Inside the Famicom | 01: The Design of a Legend

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

You're the first youtuber I know to explain the NES as *an electrical appliance* rather than a "computer" to be abscracted. Understandable, considering how emulating this is a lot more ubiquitous than owning the physical stuff, and analog electronics are mathematically intense. Still, this is quite a niche you're tapping here.

[@whatskenmaking]

Yeah, it's interesting how Nintendo was positioning it in the market. In Japan, it was marketed in a similar vein as a 'computer'... the keyboard and BASIC cartridge for example. But in North America, they went for the 'appliance' vibe. It had a lot to do with the decline of Atari and trying to not repeat the same mistakes they made. The NES control deck was modeled after a VHS player specifically for this purpose. Super interesting how they approached different world markets

[@DavidRomigJr]

I vaguely remember the US market had gotten toxic so the NES was marketed as a toy because people were hesitant to buy a video game console after ‘83.

[@Antics253]

The NES was my first console and gifted to me by my Uncle a couple months before he passed away; little did he know how much that device would impact me on my journey towards IT overall as I tore it apart and learned the basics of electronics... so this holds a pretty big place in my heart. Really looking forward to the next of this series, having those childhood memories come flooding back just made my day. :)

[@intel386DX]

fantastic video. Only one correction, not component, but composite video :)

[@whatskenmaking]

twitter.com/whatskenmaking/status/1787981290265788730 😆

[@intel386DX]

@@whatskenmaking 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣👍😊

[@fizwidget]

The Famicon was before my time, but I still found this fascinating. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[@stevepanna9827]

Awesome video! I am so pumped for the upcoming videos in this series!

[@geektoolkit]

Capacitor C25...that was oddly specific LOL! Thanks for such a great, informative and entertaining breakdown!

[@whatskenmaking]

Ha - the worst part is that it wasn't first time I've blown that cap! As soon as I plugged in a center-positive adapter and smelled that unmistakable odor, I unplugged it and went straight to my cap bin 😆

[@WalrusFPGA]

Wonderful look into the Famicom. Looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@HSTVizle]

Even if I born 10-15 years later the launch of Famicom, I've grown up with famiclones. All those japanese games, couldn't understand a single word lol

[@whatskenmaking]

It's interesting how the famiclone market thrived late into the 90s. I don't understand a lick of Japanese, but I still enjoy playing many of the games, even if I can't follow the story line 😆

[@HSTVizle]

@@whatskenmaking We were playing with famiclones in early 2000s :D Famiclone cartridge selections were suitable for non-japanese players. No need to know japanese to play those simple and fun games.

[@Nicszerg]

11:30 I think you meant to say composite video.

[@AFFL1CTED1]

I thought the same thing. I'm sure he knows the difference, so most likely just a slip of the tongue.

[@whatskenmaking]

👍 Ben Heck once told me that I need to plant intentional mistakes in my videos to drive engagement 🤔 ...this wasn't one of them, though; I just misspoke 😆

[@MartinAlejandroLiguori]

This channel is going to blow just like Adrian's Digital Basement.

[@alexandermirdzveli3200]

Godspeed!

[@astralpowers]

The Famicom was a big part of my childhood. I remember the first game I played was Super Mario Bros. I was like 3. I remember playing around with the RF modulator and hooking it up to the TV was a hassle depending on the TV set. My parents wouldn't let us use it on the newer colored TV set and we had to use it with the old monochrome TV.

[@whatskenmaking]

💯 I had the NES growing up, but had a similar story!

[@angrybear888]

so well done, looking forward to more episodes and later on the super famicom!

[@andyruizi]

Maybe it sounds stupid, but it was only after you mentioned that the RAMs were labeled U1 and U4 that I realized that each chip in the Famicom had a label. It seems like it is something very obvious, because not even Rodrigo Copetti's book mentions it. I appreciate that you try to be so didactic, so that all types of audiences understand you. Excellent video!

[@igorperuchi2114]

Deep dive into the Famicom, very nice! I didn't know about the controllers with square buttons or the strange proprietary video port on later iterations! Thank you very much for the detailed video!

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks! I'll be revisiting those square buttons later on in the series when I dive deeper into the controllers and the way the Famicom handles input. The issue with the square buttons was that some people reported that the corners would get jammed underneath the housing. On mine, the buttons still sit about 1mm above the housing when fully pressed in... so those folks must've been quite zealous with their button pressing!

