Weird Famicom handhelds - worth buying?

[The_YongGrand]

Hey there,

I'm new here, so don't get too rough on me.

So here's the story: I've seen weird Famicom handhelds being sold in toy stores. One of them which is the PVP-station, which contains a ridiculous amount of games (99999-in-1) and these few games looped. The game cart inside is tiny and flimsy - I wish I can see what is inside.

Then I'm seeing this:



8-bit retro RS-1

At least they have like 100 games instead of many 9s. I've checked the list, they have my all time fave Battle City, Dig-Dug, Road Fighter and Super Mario.

Too bad I can't swap games or write homebrew inside. I don't have a teardown picture, but all I can suspect is, there's a huge NAND flash inside. Maybe I can desolder it and reprogram it. I don't know - I'm guessing, which means I can be very wrong.

And lastly, the MP5 player:



Mp5 player in Ebay

Now this one is weirder. I've read elsewhere that this thing uses a fast processor and it can emulate NES, SNES and GB games. All you can do is to load up the games into the SD card and run them. Could I write my own homebrew games and load it inside the system?

Would like to hear your opinions about these weird toys.

[TALUIGI]

Hm, looks like a bootleg PSP, that i have found in a store here in brazil, it has a little pink-ish, the cover got angry birds space mario, it's weird.   O_o
Also welcome!  :lol:

[fcgamer]

I used to have some of these, maybe not exactly the same but similar to yours, and I got rid of them.  The control pads I always found to be not very good, and sometimes the games included were hacked versions, i.e. infinite lives and shit like that.  Nothing really very good for playing, imo.  I'd rather play real software on a true Famicom portable than something like this.

[TALUIGI]

The best portable for emulators, is the PSP, you can hack, and after that you can install even N64 emulator! I don't think that some ripoffs are great.

[taizou]

The_YongGrand

Mar 1 2015, 11:28:51 AM

So here's the story: I've seen weird Famicom handhelds being sold in toy stores. One of them which is the PVP-station, which contains a ridiculous amount of games (99999-in-1) and these few games looped. The game cart inside is tiny and flimsy - I wish I can see what is inside.[/quote]There may well be nothing in there, it just acts as a switch and all the games are built-in - like this one: http://supermulti.org/?post=9

Quote:

 

Then I'm seeing this:

[pic removed]

8-bit retro RS-1

At least they have like 100 games instead of many 9s. I've checked the list, they have my all time fave Battle City, Dig-Dug, Road Fighter and Super Mario.

Too bad I can't swap games or write homebrew inside. I don't have a teardown picture, but all I can suspect is, there's a huge NAND flash inside. Maybe I can desolder it and reprogram it. I don't know - I'm guessing, which means I can be very wrong.
[/quote]
yeah they usually do have a flash chip of some description inside, probably containing a OneBus-based multicart ROM (eg the 138-in-1 here was dumped from a similar handheld). I've seen some footage from an RS-1 and the sound was pretty bad though, I'm not sure if they're all like that or if it was just a problem with certain models.

Quote:

 

And lastly, the MP5 player:

[pic removed]

Mp5 player in Ebay

Now this one is weirder. I've read elsewhere that this thing uses a fast processor and it can emulate NES, SNES and GB games. All you can do is to load up the games into the SD card and run them. Could I write my own homebrew games and load it inside the system?
[/quote]
most likely yes, although the emulation is variable on these things. usually the NES and GB side will be okay (albeit without support for more unusual mappers) and others might have problems, but it depends entirely on the console and the emulators it's running.

[NintariousFamicreep]

Give 'em to Ashens!

