Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone
Encyclopedia
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
(NES; known in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as the Family Computer, or Famicom), the system has become one of the world's most cloned
Clone (computer science)
In computing, a clone is a hardware or software system that is designed to mimic another system. Compatibility with the original system is usually the explicit purpose of cloning hardware or low-level software such as operating systems...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. Such clones are colloquially called Famiclones (a portmanteau of "Famicom" and "clone"), and are electronic hardware devices designed to replicate the workings of, and play games designed for, the NES. Hundreds of unlicensed clones have been made available since the height of the NES popularity in the late 1980s. The technology employed in such clones has evolved over the years: while the earliest clones featured a printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
containing custom or third party integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s (ICs), more recent (post-1996) clones have utilized single chip designs, with a custom ASIC
ASIC
ASIC may refer to:* Application-specific integrated circuit, an integrated circuit developed for a particular use, as opposed to a customised general-purpose device.* ASIC programming language, a dialect of BASIC...
which simulates the functionality of the original hardware, and often includes one or more on-board games. Most devices originate in Asian nations, especially China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and to a lesser extent South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
In some locales, especially South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where the NES was never officially released by Nintendo, such clones were the only readily available console gaming systems. Such was the case with the Dendy Junior, a particularly successful NES clone which achieved widespread popularity in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and former Soviet republics in the early 1990s. Elsewhere, such systems could occasionally even be found side by side with official Nintendo hardware, often prompting swift legal action. Many of these early systems were similar to the NES or Famicom not only in functionality, but also in appearance, often featuring little more than a new name and logo in place of Nintendo's branding.
Perhaps not wishing to attract attention from Nintendo, few of these systems are openly marketed as "NES compatible". Very often they are sold in very attractive and misleading boxes, featuring screenshots from more recent (and more powerful) systems and adorned with misleading, or even patently false, quotes, trumpeting "...ultimate videogame technlology..." [sic] or "...crystal clear digital sound, multiple colors and advanced 3D graphics." Some manufacturers will opt for a less misleading approach, describing the system generically as a "TV game", "8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
console", "multi-game system", or "Plug & Play", but even these examples generally say nothing to suggest any compatibility with NES hardware.
Post-patent Famiclones
Some of Nintendo's patents on the Famicom expired in 2003, followed in 2005 by NES-specific patents such as those covering the 10NES10NES
The 10NES system is a lock-out system designed for the American version of the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Various companies found ways to bypass the authorization chip.-Design:...
lockout chip. While Nintendo still holds various related trademarks, NES hardware clones are no longer necessarily illegal on the basis of patent infringement. This matter is complicated by the effect of different patents awarded in different countries, with different expiration dates. Nintendo sued Gametech in 2005 for selling the PocketFami
PocketFami
The Pocket Fami, also known as Pocket Famicom and Pokefami is an unlicensed handheld hardware clone of the Nintendo Entertainment System produced by GameTech and released in 2004.The PocketFami features a...
, despite the patent expiration. Nintendo lost this suit. However, Famiclone manufacturers who incorporate copyrighted games into the unit may still be subject to legal liability on that basis, due to copyrights having much longer terms than patents (in most countries creative works such as games are automatically in copyright for many decades, sometimes up to 95 years after their creation).
While the old-style Famiclones continue to be found, the newly legitimized market has seen several clones that openly advertise support for original Famicom or NES games (or sometimes both), a feature not usually publicized by previous clones, which were often marketed as cheap gifts rather than Famicom-compatible systems. Examples of these newer efforts include the Generation NEX
Generation NEX
Generation NEX is a Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone released in 2005. It is developed by a company called Messiah Entertainment, Inc. with the name being a portmanteau of Generation X and Nintendo Entertainment System. The machine is designed to play most games released for the...
, which resembles a flattened version of the original NES and supports both NES and Famicom games, Gametech's Neo-Fami (also released in both Famicom and NES compatible versions as the "FC Game Console" by Yobo Gameware), and the handheld PocketFami
PocketFami
The Pocket Fami, also known as Pocket Famicom and Pokefami is an unlicensed handheld hardware clone of the Nintendo Entertainment System produced by GameTech and released in 2004.The PocketFami features a...
