Nintendo's First Console: Does it Still Work?

[@pyromane2226]

I remember playing that in the 80s. My older brother had one. Great memories.

[@gotohellaaron]

But where did it go? My brother used to have a Sega Genesis and I don't know where that went either.

[@pyromane2226]

They just got rid of it.

[@johnhancockretro]

Update: I have tried aluminum foil for contacts and used white vinegar to clean the battery compartment. Also tested the TV with another Japanese Pong and works great on channel 96. Still nothing with this one :(

[@pskila]

@Lo-Fi Lurch no video usually caps

[@CommodoreFan64]

Sound like it need an upgrade to solid state caps to help keep it going for many more years to come.

[@anthonytherrien5735]

@Coldern Ice agree

[@bENOFFICIALMASSIVE]

Don't give up!!!

[@tylertre9073]

Reach out to 8 Bit Guy

[@Bear-nu8xm]

I am so glad your channel is growing fast! You really deserve it John. I have been a subscriber since you had around 30k.

[@TheDanno210]

Reach out to fellow historian gamer @RetroManCave - he primarily finds non-working and usually historically significant gaming machines and computers and brings them back to life. He might be able to help.

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

I don't think it's worth the risk to send it overseas and ruin it's already amazing condition, there are plenty of people in the states who would be able to help him fix the system

[@bhirawamaylana466]

I bet Joe friend can help him, the one from GameSack Modding.

[@danielwebofrito2]

good pitch. i'd really love to watch rmc fixing this.

[@jeffw1267]

+Amir Pourghoureiyan He could get advice on how to proceed without sending the unit out, such as: taking photos of the inside, and testing various connections.

[@42.0fmthefever5]

John Hancock the world needs more John Hancock like you! :D Happy New Year's to you and your family ❤🙂🇨🇦

[@thesteveruss]

Love that "Welcome Home" intro … !

[@Topesio66]

I got this working my dad took this from Japan, just picked up and it works flawlessly, now cleaned up very good and wow, this deserve a better place than a box in the forgotten attic.

[@officialsuzyandy6387]

John this was great, one of my favorite videos you’ve ever done on your channel (my others are the one where you showcased your RCA Studio II collection & multicart, and 3DO collection). This console to me is just as important as the original Magnavox Odyssey, if not more so. Such an important piece of gaming history, thrilled to see it in your collection!

[@jakekozel4049]

For the longest time I thought the nes was the first nintendo console. Through a book you recommended, Phoenix IV the history of the video game industry, I was just blown away that they created alot of more consoles before the nes. It was cool to see this regardless if it worked our not. What u do is truly amazing saving and preserving gaming history. One day I'm hoping to see your gaming museum. Until then happy collecting☺

[@johnhancockretro]

Thank you

[@happycoolhayden8767]

@@johnhancockretro Hi, I also have a TV-Game 6 & set it up to my TV & it works with batteries or the AC adapter but I need to know what is the connector piece that goes on the RF box to make better image on my TV.

[@EzeePosseTV]

I have that very same console in my collection and it works fine. I hope you get your machine working, it makes for fun retro gaming.

[@happy_camper]

Absolutely love that color. Same color as my first car when I was young (and about the same age).

[@atarileaf]

I love stuff like this. The history is as interesting as the console itself. Very nice John. Sorry you can't get it going but it's still a very nice collector piece.

[@ruben_santos]

Thanks John!.. What a great console man!!.. hopping for you to get it fixed and to show us working!!. 👍

[@Larrymarx]

Thanks for posting this, it's still a great video, I got kind of excited waiting to see that game screen for the first time in many years... maybe next time..... LM

[@bashcrash9148]

Surprised it wasn’t made of wood. Because, 1977.

[@lindseyharvey7285]

IT'S TIME! IT'S TIME! IT'S VADER TIME!

[@bashcrash9148]

Lindsey Harvey 🖖

[@CommodoreFan64]

That's because Wood was more of a N. American, and European thing than Japanese, or just Asian in general.

[@anthonytherrien5735]

Right lol. But wow for being 40 plus years old that collector peice was looking mint

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@anthonytherrien5735 I could be wrong, but a lot of it has to do with the fact the Japanese as a whole have less space for living, and thus less space to store items, so they tend to be more organized with their stuff, in which leads to taking better care of them for longer periods of time.

[@Jwibz]

The upside is that it still makes an awesome display piece.

[@TheDanm22]

dude......... you are somethin else. can we please make a cast of you and distribute it? i love your appreciation and dedication to preservation of the gaming generation.

[@ShawarioX]

Great video, John! Never had Nintendo's first console. However, I did have a NES! I love Nintendo too. I grew up with Nintendo! Have a Happy New Year John!

