NTSC NES

I've set up all my retro Nintendo consoles again but now I'm looking to expand a fairly small collection of NES games. Rather than buying PAL versions of these games, I'm considering replacing my PAL NES with the NTSC version and getting NTSC games. A few questions though...

Is it really worth it?
Would my European peripherals (game pads, Zapper etc) work on the NTSC unit? Or would I have to replace these too? As far as I know, the European PSU should be fine.
How easy (or difficult) is it to get one on this side of the Atlantic?

Myrddin

Karsini wrote: »

Is it really worth it?

I done the same, I think it's worth it. 60Hz gameplay & cheaper to collect for.

Would my European peripherals (game pads, Zapper etc) work on the NTSC unit? Or would I have to replace these too? As far as I know, the European PSU should be fine.

I think they'd be fine, you'd need to verify it though. The EU PSU is fine to run a US NES I think too.

How easy (or difficult) is it to get one on this side of the Atlantic?

I got mine from ebay for under €50 delivered, you just have to wait for one to pop up with reasonable shipping.

CiDeRmAn

Get a Famicom from Japan!
Then,
Get a NES to Fami adapter so you can play other region games.
Get it AV modded or you won't be able to see it on your telly.
Get an extension for the ext port and then hack it so you can use your US/PAL peripherals.
Extend the controller cables, because they are purposefully very short.
Get a refresh kit for the controllers, because the contacts wear out.
.
..
...

Ah, feck it, get a US NES!

ghostchant

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Get a Famicom from Japan!
Then,
Get a NES to Fami adapter so you can play other region games.
Get it AV modded or you won't be able to see it on your telly.
Get an extension for the ext port and then hack it so you can use your US/PAL peripherals.
Extend the controller cables, because they are purposefully very short.
Get a refresh kit for the controllers, because the contacts wear out.
.
..
...

Ah, feck it, get a US NES!

Or get an AV famicom - native AV, can detach controllers and they use the same controller ports as the NES

Retr0gamer

There's no need to replace most of your games. If you make the NTSC NES region free it will run your PAL games in 60 Hz. Some games have some PAL optimisation like faster sound and I know Mario Bros was sped up but the vast majority of your games will run at 60 Hz perfect.

o1s1n

Indeed, I've been playing all my PAL Nes games on the Famicom with one of those adapter things grand.

I did a bit more research after posting this and found that the European NES-004E controllers work on the US NES but not vice versa. Some European NES consoles seem to have a bigger tip on the AC adapter but I'm not sure if the UK one matches up perfectly. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't - the voltage is identical so I could make up a little adapter plug to convert the tip.

I'll most likely disable the lockout chip anyway so I can try my PAL games and see how they go.

Now to go hunting on eBay. Thanks guys.

Retr0gamer

Lukie games is a good shop to check for good priced loose copies and he has great shipping rates.

I felt like buying the whole site when I saw that! :pac: Cheers.

Argh, typical!

Managed to get a good deal on a NTSC NES. No accessories, just the console itself. While awaiting delivery, my CRT died tonight. Not a peep out of it and the fuse is good.

Well... I got it!

I found a cheap US NES on eBay, only came to €32 and most of that was postage. The NES itself was only $15 because it was sold as faulty - the seller said that it wouldn't boot any games. I took a chance and ordered it.

Sure enough, I was only getting a purple screen when loading a game but, notably, it wasn't flashing on and off. The lockout chip had already been disabled. So I popped it open, cleaned the connector and realigned the cart slot assembly. Worked 100%. Dates from mid 1988 according to the ICs on the motherboard.


To answer my own questions, for future reference:

Yes, Euro peripherals work fine on the US NES. My control pads and Zapper work fine. Apparently US peripherals don't work on a PAL NES without modding, though.

The tip on the DC jack is slightly different. The centre pin is thinner on the US NES compared to the UK one. The plastic around the DC jack is blue on the UK NES and black on the NTSC and Euro models, this seems to indicate the girth of the centre pin. The UK PSU fits and works but I wouldn't think it's a good connection so I might still make up a converter for it. A US PSU wouldn't fit the UK NES for sure.

Retr0gamer

Is it a NES-001?

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Is it a NES-001?

Sure is.

Just one other thing I thought I'd add to this thread. I wasn't happy with how yellow the NES was, here's a photo of it on top of my PAL NES.



I searched online about it and came across Retr0bright. I know that some of you have tried it so I figured that now was as good a time as any. I bought a 12% hydrogen peroxide cream from Boots, making sure that it didn't have any of the known bad additives. I then applied it to the top half of the NES and left it in direct sunlight from 1:00 to 5:30 today. Here's the result; I'm actually gobsmacked. Could probably do with another coating but it's not bad for a first try.

CathalDublin

Did you just use the cream or did you make retrobrite recipe, what was the cream for/called?

CathalDublin

CathalDublin wrote: »

Did you just use the cream or did you make retrobrite recipe, what was the cream for/called?

I just used the cream. Wasn't too confident that I'd easily find plain hydrogen peroxide anywhere.

This is the exact one I used, got it in Boots. Was less than €2 for one bottle.

http://www.superdrug.com/bblonde/jerome-russell-b-blonde-cream-peroxide-40-vol-12-lightner/invt/42293

When using hair products containing peroxide, you have to be careful about the other stuff in them too.