A discovery in one of my NES Carts, a FC to NES Converter!

Inside one of my NES Carts, I found a Famicom to NES Cart Converter!
Looks like the actual game itself was for a Famicom Cart, but was put inside with a converter by Nintendo for USA/Europe NES Systems.



Here's how you can find one. Go to any store that still sells old NES carts (Funcoland, GameStop). I forgot the games that did this, but look for ExciteBike, Hogan's Alley, Gyromite, or Wrecking Crew.

The cart should feel slightly heavier than a normal NES cart.

First step:
Look on the back to see if it has 5 screws. The cart can have 5 screws, but it does not guarrantee that it contains the converter. :smt045



Second Step:
On the front label, see if it does not have any grippers.

You want this:
​

Not this:
​

Last step:
Look on the inner edge where the slot chip is, facing the front of the cart upwards.



If the whole chip is gold, then you have yourself a cart with a converter.
:happyhap:

If it has some green close to the inner part, then you have to try another cart.
:angry

The game should have a seal that looks similar in shape like this one:



But it should be in a black background instead of white & should write: THIS SEAL IS YOUR ASSURANCE THAT NINTENDO HAS APPROVED AND GUARANTEED THE QUALITY OF THIS PRODUCT.

Happy searching!

 

sorry mate, but this is old news. if you can see a REV-A somewhere on the back of the cartrige, then you can be sure there's no converter in it.

 

Ahhhhhh, that would have saved me lots of time years ago...

I feel stupid:no

 

meh, don't feel stupid, we have to discover it one day or another.

 

Yep, most of the Nes launch games used a converter.

Good thing is that you can use the converter with other famicom games.

 

hm.. never heard of it is this only in NTSC games or can I find it in any PAL games?

 

i think only ntsc since most games are u/j "roms"

 

DigDug had those converters too

Aparently NOA and NOE couldt get the PCB for the nes so they made a lot of converters and used the famicom ones instead

 

I can't imagine its in PAL games - for a start the NES was launched a few years later in PAL land than the US - by then they probably had "proper" NES PCB's finished

 

I don't believe that ones with a converter are actually heavier

 

How on earth would a PCB, cart case, and convertor NOT be heavier than just a PCB and a cart case?

Anyways, I at least am grateful for this little guide - all the other resources on the internet merely state the usual, "Check to see if the cart feels a little heavier" - as if my hands are some sort of precision measuring instruments! This should help me finally track one down, hopefully.

You have no idea how many copies of Gyromite and 10-Yard Fight I've purchased trying to find one of those goddamned things. :angry

 

the games with these converters are indeed heavier, but it can be though to only rely on this fact. but remember, always compare a cartrige with another one of the same game! my friend bought Final Fantasy because he thought it had a converter in it, but the overweight was because of the battery.:smt082

 

Because generally NES PCB are halflength and a FC PCB & converter combined are halflength. The weight difference is so minimal it's incredibly hard to tell. It took me only 2 Gyromites and one 9 fcuking $ Excitebike to find one.

 

another related story, i wanted to get one for my japanese super mario bros 3 pirate cartrige, so i bought a copy of gyromite for .50 cents, it felt really heavier than normal carts, and it was the first time i search for one, so i didn't know how heavier it should be. Anyway, so i bought the cart, and opened it with the first thing i could find: a knife. so i finally opened it, only to find that the overweight was produced because of two dead roaches. uhg.. 0_o

 

By just looking at the chip part underneath, you could tell. If the whole thing was gold, then it had the converter. Anyway, I wasted $ on one lame Gyromite & found it in Wrecking Crew. Then I tried my luck again & found it in Hogan's Alley.

The weight part is what threw me off. It was very hard for me to tell, I even made a mistake on the first one

(LOL, I could've sworn this Gyromite felt heavier than the other Gyromite, when they both had no converter inside)

 

LMAO, that's a good cruel joke. I should maybe do that & sell it on eBay with the cart still screwed, hehe...

 

Should've made it easy on yourself and bought a copy of Stack up. After all, every single copy contains one.

 

whats great about this converter and why it works well is that it actually contains the security chip the nes needs to play the game, famicom games dont have securtiy chip in them as the systems dont have any built in chip, however the reason for the extra pins is to acomedate the security chip. Still i wouldnt mind finding one of these converters, its probably the easist method of playing famicom games on a U.S. system.

 

The converters were put in 'cus they didnt have enough time to get the launch games ready for U.S.A so they just used the Japanese ones....................I think. I'm sure everyone knew that though llololo.