, a more ambitious, albeit still slightly flawed, successor to the older TopGuy, GameAxe, and Game Theory Admiral. However, these more legitimate clones are still based on the same NES-on-a-chip architecture as the older systems, and as such still suffer from many of the same compatibility problems.
Patents
These are Nintendo Entertainment System related patents:Utility patents
Design patents
Brazil
Since 1989, NES- and Famicom-compatible consoles were manufactured and released in Brazil by local companies, who also provided tech-support and sold Nintendo games. The first system, in 1989, was Dynacom's Dynavision, which used the 60-pin Famicom Japanese cartridge format. In 1990, the Top Game, manufactured by CCE, was released; it sported a dual cartridge slot, allowing games in the 72-pin American cartridge format and the 60-pin Japanese cartridge format to be played. The BitSystem, also using the American cartridge format, was manufactured by the now-defunct company Dismac. The Phantom System was released in 1991 by Gradiente, and was the most popular Brazilian Famiclone; its controllers are clones of those of the Sega Mega DriveSega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
. In 1993, Nintendo themselves arrived in Brazil and released the NES with the American cartridge slot. This official version was manufactured by Playtronic, a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between the toy company Estrela
Estrela (company)
Estrela is a toy manufacturer in Brazil. The company was founded in São Paulo in 1937, when it started producing dolls and wooden toy cars. In 1944 it became a publicly traded corporation...
and Gradiente
Gradiente
Gradiente is a Brazilian consumer electronics company based in São Paulo. The company designs and markets many product lines, including video , audio, home theater, high end acoustics, office and mobile stereo, and wireless. The company was founded in 1964...
.
South Africa
In South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, clones, known as "TV Games", are still widely available. One popular clone available in the early '90s was the Golden China; while another was Reggie's Entertainment System, named after the toy store chain that sold it ; the most recent clone was the TeleGamestation. Older models looked like the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
but newer models resembled the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, as well as the controllers—but with the cartridges being entered from the top. A "mini tower" version was also launched with keyboard, and black/white monitor, to include educational software. These TeleGamestations have cartridges around half the size of the original Nintendo Entertainment System games, and although most games were pirated from there, some were also taken from the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Master System. The box advertises "dazzling graphics" and the monitor on the box set features a modern-day soccer game. Games could be bought in all chain stores "legally", or pirated games (mainly from China) could be bought on the market or certain stores. Most cartridges were multi-packs, or many games within one cartridge. In some cases, games have had their official Nintendo or Sega names removed, and in some cases the original name of the game (for example, Dr Mario was re-named "Medical Hospital"). Later, in 2002, the 16-bit TeleGamestation 2 was launched, and the games were taken from the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
. Legal action was taken against Golden China by Nintendo for importing copied games in 1995; however, as these clones have been in South Africa for many years, and readily available at reputable stores, such action seems to have had little impact, and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
seem to have otherwise shown little consideration for piracy in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Poland
In Poland, the most popular Famiclone is the PegasusPegasus (video game system)
Pegasus was a video game system sold in Poland, Serbia, and Bosnia. It was a hardware clone of the Nintendo Famicom aka Nintendo Entertainment System .-Hardware:-Background:...
. Pegasus is an NTSC console with forced PAL mode. It uses Famicom cartridges. Pegasus was sold in "Action Sets" and was available both on street markets and larger electronic stores, and was even advertised on TV. The light gun bundled with the "Pegasus Action Set" resembles the Zapper. The Pegasus joypads had two additional buttons to be used with bootleg games. There are two models of Pegasus, the MT777DX and Iq-502. Another popular and the most common Famiclone in Poland is the BS-500AS, also known as Terminator
Terminator (video game system)
Terminator 2 was a video game console sold in Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, India and Hungary . It was also sold in Spain...
