9 replies to this topic

[cyberfluxor]

I was in a store the other day and there were two Gyromite cartridges at different prices: $0.99 and $2.99. The owner said the $2.99 game had some special chip in it that collectors seek out and game modifiers want just for that chip due to a limited number of the games that have it. He wasn't sure what they do with the chip after extracting it from the board or what makes it more special than carts without this additional chip but you can tell it's there by the difference in weight between the two games. Anyone familiar with what I'm talking about?

[Pixelboy]

cyberfluxor, on Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:21 AM, said:

I was in a store the other day and there were two Gyromite cartridges at different prices: $0.99 and $2.99. The owner said the $2.99 game had some special chip in it that collectors seek out and game modifiers want just for that chip due to a limited number of the games that have it. He wasn't sure what they do with the chip after extracting it from the board or what makes it more special than carts without this additional chip but you can tell it's there by the difference in weight between the two games. Anyone familiar with what I'm talking about?

If I'm not mistaken, this 'additional chip' is more than a simple chip: it's a Famicom-to-NES converter. Certain early games like Gyromite and Stack-Up had the Famicom cart electronics inside the cart, and to make it compatible with the American NES, they put the converter inside the cart too. Collectors look for this because if you open up the cartridge casing, you can unplug the converter and use it to play other Japanese Famicom games on the NES.

[Prodos8]

The heavier cartridge has an adapter to convert famicom games over to the NES.

[cyberfluxor]

Ahhhh, thanks a lot for the info. I'll pass that on to some other people who were currious too.

[Dain]

$2.99 is a pretty good price for one with a converter in it -- I'd pick that up if for nothing more than using it to put a nice Famicom game inside it.

-Dain

[madhatter667]

So, how does one use the converter chip? Does it provide enough length to plunk it into a toaster NES? or does it work best in a toploader?

[Atariman]

The converter isn't very long. I don't think it is long enough to make it easy to use with a toaster NES, but it should work nicely with a top loader.

[LouDNProuD]

Here's a picture of a Gyromite cart with the Famicon Converter Board



Cheers
LNP

[DrLove0378]

Quote

So, how does one use the converter chip? Does it provide enough length to plunk it into a toaster NES? or does it work best in a toploader?

There's no way to just slip a cart on there, without damaging either the converter or the Famicom cart. (I've already tried it.) I guess the best way to do it without causing damage, would be to remove the PCB from the Famicom cartridge of your choice, and put it in place of the Gyromite board... and hopefully there'll be enough room to re-close the Gyromite shell.

But if I wanted to play Famicom games on my American NES, I'd just as soon try to find a HoneyBee, or similar adapter... or just play them on a Famiclone. My copies of Gyromite and Stack-Up both have the legendary NES-JOINT-01 Famicom converter, and I'll be damned if I cut into them with a Dremel. I'm not sure if any other early NES games had the adapter, but once collectors became aware of it, the carts became very rare.

Edited by DrLove0378, Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:12 AM.

[Video]

Actually, collectors aren't what makes it rare, it's people that don't give a crap about the cartridges, but want the converter to play all two famicom games they have.