check back next week and he’ll probably have another single one listed. Also, his feedback rating is pretty good (with a lot of transactions under his belt), and his location in Canada explains the $5 shipping…although it still seems maybe a dollar too steep. Either way, I knew you guys had been looking for adapters, so I thought I’d share it.

It’s not a myth if it’s true. Yes, Mario, there might be a Famicom to NES adapter in your copy of Gyromite. In fact, there might be an adapter in other early NES games, but so far, Gyromite is the only game cart I have personally found adapters in. Recently Jake at 8-Bit Joystick was bustin’ on the well-known NES fan fact that there are NES to Famicom converter boards in some early NES games. Well, I’m here to try to set that straight. For the record, I’ve bought eight copies of Gyromite in my life, and two of them had Famicom converters in them (25% rate so far). I’m not going to speculate on the absolute ratio of Famicom to non-Famicom Gyromites out there, or even why the adapters are in there in the first place. Instead, here’s a quick guide to show you how to determine if any copy has one of these hidden treasures inside.

Method #1: Label Variations

I’ve noticed that there is a small difference on the labels of my two copies of Gyromite with Famicom adapters in them (henceforth to be called FA Gyromites) and the ones without adapters (henceforth to be called regular Gyromites). The difference is subtle but noticeable if you can compare the two, or if you have a really good eye for color. Take a look at the picture on the right. Click on it and load the full-sized image. Notice the “Robot Series” logo on the cartridge on the right (the FA Gyromite copy has a piece of tape on it so I know which is which).

The color of the purple in the FA Gyromite is a different hue than the regular Gyromite on the left. The two FA Gyromites I have have less red in the Robot Series color, making for a softer, deeper “grape” color, whereas the regular Gyromites have more of a “plum” color to them, with more red in the label. Also, the black background in the regular Gyromites is of a lighter, more washed-out looking color than the deeper black in the FA Gyromites. Also to the right is an up-close comparison of the two labels. Note the difference in red content in the half-toning pattern and the difference in the surrounding black background.

I can’t promise that this color difference will hold true for all copies of Gyromite, but my two copies of FA Gyromite and five copies of regular Gyromite all follow the same color differences described above, so I thought I’d mention it.

Update: Shortly after writing this article, I noticed another difference between FA Gyromite and regular Gyromite labels. On the label spine where it says Gyromite in purple, my FA Gyromites have a tiny “TM” trademark symbol after the title. All of my Gyromites that don’t have TM symbols are regular Gyromites, indicating that they changed the label later in the production run. But this is where it gets slightly complicated: I do have one regular Gyromite with a TM symbol, so the TM is not a guaranteed indicator that it’s a FA Gyromite. But I’m willing to bet a lot that if it a Gyromite cart doesn’t have a TM on the spine, you can rule a FA out — it’s a regular Gyromite. Further experience will be necessary to make sure this is completely true, but I think it’s almost assured. And before you start complaining that I’m wrong, make sure you’re looking at the label spine (the edge of the cartridge opposite the connector), not the main label face.

Method #2: Center of Gravity

This is the least scientific test of the bunch, unless you want to go to the trouble of precisely balancing the cart on a specific pivot point. In lieu of such complicated measures, you can use your hand. Pick up a copy of Gyromite and hold it in your hand like the picture on the right. If the center of gravity is more towards the middle of the cartridge than toward the connector (and the weight is spread out a little more evenly), then it’s likely that you have a FA Gyromite in your hand. You’ll see why in a minute.

Method #3: Weight

This test is my favorite of the bunch, because you can quantitatively tell if your Gyromite has an adapter without opening it up. If you happen to have a scale that can read in ounces, you’ll find that a regular Gyromite cartridge weights about 3.5 ounces, and a FA Gyromite weighs about 4.5 ounces. The extra ounce comes from the converter hardware inside, which you’ll see in a minute. I tested my other early NES games and they all weighed 3.5 ounces, telling me they don’t have adapters inside. Also worth noting: I just realized that the pictures of FA game carts (one is Gyromite, one is Hogan’s Alley) on this page and this page have full-size DIP ROM Chips on the boards instead of glob-tops like mine (which you’ll see in a minute). That would definitely make a copy of FA Gyromite with DIP chips heavier than 4.5 ounces.

I also weighed a later NES game (Kirby’s Adventure) and found that it weighed about 4.5 ounces as well. Does this mean Kirby’s Adventure has an adapter inside? No — it has a bigger board to make room for a battery and likely heftier ROM chips since it’s a bigger game (in KB terms). So keep that in mind if you’re planning on doing a hand weight test in a store. Pick up a copy of Gyromite and compare its weight to another early NES game (like Pro-Wrestling, but not Zelda, which is also heavier because of its battery). If it feels slightly heavier, then you’ve probably got a FA Gyromite in your hand.

