All articles tagged with #famicom
A Nintendo historian named Orochi discovered a fully functional Famicombox, a 1986 commercial-use Famicom, still installed and playable at an unnamed love hotel in Japan. The Zapper couldn’t be tested due to the hotel’s LCD TV, but the system otherwise works, a finding that fuels long-standing rumors about Nintendo operating love hotels and highlights the persistence of rare hardware in unexpected places.
The 1980s Family BASIC package for Nintendo’s Famicom turns the console into a rudimentary home computer with a cartridge, keyboard, tape storage, and a Japanese manual; a video unboxing shows how BASIC programming and loading/saving were done in an all-Nintendo setup that never reached the rest of the world.
Nintendo Music has released a major update featuring 26 albums from NES and Famicom classics, including over 200 tracks from games like Donkey Kong, Duck Hunt, and others, available to Switch Online subscribers.
A developer has successfully ported the Little Unix (LUnix) operating system, originally written for the Commodore 64, to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) using the Famicom Disk System (FDS) to overcome the NES's limited RAM. The project, driven by curiosity, leverages the similarities between the 6502 MPU in the C64 and the Ricoh 2A03 in the NES. The port is available on GitHub and can be booted up on an unmodified NES using an EverDrive cartridge that supports FDS ROMs, sparking interest in the potential revival of UNIX-on-6502 development.
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo Famicom, the article reminisces about the console's innovative features and accessories that were ahead of their time, including a built-in microphone, a keyboard for programming, a disk system for cheaper games, 3D gaming, and even a modem for stock trading and online connectivity. Despite some commercial failures, these experiments by Nintendo during the 1980s showcased the company's willingness to push the boundaries of gaming technology, influencing the industry and leaving a lasting legacy.
Failed negotiations between Coleco and Nintendo in the early 1980s led to Nintendo developing its own console, the Famicom, which later became the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Coleco had offered to sell its ColecoVision console to Nintendo at a discounted price, but Nintendo wanted to handle manufacturing and marketing on its own terms. The fallout from these negotiations resulted in Nintendo entering the console market independently, while Coleco missed out on the opportunity.
8BitDo has announced its first mechanical keyboard, the Retro, inspired by the NES and Famicom consoles. The customizable wireless keyboard features oversized Super Buttons, hot-swappable switches, and two editions with designs reminiscent of the classic consoles. It has a 2,000mAh battery providing up to 200 hours of use, and preorders will open on July 31 for $100. 8BitDo has been expanding its hardware options, including its own Neo Geo controller and an affordable version of its Ultimate Controller.