NES solutions for a 9-year old

[IHatedSega]

Yeah, Im gonna be biased and say go with Nestopia and spend the money on a GOOD NES usb controller or read up on how to make a real one end with a usb connector.

You should tell her though not to try and emulate newer systems, theres no emulators for PSP, 3DS, 360 and PS3.

[MidnightRider]

Yeah, Im gonna be biased and say go with Nestopia and spend the money on a GOOD NES usb controller or read up on how to make a real one end with a usb connector.

You should tell her though not to try and emulate newer systems, theres no emulators for PSP, 3DS, 360 and PS3.

I think you mean Vita, because there is a PSP emulator. Possibly 2.

As for the topic, that's a tough call. If she's watching his videos, does that mean she expects the console/cartridges like he has?

I suppose in the end, you could try the emulation thing, and if she's disappointed by it, eventually try to get her the real deal.

Also, he reviews god awful games, what exactly are her expectations?

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

Don't use Nestopia. She won't find any value in, or appreciate any of the games if she has access to a thousand at once. Make her have to work for it.

I think a front-loader with a new connector would be best. In my experience the clone systems aren't any easier to get games to play than a refurbished front-loader.

[CRTGAMER]

Test the NES before buying
This will confirm if it works. Get a Toaster for the originality and complete compatibility of all the NES carts. If the contacts has problems with games you can bend each contact slightly with a pin. Replacement connectors tend to be too tight and wipe out the "ZIFF" capability compared to the factory connector.

[Flam]

Test the NES before buying and wipe out the "ZIFF" capability compared to the factory connector.

What is "ZIFF"?

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

What is "ZIFF"?

Zero Insertion Force

no idea what the extra F is for.

The only reason I thought of the emulator route would be that I already have the ROMs, and usb adapters are relatively easy to find. It would be a simple matter to set that up on their family computer. Emulation would also let her experience the system with minimal investment. But she has expressed interest in actually owning hardware.

Unless somebody can convince me that a famiclone is "good enough" I guess I'll hold out for a toaster or load an emulator onto the family pc. I guess I could always ask her opinion, huh?

If you set up an emulator you might as well not even go to the trouble. I'm one of the biggest defenders and proponents of emulation you'll find, but I can guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt she'll get bored and want to do something else within 30 minutes if it's just the family pc with some ROMS on it.

The systems, the controllers, the cartridges would be HERS. That's what would keep her attention and make it mean something. They're toys after all.

Also, does it have to be an American system? Seems to me a Famicom might be better suited to 9 year old girls tastes.



Cheap lots with many games are on ebay all the time.

Ask around on the board, you might be surprised. I'm sure somebody would want to cut a deal considering where the system is going.

[theclaw]

Toaster is too unreliable. It's a buzz kill to have cartridges consistently fail to load.

Famicom? Hmm. I doubt those short controller cords would go over well...

[Ro-J]

Don't make the mistake of trying to improve on what she wants, she'll ultimately become disappointed.

[Tanooki]

Will you be helping her with this setup?

The reason I'm asking is sure a real NES (1st or 2nd) model would be nice, the NES-2 style rarely doesn't pull up a game which may help but goes for a little more like $60 without the new style controllers unless you get a little lucky. That said, if you're helping I can think of two good choices. You could go the emulator route, not so much on the PC, but if she has a GBA already you could setup PocketNES for her which works fantastic and requires no added steps to load/save games with a battery.

Another choice, but this would require more time due to needing more cash, get the girl a retrousb.com NES PowerPak. That thing can load up basically any NES game except for MMC5 titles(Castlevania 3 works though), Famicom, and Famicom Disk System games. The menu maybe boring and simple to look at, but at her age I"m sure she can read through the directories and pick a game to use. The only other problem is the saving/loading on it kind of sucks and it's a pirate device in the ends being used that way.

[Compute]

The only reason I thought of the emulator route would be that I already have the ROMs, and usb adapters are relatively easy to find. It would be a simple matter to set that up on their family computer. Emulation would also let her experience the system with minimal investment. But she has expressed interest in actually owning hardware.

Unless somebody can convince me that a famiclone is "good enough" I guess I'll hold out for a toaster or load an emulator onto the family pc. I guess I could always ask her opinion, huh?