Method #4: Open the Cartridge

Unlike Jake and Ben Heckendorn, I actually have an array of screwdrivers on hand, arranged nicely in a toolbox. 🙂 There will be no smashing/ripping open NES cartridges today. All it takes is a small flat-blade screwdriver to open your Gyromite cart. All Gyromite carts have at least five screws (unlike the later three-screw NES carts), but if you have a FA Gyromite, you’ll be surprised to learn that it actually has seven screws in total! In the picture on the right, I have two copies of Gyromite open. The one on the top is the regular Gyromite, and the one on the bottom is the FA Gyromite. Notice how the adapter/game assembly is screwed down to two posts inside the cart. Ah-ha — so that’s what whose posts are for! If you unscrew the adapter assembly, you’ll notice that it’s in three pieces. There’s the top board, which is the Famicom board with the ROM data on it, then there’s the 60-pin pass-through connector, and then there’s the bottom adapter board. Here are some more pictures:

The FA Gyromite assembly up close.

The regular Gyromite board up close.

The other side of the FA Gyromite assembly.

The other side of the regular Gyromite board.

The FA Gyromite assembly in three pieces.

Some Notes on Using Your New Famicom Adapter

I did some simple testing using the FA Gyromite ROM board and the adapter itself. First of all, I plugged a Famicom cart, Zippy Race into the FA Gyromite‘s adapter and tried it in a top-loading NES. It worked perfectly. Then I put the FA Gyromite ROM board (the Famicom part only) into a Famicom, and no surprise, it played perfectly as well. It is very important to make sure the board/cartridges are facing the right way when you use them in a NES. The front of the Famicom cartridge should be facing opposite the front of the adapter (the side with the IC on it). Then, the front of the adapter must be facing either up (on a front-loader), or forward (on a top-loader). Also, you’ll have to flip the 60-pin connector on the adapter around so a Famicom cart will fit on it, and you might even have to trim a bit of the black plastic off the sides so it fits correctly. You might be able to chop off the top of a standard NES cart and screw the adapter into it, as it was in the Gyromite cart, so that you don’t have to handle an unprotected PC board all the time and you can use the same adapter with different Famicom games. Also, the mountability of the adapter in an NES cartridge case brings about the possibility of making a permanently converted Famicom game. That is, you could disassemble your Famicom cart, take out the ROM board, mount it in a NES cart case (ala FA Gyromite), and screw it back up. Then you’ve got a sturdy Famicom game ready to play any time that you want on your regular NES! Whether the adapter works perfectly with later Famicom games is unknown by me. You’ll just have to test that yourself.

Over time on VC&G, I’d like to introduce vintage gamers to obscure, overlooked or never released in North America games that are worth playing. And unless you live in Asia, you’ve probably never played Moon Crystal, as I believe it was only released in Japan. It’s a shame this title didn’t come to the US — it’s a grade-A quality game, with incredible gameplay, graphics, and animations. The only beef I have with the gameplay is that it takes a long time for your character to turn around (a lot longer than the instant 180 in most games), and that takes a lot of getting used to. All of the monsters and the main character have very fluid animations, with more frames per movement than I think I’ve ever seen in a NES game. Moon Crystal also has a great story-telling intro and detailed, animated, and colorful cinematic cut-scenes between stages (ala Ninja Gaiden).

I haven’t played much past the third stage yet, but I’m looking forward to the rest of the game. So far the difficulty level hasn’t been too hard. The style of gameplay is pretty typical action platformer, where you jump around and stab enemies with your sword. You can also get power ups over time to become stronger, which is nice. The main character has a really neat ability taken straight from Prince of Persia — the edge grab. You can jump up to a platform that’s too high for you to jump to conventionally by pressing up on the control pad while jumping. Your character can then grab onto the nearest ledge and pull himself up. This comes in handy as a last-second save: if you underestimate your jumps over an open abyss, you can hold down up and grab on to the side of the edge before you fall in.

Moon Crystal is one of the best Famicom games never released in the US. But don’t take my word for it — try it out! Unless you can find the original cart for the Famicom and have a means to play it, you’ll probably have to stick with the emulator route. But where can you get the game? I guess you’ll just have to find it yourself. But once you do, it’s definitely worth a play.

