Nintendo NES 8-bit and Famicom retro game inter-region compatibility and conversion.
NTSC and NTSC-J to PAL.
You'll find an abundance of NES info on the net, so here I shall divulge my own NES and Famicom experiments and findings, based on my PAL A region NES.
I have already collected most of the PAL games that I liked, but found myself craving some exciting American NTSC titles that aren't available in PAL.
I didn't want to achieve my goal by just cutting pin 4 of the lockout chip inside the console, I'm an aspie perfectionist. I theorised that by changing the cartridge's lock-out chip from NTSC to PAL A, it would open up a new bunch of games to satisfy my inner child. Firstly, obtain the 3.8mm cartridge screw tool which is marked (NEX USA #6), and the blue biro rubbers are great for carefully cleaning the edge connector. The American NTSC games I bought that worked faultlessly after changing the lockout chip are:
Millipede, Gyruss, Cabal, Klax, Othello, Galaga and Pipe Dream.
The NTSC games that are perfectly playable but have a small graphics glitch are:
Qix (just a 2 pixel horizontal line that flickers to the beat of the music!)
Defender 2 (the info bar at the top of the screen takes a second to line up when starting a new level.)
Slalom (the worst one due to the top half not lining up with the bottom half when skiing round a bend, still very playable, but a tough game.)
I have already collected most of the PAL games that I liked, but found myself craving some exciting American NTSC titles that aren't available in PAL.
I didn't want to achieve my goal by just cutting pin 4 of the lockout chip inside the console, I'm an aspie perfectionist. I theorised that by changing the cartridge's lock-out chip from NTSC to PAL A, it would open up a new bunch of games to satisfy my inner child. Firstly, obtain the 3.8mm cartridge screw tool which is marked (NEX USA #6), and the blue biro rubbers are great for carefully cleaning the edge connector. The American NTSC games I bought that worked faultlessly after changing the lockout chip are:
Millipede, Gyruss, Cabal, Klax, Othello, Galaga and Pipe Dream.
The NTSC games that are perfectly playable but have a small graphics glitch are:
Qix (just a 2 pixel horizontal line that flickers to the beat of the music!)
Defender 2 (the info bar at the top of the screen takes a second to line up when starting a new level.)
Slalom (the worst one due to the top half not lining up with the bottom half when skiing round a bend, still very playable, but a tough game.)
I also bought Ultimate Frogger Champion from RetroUSB, which works perfectly due to the multi-region ciclone chip. An excellent addition to the collection. I won't buy anymore things from the US, owing to the rip-off import duty tax and the £8 Royal Mail handling charge, although I would have liked Gem Venture from RetroUSB too.
Then I discovered Japanese Famicom games, realising that the Famicom and the NES use the same programming, just in incompatible packages. I experimented with a cheap battered Antarctic Adventure, removed the PCB and hardwired it to a NES PCB with the ROM chips removed, leaving the lock-out chip in position, the wiring of a famicom to NES adapter is shown below. Not all, but most connections are required, depending on the Famicom game.
Antarctic Adventure works perfectly. Twin Bee got the same treatment and works perfectly. I used a TL ROM-03 NES PCB for Antarctic adventure and Twin-Bee as they have the essential NES pin 15.
Twin Bee (left) and Antarctic Adventure (right), coupled together harmoniously in my ultra-rare format.
Antarctic Adventure, De-block, Quarth and Twinbee, cased up and labelled.
I peeled a label from Batman ROTJ, scanned it and used it as a template, then imported my edited images onto the template.
Microsoft Paint rules!
Tetris 2 and Bombliss, two groovy games in one.
Tricky to fit into a NES case, but it's worth the effort. The Famicom Tetris 2 is the real Tetris, not to be confused with NES Tetris 2 - which is a heavily altered but noble variant.
Famicom Tetris 2 is much smoother and more playable that the NES Tetris, and it saves your name and scores.
Famicom Tetris 2 is much smoother and more playable that the NES Tetris, and it saves your name and scores.
Klax by Tengen was an interesting conversion from NTSC to PAL A as the lockout chip is built into the mapping chip. I fitted the PAL A lock-out chip by drilling two extra holes in the PCB around an unused 14 pin chip location, then re-routed the six connections required to the PAL A chip by cutting a few tracks and making some new links. It's an excellent strategy game based on the unrelenting conveyor-belt of doom.