[@caviar_dreamz]

My aunt bought my cousins a top loader NES from a thrift store and it had AV out. I grew up playing that way so I was very surprised to see that all the toploaders I looked at on Ebay were missing that AV port. I settled with the Famicom toploader haha.

[@meneerjansen00]

Wow. Didn't know there were so many different models and configurations. I really like the simplicity of the orig. Famicom after watching your vid: there's beauty in it. Loking forward to the other vids in this series! :)

[@AB0BA_69]

Looking forward to more in this series! Especially the various peripherals ❤

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks - I do have a couple of interesting peripherals to talk about, but please do share any requests 😊

[@TheMikeyb86]

Great video, as always. Looking forward to more Famicom/NES videos.

[@Clockwork_Planet]

Thanks, Ken. Another great video.

[@geofreypejsa54]

Awesome! I too enjoyed the video and look forward to this series

[@ScruffyLookinRGB]

Great video looking forward to the next famicom installment ❤

[@jonecuntapay9561]

Interesting. 1983 is my Birth Year.

[@carloslint9914]

AV Famicon never had component AV, the one it packed is called composite AV. Component AV has 5 wires/rcas.

[@whatskenmaking]

x.com/whatskenmaking/status/1787981290265788730 😆

[@misterretrowolf1464]

Ken, when I see you've dropped a video I know I'm in for a treat!!!

[@NinSonyFan]

The famicom was my first console ever!! I have a special love for it!! 🥰🥰🥰

[@knightriding]

Great video thanks for the fun great time spent 😊

[@williamsanborn9195]

Everything before the N64 was before my time, but I still find these consoles super fascinating. Not just the games themselves, but what the developers of them were able to create within their strict limitations. Of course, all consoles (and computers) have their limitations, but they’re nowhere near as strict as they were nearly 40 years ago! Video games are just magical! They were back then and still are!

[@whatskenmaking]

I think that's a very important point - the limitations imposed on developers by these early systems required them to be efficient, imaginative, and extraordinarily knowledgeable about the platform... and I think that just led to better games.

[@NostalgiaRetrogamer]

Great video. I love the way you explained it. Thnks

[@EM2theBee]

I worked at FAO Schwartz in Dallas and we got very little work done playing the Super Mario Bros. Game we had in our demo.

[@doq]

If I remember correctly, the AV Top Loader was only by direct exchange of your RF Top Loader by Nintendo in response to customer complaints, so it wasn't actually a model you can buy thus making it extremely rare.

[@whatskenmaking]

Oh, interesting... that would certainly explain the rarity!

[@omegarugal9283]

you had to go directly to the N and specify that the picture quality was bad, if and only if they would give you an av out model

[@omegarugal9283]

​@@whatskenmaking i wonder how making it RF only could be considered a cost cutting method since involved ADDING and rf modulator instead of just outputing the av signal, heck even using the snes av port cant be considered a cost cutting move, then they had to bundle official av cables, why not just stick to cheap rca plugs and call it a day? oh yeah of course, because nintendo...

[@whatskenmaking]

I read somewhere a while back that when they researched it, Nintendo found that only a small percentage of the North American NESes sold were using the AV ports. So, I think the question wasn't whether to include one over the other, but rather should both be included.

[@Vexelius]

Thank you so much for making and sharing this video! It's very interesting to see this kind of approach. My 8 year old self, who grew up disassembling and analizing his toys would have loved to watch something like this on TV. But I think that's what made me watch the entire video, even when it's 4am over here! That was an informative and entertaining way to analyze this console. (by the way, although I'm from Mexico, I grew up with the "Family" - an unofficial clone of the Japanese Famicom, so I was very happy to see that this video focused on it instead of the American NES)

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks! I'm amazed at the sheer volume of clones that were made!

[@mirabilis]

The Contra clip right in the beginning is from the NES version, not the FC one.

[@whatskenmaking]

You're a contraisseur! 😆 Was it the lack of bg animation that gave it away? 😊

[@Nukle0n]

Also "component video" is usually used to refer to YPbPr video. Technically yes it breaks out the composite video and mono audio into different signal "components" but since there's only 1 video component it's just composite, or CVBS.

[@whatskenmaking]

Yeah, I misspoke there - someone else called this out in different comment as well

[@FZuloaga]

1st time on your channel, great video. New subscriber from Argentina!

