Help Needed: I have a Nintendo branded TV/VCD combo player [Archive]

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TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 02:31 PM

Ok Pressers, I found three of these units yesterday and was curious of where they came from.

They are combo TV/VCD Players from CMI Worldwide. Bright red in color with the Nintendo logo on the front above the screen.

The Video CD player plays when the system is plugged in and starts to play a VCD of Nintendo promos from a Nintendo issued CD when the N64 and GBC were in style.

The buttons on the front do not seem to do anything to control the VCD player, it just repeats over and over.

There is a standard AC plug in the back that takes the XBox/DC power cords to run. It also has a small 12v power port on the back which I have no idea what use it is for along with coaxial and RCA imput ports.

Any help on seeing if these units are good for anything would be great. Thanks in advance!

Here is a photo of the unit playing the VCD promo disc.

http://www.matthewandjenny.net/images/nintendotv.jpg

Mog_the_Destroyer

04-13-2005, 02:46 PM

collecting dust in my collection would be good. seriously i have no clue about these things for i haven't seen one before. maybe a picture from the back to personally see the input/output could help. did it come with a remote or anything?!?! whats it say on the serial tag, model number or something? just trying to get some other info.

TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 02:53 PM

Here you go, this one is of the back. All three have the same numbers for the most part.

http://www.matthewandjenny.net/images/nintendotv2.jpg

tholly

04-13-2005, 02:57 PM

wow....ive never seen one of those before, let alone three

that's a nice little find you got there

id love to know more about them though

how about a scan of the cd drive open and the disc thats in it?

gamegirl79

04-13-2005, 02:59 PM

That's very cool! I've never seen one before either, but it would make an awesome addition to a game room if nothing else.

From the picture it looks like it's black and white only? Or is that just my eyes playing tricks on me...

Mog_the_Destroyer

04-13-2005, 03:04 PM

i wonder what the mounts on the back are for?! maybe this thing has a stand that isn't around.

TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 03:04 PM

It is a color TV, lol. It is not THAT old! Here is a photo of the drive open with the CD. The CD has a professional label on it stating it is a Nintendo VCD, part #42092. Nintendo Power Previews Version 31 - English along with a Nintendo tech support number.

http://www.matthewandjenny.net/images/nintendotv3.jpg

TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 03:08 PM

Someone who works for Nintendo as a rep said he thought it may be from Wal-Mart (or some such store) and the straps on the back was part of the security to hold it on the shelf. Nintendo often makes custom displays for the big chain stores but he is not 100% sure. That could explain why the front buttons don't work...

gamegirl79

04-13-2005, 03:08 PM

The pic of the Star Wars Racer game just looked like it was in black and white to me. Old age is a terrible thing! LOL

Seriously though, where did you find those?

TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 03:13 PM

Of course this thread should have a 56k beware on it but o well....

Here is a photo of Bomberman. Of course TVs never photograph well but I waited until some ecplosions happened to snap the photo.

http://www.matthewandjenny.net/images/nintendotv4.jpg

TheRedEye

04-13-2005, 03:34 PM

You should set all three of them up, playing at the same time. Except instead of playing the Nintendo thing, they should be playing a VCD of Road House. And they should all be playing approximately one second apart, so that you have this constant, horrible echo effect. You said they constantly repeat, right? I see no flaw in this plan.

rbudrick

04-13-2005, 03:40 PM

I think I remember seeing these display units at least a couple times. It's sorta typical for dispaly units to have non-functional buttons....usually this indicates a remote is used with the unit so shoppers don't mess with it. :-)

Pretty cool score!

-Rob

Big Papa Husker

04-13-2005, 05:41 PM

Is there anyway you could rip the MPEG videos from there and put them up on a server? I'd love to see what was on the VCD.

portnoyd

04-13-2005, 05:50 PM

TheHammerGod

04-13-2005, 08:29 PM

If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for yours? I am going to get rid of the extra two units and could use any reference to trade value you could give. When I grabbed them I thought they had DVD players and was going to give them to my nieces for their play rooms but since it is a VCD player they won't be able to use them. One of course is in my collection! :D

Qixmaster

04-13-2005, 11:37 PM

I have one of those... no VCDs with it, but it plays homemade VCDs just fine. The buttons work, I think, they're just unresponsive. The seller I got it from didn't say where he got it. So.. basically, I'm as in the dark as you are. :)

Mine is in the CGE museum storage, so... can't help you with comparison. :\

dave

Yeah i was going to say that i saw this at CGE, but looks like port explained that well enough. When it was there, i had no idea what it was....thanks for the new info.

Also, I would be interested in purchasing one, so when you figure out a price, PLEASE let me know first :)

-Josh

AdamAnt316

04-13-2005, 11:49 PM

Perhaps that's what the Nintendo Power Previews CD I got along with my Pioneer Laserdisc player and NPPV LD was supposed to go in? The CD I got looks much different (it's version 20, versus the version 31 in the CMI unit, if I read it correctly). The plot thickens...
-Adam

TheHammerGod

04-14-2005, 02:47 PM

Thanks for all your help guys. I am going to keep one and put the other two up for trade in the marketplace forum. Thanks again!

goatdan

04-14-2005, 03:01 PM

I am almost positive those are the TVs that were used in Wal-Mart displays when the N64 / GBC were the big things goinng. I rarely frequent Wal-Mart's myself, but when I worked for a camp and the only real store there was for a good 100 miles around us was a Wal-Mart, I went there to purchase N64 games sometimes. I very vividly remember seeing one of these TVs above their store display giving you footage of each of the games. There was a playable demo koisk to the right of it.

This was at the Wal-Mart in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

THATinkjar

04-16-2005, 01:41 PM

Yeah I have to agree, this is almost certainly a display set. It's not functional enough to suggest it was ever sold. Did you steal it? LOL

DeputyMoniker

04-16-2005, 09:28 PM

Very cool! I guess this is what Nintendo did with their Phillips CD-i licenses. (Phillips used their Nintendo licenses for you-know-what)
Pretty interesting...I'll be looking into who did what with their licenses.

THATinkjar

04-17-2005, 05:27 AM

DeputyMoniker, I recently read a little write up on the history of the Sony PlayStation and it talks briefly about Phillips. Might be worth your time? Link (http://www.emulatronia.com/doctec/consolas/psx/sonyhst.txt). Though it isn't anything I haven't read before.

TheHammerGod

04-17-2005, 04:41 PM

If anyone is interested in the videos let me know - Bib Pappa asked me to rip them and I will post them for free for anyone who wants to check them out.

DeputyMoniker

04-17-2005, 05:14 PM

TheHammerGod

04-17-2005, 05:20 PM

This is totally off topic but...

Speaking of bathroom reading material...

Is Nintendo Power just the worst reading for the toilet? Whenever I grab a NP to read on the pot I wind up reading the back of the shampoo bottle, lol.

Play is excellent for the toilet though, nothing like a nice four page preview to loosen things up.