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DF Retro Direct : Famicom Disk System

sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,487
Article & video for this one:





Great video. Talk about how it came about, the hardware, and of course the games.

Among many other games they discuss Zelda 2, which is a weird one. I've played through the Japanese version recently, and it feels kind of like a beta. EXP system is different and gives you Horse/Helmet head refights instead of the unique Gooma boss in the Sea Palace (and in the next Palace the sprite for the boss Barba is far more complex in the NES version), and each Palace has different tilesets in the NES version, whereas the FDS one looks very samey. Where they diverge with music I prefer the NES to the FDS too.

I heard that speccy shade btw Audi.
 

DungeonO

Member
Dec 8, 2018
21
I replaced the belt in my FDS while watching this for a double whammy of Disk System fun.
 

Dark1x

Digital Foundry
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
3,530
Yeah, this was a fun video to make. Not exactly a full DF Retro episode but it almost turned out that way!
 
Mzo

Mzo

Member
Nov 30, 2017
1,165
Cool to see dark1x get into the FDS. It's been one of my favorites for quite some time now. There's something good about putting the disk in and hearing that clunk clunk. I don't mind the loading times at all.

It is kind of a pain to maintain, but it's worth it to me. Gotta look into that FDS stick, though, that is cheap and sounds super convenient.

Otocky was one of the first games I got for the system alongside Metroid and Zelda and it's really interesting. Comes in one of those big cardboard boxes and has a substantial manual with some weird '80s jpop idol connection.

Also of note for amazing packaging is the see-through pencil case Bubble Bobble. So cool.
 
Vark

Vark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
477
I love my FDS but after the third or so belt replacement I just went to an FDS Stick and use my disks as display objects.
 
RestEerie

RestEerie

Banned
Aug 20, 2018
13,618
Just wondering how do preserve those disks.....

Surely disks are prone to corruption as floppy disks of yore.
 
PC98_Audi

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
Mzo said:
Otocky was one of the first games I got for the system alongside Metroid and Zelda and it's really interesting. Comes in one of those big cardboard boxes and has a substantial manual with some weird '80s jpop idol connection.
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We actually had to cut down on Otocky discussion for time purposes, but one of my discussion points was on endorsements from idols and tv talent such as Tachibana Risa for Konami and Ozawa Natsuki who was the girl featuered on Otocky's promotional material. Ozawa is really interesting in that she was a rising star in the mid 80's, but never quite made it so she turned to pink cinema with movies like Zero Woman remake, then became an adult actress in her 30s.
 
Teiresias

Teiresias

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,211
RestEerie said:
Just wondering how do preserve those disks.....

Surely disks are prone to corruption as floppy disks of yore.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

In general (and I'm being very generalized) I've found that the floppies shipped with commercial software of the time (games or otherwise) have held up much better than consumer disks (though consumer floppies were much better quality in the beginning than the ones near the end of life).

I still have a number of original DOS floppy games that work fine, and I just bought a CIB copy of the original floppy release of Kings Quest V that works fine.

That said, every floppy game I own is backed up on my PC too.
 
SiG

SiG

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,485
Dark1x Once again, excellent choices in music! Just hearing those Iridion 2 tracks makes me want to fire up a ShinEn game. And great work covering some really obscure titles.

Maybe you should be a guest at the Retronauts podcast, or better yet, why not invite JeremyParish to one of your DF Directs?
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,171
A few years back I for a pile of games and a Sharp Twin Famicom for less than 60 bucks and now I have a fairly decent collection overall. Disk games have always fascinated me and I'm lucky most of the ones I find aren't recorded over imports.
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,171
Dark1x said:
That's one heck of a deal!
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Even came with a vintage step-down converter. I put a space in my cubby.

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This is the current collection.
 
PC98_Audi

PC98_Audi

Producer @ Limited Run Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
260
Raleigh
Good collection. I love Door Door on Famicom personally. Dandy - Zeon no Fukkatsu and Knight Lore are also interesting games. I wanted to mention Santa Claus Takarabako in the video but we had to skip it to keep time.

Of course, the corner stone in your collection there is Pachio-kun 2.
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,171
Audi said:
Good collection. I love Door Door on Famicom personally. Dandy - Zeon no Fukkatsu and Knight Lore are also interesting games. I wanted to mention Santa Claus Takarabako in the video but we had to skip it to keep time.

Of course, the corner stone in your collection there is Pachio-kun 2.
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You might be able to tell from the picture but that and the other bottom six (not Hot Rally) are all copied games on third party Mitsuya disks. Even had a mistranslated set of labels when I got them.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Banned
Nov 15, 2017
1,372
I never owned one of these devices, so it is interesting to hear about the loading times in the FDS. The Famicom Disk System was a novel idea for Nintendo though. It did allow for larger capacity games, saving (for RPG's and larger titles) and Nintendo could sell games at a discount price at kiosks all over Japan. It did also open the door for unlicensed developers. I can only imagine that Nintendo of America was not interested in releasing this thing because it did open a back door for unlicensed developers.

NOA was hardcore on clamping down on unlicensed developers. They really didn;t want to go through the same situation that caused the 1983 NA game console crash. Also, they really wanted to please retailers with tight quality control.

Also, the Yume Kojo thing was more than just a Fuji TV bumper thing. It was part of a large event that was held in Japan in 1987. Yume Kojo was basically a world fair event but for Japan, and the character in Doki Doki Panic were the mascots for this event. This video goes into details on what it was:

 
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