[@vitaAutLetum]

Ken, it's still very much magic 40 years later.

[@SparkyMK3]

Wow, what a deep dive! Its so amazing to learn the nuts & bolts of what makes this amazing gizmo tick and in such exhaustive detail! I love how mellow and scholarly yet passionate your narration is too! You've earned a subscribe! I look forward to future episodes on this!

[@ButcherGrindslam]

11:31 - COMPOSITE!

[@whatskenmaking]

x.com/whatskenmaking/status/1787981290265788730 😁

[@Repairing_Engineer]

Thanks very much for the valuable information I would like to ask about the next episode

[@whatskenmaking]

The next episode is coming tomorrow!

[@mwk1]

Dobry Ziomuś - daję suba 😎🍻

[@RedRanger2001]

However, you can use the Genesis Model 1 power supply on both the NES and the Famicom.

[@boonboy8333]

Hi Ken, I'm interested in setting up a Japanese famicom with rgb output to a 29" arcade monitor to get the exact image quality you would expect from any arcade pcb like the neogeo mvs for example. Is this doable without damaging the famicom while achieving prolonged usage just an mvs mother board would deliver?

[@KrystianMajewski]

Oooh! Are we going to build our own Famicom at the end?! RIP to C25

[@whatskenmaking]

Possibly 😉

[@LordPeterWimsey]

At appoximately 6:00, you mention blowing capacitor C-25 if the wrong type of power adaptor is connected. Unfortunately, I just ran the wrong polarity through my system, and am now unable to power it on. Can you confirm that this is the likely problem, or provide any notes on your diagnosis/repair process? I appreciate you help!

[@whatskenmaking]

Yep, that's right - if it's a Famicom, then that's likely what happened to you as well. If you see that C25 has puffed up or opened its canister to release the magic smoke, then that would be confirmation. But even if it doesn't look visibly damaged, it won't hurt to replace it with another 1000uF cap and see if that solves the problem. It's the first component in the path of that unregulated power signal, so it's likely to be the one that blows. If it still doesn't power on, then the next thing to replace would be the 7805 voltage regulator. But I think the issue is most likely the that cap.

[@meunaimharouj6325]

nice work, subscribed :)

[@ostrov11]

спасибо, отличный контент.

[@JeffisWinning]

The NES had a TV switch too. It was just unplugging the video line.

[@whatskenmaking]

True!

[@elblanco5]

today I just learned how a rectifier works.

[@chrishof89]

Hey Ken, great video as always. One question that comes in my mind, what happened to the controller microfon from the second controller on the original famicon? Did they abandoned it completely in later revisions? Greetings from Germany.

[@whatskenmaking]

Thanks! I'll have a video on the controllers and will be talking more about the mic in that one. In short, though - it was abandoned pretty quickly. I didn't mention it in this video, but when the AV Famicom launched with detachable controllers, that's when the mic on P2 disappeared. There were only a small handful of games that used it, so I'm not sure that it was terribly missed - but yeah, it didn't hang around in the later Famicom models.

[@chrishof89]

Thanks for your answer! (little bit star struck here) 😄 When I think about it I'm digging in the NES past since I can remember, but never dealt with the famicon or the mic function in all these years. Most videos and articles (I read and watched) mentioned it shortly but I don't remember someone explicitly dealing with this topic. Bringing back famicon & famicon disk system functionalitys to the NES hardware would be an interesting project for me personally.

[@whatskenmaking]

😊 Yep, running an FDS on an NES would be something interesting to do in a video 😉

[@play_history]

What is the footage at 1:51 ? I've never seen that before.

[@whatskenmaking]

That’s from the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show

[@FritzCopyCat]

Hi, Ken. Are you aware of the replacement Atari 2600 PCB (u2600+8 "FANTASY" CLASSIC) from UNI64? I've been waiting for a KZbinr to investigate it, and maybe it's up your alley.

[@whatskenmaking]

No, I hadn't seen it until just now, but it definitely does look like something I'll want to check out. I'll file this one away for further investigation - thanks for the tip!

[@TheGeoff]

And they’ll use the av cable port all the way until the GC

[@NEStalgia1985]

Ken what ya making? I actually got access to a private collection of Nintendo items and the guy actually had a sealed famicom pre recall with the square buttons. Couldn't believe it. Been trying to find any video or pictures of the square button model but come up short for a long time now

[@whatskenmaking]

They're a little more expensive if you can find them, but not super rare. Factory sealed, though - that's something to behold. I think I might add a Dendy or a Comboy to my collection at some point, but the only other official Famicom I hope to acquire some day is the elusive AV Top Loader.