. Like Pegasus, it uses Famicom cartridges, and is designed to resemble the Sega Mega Drive. The BS-500 AS can still be bought today in small toy stores and on street markets (which were the main source of cartridges in the first place), along with some other clones, such as Gold Leopard King or Polystation
Polystation
Polystation is the name given to many PlayStation-like Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clones. Most, if not all, of these clones originate from China, and are of poor quality...
.
Russia
The Dendy (Russian: Де́нди) was a hardware clone of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) popular in Russia. It was released in early 1990s by the Steepler company. Since no officially licensed version of the NES was ever released in USSR, the Dendy was easily the most popular video game console of its time in that setting, and enjoyed a degree of fame roughly equivalent to that experienced by the NES/Famicom in North America and Japan. Business was so successful that the company spawned its own TV show about Dendy on Russian TV, and created stores all across Moscow and St. Petersburg, promoting and selling the console and its cartridges. Also, a cartoon about the "Dendy Elephant", the character on the console's logo, was filmed but not finished.India
In India various NES clones made their appearance in stores, like the Terminator console which was also very popular in Eastern European countries. Samurai India, now sole distributor of Nintendo Wii in India were licensed to sell NES under the brand "Samurai" due to the closed economy of India during the 1980s.Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia, the Micro GeniusMicro Genius
Micro Genius is a brand name used for Famicom clone consoles marketed in several countries around the world, particularly areas where Nintendo did not have an official presence, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, South Africa and East Asian countries...
was sold as an alternative to the Famicom. It originated from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
in the 1990s and uses 60-pin cartridges, most of which are multicarts. The Micro Genius had some original games, including Chinese Chess and Thunder Warrior.
Software game titles
Since none of these unlicensed clones contain the 10NES10NES
The 10NES system is a lock-out system designed for the American version of the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Various companies found ways to bypass the authorization chip.-Design:...
authentication chip, most are capable of running games which an official NES model would not run. In addition, many modern NES clones come with a built-in selection of games, typically stored on an internal ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
which can range from 128 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
up to several megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
s in size.
These built-in games are usually designed to supplement, rather than replace, the traditional cartridge slot, although some devices omit such a slot entirely, allowing only the built-in games to be played. Typical numbers for the built-in "distinct" games range from as low as three to as high as fifty or one hundred games for more expensive products. The number of "distinct games" is important, because while many NES clones claim to have thousands of built-in games, most of these games are usually nothing more than hacks that allow the player to start the same game at different levels or with different numbers of lives.
The games are usually direct pirated copies of licensed NES and Famicom game titles, usually with copyright information removed and sometimes featuring other minor changes. The most commonly found games in NES clones are generally games below 64 K of ROM size and which can be easily split into distinct subgames or levels. As such, "Track and Field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
" and "Circus Charlie
Circus Charlie
is an action/platform game originally released by Konami in which you control a clown named Charlie. The game was a hit arcade game in 1984, which also had a successful release on the MSX in 1984, the Nintendo Famicom in 1986 by Soft Pro and on the Commodore 64 in 1987...
" are present in a large percentage of NES clones, usually blown up to count as 6 or 7 "distinct" games each. Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt
is a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
(often with its clay shooting mode shown as a separate game) is also a common NES clone feature as they justify the existence of the light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
accessory. Other popular, although less common choices, are Super Mario Bros. hacks, Excitebike
Excitebike
is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 and as a launch title for the NES in 1985. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its direct sequel Excitebike 64, its spiritual successors Excite Truck and...
, Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
, Magic Jewelry
Magic Jewelry
Magic Jewelry is a Taiwanese puzzle game for the Famicom. It was programmed by Hwang Shinwei and released in 1990 by the company RCM without a license from Nintendo....
(an unlicensed clone of Columns
Columns (video game)
is a puzzle video game, first created in 1989 by Jay Geertsen. Early versions of the game were made and ported among early computer platforms, and then the Atari ST, until 1990, when Jay Geertsen sold the rights to Sega, where it was ported to several Sega consoles.-Description:The game takes...
