This Hori Joystick-7 (HJ-7) for the Nintendo Famicom has been sitting on my shelf for many years. When I finally took it out to use it for the first time, I noticed that the stick got stuck when moving it all the way to the left or right. In this article, I will open it up and fix that issue.
Continue reading Hori Joystick-7 for Famicom RepairCategory Archives: Famicom
Nintendo Famicom
Bandai Datach Flash Cart
This has just arrived: A flash cart (multi-cart) by TeamEurope. I’ve been involved in the development in the very beginning and am very excited that it has finally has become reality. This is the kit that I’ve received upon special request:
Continue reading Bandai Datach Flash CartSwitchless NESRGB for AV Famicom
This modification adds switchless NESRGB and IGR (in-game routines/in-game reset) to a Nintendo AV Famicom.
First look at the opened AV Famicom and the NESRGB kit. A lot of assembling needs to be done.

Ultraman Club: Spokon Fight!! for Datach
Today the second game for the Datach Joint ROM System was waiting for me at the post office. I’m glad to have found it for a decent price as these mini cartridges and barcode cards are quite rare and/or pricey.
Ultraman Club: Spokon Fight!! (ウルトラマン倶楽部 スポ根ファイト!!) is a track and field / Olympics game with characters from the Ultraman universe. It contains a Datach mini cartridge and 40 barcode cards (including two blanks).
Pirate Dragon Ball Z Famicom Cartridge
Recently I acquired an interesting pirate 2 in 1 Famicom cartridge:
On the title screen, you can select two games:
Datach Joint ROM System
The Bandai Datach Joint ROM System is an add-on for the Nintendo Famicom. It plugs right into the cartridge slot and comes with its own small cartridges. The games are enhanced with barcode cards, similar to the Mattel HyperScan.
The retail package with one included game, Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budokai, is rather easy and cheap to obtain.
Additional games are very rare and even rarer and pricier when the corresponding barcode cards are included. I’ve seen some bootlegs of those games on regular Famicom carts but never tried them so far. Update: Pirate Dragon Ball Z Famicom Cartridge.
New Arrivals: Wizardry and Conveni Wars
These were in the mail today: Two games that make use of some special peripherals. No, not the Power Glove, but the ASCII Turbo File and the Epoch BBII Interface. More about them later.
Disassembling the Sharp Turbo Twin Famicom
In the 80s, Sharp made some interesting devices powered by the Nintendo Famicom/NES technology. The less well-known devices are the Famicom Titler, a video subtitler, and the C1 NES TV/Sharp Nintendo Television, a television set. More common is the Twin Famicom, a console that plays Famicom cartridges, Famicom Disk System Disk Cards and NES cartridges (with a 72-to-60-pin adapter).
This is the black Turbo version AN-505-BK:
Continue reading Disassembling the Sharp Turbo Twin Famicom