Here are some more Moon Crystal screenshots:

It’s an endless struggle; an epic, no-holds-barred wrestling match: Man vs. NES in a fight to the death. Or at least, in a fight to get your NES games working on that old front-loading NES. You push, it blinks. You pull, it blinks. You blow, you sneeze, you use q-tips, cleaning kits, and wow…it works? You see the title screen, but it’s still a little flaky. Things might be a little garbled, so you hit reset and it looks OK. Then an hour into playing, you accidentally tap the console and the game freezes, forcing you to start your Metroid game all over again. Blast! It’s hard to remember that your NES ever worked on the first try. There’s a fine art to actually getting a game running on an old NES. It takes a lot of patience and a certain flick of the wrist. I used to impress people at parties with my NES-charming abilities, and boy did the ladies love it.

The crux of this classical problem is a special connector inside the unit that wears out from repeated usage over the years. It was designed in such a way that a game cartridge can be inserted at a slight angle with little resistance, then pushed down in the spring-and-latch loading tray inside the NES, bringing the cartridge’s contacts in full contact with the connector’s pins. It’s sort of like a cartridge port version of a ZIF (zero insertion force) socket (Hmm.. Zero Insertion Force sounds like it would have been a good title for a Japanese NES game). This mechanism seems like a great idea on paper — there’s no brute-forcing the game in, and it’s easy to pull the game out of the slot when you’re done. But this delicate dance between cartridge and machine repeats it self over and over again throughout the years until the the pins in the internal connector start to lose their flexibility and springiness. And when they get slowly bent down from repeated usage, the physical contact made between the connector and the cartridge itself suffers, making it hard for the NES to read the data on the cartridge. On top of that, you have years of dust, dirt, and corrosive build-up on both the internal connector and the game itself. As a result, you get…Dum Dum Dum…The Blinkies.

Back in the day, we just threw up our hands and suffered with the problem, never really thinking there could be a solution — other than buying a later model top-loading NES (released in 1993), which eschewed the high-class ZIF mechanism for a more plebeian (and low cost) approach. And as we all now know, recent attempts at NES replacements just don’t cut it. But a few years ago, enterprising young lads on Ebay started selling replacement 72-pin connectors (the cartridge port on the NES has 72 pins) for afflicted front-loading NES systems. The concept is this: you buy a new connector, you disassemble your NES and replace the old one, and supposedly the blinkies will be gone. So about three months ago, I finally decided to buy one and try it out. Sellers want anywhere from $7 to $12 (!) a piece for these things, which is a lot of markup considering they’re probably being churned out by Chinese factories at a cost of a cent a piece. However, they are quite unique in the world of connectors and I (in my limited experience) know of no other device that has ever used such a component. So until we find out who these sellers are smuggling these things from, the gaming public will have to put up with the high prices.

I took a dive and went with a $7 connector from HitGaming.com. I bought it through Ebay, although HitGaming has its own online store too. The choice of a vendor for these things probably matters very little. I highly suspect that all of them come from the same manufacturer somewhere in the Far East. Just go for the cheapest price. HitGaming.com’s 72-pin connector arrived in a little plastic baggy with a cheaply done single-sheet print out of NES disassembly and connector installation instructions. Having disassembled a number of NESes before, I didn’t have any trouble with the installation — it’s very easy as far as console fixes go. But for those who are not experienced in taking anything apart, the operation might be a tad tricky. HitGaming.com also has extended installation instructions online with more pictures, which is definitely handy for the inexperienced. I’m not going to go into detail about the assembly and installation instructions myself, since the method to do so has been repeated many times over on the web.

I took everything apart — first the main chassis, then the RF shield, then they tray mechanism, then unplugged the old connector from the mainboard, hollowed out some incompletely drilled screw holes in the new connector, and plugged it in to the mainboard. Then I screwed only the tray mechanism back so I could test it before completely putting it back together. If I had to give one tip for the process, it would be this: there is a black plastic lip/slot on the bottom of the black spring-loaded tray that is designed to go under the front, bottom edge of the main board. Make sure you slide the tray mechanism in parallel to the mainboard and that the lip goes under the board, or else the tray will stick up too much and the spring-locking mechanism won’t work properly. After successful testing, reassemble everything else in reverse order, taking care not to mix up which screws go where.

The new 72-pin connector in my NES succeeded in eliminating the confounded blinkies. It should be heavily noted that your game cartridges need to be cleaned before inserting them into your newly refurbished NES, or else you’ll still have trouble getting them to work (and you’ll get your new connector dirty).