) older sports titles and miscellaneous platform games. Additionally, some clones incorporate games which, although they may initially appear to be original, are in fact pirated copies featuring extensive graphical (and sometimes audio) modifications. Examples of this include UFO Race, based on Nintendo's F-1 Race
F-1 Race
F-1 Race is a racing video game released in 1984 for the Famicom in Japan. A version was released in 1990 for the Game Boy in Japan, Europe, and North America, which included the Four Player Adapter for four player gameplay.-Gameplay:...
, Pandamar (also known as simply Panda), based on Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, Ladangel, based on Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
's Challenger
Challenger (video game)
is a video game developed and published by Hudson Soft in 1985 for the Nintendo Famicom.-History:The game was originally planned as a port of the ZX Spectrum video game Stop the Express , which was released by Sinclair Research Ltd in 1983...
and UFO Shoot, based on Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt
is a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
.
However, some systems include legally licensed games; for example, the Rumble Station's 15 built-in games are licensed from Color Dreams
Color Dreams
Color Dreams was a company that developed video games for the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System . While most companies that developed NES games obtained an official license from Nintendo to produce game cartridges, Color Dreams was unusual in that it developed NES games without an official license...
, and Sachen's Q-Boy includes only its own original titles. A growing number of recent clones, such as those marketed by DreamGear in the United States, contain large numbers of original games made by developers in China.
Types of Famiclones
Because NES clones are not officially licensed, they vary extremely in areas such as build/hardware quality, available games and overall performance. Most clones are produced extremely cheaply, while a few are comparable to first-party hardware in their manufacture quality. In terms of appearance and basic build, there are four general types of clones:Console type
Many clones are designed to resemble the original Famicom, but others have been produced to look like almost all other consoles from the NES, SNESSuper Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, and Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
to the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and others simply in a generic console shape. Usually it is easy to tell a Famiclone from the real hardware it imitates by the presence of either alternate coloring, brand names which do not match the real console's, or weak construction. Console type clones almost always utilize cartridges, and they are usually compatible with real Famicom (60 pin) or NES (72 pin) games, as well as custom-made pirate carts (especially multi-carts, pirate game cartridges which hold a multitude of games as opposed to just one, which are often included with console-type clones). Console Famiclones are most popular in Asia and parts of Europe, with few actively sold in North America due to stronger enforcement of the copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
s in the games typically packaged with a Famiclone and of the design patent
Design patent
In the United States, a design patent is a patent granted on the ornamental design of a functional item. Design patents are a type of industrial design right. Ornamental designs of jewelry, furniture, beverage containers and computer icons are examples of objects that are covered by design...
s in the imitated consoles.
Handheld type
These types of systems contain a built-in LCD screen and are usually powered by batteriesBattery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
, therefore acting as a completely portable handheld system. One of the first handheld clones is the Top Guy, although only a small number are known to exist. More widely distributed was Redant's Game Axe
Game Axe
The Game Axe is an unlicensed handheld video game system made by the Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Redant, a division of Legend Technologies. It is sold in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan...
, which was manufactured in several revisions through the 1990s. Game Theory Admiral
Game Theory Admiral
The Game Theory Admiral is a Famicom video game system clone. It is a portable unit made to look similar to the popular Game Boy Advance, minus the shoulder buttons, coming in two colors; translucent blue and translucent pink. For power it requires 3 AA batteries or a 4.5V AC adapter. The screen...
featured an improved TFT
TFT LCD
Thin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...
screen and closely resembled the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
or Wintech GOOD BOY design look like Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
. However, this smaller design included a smaller cartridge port; it was supplied with an adapter to allow the use of standard Famicom cartridges with the system. One of the more recent handheld clones is Gametech's Pocket Fami, the first to be actively marketed as a portable Famicom by its manufacturers, and one of the most widely distributed thanks to the new legitimate status of Famicom clone products. There are also a number of famiclones in the shape of a Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
or similar, but which can only display NES/Famicom games on a TV, and have a simple LCD game
Handheld electronic game
----Handheld electronic games are very small, portable devices for playing interactive electronic games, often miniaturized versions of video games. The controls, display and speakers are all part of a single unit. Rather than a general-purpose screen made up of a grid of small pixels, they...
in the screen area. such example is the NES Clone "Game kids advance", which resembles an older Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, and has a built-in LCD game, powered by 2 AA batteries, or the included AC adapter. However, the NES games can only be played on TV using the AC adapter. It uses a game cartridge, similar to those from a Game Boy/Game Boy Color, and also includes an adapter to play NES games.
