Should I only consider the official NES top loader?

[Malon_Forever]

I'm looking into getting a top loading NES, but there seems to be a ton of different models out there. So, should I only consider the official Nintendo model? Thanks!

[TheDomesticInstitution]

I don't think there is one knockoff that plays 100% of NES games. Games like Castlevania 3 don't work on these consoles. Also the Official Nintendo Top Loader has to be hooked up via RF, and can't be hooked up with RCA jacks. So the picture quality won't be as good as the Standard NES console.

I love my regular NES, and wouldn't think of buying a top loader. I take apart all of my games and clean them, so I don't have much of a problem with blinking. If you take care of your NES, clean your games, and disable the lockout chip, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a good old model 1 NES.

[skaar]

What he said.

[MichaelXX2]

I love my top loader. The stupid knockoffs make you look like an idiot with them, and they always have stupid glitches and sound problems. If you get the official top loader, the games work every time and you can brag to your friends "I own a rare system." Yes, get the official one. You'll have less reliability issues as well.

[Bandicat]

I'd would get an original NES and replace the 72 pin connector and clean the games. It's cheaper and will work like a charm. If you don't want to hassle with that and are willing to trade off the AV capability, I would get the original top loader.

I bought a Yobo Top Loader when they first hit the market. It's a piece of crap. Some games didn't work in it, others had the color washed out or the sound was simply screwed up. The entire thing has that cheap flimsy Chinese flea market knock-off feel to it.

[mobiusclimber]

The official top loader is going to be a much better choice than any of the knockoffs. Most are flimsy, break easily, and don't play the games correctly. Some other good choices would be:

AV Famicom + converter - all the style of a top loader w/ the added bonus of being able to play Famicom games AND having av instead of rf.

Regular NES - It's pretty easy to open up a toaster NES and clean the pins. After you do that, make sure you always clean newly purchases games before putting them inside. This will keep everything working like a charm. I'm pretty anti-new-72-pin-connector "mods" just because I've found them to be much tighter than a normal NES and not really adding anything (because you can get the same results usually just from cleaning your NES).

[Soviet Conscript]

AV Famicom + converter - all the style of a top loader w/ the added bonus of being able to play Famicom games AND having av instead of rf.

its a little more effort to get but there not to much more then a US toploader if you get one loose. like Mob said you get the benifits of playing fami games and a/v output as a bonus as well as the option to get a FDS system eventually.

[Jehusephat]

I have an official top-loading NES, but I keep my front-loader hooked up to the television as my main system because the image quality from the top-loader isn't as good. There are vertical lines every 8 pixels or so that run all the way down the screen, altering the pixel colors slightly. It isn't a huge deal, but I was disappointed. I only paid $5 for mine, though, so I just put it in a box somewhere as a backup just in case my front-loader finally dies on me. I remember reading about an individual who charged a reasonable fee to add A/V out to the NES 2 and fix the vertical line problem, but that was a few years ago. If I had the technical know-how to fix it myself, I'd definitely be using my NES 2 as my primary system. I just don't really mind having to perform occasional maintenance on my front-loader if it means having better image quality.

[Gameguy]

Also the Official Nintendo Top Loader has to be hooked up via RF, and can't be hooked up with RCA jacks. So the picture quality won't be as good as the Standard NES console.

I just posted this recently on another forum so I might as well post it here word for word.


There was an official version of the US Top Loader that had AV outputs but they're very rare. Apparently they weren't sold in stores, if someone complained to Nintendo about the RF output(or needed it to be repaired) and mailed in their unit, the system board would be replaced with one that had AV output.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic...top-loader-av/
http://techforums.nintendo.com/nins/...&thread.id=161

[BetaWolf47]

I heard that the NES2 that had AV out was a French unit.

