In Hardware

Well, I'm getting a late Christmas present from ZHX. He recieved mail confirmation that showed up at my mother's place yesterday, so I'm off to pick it up. Out of the kindness of his heart, ZHX got me a brand new I feel bad that I didn't get him anything, but hey, there's always next year... or maybe I can send something for his B-day (when I find out what it is).

I'll be playing games all day most likely, testing them out etc. (making sure the U-Force works with it and what-not ). I'll post back on this topic a little later with pics and review for the Files.

Oh, these were the "beans" ZEN mentioned.

Thats awesome! So you know him? (I guess so). I have read somewhere that the NEX does not run the games sound and graphics "perfectly". I cant wait to read your review of it.

He's an online friend, I just met him here like everyone else I think we just entertain the hell out of each other. He told me he thought that I'd be able to appreciate the NEX, so he Hooked me up... he's an awesome dude. I guess he Hooked up a couple of his online buddies with the NEX. His new job must be paying really well!

That's pretty darn sweet! It's good to have friends in high places!
As for his birthday; just send him something any old day you feel like it, presents are good year round!

I keep up with hisblog, usually I check daily. His review on the NEX was probably the best I've seen.
That's cool that he got you one, hes working with some company doing the computer stuff, and house calls, rigth?

nice! can't wait for the review!

That is AWESOME!!! It's hard to find all-round nice people anymore..... But then you come to a place like "The NES Files" and it gives you hope for the rest of mankind..............

Anyways, looking forward to the review .

Yeah, it's a myriad of stuff they have him do

Well, the NEX is pretty damn sweet! Yeah, it does have it's inconsistencies here and there, and I think we all already know about the incompatibilities. I'll start from opening it up... man, sweet! The manual itself is awesome which I'm sure you've heard. If you haven't, it's shaped exactly like an NES cartridge. It even comes in it's own sleeve! The NEX itself is compact and smaller than the Sandwich system. It's even sexier than what pics make it out to be. You load Famicom games from the top, and NES Games from the front. The controller is pretty damn sleek too. There are shoulder buttons that you can use even. They are just buttons B and A except on the shoulders. I'm sure this could be pretty handy and cool in itself for different games. That's the lowdown on what you probably already know, it looks great!

The first game ZEN and I put in was SMB. That had to be the first game to try out, seeing as how it came with the original NES The first thing we noticed was the color is a bit off, but nothing that was distracting enough to piss us off. You can tell some of the sound is a bit different (grabbing a coin makes a ringing tone that's a bit "ringier" than usual). It played nicely, and after a second, you don't even notice that the sound is a bit different. After trying that, we had to put in CVIII, just to see what happens...

When a game doesn't work with the NEX, that's exactly what it does... it doesn't work. There were three different screens of death that we found; green, blue, and white. If the game didn't work, that was it... one of those colors would display. Everyone already knew CVIII wouldn't work, so we weren't as disappointed as some may have been. We threw in NGIII after reading ZHX's blog just to see what he was talking about, and yes, the sound was repugnant on that game. The drum track was really loud, and all the rest of it was really quiet. We were expecting that though, so again, no biggie.

We went ahead and tested some more games out, and here's the bottom line....

The NEX runs all compatible games pristinely. The only thing you notice is that the colors are just a tad off, and that SOME of the sounds are just a tad off. The colors are off in a way that they look more... I don't know, saturated maybe? ZEN says it's the hue, so I'm gonna go with the "hue" of the colors is different, and makes one color look just a tad different shade of what it is. Sound... the games sound the same, but not all parts of the games it seems. Sometimes when... say, grabbing an item, it sounds like it's a little more in the background or something. Once again though, it goes unnoticed after playing a few seconds.

The NEX can't really be considered a replacement of course, because the original hardware is still the sweetest G-Spot of them all. But the fact that only a few people put this together and really made it something that stands out is awesome in itself.

I'm really glad that ZHX Hooked me up with this because I never would've put forth the money to check it out myself, and I would've just accepted all the negativity that people put into it on the Internets and forums around. I do like it... alot! If you're reading this at some point ZHX, thanks again bro!

By the way, the is VERY compatible with it

nice review. although, i still don't think i could bring myself to spend the money on one.

Pics por favor? I want to drool.

Certainly Tab I'm not a great photographer, so here goes some craptastic pics.

Here's the console itself:



... and from the back...



... and the Wireless switch on the side....



Here's the controller, but I don't have a pic of the shoulder buttons yet...



Here's the manual in it's sleeve...



.. and here's a quick snapshot of the inside of the manual. This is a page from the rarity/price guide inside of it...




I can't find my Philips screwdriver at all right now, so I'll have to get pics of the innards at a later time. If anyone wants to see anyother angles or anything, lemme know!

Man that looks nice. I'd get one if I had the drive to start collecting NES Games again.

Keep all the contents, it may be worth a pretty penny someday.

My God man, you're leaving yourself open!

Calling me a slut?

How is it to play their controller? I've heard that the controllers are the worst part of the system.

I rehosted some of the Pictures ZHX had on his blog, if anyones interested

Wow I never realized how small it is. I cant really tell from the picture but is the D-pad on the controller one of those "8-way" round ones.

The color hue is definitely off. The blue sky on 'Super Mario Bros.' looks purple. Anything that's a lighter shade of blue almost looks pinkish.
If you can understand, playing 'Ninja Gaiden' feels somewhat less "masculine".

The sound seems to be quieter for mid-range effects. It is noticeable, but only if you really know the game you're playing after experiencing it on a normal NES.

For the most part, it's a good machine. I think the inclusion of Famicom cart support is what really sells it. However, if you want to spend $60 plus for a machine just to play NES, I recommend opting for the official top-loader.


My biggest gripe is the "slant" formation of the buttons. Because of the thumb's natural position, it would be better if the "B" button was to the far left and the "A" button at the bottom. Outside of the that, the size of it seems alright.

The shoulder buttons are a great feature though. It would help for playing games like 'Werewolf', where they inverted the traditional jump/attack buttons.

Damn thats tiny, even with it being a little off, bet it sure beats blowing into carts... or does it? Memories I guess.

For me for sure the worst part has been taking in and out the cartridges. When they are in they are in. Basically to get a cart out you have to pick the whole thing up, place one hand on the far side with the NEX against your chest and pull like mad......just make sure no one is behind you or they may get a face full of elbow. Exagerating sightly? Maybe, but not by much. What also sucks is that when ever I pull a cart out, I get this feeling that this can't last long until something breaks internally, externally or both. I even had a few friends come over the other day to do some old-school gaming and purposefully didn't explain to them anything about the NEX. After about 10 seconds I was getting an ear full about how hard it was to switch out carts. Also I know this guy who is 6' 1" 320 lbs (big fingers) and he has a heck of a time getting the POWer button to engage. The button slot is very slim. Like the rest I guess? Lastly, I do have to agree that the controller sucks bootie.

look at nik's and nesaddict's dates/times of the posts. crazy!

Now that you say it, it's really weird.
Nik posted 1 minute later, but his post comes before nesaddict's.

Happened to me before. nesaddict replied first, but took longer to finish the post than nik.

What the hell are you guys talking about? nik's post was in January.

IR NUB

crazy how their posts are at the same time and date... 2 months later

I just got one of these systems and the controller is pretty good. I love the original controller and the Dog Bone controller, and I've always hated other controllers, especially famiclone controllers, but the one that comes with the NEX is really not bad.

I'm gonna order the wireless controllers and see how those work out too.