There was only one problem with my connector, though. The whole ingeniously-designed ZIF feature of the tray-loader was somehow negated by the new connector. It requires a strong force to push the cartridge in, and a Herculean effort to remove the cart from the system. The sheer gripping power of the new connector will surely lessen over time and use, but it’s definitely inconvenient to have to struggle to pull a game out. It’s a disappointment, but at least a cleaned cartridge works on the first try. Also, you can practically throw the NES across the room and not have the game lock up on you; the contact is that strong. Still, I wouldn’t try it on purpose (although it might happen spontaneously while trying to get past the first stage of Ghosts ‘N Goblins).

Note: Below, I am reviewing my particular connector, not the whole concept of replacing your old one.

Over the past 6 years I have been looking for an easy way to interface my original NES pad with my PC so I could play NES games on an emulator with an authentic feel. There was only one realistic option I knew of: a parallel port interface hack that had spread around the Net over the years, but I never quite got around to doing it. Then, early this year I stumbled across RetroZone’s site. There I found an array of different vintage controllers available for sale with USB (!) interfaces. Now we’re talking! USB is the way of the present and the future — I don’t want to be saddled with having to hook up parallel port stuff to my circa 2010 PC (which almost definitely will not have a parallel port). All of RetroZone’s USB controllers apparently use a specially programmed microcontroller to convert the original pad’s signals into a USB signal that a PC can understand. After browsing the options (a converted NES controller for $26 and a $17 do-it-yourself kit among them), I settled on the FourScore USB model, which seemed like a great deal to me at $60. Sure, I’ve seen some people balk at these prices, but I think they’re really cheap for saving me the labor and sheer mental strain of devising and doing such a mod by myself. With the FourScore one, you can use up to four NES controllers on one USB port. And even better, you can use any NES controller you want — you don’t have to be stuck with a converted one that might have bad conductive rubber pads in it. So I ordered it via PayPal, and a week or so later, it arrived.

The arrival of this product was one of the most exciting things that happened in a long time, having recently acquired, through BitTorrent, an archive of all known 10K+ NES and Famicom ROM files (the legality and morality of doing such will probably be debated in a future entry). I opened up the box and plugged it in. The FourScore was in pristine condition (no surprise, since I have about five unopened FourScores in boxes that I bought for $5 a piece in 1995), with a mint-condition USB cable. The craftsmanship was flawless, with the USB cable coming out of the FourScore as if it were meant to be there, complete with molded USB connector and all. I plugged it in and Windows 2000 instantly recognized it. I plugged in a NES pad into port one of the FourScore and Windows 2000 also instantly recognized it as a joystick (which is great, because it means you can use it with anything that supports Windows joysticks). I fired up FCE Ultra, my emulator of choice and configured the pad. In no time, I was playing Super Mario Bros. full-screen on my PC just as if it were a real NES. The pad had incredible response time — no noticeable delay — and flawless performance. Since then I have played a hundred games with the pad and adapter with no problems. I’ve also plugged in a 2nd pad into port two of the FourScore and played some Bubble Bobble with a friend, without a hitch. I’m sure it would work with four pads if I tried it, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

All in all, I am extremely impressed with this product and recommend it highly to anyone who plays emulated NES games on their PC. There’s nothing quite like playing a NES game with the original controller — it will never feel authentic otherwise. RetroZone is the real deal, doing their service for the love of the game. My next project will be making a dedicated NES emulator machine to hook up to my TV for the complete experience, which I will detail in a future entry. 🙂

I received my Generation NEX two days ago via FedEx, part of the first shipment of a new NES clone console from Messiah Entertainment (the self-proclaimed saviors of “gaming”). My initial impressions were good, because the packaging is pretty nice. But once you open the clear plastic box and plug it in, things get a little ugly.

First off, the included tiny, corded controller is terrible. The buttons are laid out in a slanted pattern (which I hate.. more on that in another entry) and their feel is mushy. No, not “Excellent Official NES Controller Mushy,” but a very bad kind of mushy. And another note about the controller: look at the picture. See those two black buttons above the red ones on the right? Those are the Select and Start buttons. The two in the middle are “Slow” and “Turbo.” Also, the controller has two shoulder buttons like a SNES, except in this case they function like the regular “B” and “A” buttons. All in all, very awkward. Of course, you can plug in your original NES controller to the unit (a must), but I thought I’d mention the pack-in controller, since, after all, it is part of the package.

The sound on most of the games I’ve tried so far (SMB3, Pinball, River City Ransom, etc.) is off and not accurate (compared to being played on an original NES). The colors, too, on all games seem a little strange. Huge bummer. Also, certain games like the aforementioned River City Ransom do weird stuff when you play them, including messing up the menus, changing colors, and generally not working properly. Castlevania III doesn’t even work at all (just a blank green screen). And yes, I cleaned all my games thoroughly before trying them on the NEX. I need to test more games with this, but it feels like it would just be a waste of time. So what on earth could have led me to believe that my games would actually work on this console? Oh. Here’s an excerpt from their July 29th, 2005 Press Release:

8-bit Software Galore: Enjoy all your favorite NES and Japanese Famicom games using one console.

