Best Hardware for NES Games Today?

[timewarpgamer]

Howdy, given official Nintendo hardware variations and the multitude of clones, what do you think is the best hardware for playing NES games today? I recently covered this topic in a feature at my site, so if you're interested you can find that here:

http://timewarpgamer.com/features/hardware_nes.html

Of course, it seems like every time I think I have it all figured out someone with more hardware familiarity enlightens me. Anyway, I'll be interested to see what y'all think.

[Edmond Dantes]

My front-loader is still the best NES I've ever owned. It's the only NES I've ever owned, but still.

[Cornelius]

Well, the *best* is a NES-101 that was sent in to Nintendo to have the a/v plug put in. These are exceedingly rare as you can imagine. I'll actually plead ignorance here because I don't know if these have the interference taken care of or not. They may still have the 'lines', which would probably disqualify them.

Next would be an AV Famicom. Basically this is the Japanese version of the 101, but they included a/v. These are kind of expensive but readily available.

While it isn't the best technically, the toaster NES is really the best choice for 99% of people. Great picture quality, and if the contacts on system and games are clean they work fine.

[VG_Maniac]

The original front loader NES is the best. Just put a new 72 pin connector in there and make sure to keep your games clean...and it works just fine. It has much better picture quality than the top loader does.

[Shulamana]

My front-loader is still the best NES I've ever owned. It's the only NES I've ever owned, but still.

This, I've never understood the appeal of clone systems when the original thing is still so ubiquitous.

[timewarpgamer]

Edmond Dantes and VG_Maniac, I hear what you're saying. My NES front-loader is still going strong.

Cornelius, thanks for pointing out that the Famicom HVC-101 actually does have composite output. I totally missed that. How much do they usually sell for? I only see one current eBay auction (http://www.ebay.com/itm/NINTENDO-AV-...ht_2889wt_1100) and it looks pretty damn pricy.

I notice that no one has mentioned the Retro Duo yet. For me, the appeal of that clone is that it can help save space and power outlets, compared to having both a NES and SNES, and the ability to easily play games from all regions (with an adapter for Famicom ones) is a great advantage over the original NES.

[Manga4life]

Aside from the original NES, I was a huge fan of the Generation NEX which was released about 5 years ago. Despite many claims that it didn't work with certain games I've personally had no issues running any game off the system and many games that were said not to work for many people worked flawlessly on my console. I didn't like the controllers much but I just used classic NES controllers since the ports were the same, but man o' man did the NEX have an awesome desgn. Also, some say that if you remove the cart from the system violently it could ruin the pins on the game (which is true), but through careful removal I've never damaged any cart in the 4 years or so I've had one. The sound was sterio as well, instead of analog, which sounded nice on my home surround sound system.

I still use my classic NES more often than my NEX, but I love that little machine and swearby it as an awesome hardware clone for the NES.

[Richter Belmount]

Sega genesis

[Ryudo]

NES 101 still works 25 years later

[Cornelius]

Edmond Dantes and VG_Maniac, I hear what you're saying. My NES front-loader is still going strong.

Cornelius, thanks for pointing out that the Famicom HVC-101 actually does have composite output. I totally missed that. How much do they usually sell for? I only see one current eBay auction (http://www.ebay.com/itm/NINTENDO-AV-...ht_2889wt_1100) and it looks pretty damn pricy.

I was watching them for a while when they came up for auction, and as I recall they were going for 120 or so plus shipping from Japan, so 150ish. So yeah, definitely pricey, but they come along regularly.

[InsaneDavid]

With the presented options I'd say the good old front loading toaster. If you'd like to expand into the Famicom and all things related, then I'd go with a Twin Famicom AN-505 model (either color). If you want one of those, I'm parting with mine.

[Parodius Duh!]

Front loader obviously. Why even put clones on that list? they dont play all games and rarely emulate audio 100% correctly. retro Duo sucks ass and they should all be tossed in a landfill and burned. As mentioned above, Sharp Twin Famicom is where its at.

[BlastProcessing402]

Front loader all the way, BAYBEE

Top loader, you either have AV or RF depending on the version, but front loaders give you both, and the AV can be used with any cables, not a proprietary connector.

Clones, if they were perfect, great, but they aren't, and if I'm going to be playing something imperfect, might as well stick to emulators where I can do neat stuff like save states or increase the speed during slow non skippable parts or whatever.

[MachineGex]

I got my toploader mod'ed and it totally took out the ghost lines. I think that is a good option for some, but without that mod, I wouldn't have the thing hooked up.

Obivously the front loader with new teeth make a great setup.

[Tupin]

An AV Famicom or Twin Famicom with a pin converter would be an awesome machine.

Doesn't the Famicom Titler have S-Video? That's so rare that it's probably out of the question, though.

[Tupin]

Double post.

[StealthLurker]

An AV Famicom or Twin Famicom with a pin converter would be an awesome machine.

Doesn't the Famicom Titler have S-Video? That's so rare that it's probably out of the question, though.

Well the Titler can also be tapped for true RGB output. Only commercial version with internal RGB capability.

.

[timewarpgamer]

I was watching them for a while when they came up for auction, and as I recall they were going for 120 or so plus shipping from Japan, so 150ish. So yeah, definitely pricey, but they come along regularly.

Thinking about the ultimate AV Famicom set-up...If you wanted to play American/PAL titles on that console, are there even adapters readily available to do that? Seems like going from American/PAL to Japanese is a no-brainer, but the other direction would be much rarer/specialized.

[timewarpgamer]

Aside from the original NES, I was a huge fan of the Generation NEX which was released about 5 years ago. Despite many claims that it didn't work with certain games I've personally had no issues running any game off the system and many games that were said not to work for many people worked flawlessly on my console. I didn't like the controllers much but I just used classic NES controllers since the ports were the same, but man o' man did the NEX have an awesome desgn. Also, some say that if you remove the cart from the system violently it could ruin the pins on the game (which is true), but through careful removal I've never damaged any cart in the 4 years or so I've had one. The sound was sterio as well, instead of analog, which sounded nice on my home surround sound system.

I still use my classic NES more often than my NEX, but I love that little machine and swearby it as an awesome hardware clone for the NES.

Wow, I remember reading about the Gen Nex when it first came out and thinking about how cool it would be to have wireless controllers. Do you have those? How well do they work?

[treismac]

The Front Loader is easily my favorite. Besides having the superior picture and not forcing you to use the meh RF adapter, I find the sound quality to be superior as well. My Top Loader is a cool novelty, to be sure, but it is not how I play my NES games*. Once you factor in the nostalgia of the original, which is a huge part of my retro gaming, the fight isn't even close. All three of my toasters play great with clean games. At worst, I have to wiggle the cartridge a bit on occasion- a small price to pay to not have vertical lines streaking down my TV.

I've never played the Retro Duo, so I can't comment on it. The fact that it doesn't have NES controller ports is a bid draw back, though. I have a relatively large collection of NES controllers that would be rendered useless with a Retro Duo. Not cool, man.

* Feeling my Top Loader's neglect, I'm going to play her tonight.