[Arkhan]

I love my regular NES, and wouldn't think of buying a top loader. I take apart all of my games and clean them, so I don't have much of a problem with blinking. If you take care of your NES, clean your games, and disable the lockout chip, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a good old model 1 NES.

the best part about the original NES is that you can stack something else on top, like a genesis.

cant stack shit with the top loader!

especially after you put a game in it and its officially the tallest thing ever

[mobiusclimber]

You can stack stuff on top, but I just realized (from doing this) that it's not ideal if you switch out carts a lot. Thankfully I play mostly RPGs, but that door on the cartridge slot won't open with something sitting on top of the NES.

[Gameguy]

I heard that the NES2 that had AV out was a French unit.

The thing is I also heard that the French unit rumour was started from a comment on Assembler and people just spread it. I've also heard that it was an Australian unit instead of French, but I've looked up Australian units and they appear to use RF cables, the cables look slightly different than US RF switches but the connection is still the same from what plugs into the system. There were also people saying that they were store demo units.

Several different people claim that they got their personal systems like that directly from Nintendo so I tend to believe them more, rather than people guessing where it "probably" came from(France, Australia, store demo unit, etc).

Can anyone verify what units were available in France? Was the top loader even released in France? I've found pictures of a standard NES from France, the label on the bottom is labeled clearly for France unlike the label on that top loader, also the output is labeled RGB on the France unit and not AV like the top loader. If the AV top loader was specifically made only for France why would they not make it look specific like they did with the standard NES? Shouldn't it have different, more region specific labels?

http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/20...gb-output.html

[Arkhan]

You can stack stuff on top, but I just realized (from doing this) that it's not ideal if you switch out carts a lot. Thankfully I play mostly RPGs, but that door on the cartridge slot won't open with something sitting on top of the NES.

so slide the thing on top back enough that the door can open...

[tubeway]

so slide the thing on top back enough that the door can open...

Remove the door, and beef min is calmed.

[Arkhan]

but then it looks ghetto!

and dust gets in there.

maybe remove it and put a cloth over it, preferably like, a mario handkerchief.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

There was an official version of the US Top Loader that had AV outputs but they're very rare. Apparently they weren't sold in stores, if someone complained to Nintendo about the RF output(or needed it to be repaired) and mailed in their unit, the system board would be replaced with one that had AV output.

While it's a cool bit of history, it's probably not a practical alternative to the OP. Of course time and money are no object to some on here, and if that's the case well... go for it. I would assume that these are nearly impossible to find.

[Robocop2]

I personally prefer the front loader if for no other reason than nostalgia factor. Not mention I think the top loader is ugly but that's not really your question so I'll stop that right there.

I would say that I wouldn't waste time with a famiclone when you can get an authentic NES for a similar price, have a much more reliable system (remember most if not all clones are not built as sturdily as an official unit), and be relatively assured it won't have issues with playing games.

[Zoltor]

I'm looking into getting a top loading NES, but there seems to be a ton of different models out there. So, should I only consider the official Nintendo model? Thanks!

Omg yes, what ever you do, never buy the ripoffs(cheap ripoffs at that), they don't work in the slightest for the most part(although the ripoff controllers oddly enough work fine on a original NES system), and like has been mentioned, providing you can even get one to work, they tend to not plat 100% of the games.

PS. the original top loaders may be a bit pricey(possibly the only marketed "system" that actually has collectible value, without it still being factory sealed), but It's very reliable, and about as durables as the SNES system(aka so it will last atlest 20 years of "use", and most likely alot longer providing you don't abuse it ofcourse).

[mobiusclimber]

but then it looks ghetto!

and dust gets in there.

maybe remove it and put a cloth over it, preferably like, a mario handkerchief.

I'm definitely not removing the door. I'm just going to have to live with it, and anyway, like I said, I don't need to change out carts too often unless I'm testing the carts. I think it's probably more of a problem for me b/c of what's on top: a Japanese Saturn. So just pushing it back doesn't work because of the position of the controller (right over the NES door).

Can you tell I just rearranged my living room with a new shelf and have all my consoles in a new place now? I don't like it, but it's better than having cord strewn all over the floor I guess.