[@destindude1978]

I shared your video with Electronic Repair they're awesome and I've got stuff from them in the past they do great work.

[@ChucksterOLove]

We had Atari and a Vic 21 computer growing up. The thing is that we had a GREAT TIME playing these basic gaming systems! My friend also had an Oddyssey system which was pretty cool, too. I love old school gaming systems... 👍👏🤘

[@SilentViewer7]

Always a Treat, to watch your videos John. Thank you for your time and effort. 👏👏

[@michaelsebastian8548]

If Hollywood ever makes a John C. Reilly biopic you could play him. That being said, quality content as always. Keep it up!

[@kirksarcade1836]

Excelent video man. Sorry to hear about this result of "does it still work". This is an excelent reminder of experencing things while you can before they are gone. Hope you and your family have a great new year!

[@3DSage]

Send it Ben Heck! He got the ultra rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype working. I'm serious.

[@primal-bits4777]

Sorry to see that the system didn’t work, but the good news is that many of the old pong variants are easy to fix. I would loved to have seen this one work. It would be fun to see a video on the quest for the “best” Pong. I think these early units were fascinating. My first console as a kid was the Fairchild Channel F, and I think the built in Hockey game, a really cool Pong variant, was the most fun of all games on the system. It was like Pong with the ability to separately control two paddles per side, and angle the forward paddle. Had to love that eight-way controller.

[@LuckyDogg420Canada]

This looks like a job for Ben Heck, he was able to get the nintendo PlayStation prototype working. I bet this would be right up his alley

[@airborne501]

Awesome you got ahold of one of those.

[@puddmonkey]

I can't wait till you open a museum!

[@OakCityGamers]

What a perfect name for a Nintendo product. Tv-game 6 U? Lol! This is always interesting John. Keep the history alive man!

[@jjang2922]

I'm impressed how many collectors have that Sony standard definition trinatron TV. Mine works great.

[@manlystranger4973]

This sounds like a job for the 8-Bit Guy!!! He loves to fix these type of electronics and I think he would have a great interest in this exact unit. As a fellow KZbinr, it would be great synergy for both your channels.

[@beforemario]

Nice video! I am glad my blog post was helpful to you.

[@IAmNotAFunguy]

This was the inspiration for the Pong Assist trophy in Smash Bros.

[@sconerin1]

My uncle brought one home from Japan about 1977 may 78.I was 7 or 8 at the time.We had paddles.And he brought a vcr back over think that might have been 79 80.

[@shunpillay]

Beautiful new addition to the family. Congrats John. I've been eagerly anticipating this video having noticed this console sitting on the shelf in your Bittboy video. ;)

[@MegaManNeo]

Awesome! I barely saw this thing so far. Too bad you couldn't show any ingame footage even though it's 1st generation video game stuff and we mostly know what these games look and feel like.

[@spacemonkey5470]

Yeah it sounds like it's just that battery connectors, also that "adjuster" you talked about I think increases output volts so I would be very very careful messing with that unless you can get it confirmed from someone in the know that it's safe. It's very possible that it shorted while you were doing that.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I recommend getting in touch with one of the many old hardware fixer-upper people on KZbin, such as RetroManCave or Ben Heck or The 8 Bit Guy. I'll bet they would LOVE to get their hands on that thing and get it working for you, probably free if you pay for shipping to and from. Good luck!

[@kellybrincks]

Oh snap! I remember playing this console back in the day!

[@AaronVillalobos]

Never knew this existed! Thanks for sharing!

[@Victoria3232-j7o]

Just another Pong knock of there are hundreds of them that came out during the 1970s.

[@rimsky82]

Great find John, hopefully you can get it working with stock parts, though I know capacitors don't like to last that long. Good luck!

[@gustavolopez2599]

Beautiful vintage piece

[@adamsholzhaus8196]

I bet you its the connection between the output jack and the TV. I had an old pong game a lot like your Nintendo console and I had the same problem, so I soldered together a male Coax end to a female RCA end and it worked like a charm.

[@consty715]

Its amazing that older blokes like us get excited over a piece of plastic

[@ChaosZero.]

Yes, JPNs sellers have a lot of stuff for reasonable prices. The best part of buying from them is that they often include candies, handmade origami or handwritten greeting cards as a thank-you message for buying from them. I have one that I buy regularly from and by now he calls me by name to the point that I don't even have to go through eBay anymore, we just make deals in "private" so that he gets all the money rather than having to pay the listing fees.

[@CrustyRetro]

Not to mention they seem to take better care of their stuff. A "good" condition listed game from japan is almost always flawless.

[@ChaosZero.]

