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In this episode, we talk about the pin differences between Famicom and NES carts, Nintendo's big plans for an NES add-on, and its unintended consequences.

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Show Notes:

Probably one of the coolest features of the Famicom is the ability for sound expansion. Nintendo's solution was the FM Synthesis chip, but both Konami and Namco developed their own solutions, built into chips that could do other kinds of processing and memory management.

Below are the chips they developed, as well as the games that used them:

Konami

VRC6 [Wikipedia]

Akumajo Densetsu (Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse) [Wikipedia]
Moryou Senki Madara
Esper Dream 2: A New Battle

VRC7 [Wikipedia]

Lagrange Point [Wikipedia]

Namco

NAMCO106 [Wikipedia]

Erika to Satoru no Yumebouken
Final Lap
King of Kings
Mappy Kids
Megami Tensei II
Rolling Thunder
Sangokushi 2
Youkai Douchuuki (did not use sound capabilities)

I find the Castlevania III story to be of particular interest. Unfortunately, most of the filming for the episode had been completed before I came across these game lists. That's just as well, since I'm sure the story of Castlevania can probably take up an entire video (or two, or five) by itself -- and would probably be better left to our resident Castlevania expert, Sindra. She's already done the subject justice; check out her Dracula X Chronicles video review!

For more on the topics covered in this episode:

10NES Lockout Chip
Home Entertainment Suppliers (HES) Unidapter
Cartridge (electronics)

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