Famicom questions-disk system especially

[SparTonberry]

Not sure how many games actually used the microphone.
Supposedly Takeshi's Challenge, Palutena's Mirror (Kid Icarus) and Zelda FDS.
(I heard the microphone was used to insta-kill the Pols Voices. I know the arrow weakness was added for the NES version (ineffective in FDS version). Not sure about the FC cart version.)

[Mathius]

Thats kind of harsh, Does any company still make them?

Not that I know of. But, lots of Japanese stores still carry them.

[rbudrick]

Not only do the belts wear out, but occasionally, the head needs to be retuned...which isn't for everyone.

I toiled and spent many months in my dungeon coming up with a fail-safe solution for drive head tuning, and I created a guide if anyone wants it:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TFFT5C5U

I figured the world needed a good method for this, as many years of frustration made me almost insane in trying to solve this little mofo.

For those who have no technical ability and can't take the heartache of a non-working system, the PowerPak now supports FDS images. I know it's not the same as the "real thing," but it's still bounds better than emulation.

-Rob

[Ze_ro]

A few questions of my own:

• Do these belts break because they're simply poor quality, or are they under too much stress in the FDS? Is there any way to extend their life span? (ie, soaking them in oil or something to soften them)
• If I'm not mistaken, the Twin Famicom is also subject to broken belts... is it any easier to replace them on a Twin Famicom than it is on a regular FDS?
• When the belt does break, does it cause any other damage inside the machine that should be looked after? (rbudrick: Is this the retuning you speak of, or is that simply a matter of the head falling out of alignment over time?)
• I assume the Twin Famicom uses a single power cord, while the Famicom+FDS uses two? Or did people actually run the FDS on batteries?

--Zero

[Mathius]

A few questions of my own:

• Do these belts break because they're simply poor quality, or are they under too much stress in the FDS? Is there any way to extend their life span? (ie, soaking them in oil or something to soften them)
• If I'm not mistaken, the Twin Famicom is also subject to broken belts... is it any easier to replace them on a Twin Famicom than it is on a regular FDS?
• When the belt does break, does it cause any other damage inside the machine that should be looked after? (rbudrick: Is this the retuning you speak of, or is that simply a matter of the head falling out of alignment over time?)
• I assume the Twin Famicom uses a single power cord, while the Famicom+FDS uses two? Or did people actually run the FDS on batteries?

--Zero

For the Twin Famicom, the belt swap is identical to the FDS. Lukemorse1 has a great You-Tube vid for the belt swap

[Sonicwolf]

Is the Twin Famicom just as prone to belt snappage?

[rbudrick]

Well, considering the drive mechanism is identical, I would have to say yes. This is just educated speculation, though I couldn't imagine any other scenario.

-Rob