Yes. I mostly play on emulators to circumvent the language barrier of the physical copies, but I like to collect those instead not only because of the price, but also because the art on their NTSC-J version of the box/manual/disc is often better looking than NTSC/PAL designs. Size is also a factor, as JPN boxes are smaller, which means that for the "price" of 1 NTSC/PAL GB/GBC game I can store 2 NTSC-J games. Which saves a lot of space for those that don't have a lot of room on a shelf.

[@drnebel]

So cool john.. hope you can get it up and running.

[@svr73]

Nice atari trackball in the background, I have a wico version for pre C64 commodore units and atari's I believe

[@newgildedage]

Your videos give me the best kind of Bob Ross vibes.

[@daviniarobbins9298]

My first games console was a Grandstand pong clone which had 4 different game settings. 1. Tennis, 2. Football, 3. Squash and 4. Solo Squash(well that is what I called it anyway, it was basically just one player hitting a ball off the wall. It was black and white only and the game sounds came from a speaker inside the console. The controllers could be removed from the unit so you could play at a reasonable distance away the console. The only problem was after playing it for a while it would hurt your eyes making your vision go fuzzy.

[@GamingPalooza]

That is the holy grail of Nintendo consoles.

[@southweststrangla420]

hell ya thats almost like having an nwc cart in my opinion. good piece of history. id try to get it restored at least to get it working

[@youtubasoarus]

Double check the contacts in the battery compartment, make sure they're not corroded or oxidized, if so you can gently scrape with a flat screw driver or some fine sand paper. Sounds like that could be it, and it's the simplest check you can do without diving into the unit and checking for dried/leaking capacitors or something of that sort. Could be many things. Contact terminals broken or cracked solder joints. So many things.

[@johnhancockretro]

Probably cracked solder joint.

[@youtubasoarus]

@@johnhancockretro Could be. Hope you manage to track down the problem. :) Great video.

[@joeloreilly3399]

Maybe it just needs some capacitors replaced or the power switch cleaned 🙂 such a cool find and really hope you get it working!

[@Adzcantsing]

Very interesting. Let's hope Nintendo might bring one back as a mini. With the games on it, it reminds me of wii sports in retro.

[@damwaterthomas1980]

Ah Sir Knight John Hancock has gotten another brilliant classic console and finding a Holy Grail of a gaming system. ✌🎅✌

[@-_soy_-888]

Huh. Who'd have thought that assist Trophy in smash represented such an important piece of history

[@elliotdavies5581]

The holy grail of holy grails.. ! And where the console was born nice John nice.

[@jaredhammonds8255]

"Welcome home" Haha its adorable. It has your eyes

[@SegaSaturnGamer48]

Awesome video! I hope you have a great New Year! :D

[@DragonGrafx-16]

On Japanese TVs channel 1 is channel 95 (on US TVs) and channel 2 is channel 96. Try an RCA TV. I play my retro games on a 32 inch RCA TV. The later TVs where made to be able handle cable and can go into the 100s. So try that.

[@nimrodlevy]

Thats cool video. As a sega fan i would really like to see early early sega products from the 2nd gen (late 70s) if you have any. Many many thanks in advance!

[@leefischer5814]

I hear ya John I also have big meaty paws. It was a bastard to text back in the day on cell phones!

[@vicious-pi3rd]

I remember Nintendo making a TV with a built in cartridge slot! Another rare invention!

[@DragonGrafx-16]

It was a Sharp TV... they licensed it from Nintendo. They also made the awesome Famicom Twin.

[@fahimshahriyar2801]

Amazing video !! Love and respects from Bangladesh !!

[@Overdose140]

Open it up. Check solder joints. At this point in its life you are bound to see some cracks or cold solder in there. What I usually do is get out a Soldering Iron and some fresh solder and touch up everything. I will also us an ESR meter to do an in circuit test of all the Electrolytic Capacitors. The usual suspect is one of those. Or like I said a cold solder joint. Also, you can take apart the power switches and clean them. Just like an old Atari you will need to polish the contacts and bend them just a tad to make better contact with one another.

[@thrillretrogamer9801]

Ben Heck... and maybe he can make one in a hand held. Great video I found a radio shake one a couple of years ago and I sent it to my buddy and he changed everything bad part and it works great.

[@johnhancockretro]

Ben Heck is awesome.

[@thrillretrogamer9801]

@@johnhancockretro Please at least send him a message and Ask, it would be a great video.

[@MrKaprione]

Thanks John👍👍

[@lambsauce7969]

The one you have is the remodel that uses C batteries is actually much rarer than the orange models. Congrats on your find!

[@johnhancockretro]

The Orange is the remodel as it added AC adapter support, improved paddle size and function.

[@lambsauce7969]

Really? I thought the white one was the remodel. Thanks for the info.

