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Private Notes
Here at Famicom Dojo, we spend a lot of time marveling over the Famicom, and how foreign it must seem outside of Japan. But what's just as foreign is this gray little toaster with these monotone cartridges called the "NES" to those who grew up with a little cream and red system called the "Family Computer". Vinnk returns to Japan with his "instant" NES collection, and shows it off to Hiro, the proprietor of the eponymous Famicom Dojo retro store in Kyushu, to get the reactions of a long-time (Japanese) Nintendo fan. Famicom Dojo is a web series dedicated exploring the Japanese history of video games and consoles from the other side of the Pacific.
Sara returns to Famicom Dojo to show us how to play Super Momotarou Dentetsu ("Electric Train", get it?), a game series that was never released outside of Japan. But, fear not! Sara will translate as she goes, as best she can. (And Vinnk will clarify as necessary via subtitles.)
Pile of Shame kicks off with two variants of the same SNK game that have on Sean's pile for years: Samurai Spirits for the Super Famicom, and Samurai Shodown for Sega Genesis.
After a surprise visit from Vinnk, Sean plays a "classic" Castlevania game: Akumajou Special: Boku Dracula kun. You play as a young "Kid Dracula", avoiding the random traps of his own castle, and encountering a cast of... colorful enemies.
Not satisfied with directing a horror film in 2014, Joe Grisaffi partnered with Jason Santuci to create a homebrew Atari game. Still not content to merely make a rom, they joined forces to create a Kickstarter campaign to create a physical copy that can by played on an actual 2600, reaching over 5 times the pledge goal.
Vinnk received one of 50 specially-boxed copies, complete with instructions, and couldn't wait to play it. (Don't worry; Sean got one too, but loose.)
Sean never owned his own copy of Smash TV as a kid, and despite buying it years ago as an adult has never really tried to play it. Now, armed with two NES Advantage controllers and rose-colored glasses, he's going to give this arcade classic another shot. No pun intended.
Vinnk finds the updated version of a Famiclone he reviewed in his previous Dojo Snacks installment, and he can't help but buy it and try it out! Will he be able to make it through all 30 built-in games with his sanity intact?
Vinnk backed a project by Wisdom Tree to release their 8-bit games on a Plug n Play device that looks like an NES controller went out to a '50s diner. The Kickstarter was funded, and now Vinnk tries out all of the games on the device.
On the 10th anniversary of the upload of our first-ever episode of Famicom Dojo, we wanted to share the DVD version of the episode WITH the DVD commentary!
If you haven't gotten the Season 1 DVD before now, we hope you will find this to be a special treat... if not encouragement to pick up the disc for yourself.
Our 10th Anniversary celebration is just beginning! We hinted at one of our upcoming videos during the commentary, as it turns out. Can you guess which topic we'll be covering? (Or, more accurately, going back to cover?)
Super Russian Roulette by Batlab Electronics is a party game played with a controller and the NES Zapper; use the controller to load the gun and spin the chamber, and the Zapper to tempt your fate. Or, you can use the Zapper to shoot any number of things on the screen! (Only if you're using a CRT.)
Vinnk and Sean unbox the game, play a few rounds, and open up the cartridge to see what they might find inside!
In the last part of our Wisconsin Dells On the Go trilogy, we pay a visit to indoor tourist trap extraordinaire Knuckleheads to explore the arcade. And what do we find, but a well-made on-the-rails shooter for Transformers game!
40 years ago today, Atari released its Video Computer System (aka VCS), and went on to define the second generation of video gaming. Ultimately, it would also unwittingly help to bring that era crashing down, but before that fateful day it would spawn a love for gaming that would survive.
