PocketFami
Encyclopedia
The Pocket Fami, also known as Pocket Famicom (although this name was never used by the manufacturers as Famicom is a trademark of Nintendo
) and Pokefami (ポケファミ) is an unlicensed handheld
hardware clone
of the Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES, known in Japan as the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom) produced by GameTech and released in 2004.
The PocketFami features a standard D-pad
and six buttons: the four standard NES buttons (A, B, select, and start), plus two additional "turbo" buttons. It features a 2.5 inch backlit
LCD
screen capable of displaying both NTSC
and PAL
video. It has one headphone jack, an RCA composite output jack
, and can be powered either through 3 AA batteries
or AC adaptor. Because of the different cartridge pin design of the Japan
ese Famicom (60 pins) and the international NES (72 pins), international (North America
n, Australia
n, Europe
an) cartridges cannot be played without an additional converter.
Nintendo
sued GameTech over production of the PocketFami, claiming that the device violated their patent
s on the Famicom's hardware. The courts found in favor of GameTech however, and allowed the device to be sold in Japan, as the original Famicom was first sold in 1983 and most of Nintendo's essential patent
s on the system have expired.
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 Pokefami (ポケファミ) is an unlicensed handheld
Handheld game console
A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
hardware clone
Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone
Owing to the popularity and longevity of the Nintendo Entertainment System , the system has become one of the world's most cloned video game consoles...
of the Nintendo Entertainment System
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 as the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom) produced by GameTech and released in 2004.
The PocketFami features a standard D-pad
D-pad
A D-pad is a flat, usually thumb-operated directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern video game console gamepads, game controllers, on the remote control units of some television and DVD players, and smart phones...
and six buttons: the four standard NES buttons (A, B, select, and start), plus two additional "turbo" buttons. It features a 2.5 inch backlit
Backlight
A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays . As LCDs do not produce light themselves , they need illumination to produce a visible image...
LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
screen capable of displaying both NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
and PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
video. It has one headphone jack, an RCA composite output jack
RCA connector
An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals...
, and can be powered either through 3 AA batteries
AA battery
An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
or AC adaptor. Because of the different cartridge pin design of the 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...
ese Famicom (60 pins) and the international NES (72 pins), international (North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n, Europe
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...
an) cartridges cannot be played without an additional converter.
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....
sued GameTech over production of the PocketFami, claiming that the device violated their patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s on the Famicom's hardware. The courts found in favor of GameTech however, and allowed the device to be sold in Japan, as the original Famicom was first sold in 1983 and most of Nintendo's essential patent
Essential patent
An essential patent is a patent which discloses and claims one or more inventions that are required to practice a given industry standard. Standardisation bodies, therefore, often require members disclose and grant licenses to patents and pending patent applications that they own and that cover a...
s on the system have expired.