A New Toy: Yobo's FC Game Console

So a friend of mine just bought an old Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) last week off of eBay and I helped him replace the old, bent up 72 pin cartridge connector. It works like a dream now and to be honest I really got kind of sentimental about my old gray brick that I sold off for fifteen bucks a few years back when I was still in high-school like the moron that I am.

Anyway we were out looking for games at a local store that still carries old cartridges from trade-ins and for that same fifteen bucks sat the "Yobo FC Game Console," a popular Nintendo clone that's sold legitimately in the US ever since Nintendo's hardware patents ran out. I instantly had to be a copy-cat and buy up some games for myself, but unlike my reckless Sega Genesis collecting I promise to keep myself in check (As if I need something else to distract me). I'm only going for the honest to goodness classics or games that I personally have nostalgia for. In any case this little silver Yobo box has been a good jump start back into the land of NES games for me. I was just impressing some freshmen with my Super Mario Bros. skills, one of which had never played the game in his life, and goddammit do I feel old now.

In any case let's talk about the FC Game Console or as we've been affectionately calling it: the Yobo. Originally it was a Famiclone called the NeoFami (the name of the NES in Japan is the Family Computer or Famicom). A third party hardware company called Yobo decided to import the little box, roughly the size and height of two NES games, to the US with a 72 pin cartridge connector for US games and they were even nice enough to use Nintendo's proprietary NES controller ports so that you can use real honest to goodness Nintendo controllers. As you can see in the picture I got myself an old NES pad and a zapper that both work perfectly fine with the Yobo. We also tried out an NES Advantage arcade stick without any trouble. The two controllers the Yobo comes with are actually pretty nice and really comfortable with what's essentially a SNES style layout. They feature both slowdown and turbo functions which are also appreciated though like the Yobo itself they feel flimsy and shoddily constructed. Though I like the Yobo's sleek and minimalistic look (and the blue LED on the power button is a nice touch) there's always the fear of it breaking due to its cheap build.

The Yobo's game playing isn't perfect. The good thing is games will usually start up after only one or two tries which is nearly impossible with an original Nintendo (though those replacement pins have done wonder's for my friend's eBay trophy). The Yobo is built on an NOAC or NES-on-a-chip which means most of the functions that the hardware of the NES was responsible for are now being done on a single tiny chip. The problem with this is that in some games the sound will be off or the colors will not match perfectly with the original. This is only a minor complaint as I haven't had any serious problems so far. The only major games that the system is completely incompatible with are Castlevania III and Gauntlet and I can live without them (especially because Gauntlet II will work). I haven't run into any serious graphical glitches in other games though the system is prone to a bit more slow-down than a real NES, also not a problem for me. I might talk about some particular games at a later date. As you can see in the picture I snagged a copy of the marginally rare yellow-label Metroid that works like a dream in the Yobo.

Like I said, the Yobo is only a start. Though I don't feel like getting a legitimate NES again any time soon I'm thinking of grabbing a Generation NEX for Christmas. I've read it has many of the same problems as the Yobo but it's a much slicker, more legitimate looking device that also plays Famicom games (Which means I can pick up that fun little Macross shooter). This comparison by Run! Jump! Shoot! also recommends it as a good replacement model for the original though at $60 I'd much rather buy a Yobo. But hey, if we're talking Christmas gift then why not. If you want to get in on NES collecting and you're on a budget I can't recommend the Yobo enough. It's basic, it's got wonderful AV output that's probably better than that of the original NES, it works with all NES peripherals and most of all it's cheap.