Famicom or adapter for the Retron 3

[mkenyon2]

Hi guys, first post. I tried searching for an answer, but didn't find what I was looking for.

I'm getting into NES and noticed a few games for Famicom I'd love to try. (Goonies 1 for instance.) To play NES, I went with a Retron 3, since it got me 3 physical systems (4 if you count Super Gameboy) quickly, and cheaply.

So, my initial thinking is to get a Famicom to NES adapter to plug into the Retron. (Again, staying budget conscious for now.) But will that work? Has anybody tried it? At this point, I'm looking to play physical carts, but with budget in mind.

[Az]

Yep, it will work without issues. You can also buy one of those cheaper converters designed only for clone consoles that does not have the CIC chip needed for a real NES.

[drunk3nj3sus]

Hi guys, first post. I tried searching for an answer, but didn't find what I was looking for.

I'm getting into NES and noticed a few games for Famicom I'd love to try. (Goonies 1 for instance.) To play NES, I went with a Retron 3, since it got me 3 physical systems (4 if you count Super Gameboy) quickly, and cheaply.

So, my initial thinking is to get a Famicom to NES adapter to plug into the Retron. (Again, staying budget conscious for now.) But will that work? Has anybody tried it? At this point, I'm looking to play physical carts, but with budget in mind.

Since it's a NOAC it should work fine, games with expansion audio won't have their full music but their really aren't that many

Famicom has a lot of great games that never got released here and the prices are typically way cheaper than NES, heres a few that should all be $10 or less and don't really require any japanese, goonies, king kong 2, magical taruruuto-kun 1 & 2, jumping kid, great battle cyber, hi no tori, ninja jajamaru ginga daisakusen, youkai douchuuki, motocross champion, sd gundam hero soukessen

[jb143]

Also, just in case you weren't already aware. Some early NES carts had an adapter in them you can use. If you're lucky enough to already have one they would *potentially* be in a 5 screw cart and I believe have all the contacts.

I say *potentially* because even then, it's no guarantee there's an adapter in it.

[mkenyon2]

Also, just in case you weren't already aware. Some early NES carts had an adapter in them you can use. If you're lucky enough to already have one they would *potentially* be in a 5 screw cart and I believe have all the contacts.

I say *potentially* because even then, it's no guarantee there's an adapter in it.

Hmm... that's a thought. I'd read about that. Maybe I'll look at my local game store to see if there's one there.

[jb143]

There's probably some other criteria that I can't remember off the top of my head that you could narrow your search with. I think it was only used in certain games. Still, I think the only way to know for sure is to open it up... other than perhaps weighing the cart.

[Cornelius]

There's probably some other criteria that I can't remember off the top of my head that you could narrow your search with. I think it was only used in certain games. Still, I think the only way to know for sure is to open it up... other than perhaps weighing the cart.

You can tell by looking at the pins. I forget exactly, but the shape of the pins is different, like a tip is at the side instead of in the middle or something like that. Google or search on here could tell you.

[Niku-Sama]

that's exactly right, the contacts on the 5 screw black label NES games peak to one side instead of in the middle

[BlastProcessing402]

IIRC Gyromite is the most common of the carts with adapters inside. Not the only one, not by far, but the one most people have found them in.

None have been found in any of my 5 screw carts, but most of mine are from late 86 or later, I have no 85 stuff (and no Gyromite at all), which would be the likeliest carts to look for if you had a way to narrow it down to that.

[mkenyon2]

Okay folks, I got excited... I was at my local game store, and found a 5 screw excitebike... and the pins looked different from other carts! Brought it home, no go.

I'll keep looking... it's actually kind of fun.

[jb143]

IIRC Gyromite is the most common of the carts with adapters inside. Not the only one, not by far, but the one most people have found them in.


Isn't Hogan's Alley another somewhat common one?

And I'm pretty sure I remember that even if all other criteria are correct there's still a chance there's no adapter inside so the only way to know for sure is to open it up and look. Of course, these are all very old memories. I remember being on the lookout years ago but never finding one.

[jb143]

I just looked through all my 5 screw carts and made a couple of observations. First, and somewhat obvious, they are missing the tabs on the top that the 3 screw carts have which make them easy to spot. Especially the way I usually see them in the display counter at game stores.

Second, the carts will balance if you place a finger on each side of the line under "caution" on the bottom of the cart. A bit higher or lower, they won't. It seems to me that if there were a hunk of plastic in there then the center of gravity would be way off.

Of course I wasn't able to try on an adapter cart since I don't have one, and maybe this is old news, but it would be nice to have a quick and easy way to test that didn't require a screw driver.

[Tanooki]

The early NES games with the adapter are not too hard to find. They weigh more than normal. The pins tips are offset to the left. They are all within 5 screw carts too. STackup while not cheap 100% of them have it at least to weight compare a cheaper Gyromite cart which is the most common, though Hogan's Alley can be often found with it too.

[Cornelius]

Here's a NA thread where this is discussed, though unfortunately the pictures are now missing. A quick skim and I think the pin tips have to be to the side AND have a full complement of pins. I'm pretty sure we have a good thread about this here somewhere, but my quick search didn't find it.

http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=59447