I built my own experimental converter using NES Batman PCB, two 30 way ribbon cables and a 0.1 inch edge connector at the Famicom end. This was to enable me to play Magic Jewelry I and II without dismantling these rarities. I had to add a NES pin 56 by super-gluing a copper contact to the sacrificial Batman PCB to make Magic Jewelry 1 work, both Jewelrys work perfectly on the converter. On some famicom games, namely Deblock and Flipull, interference in the ribbon cables cause flickering and game crashes, this was overcome using tin foil between the two ribbons. Deblock still flickered irritatingly so I grafted it onto a Ghostbusters II PCB where it worked perfectly. Other games like Babel, Hatris, Chack'n Pop and Lode Runner, Space invaders, Gomoku and Egypt all work perfectly on the converter. The only famicom game that fails is Devil World - it crashes on level 2 or 3 disappointingly, even on the better converter on the next page.
My prototype converter, NES Batman (Return of the joker) experimentally sacrificed like a lab rat.
The trick is to work out which unworthy NES games you despise, work out which pins the famicom game needs and then find a happy match. The TL-ROM-03 suits a lot of Famicom games, you'll find these in the diabolical Low-G-Man, Alien 3 and Totally Rad, amongst others. You hacksaw the mapping chip section from the PCB and then there is room to fit both NES PCB and Famicom PCB in an NES case. Most wires fit into the holes from where the NES ROM chips were removed. It's best not to use stranded wire, but a solid conductor, as the wiring needs to be precise and stay neat. I use computer data cable, it's like domestic telephone cable - not the flexible variety.
My Dr Mario modification proved to be a winner. If you like playing two player Dr Mario but don't like the bombardment of boulders sent to the your opponent when you get multiple line clears, then plug Dr Mario onto a Galoob Game Genie PCB and fit it into a NES case, then you dont have to jam the nasty Game Genie in at a dubious angle, protruding from your NES like a jaunty javelin. The Genie PCB needs a bit of filing here and there but can be located perfectly by a patient perfectionist. The Genie PCB is thicker to overcome the original inability to 'push down' the game as it is sticking out of the NES, but by doing this mod puts a lot less strain on the NES. The Genie code for no boulders is GXUPLGVT and GZKOIZVT.
A similar thing can be done with Dizzy, I have no idea how to play it - I think a map may be needed. Dizzy was a plug-through, it had no lockout chip and requires the lock-out chip of a genuine cartridge plugged into it, and it sticks out of the console like the game genie.
It only needs the six connections to the attached lockout donor, 5v, Gnd, key pair and lock pair. The extra connections are for strength. The Dizzy PCB needs careful filing to fit around the plastic pillars. I think this was my first attempt at conversions, my choice of wire was a tad extreme..
It only needs the six connections to the attached lockout donor, 5v, Gnd, key pair and lock pair. The extra connections are for strength. The Dizzy PCB needs careful filing to fit around the plastic pillars. I think this was my first attempt at conversions, my choice of wire was a tad extreme..
Look, it's Toobin' for the NES (PAL A region), although it probably works in any region.
The dudes at Home Entertainment Suppliers that created this fabulously fun game are a collective genius. Firstly because the game is great fun and unique, and secondly owing to their intriguing lockout device. It's a bunch of capacitors, diodes, resistors, inductor and tranny, haphazardly soldered between themselves, not all located in the PCB. It's a wonderful rarity.
I worked out the lock-out circuit, it's one of those nasty zapper circuits that fires a rapid stream of negative numbing pulses to the NES console lock-out chip. I'm not so sure of the wonder of this circuit now.. There are loads of these fake lockout zapper circuits described on an internet near you.
I worked out the lock-out circuit, it's one of those nasty zapper circuits that fires a rapid stream of negative numbing pulses to the NES console lock-out chip. I'm not so sure of the wonder of this circuit now.. There are loads of these fake lockout zapper circuits described on an internet near you.
PAL B to PAL A is always problem free, once the lockout chip is changed.
Being a fan of puzzle games, I craved Puzznic. The PAL A version is reasonably rare and always over priced, my fellow humans in Germany helped me with Puzznic and also Chessmaster, which is an excellent way to practice the ultimate aspie game.
Being a fan of puzzle games, I craved Puzznic. The PAL A version is reasonably rare and always over priced, my fellow humans in Germany helped me with Puzznic and also Chessmaster, which is an excellent way to practice the ultimate aspie game.