NES Flash Cart is here!

[Jagasian]

It looks like the NES Flash cart that I mentioned months ago, is finally finished. Well, at least the hardware is finished. The CPLD firmware still only has support for a few mappers. The cart now has USB support, so you can burn games to the cart by hooking it up to your PC via a USB cable. Check out the new picture of the cart:
http://ameba.lpt.fi/~hataarto/nes/

...and the article on NesWorld:

http://www.nesworld.com/

Membler's, the guy that runs NES Dev, will possibly make and sell pre-built FunkyFlashCarts. He is currently building his first prototype from Arto's kit. Every NES fan has been waiting for something like this for many years. Currently the cart only supports a few mappers, so you are very limited in which games can be burned to the cart, but because the cart uses a CPLD, support for additional mappers can be added later. The hardware is supposed to be capable of supporting enough mappers to be able to burn 99% of all NES games to the cart. Only the really complicated mappers will not be able to be burned to the cart.

Here is the list of games that are confirmed to work with the cart. (http://ameba.lpt.fi/~hataarto/nes/games.txt) Of course, this is when you use the cart with a real NES ;)

Note that due to the updatable nature of the FunkyFlashCart, this list will improve over time. So most people will want to wait until more mapper support is added, but developers and hardcore NES fans will want to buy one right away.

[Blitzwing256]

now are you using "burned" correctly?
Ie can you only copy stuff to it once or is it re-writable?

[johno590]

Now that is a very cool thing. I think I would definately buy one of those. Could any game from a pretty good list. Sure NES games arn't that expensive, but it'd be neat to be able to play lots of games.

Is that something legal that they can mass produce and sell? Doesn't seem like it, but who knows.

[Jagasian]

It is legal to produce. Also, by "burn" I mean "write". It is re-writable. I figure people are used to burning CDRWs, which can be re-written. I think the main advantage of such a cartridge is that you can play home brews, rare games, fan translations, and prototypes on a real NES.

[Leroy]

I want one. So bad.

[EdEdison]

Is that something legal that they can mass produce and sell? Doesn't seem like it, but who knows.

Hmm... It depends I guess, if they reverse engineer the NES lockout chip. I'm sure Nintendo doesn't care anymore, anyway.

[Jagasian]

It will most likely just reuse the lockout chip and plastic shell from a common real NES game. There are millions of copies of Super Mario Bros / Duck Hunt out there, and each contains a lockout chip and plastic shell. Considering that at most, a few thousand of these flash carts will be made, it will be easier and cheaper to just re-use those parts as opposed to designing/creating new parts.

[InsaneDavid]

Do you know how tight the clearances are around the RAM and flash chips in relation to the plastic cart shell? If at all possible (I do plan on buying the parts and assembling one of these) I would like to use sockets for those chips so if the chips ever have a failure I could easily replace them without all the desoldering involved if they were hardwired.

...putting that CPLD in is going to be a bitch. :/

Also just to clarify (sure this will change somewhat) the way it's going to be distributed is the PCB, USB cable, and upload software would be purchased from Arto. Then they'll be a components list and one will order the individual components from other source(s) and assemble the cart themselves. Correct?

[Nesmaster]

umm

i want one

NOW

:-P

[segagamer4life]

umm

i want one

NOW

:-P

this is an awesome find. I need to get one down the road.... greaaaaaaaaaat.

[Jagasian]

Also just to clarify (sure this will change somewhat) the way it's going to be distributed is the PCB, USB cable, and upload software would be purchased from Arto. Then they'll be a components list and one will order the individual components from other source(s) and assemble the cart themselves. Correct?

Kits will be sold, yes, but another person is planning on selling pre-built carts. The ICs are too large to socket, AFAIK.

[rbudrick]

I must confess I don't have a huge knowledge of which mappers do what, but I figured I should ask....what games WON'T this cart play? I figured that was probably a much shorter list than what it will.....or maybe not? Hopefully, I'm not the only one wondering exactly how comprehensive the cart is. :-)

-Rob

[Leo_A]

So can this be used like a Cuttle Cart II with more than 1 game on it? Or is it more like the original 2600 Cuttle Cart where you can only have 1 game on it at a time?

And how does it handle battery saves for the games that used them?

[Jagasian]

From what I understand, the hardware is not capable of supporting games that use the most powerful mappers. For NES games, this means games that use MMC5, which are very few. You can find lists of what games use what mappers via google. There are Famicom-only mappers that will also not work with the FunkyFlashCart. The cart is capable of supporting more than 95% of all Famicom and NES games. If you want to play that remaining 5%, you will have to buy the actual carts.

However, the only official compatibility list is the one linked above, which is actually quite bad looking, as very few games are listed as confirmed to work. But this will improve over time, due to the updatable nature of the hardware.

You can read more details about what will and will not work with this flash cart here:
http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=463&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[NESaholic]

Wow that's some fine work there,congrats man.If any are up for sale soon i would want one! :D

[rbudrick]

From what I understand, the hardware is not capable of supporting games that use the most powerful mappers. For NES games, this means games that use MMC5, which are very few. You can find lists of what games use what mappers via google. There are Famicom-only mappers that will also not work with the FunkyFlashCart. The cart is capable of supporting more than 95% of all Famicom and NES games. If you want to play that remaining 5%, you will have to buy the actual carts.

However, the only official compatibility list is the one linked above, which is actually quite bad looking, as very few games are listed as confirmed to work. But this will improve over time, due to the updatable nature of the hardware.

You can read more details about what will and will not work with this flash cart here:
http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=463&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

How many NES games used mmc5? I think CV III and Kirby used them, off the top of my head. Also, which other JP mappers don't work? Since the cart is updateable, is it possible the functionality for these mappers will be added?

-Rob

[Great Hierophant]

How many NES games used mmc5? I think CV III and Kirby used them, off the top of my head. Also, which other JP mappers don't work? Since the cart is updateable, is it possible the functionality for these mappers will be added?

-Rob

Here are the NES games that used an MMC5:

Bandit Kings of Ancient China
Castlevania III
Gemfire
Laser Invasion
L'Empereur
Nobunaga's Ambition
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
Uncharted Waters

Notice that Kirby is not on that list, it uses an MMC3. Other Famicom games also use an MMC5. The problem with some of the Famicom cartridges is that they use mappers similar in complexity to the MMC5. The chip inside the FunkyFlashCart, doesn't have enough logic blocks to simulate the functionality of the most complex chips.

[prismra]

now are you using "burned" correctly?


I think he means 'Flash'

[Niku-Sama]

schweet....he needs pre orders....but the trend seems to be delaying it so mabe not so good

i am for sure gonna get one

[InsaneDavid]

The cart improves yet again...

Three new mappers were added today, BNROM, CNROM and Color Dreams / Wisdom Tree. Since the cart would have an NES lockout chip (harvested from another game) installed, wouldn't this mean that the Color Dreams / Wisdom Tree games would start up first try, no BS? Very interesting. :hmm: