Retrofitting a NES with a 60 pin connector

I know the obvious solution is just to use some kind of adaptor to let me play Famicom games, but I was thinking that, since the 72 pin connector is the source of a lot of NES woes, and as long as they have to be replaced anyway, whether it might there might not me some sort of replacement for the edge connector that would let me use famicom games directly. Infact, if you kicked out the entire spring loaded mechanism, you might well have space to allow for some kind of dual connector. It'd be a lot neater than adaptors like the Family Connector, and more sturdy than the standard NES connector too, though it would probably mean that the cart would no longer fit comfortably inside the NES.

Anyone know of something like this?

I'm not sure exactly what you're aiming to do, but here's the pin layout of the two systems. I'm no techie, so I'm not sure if this will help you or not.

NesDev has alot of files you can browse through to get info on the technical side of the NES.

Yeah, that's sort of the idea. Rather than replacing the 72pin connector on the NES with another 72pin connector, what I'd like to do is replace it with a Famicom style 60pin connector AND a NES style 72pin connector, that I could change between by flicking a switch. Looks like it might even be accomplishable even with my piss-poor technical skills too, since it just involves rewiring pins.

As far as I can figure, the extra 12 pins on the NES port are only nessecary for the security chip (which I plan to disable), and for allowing the cart access to the port on the bottom. Given that port was only ever used officially for the Famicom, and the Famicom doesn't have those lines, it seems unlikely they'd be nessecary for the FDS, which offhand is the only piece of hardware I know of that could plug in there.

You wouldn't need it to be selectable with a switch, just don't insert both games at the same time.

There is nothing that used the expansion bus on the bottom of the NES, the Famicom Disk System plugged into the cart slot on the Famicom.

Rather than go through all that effort though, I suggest you just get the Generation NEX console from . I know I plan to get one as soon as it's released, and funds permit.

I don't think they've finished testing it yet, but I'd have preordered one already if I wasn't afraid of Nintendo's jackboots stomping down on the party, and the practicalities of using a NEX in Europe. It's an excellent looking piece of kit though, and I do have my eye on it. It'd definately be nice to own an NTSC NES-compatible to go along with my PAL NES.

Intersting about the FDS though. I've never actually seen one in the flesh, and don't really know ANYTHING about it.

As for the port replacement, I figure a switch probably wouldn't add too much complexity to such an interface, and possibly I can make the console turn off or reset automatically when switching adaptors. Besides, part of the reason behind buying a NES was I wanted to "learn by doing" and trying my hand at a little hardware hackery on a simple system that isn't going to cost me the earth to replace if I mess it up

For the time being though, I think I'm just going to go with a nice and simple plan: replace the 72pin port, hack open a copy of Mario, butcher the circuit board, and try soldering in a ribbon cable to a Famicom port on the other end, when i get the spare time.

You mean hack open a mario cart for the famicom to NES adapter, and just mount that inside the console?

That will work, if done right, but that is a LOT of soldering...

Minimum of 120 leads (one on each end of the ribbon cable), then you still have to solidly mount it in the console.
I doubt there's an adaptor inside the european/UK release of Super Mario (apparently there's not even one inside Gyromite or Stack-up over here), which means I'm going to need to find a Famicom edge connector someplace else, but I can live with a fair amount of soldering. Frankly I need the practice.

The plan is to have the ribbon cable long enough that it'll actually reach outside the NES. so that I can just shove the whole "no longer Mario" cartridge into the NES as normal, then plug the Famicom game into the other end, rather than have an awkward to retrieve adaptor like the Honeybee.

Gotta admit i'll feel a bit guilty butchering a cart though: Especially a Mario one

i doubt luke was suggesting that there was a famicom converter inside a SMB cart. i think he got the impression you where goung to hack one open and make a converter from scratch.

Ah... but there are converters inside some of the older NES black carts. I don't know about PAL, but on the NTSC side, some of the black label release carts have a converter inside them. I think what you would want to look for is the five normal screws on the back, as opposed to the GameBit screws.

i have some euro black carts with the 5 screws.. no adaptors inside..

you dont need to hack up a mario cart, get a cheap famicom to nes adaptor cart.. mine has a ribbon attached to it, you pull the ribbon and the game and adaptor comes out of the nes, so it's not so awkward.

i used the pinouts posted up higher with a nes motherboard a while ago.. as far as i could tell i did nothing wrong.. but it didnt work.
youll probably have to hack a converter rather than make one from scratch.
Finding one of those convertors is rarer than Hen's teeth. The only one I've been able to find is the "Family Convertor" which only works the other way. I've seen a few pics of the convertor-types you're talking about on a few websites, but I've had no luck sourcing one on Ebay.co.uk.

I DID manage to find a "Family Game" Famiclone the other day though, so it may not be nessecary to hack up Mario. But it WOULD be fun. I'd feel a little guilty because it's Mario and thats one of THE iconic NES Games, but I chose it because it's VERY un-rare, and because it's not like the game is going to vanish off the face of the earth if I manage to destroy a few. Not between all the NES carts of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. & Duckhunt, the Super Nintendo Mario All-Stars carts & Gameboy Color Super Mario Bros. DX carts

As for the "adaptors" inside NES Carts, I don't think ANY of those are in European carts. The NES was released in Europe later than in America - by that time, Nintendo was more than capable of making enough carts to fill demand. I they only used convertors in the early days of the NES's US release. Still, who knows? The European NES Market was a shambles so it's possible. Still, it seems more likely they'd just re-chip the security chip on an American cart. Or even more likely, just stiff Europe entirely in favour of selling the cart in the States.