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View Full Version : Gross and interesting story about buying a famicom...



Graham Mitchell
12-03-2006, 03:35 AM
So, I took at trip to Seattle to study for my step 2 licensing exam. (I'm a med student, and we have a whole series of these things we have to take, so I went home so I could hang out with people other than myself during study breaks.) Anyway, the first day I got there (which was a couple weeks ago), I went in to Pink Godzilla in Seattle (they're linked from the DP front end) to buy a Famicom--something I'd bee wanting to do for awhile. The girl working there was very knoweldegable and helpful, and procured most of the games I wanted. She even sold me on one called Rodland that I was really excited to get home and start playing.

So, as some of you may or may not know, Famicoms only work with RF; no AV outputs. We were told that channel 95 or so on an NTSC us signal would play it, but we were having no such luck. In fact, the console wasn't getting warm when turned on, so I assumed the power supply or something was dead, and I decided to return the console. They were very nice and switched me without question. When I plugged in the second famicom I had brought home, I heard a sort of electrical "popping" noise, followed by a smell of burning plastic. Never a good sign. When I stopped swearing, I unplugged the console and took it to the garage to take it apart. Smoke and a foul smell was coming from the power supply; when I pulled said part out of the machine, a quick glance onto the board revealed that a spider had come and laid a sack of eggs in the Famicom, causing it to short when powered up. So I had to take it back AGAIN. This time, when I told the girl at the counter what had happened, she almost laughed and said "I would have cried if that happened to me!" They gave me the cash I payed for it, which I used to by a Generation NEX. I wanted to play some famicom games, and I was tired of taking chances. The NEX is alright. It's got some compatibility problems. Rodland, which is gorgeous, crashes after about 4 seconds of gameplay, CONSISTANTLY. Everything else I've tried works flawlessly, including US Gumshoe, King's Quest V, Galaxy 5000, and Galaga, in addition to Japanese Goonies, Arkanoid, Klax, Donkey Kong Jr., and Caslte akimouju borlaads;lk/jf special (It's that Castlevania for Kids spinoff game for the Famicom--really fun!). Sometimes the sound is a little off on these things, but it's better than nothing.

Now when I go in to Pink Godzilla they are extremely nice to me after dealing with dead and hybernating arthropods in my Famicom, and sometimes I get discounts. Works for me!

Seriously, though--if anybody from PG reads this--the store and the service are both fantastic. I don't have any regrets. Keep up the work. After you were so cool in dealing with that fiasco, I plan on being a relatively loyal customer!

smork
12-03-2006, 05:14 AM
There was a rather disgusting thread in clssic gaming a while back about nasty things people found in their systems or in systems they bought. Makes you think twice about buying old things...

One other thing to consider if you want an AV Famicom instead of springing for a NEX is getting a late-model AV Famicom (produced in early 90s) or a Twin Famicom. My Twin Fami has AV outputs and had the advantage of playing FDS games (not that I trust running old floppies through it, mind you)

Second the thoughts on Pink Godzilla -- was visiting Seattle last year and was quite impressed by their staff and selection! IIRC, bought a Saturn shooter, maybe Layer Section II... Good folks!

Graham Mitchell
12-03-2006, 11:41 AM
There was a rather disgusting thread in clssic gaming a while back about nasty things people found in their systems or in systems they bought. Makes you think twice about buying old things...

One other thing to consider if you want an AV Famicom instead of springing for a NEX is getting a late-model AV Famicom (produced in early 90s) or a Twin Famicom. My Twin Fami has AV outputs and had the advantage of playing FDS games (not that I trust running old floppies through it, mind you)

Second the thoughts on Pink Godzilla -- was visiting Seattle last year and was quite impressed by their staff and selection! IIRC, bought a Saturn shooter, maybe Layer Section II... Good folks!


I really would like to get one, actually, but they're pricey. Since I'm getting a Wii for Christmas, I figured I'd probably want to spend money on that right now, though I had an option to get a Sharp Twin Fami (over $200!) They had a copy of FDS Kid Icarus in the store, too, which is, in my opinion, probably the principal reason to get an FDS. Maybe one day when I'm rich and famous...

Tron 2.0
12-03-2006, 11:57 PM
There was a rather disgusting thread in clssic gaming a while back about nasty things people found in their systems or in systems they bought. Makes you think twice about buying old things...

One other thing to consider if you want an AV Famicom instead of springing for a NEX is getting a late-model AV Famicom (produced in early 90s) or a Twin Famicom. My Twin Fami has AV outputs and had the advantage of playing FDS games (not that I trust running old floppies through it, mind you)

Second the thoughts on Pink Godzilla -- was visiting Seattle last year and was quite impressed by their staff and selection! IIRC, bought a Saturn shooter, maybe Layer Section II... Good folks!
Agreed if you want AV try a Famicom AV or a Twin Famicom.

Still some times i see ppl sell modded famicoms, on ebay with the av on it.

The famicom is a great system not to mention it's cheap to collect for.

About the only time... i've spent a lot getting games for it is when the games are cib.Still if you buy them "loose" they can be had dirt cheap.

Right now my current setup is a famicom av plus a FDS to go with it.

If you can't find one on ebay for a good price, Graham Mitchell try japangamestock.com

Still if your happy with NEX that's ok. Just keep in mind... it won't work with all games such as the jpn version of Castlevania 3.

Graham Mitchell
12-04-2006, 08:34 AM
Yeah, I know. They had PC CV3 at Pink Godzilla, too. Thanks for all your advice, though! I really would like to get an FDS. Perhaps with my first decent paycheck...

How are the Sharp Twins? Is the disk drive fairly stable?

Tron 2.0
12-13-2006, 02:35 AM
How are the Sharp Twins? Is the disk drive fairly stable?
Don't know if the ST is better then the FDS or not.

Other then the belt drive can be "fragile" and must be replaced if it breaks.

I just went with the Famicom AV+FDS since it was a smaller set up compare to the Sharp Twin Famicom.