Also, there’s this from their Official NEX FAQ:

Q: Does it contain custom ICs, or is it based around the NOAC [NES-on-a-chip] that most “clone” consoles are based around?
A: Our IC is a custom designed IC that is built on the NES algorithm. Every attention to detail has been spent on compatibility.

Did they even test this thing? How hard could it be to make a 100% compatible NES clone in 2005? And how could they possibly say it’s truly compatible with any game? Sigh. Marketing “oversight,” I guess.

I recently have been alerted to the fact that Messiah has posted a game compatibility list on their site — conveniently long after I committed my money to the NEX (I pre-ordered in August). It makes me think Messiah themselves didn’t get their hands on the final NEX hardware until about a week before I did. If I had seen the list beforehand, I definitely wouldn’t have ordered one. Also note that a game like River City Ransom (the first game I tested with it, incidentally) shows up on their list as working (as of this writing.. they may change it once they see the criticism), but in fact if you play it, the first intro-stage has really weird colors, THEN it shows the title screen, and then you start playing. God knows how else it’s garbled up if you keep going. So I think we can tell that their game compatibility list isn’t accurate.

The compatibility problem brings me to another issue. I suspect that the Messiah guys didn’t do the hardware development on this machine. I think they probably repackaged the latest Asian gray-market Famicom clone, perhaps adding the built-in wireless controller functionality themselves in the process (supposedly its best selling point, although I have not tested it). If anyone can find some hardware design credits on their site (There are none in the system manual, only to the “President” and some marketing guys), let us all know. This whole thing stinks like fish. And speaking of the President, here’s an inspiring word from the man himself, direct from their May 23rd, 2005 press release:

Brad Strahle, Messiah’s President, considers the Generation NEX to be one of the most important retro products available. “With the release of Generation NEX, we want the core gamer to know that we have not forgotten our roots. Classic gaming is where it all began and with Generation NEX the classics will live on.” Strahle continued, “All gamers will love playing their favorite retro games on the Generation NEX and enjoy them with a new passion.”

Safely considering myself to fall under the banner of “all gamers,” as mentioned by Mr. Strahle in the release, I am sorry to say that I don’t love playing my favorite “retro” games on the Generation NEX. The only new passion it has inspired in me is a distrust and dislike of a company known as Messiah Entertainment. I highly recommend staying far away from this me-too capitalize-on-retro-craze rip-off. It has game compatibility akin to, or even worse than, a $10 Chinese Famicom clone. For $60 you could probably get an original NES with a new 72-pin connector in it, some real NES controllers, and ten or more decent games. Avoid the NEX and get the real thing (Ebay is calling). With all its problems, it would have more appropriately been named the Generation SUX. Yeah, I know; that’s hitting below the belt. But I never promised a civil review.

By the way, if anyone is lured by the pseudo-stereo capability of this thing, don’t be impressed. Just use an RCA 1 Male to Two Female Y-cable on a normal NES. It splits the mono signal into two channels so you can easily plug it into both your left and right audio input on your TV or receiver.

With this thing being such a bust, check out my article on replacing the 72-pin cartridge connector on your NES and eliminating the blinkies.

Review Update (11/10/2005): A few people have told me that I didn’t mention that the NEX plays original Famicom carts as well as regular NES games (through a slot on the top of the unit), and that this is a strong feature of the unit. My review was originally targeted at people who were already familiar with the system’s features, hence the oversight. But it is worth mentioning, and it does play them — I tried the only two Famicom games I have (Robocop 2 and Zippy Race) the first day I got it, and they worked, although Robocop 2‘s music seemed a little messed up. The Famicom cartridge slot is a nice extra, but I reviewed this system from the standpoint of a complete NES replacement system, as it is primarily marketed. Unfortunately, the NEX fails miserably at this task. I suspect that the attractiveness of the NEX for most people (the general gaming public) would be as a replacement for an old, unreliable front-loading NES, for which they might actually have games. It’s highly likely that only the most dedicated of NES fans have Famicom carts they want to play. But if Famicom compatibility is your thing, go for it. Nobody’s stopping you but your own wallet.

Second Update (11/14/2005): If anyone wants to know more about Famicom to NES converters inside copies of Gyromite, check out my new article on it here.

Third Update (12/21/2005): What’s up with IGN’s weird Generation NEX review? I don’t know. My comments about it are here.