[@johnhancockretro]

The link in my description explains

[@jetjazz05]

If you feel comfortable doing it you should take the back panel off and show the circuit board inside, could be a super easy fix that somebody would see visually OR at the very least someone reputable could say yeah I can guess what the problem is and be able to fix it or point you towards somebody who can. Also this would save you days/weeks of just sending the unit out, there could be capacitors leaking in there that've ruined a section of the board or a similar scenario, a quick visual check would do a world of good.

[@viciousvictortee1298]

The best crt TV's to use for Japanese imports is usually SHARP brand, as they have the most channels including half channels.

[@FireFlux73]

I have the same JVC tv, always love the video's. I wan't to get into import as well. Keep up the good work. :)

[@araigumakiruno]

Back in the day,Pong is enough to entertain for all day

[@TheIsaiahPLG]

The orange version of this was called the TV Game 15, I have also seen a yellow one that has the nintendo name right on the top of the system, not sure what that was called.

[@henrituhola]

Didn't knew N. also made a clone pong console. These go down like flies. If you fix it, it's possible it'll be broken again in no time at all. But it's relatively simple thing. There's only few circuits with simple roles. Though any of them could be broken or soon breaking. I refurbished one clone pong with arduino. Though I think it doesn't work like the original because the IC was the game on these.

[@BronzeLincolns81]

didn't know Nintendo made a pong system. learned something new today.

[@chakrazoo]

hope to see a working follow up video :D

[@viscountalpha]

I had good luck using sharp aquos tv's with tv tuner mode on, going to channel 94/95.

[@instahawk8422]

The box for this looks so similar to the Nintendo switch box design

[@brandonwenzel2844]

Sucks that it didn't work; but hopefully you'll be able to get it repaired ASAP.

[@mirandapicard182]

I'd say Riggs should look at it but either way a good item for your museum.

[@barc0deblankblank]

You had me at "Welcome home" :')

[@FlintG]

I believe James from avgn actually has the orange pong system and pretty much every other pong consoles.

[@Duke_Togo_G13]

I would probably carefully take it apart and do a thorough cleaning and inspection. It could be something minor, like a wire from the battery block, or a bad solder point.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Wow, 1977! That's the same year that the Atari 2600 came out. Interesting!

[@rodruvalcaba]

Love your channel

[@jimmorti2153]

Have changed Channel modes? Some manufacturers had TVs that went up to channel 60 then when you switch the mode it would take it closer to 100, I’m not sure if the mode on the old Prosonincs was AACTH?

[@dennisp.2147]

Woulda been neat to see that "Nintendo branded RF switch" at 2:10, but you never stopped moving enough in the 2 seconds that it was onscreen to allow the camera to focus. Not trying to be flip, but have you ever considered using a tripod and setting up your shots?

[@ninjamaster3453]

Surprised to see how economical and green friendly they boxed this

[@Johnny_Ultimate]

I guess the silver lining is that these units are so old that probably someone with some basic electronics/multi-meter experience should be able to diagnose bad resistor, capacitor, transformer, etc. Basic machine=basic parts=basic fix. good luck!

[@keiferolson7348]

Even though it didn't work, still enjoyed the video a lot!

[@nimrodlevy]

You gotta give it to someone like ben heck to fix it on camera, it ill be soooo awesome!!!!!! Also modding in to ac can be easy and non intrusive by hooking a wire through the battery compartment.

[@nicholasjackson5844]

Maybe ask Ben Heck if he would be interested in taking a look? He did get the Nintendo Playstation working

[@soterioncoil2163]

Pong is actually a super fun game when played with someone near your own skill level!

[@amristar736]

If you have a problem like that, who you gonna call - Benjamin Heckendorn!

[@atarian345]

Use a coax to composite converter. You should be able to get a signal that way.

[@jetjazz05]

I (tried) to adjust using an inflation calculator online specifically for the yen, in 1977 9800 yen would be around 112 dollars. Considering how expensive computers were, even tvs, this seems pretty affordable. I mean a single game for the NES was $45 which equates to 90 usd now, so going 10-15 years further back and paying 112 for the hardware and the game is pretty remarkable. The C battery thing? Yeah that was a bad idea though lol. I don't know who thought that was smart but no parent/owner is gonna want to be dumping 6 gigantic batteries into something they already paid that much for once a week!

[@3DJapan]

Came out the year I was born.

[@alextreasurehunter3811]

Just take it apart and replace the caps. They obviously just dried out. Buy each cap and replace them. Most like likely the filter caps. The larger ones near the ac plug. If you can use a soldering iron and observe the polarity of the caps when you replace them then you can repair it.

[@djsquibby]

Love it, it looks like something out of Flash Gordon ;)

[@michaelbianchi22]

You should send it in to Big Clive. He's a KZbinr who is very electronic savvy.