The FC Game Console beside Japanese and European/US cartridges
The Yobo FC Game Console (known as the Neo Fami in Japan) is a compact Famiclone measuring just 143x147x47mm manufactured by Qi Sheng Long. It is available in both 60-pin Famicom and 72-pin NES versions, the latter of which lacking a 10NES chip can play most (but not all) Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom titles. The Japanese version of the packaging refer to it as Neo-Fami and as a result it is sometimes referred to as such. Due to its small size and availability of English packaging, the FC Game Console has taken off in markets where Famicom clones traditionally never sold well, such as North America.
An original Neo-Fami or the 60-pin version of the FC Game Console accepts Famicom cartridges and won't work with NES cartridges unless one uses an adapter (the reverse is true of the 72-pin version). Fortunately, most places that sell the 60-pin version outside of Japan include this adapter for free. The 60-pin version has 9-pin Famiclone style controller ports, whereas the 72-pin version (released in North America in 2005, marked "USA Version" on the box) has 7-pin NES style controller ports. All versions output composite NTSC video and mono audio via RCA-style connectors. An external power supply provides 9v 200mA DC through an ordinary power jack. Both supplied controllers feature 'slow' buttons that rapidly pause and unpause play to simulate slowdown, and 'turbo' buttons that provide rapid automated button pressing.
Its box boasts:
- Great quality
- Easy button operation
- High performance
- AV output
- Slow & turbo function
- LED light
- 2 controllers included
The box has some typographical errors, such as, on the reverse of the box the word "only" on spelled "qnly", However, some boxes have this error fixed.
With the inclusion of the 7-pin controller ports in the 72-pin version, this allows the user to use the original Nintendo controllers, light gun, Power Pad, and other accessories with this console (however the 60-pin version lacks the original Famicom expansion port so is not compatible with most Famicom accessories). The video quality of the FC Game Console is also higher than that of Nintendo's official NES 2 game console (however its color accuracy can be brought into question).
The 3 color choices for the US Edition are:
- White top/Red bottom
- Silver top/Black bottom
- Indigo top/White bottom
Shortcomings and incompatibilities
While the system works with most US games, individuals have reported problems with a few (primarily Castlevania III, Gauntlet, and Mindscape games) due to special in-cartridge hardware being incompatible with the NES-on-a-Chip ASIC.
There are also serious audio reproduction inaccuracies which cause music and sound effects in most games to play incorrectly or not at all. In Dragon Warrior III, some of the bass sounds are dulled, but the rest of the sounds are unaffected. The model of NES-on-a-Chip used in the system provides comparatively inferior audio compared to many other Famicom clone systems.
The system also suffers from particularly serious slowdown issues evident in stressful games. These audio and slowdown issues are particularly apparent in games like Kirby's Adventure which feature stressful CPU operations and complex audio.
External links
- YoboGroup - US distributor, offering systems for wholesale
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