[The_YongGrand]

Hey there guys and girls,

TALUIGI

 

Hm, looks like a bootleg PSP, that i have found in a store here in brazil, it has a little pink-ish, the cover got angry birds space mario, it's weird.  O_o
Also welcome!  :lol:[/quote]

Thanks for the welcome! One of the storekeeper which sold those things I knew said that the "PVP Station" has a more flimsy build - these broke down frequently until they stopped stocking all of these (to relieve themselves from more disgruntled customers with impatient kids). Again, those with "PVP Station", I'd avoid at all costs.

fcgamer

 

I used to have some of these, maybe not exactly the same but similar to yours, and I got rid of them. The control pads I always found to be not very good, and sometimes the games included were hacked versions, i.e. infinite lives and shit like that. Nothing really very good for playing, imo. I'd rather play real software on a true Famicom portable than something like this.[/quote]

I'm okay with level hacks, which I can warp at a specific level. I used to have those multi-cart, they have level warps for Super Mario, and I don't mind that.

However, I couldn't tolerate "palette hacks/swaps" well - some of the colors are not right and they mess up the game faster than I could think.

Those cheap games have really crappy buttons. I'm well prepared for that, and since I'm already exposed to many forms of engineering,I could have repaired that easily.

taizou

 

There may well be nothing in there, it just acts as a switch and all the games are built-in - like this one: http://supermulti.org/?post=9

yeah they usually do have a flash chip of some description inside, probably containing a OneBus-based multicart ROM (eg the 138-in-1 here was dumped from a similar handheld). I've seen some footage from an RS-1 and the sound was pretty bad though, I'm not sure if they're all like that or if it was just a problem with certain models.

most likely yes, although the emulation is variable on these things. usually the NES and GB side will be okay (albeit without support for more unusual mappers) and others might have problems, but it depends entirely on the console and the emulators it's running.
[/quote]

Thanks for the links. I liked reading the blog - it has collections of those multicart ROMs. I don't know if he has dissected them though, but sure they are fun to read!

If there's an NAND flash chip, it would be easier to reprogram them. The issue are would they leave the chip markings there, and could the chip has become one time programmable.

I would get the "RS-1" if it's available here, but I'm going to see into your recommendations. I could get a PSP, but all I wanted is playing NES and GB games only.

Quote:

 

Give 'em to Ashens![/quote]

I might!

[TALUIGI]

Hmmmm... i renember seeing something similiar to this

[The_YongGrand]

TALUIGI

Mar 3 2015, 09:14:21 AM

Hmmmm... i renember seeing something similiar to this
[/quote]Ah, I saw the ones with the Crash Bandicoot ones. These things are poorly built - and they can't take much beating.

Last time I've seen a tower of them in a shopping center near my house, but they were already sold out.

I can take a picture of these when I come to see these.

[Zapp3012]

I have a minor obsession with pirate handhelds, and I own all of those lol.
The PSP, as you already guessed, plays NES and GB perfectly fine, but does struggle a bit with Mega Drive and SNES.
Mega Drive plays smoothly enough, but the sound is terrible.

Here's mine.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo159/Darxide_x64/pspmp5.jpg
I also have a slightly different version in white. For what they cost, they are really good if you accept that they can only really be used for NES and GB.

[TALUIGI]

The_YongGrand

Mar 3 2015, 11:17:55 AM

TALUIGI

Mar 3 2015, 09:14:21 AM

Hmmmm... i renember seeing something similiar to this
[/quote]Ah, I saw the ones with the Crash Bandicoot ones. These things are poorly built - and they can't take much beating.

Last time I've seen a tower of them in a shopping center near my house, but they were already sold out.

I can take a picture of these when I come to see these. [/quote]Yeah, i renember seeing a pink-ish psp, or i am daltonic?  :unsure:
And i'm renember there's a menu, and it had a multicart, with a catchy 8 bit music  
I would buy it, but it looks like cheap, and would break in less 6 weeks.  >_>
It's very similiar, but it don't have PSP logo, no analogic, No L R buttons,  
It almost, ALMOST cheated me. i was like, Oh a PS- Oh wait.  O.o
But yeah, it got a peculiar color, looks like red, but i guess it's pink.  
i had seen this at a shopping, a store that sells, WII U, XBOX ONE Games.