[@NEStalgia1985]

@@whatskenmaking I have a Russian dendy, happy to donate it. Used working with 2 games if youd like it

[@RetroFors]

Dendy!

[@johneygd]

‘Famicom started the home entertainment revolution’??? I hardly call it a revolution, i consoder it more to be a ‘sub evolution’ Because atari did had their nextgen system in 1984 (being prereleased in 1986 And what most people didn’t know was that many nintendo games did also appear on atari systems among other ones, Also what most people don’t know is that before supermariobros there were already side scrolling platform games on other systems such as circus charlie,lupin 3,jungle hunt and many others, Also the nes was not the most advanced 8bit system all the way trough no, as for what most people would think, Also while atari did had first control over making games for their systems,but it’s strict rules and controls did let to a few atari members turning away from atari and started their own company and making atari 2600 games, soon other game companies would follow wich exploded rapidly but from that point the writing was on the wall because as more shuffleware games did came out the videogame’s market started to implode and leading to the videogame crash of 1983 in the us,so whether atari was structly or not about making games for their systems back then, it makes no difference the gaming crash waa about to happen anyway, Now if theres 1 thing i consider revolutionary on the nes, then it was rob the robot addon for it wich no other game comany ever did before or after it,but that’s it.

[@iraqisonic9920]

انا مشترك جديد وشكرا على تفعيل الترجمة ❤

[@Voha]

11:30 its composite video, not component

[@whatskenmaking]

x.com/whatskenmaking/status/1787981290265788730 😆

[@Voha]

@@whatskenmaking how about difference between PC Engine and TurboGrafx 16? If You interested in this🤔

[@bigbadhodad3894]

the new was nice looking, especially compared to the Famicom, however the cost reduced JP famicom av looks so much better than the US version,; ive always said, looks like, something Tiger electronics would make if they were making a pirate version of the NES.. the JP one fits the same design language of the US SNES, though the JP / Euro SNES looks so much better, so much so that when I built my Raspberry Pi retro console I ordered a retroflex case the tlooks like the Japanese SNES.

[@whatskenmaking]

Yeah, apparently Nintendo felt that the SFC/European SNES needed more 'edges' to appeal to a North American audience... possibly because of Sega's 'edgier' marketing at the time? 🤷‍♂️

[@neilh990]

NES wasnt just North American, I am in the UK and had one as did the rest of Europe

[@whatskenmaking]

Oh man - I don't know why I kept saying "North American" there... I definitely know that Europe had the NES🤦‍♂️ Apologies to all my European friends!!!

[@markianclark9645]

@@whatskenmaking they weren't that common in 1990 or 91...the first adverts i ever remember were for Sega Master System...i only knew one person who had an NES and he traded it soon for some Commodore or something...Home computers were the fashion here...Amigas/Ataris/ZX Spectrums/and schools with BBC micros...oh and Amstrads...lest we forget...NES was uncommon...the first Nintendo console our family got was Super NES...the legendary SNES...Super Famicom shape...we went from Master System II to SNES...missing out on MegaDrive or Genesis to the US...then N64...i don't know how popular NES was on the continent...it certainly wasn't with my sons school mates...maybe in other parts of the country...our good old Britain...it might've been a bit more noticed...but not in our area in London

[@hanagomikusohana9118]

It is incredible how much we are going backwards in content on "video" ... in 20 years we will see people studying "the sum", instead of studying more and more complex topics... year after year

[@deadhomer8468]

Who was brought here from Ben Heck like me?

[@Danitruc6]

So the NES has RP chips (raspberry)? Just kidding 😂

[@cetocoquinto4704]

The secret of nes is that aside from good games program..it can be bought by all unlike today only rich kids can have the PS5 😂

[@whatskenmaking]

The other day, I was trying to remember how much the NES was going for when I got one, and I want to say it was $129.99 back in 1986

[@Nukle0n]

This is a very nice video, but you're a little too close to the mic so there's a bit of lip-smacking. It's not a deal breaker for me but it is a little much sometimes, hope you can consider changing it a bit for subsequent videos 😅

[@whatskenmaking]

It's retro tech ASMR 🤣