Famicom Dojo is back for its second episode! In this installment, we go over why the Famicom Disk System was such a tremendous boon for console gaming worldwide, even though the peripheral never made it to North American (or other) shores.

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Famicom Dojo – Episode 02 – Battery Backup

Show notes (and more video!) after the jump:

Show notes:

Can you spot the (slight) gaffe? In the beginning, I hold up a Mother cartridge as an example of ROM (Read Only Memory), but it was a poor one — Mother was released in 1989… and had a battery backup! Still, technically correct though, as all cartridges are inherently ROM.

More Zelda II Comparisons

We were going to go more in-depth on the differences between Zelda II on Disk System vs. Battery Backup Cartridge, but when we came across this video we realized it would be an entire installment (or two) unto itself! Instead, we’re going to offer up DarkLink805’s video. Please comment and rate — he worked very hard on it!

Data Recorder

Neither Vinnk nor I have gotten our mitts on one of these gizmos yet, but it’s a very interesting artifact of the Famicom’s lifespan. It’s unique in that it’s the only peripheral ever released that can work independently of the system itself — as a standard tape recorder. Used in conjunction with the keyboard and BASIC ROM cartridge, kids (or adults!) could write and save programs for their Famicoms! Now that’s cool.

If and when we get our hands on one of these, we’ll be sure to give it the full video workup. Until then, check out what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Famicom Data Recorder

Sharp Twin Famciom

Probably of even greater interest was that brief shot of the Sharp Twin Famicom. It was an officially-licensed Famicom clone with built-in Disk System that originally came in two colors — red (as seen in the video), or black. A later version with black and green-ish highlights was released which also had turbo buttons on the controllers. Sweet!

Inside, the Twin is little more than the hardware from the disk system and Famicom crammed into the same case, although clearly the RAM Adapter was not necessary to use disks. We might have access to a (broken) console, so we definitely plan on covering this unit in a video at some point in the future.

In the mean time, feel free to pore over the info they have at Wikipedia:

Twin Famicom

Episode Links:

For a full workup of the features of the Famicom Disk System, check out our first (and so far only previous) episode about halfway through the video. But, heck, why not just watch the whole thing?

Famicom Dojo: Famicom and Disk System

During all this hullabaloo in Japan about disks and battery backups, one peripheral did manage to grace both hemispheres of planet Earth — the Robotic Operating Buddy, or “R.O.B.” for short. Covering the US release in Powet.TV’s first smash-hit video is our very own Phil Bond in his first Gaming Archaeology segment:

Gaming Archaeology: R.O.B.