Controller type
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, is designed to hold all the console's hardware in the shape of a regular game console controller, usually the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
's. Also known as "NES-on-a-chip
System-on-a-chip
A system on a chip or system on chip is an integrated circuit that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions—all on a single chip substrate...
" due to their extremely miniaturized hardware (relative to the original NES), these controllers usually shun or at least downplay a game cartridge interface in favor of storing games directly in internal memory chips. These Famiclones can often run on battery as well as AC power, making them popular for portable usage. These clones have become especially popular in the USA thanks to the new "TV-Games" fad of selling legitimately emulated classic arcade games in a traditional-looking controller. (Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
games are especially common.) Controller clones can usually be found in places like flea markets, mall kiosks, or independent toy stores, and most people who sell and buy them are unaware or don't care that they are in fact illegally made. In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
this type of console is commercialized with the name GunBoy.
Computer type
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
s, or the real Famicom's BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
kit. Usually, these clones consist of the same hardware as the console type, but put inside a keyboard instead of a console look-a-like. They are usually supplied with a cartridge containing some computer-style software, such as a simple word processor
Word processor
A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material....
and a version of BASIC (most common are G-BASIC, a pirated
Copyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
version of Family BASIC, and F-BASIC, an original but more limited version), and some "educational" typing and mathematics games. Some even include a computer mouse and a GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
-style interface. Note that, while the interface is similar to Nintendo's Family BASIC keyboard, clone keyboards are generally not fully compatible with official software (and vice versa) due to differing key layouts.
Hardware and software compatibility issues
While most Famiclones will run most original licensed Nintendo software and work with most original carts (being even more versatile than an original NES because of the lack of regional lockout chips and sometimes having a dual 60-pin and 72-pin cartridge compatibility), the degree of hardware compatibility with original NES accessories and miscellaneous hardware equipment may vary, and even software level compatibility isn't always perfect.The most common software-level incompatibility is the lack of CMOS
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
backup memory, causing the few games that use it to fail when trying to save or load data. Since most modern Famiclones are based on the NES-on-a-chip ASIC, they automatically inherit all of its powers and limitations, which includes graphical glitches and compatibility issues.
At a hardware level, the most common incompatibility is the lack, in some Famiclones, of the original Famicom's expansion port (although it is always present, at least at a logical level, and in some clones it is internally hardwired; e.g. in computer-type Famiclones it is hardwired to the built-in keyboard, even if not externally accessible).
Most Famiclones also use standard Atari 9-pin shaped or even 15-pin joypad connectors instead of the proprietary NES connectors, and their controllers usually offer all of the functionality of a standard NES controller and sometimes features such as "slow motion" or several autofire keys with different speeds, which are not present on the standard out-of-the-box NES joypads. Despite being physically identical to Atari 9-pin or PC game port
Game port
The game port is a device port found on IBM PC compatible systems throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It was the traditional connector for joystick input devices until superseded by USB in the 21st century....
s, the pinouts of those connectors are not standard, and connecting standard controllers to them may result in malfunction or damage of the controller or the Famiclone itself.
Also, some Famiclones use a third connector for the lightgun accessory, without the need for unplugging one of the two joypads, while the design and quality of the lightgun itself varies with those of the Famiclones themselves.
Lastly, like many modern consoles and other devices meant to be connected to a TV, many modern famiclones lack an RF
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
modulator and instead only have separate audio and composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
outputs, also to cut on the (already low) production costs.
External links
- NES World Pirate section
- Ultimate Console Database, currently 377 Famiclones
- "Researchers Propose $12 Computer for Developing Countries", ABC News
- Playpower, learning games for radically affordable computers
- 10 Hilarious Knock Off Gaming Consoles