The Power Joy Classic TV Game console (commonly known as the Power Joy) is an unauthorized famiclone manufactured by Trump Grand. It was sold in the UK and North America. The system resembles a Nintendo 64 controller, and the second player's controller shares many similarities with a PlayStation controller. It is not to be confused with the similarly-named Power Player Super Joy III.
The console was first known to be sold in 2001,[1], but variants are still produced by Trump Grand to this day.[2]
Background[]
The consoles came with a Famicom multicart and 10 built-in games, mostly graphical hacks of NES games utilizing the NES Zapper.
Two different versions of the cartridge exist, a "PJ-008" 84-in-1 version and a "PJ-001" 64-in-1 version. The version with the PJ-008 cartridge was marketed as the "Power Joy II", but the "II" never appeared on the packaging or the console itself. Most of the included games are pirated NES/Famicom games, and as usual for pirate cartridges, the company logos and copyright details were removed.
The game selections on each cartridge are similar, although the PJ-001 contains some repeats. There are also two known variations of the PJ-008 cartridge with a slightly different selection of games despite the identical label and product number.
The console was first manufactured around 2001, and its UK distributors claimed over 1 million sold by 2004.[3]
Technical aspects[]
- The player 1 controller features a cartridge slot that supports most cartridges designed for the Famicom.
- Most have a battery pack. It takes 4 AA batteries, which are not packaged with the console.
- It comes with an AC adapter (center-negative DC9V mA350).
- It has composite and audio outputs.
- It is able to run unlicensed NES/Famicom games.
- It only comes in one color (white).
Included games[]
The console has "9999" games built in, although, in reality there are 6. These 6 games are repeated over a thousand times.
The games included are as follows:
- Duck Hunt - Hacked to remove Mode C
- Jewelry - "Magic Jewelry"
- Wild Gunman
- Submarine - Sqoon
- Hogan's Alley
- Badminton - Super Dyna'mix Badminton
Unit aspects[]
- The player 1 controller resembles a Nintendo 64 controller with a cartridge slot for most Famicom games.
- It comes packaged with a second controller. It has a similar button layout to a standard Playstation controller.
- The first controller has a light gun built into it. The trigger is the shoot button.
- The joystick on the first controller is functional.
- Although the Power Joy's button layout is identical to that of the Nintendo 64 controller, the buttons have been mapped differently. The C buttons of the N64's controller function as A and B on the Power Joy, the A and B buttons of the N64's controller are Start and Select on the Power Joy, respectively. Finally, the N64 controller's Start button is the Reset button on the Power Joy.
- It can run off of a 9V battery (negative tip) or 4 AA cells.
Successors[]
A number of other consoles were released in the Power Joy line following the original unit. These include:
- Power Joy III aka Power Joy Crusader - featured an LCD "brick game" built into the controller
- Power Joy Supermax - similar to the original, but with built-in rumble and 90 original games included
- Power Joy Navigator - joystick-based with 50 original games, released in both wired and wireless versions
- Power Joy Solo
- Power Joy Turbo Racer
- Power Joy Streamline
- Power Joy Voyager
Trump Grand still uses the brand name "Power Joy" on many of its current products.
Trivia[]
- A Power Joy "PJ-002" cartridge was announced and scheduled for release in 2002, but was seemingly never released.[4]
- Some revisions of the (former) Power Joy website feature sections encouraging developers to "showcase" their games on the Power Joy consoles, and specifically requesting they provide the original source code. As to how exactly this would work, or if anyone even provided game code in this way, is unknown.[5]
Gallery[]
.jpg "Power Joy (PJ-001).jpg (26 KB)")