Famiclone Controllers

Over the last few years I have collected a plethora of Famiclone controllers, out of habit and for variety. Some of these controllers didn't come with their respective consoles, but I knew they were Famiclone controllers and picked them up anyway. I won't be giving any extremely in-depth information about the controllers in this article, but I figured this article may help out someone who is faced with a wild Famiclone controller on whether they should take it home or not.

I don't know what to call these (I found 2) controllers other than "the silvers". Blatantly modeled after a Playstation controller, with a few liberties in design thrown in, these controllers are fairly comfortable. The A and B buttons are set to X and O, respectively, meaning that like the other 80% (or more) of Famiclone controllers these too have a backwards A and B scheme, often throwing off the ability to play simple games. I'm not sure which Famiclone these came from, but they seem compatible with all Famiclones, at least the ones I've tested them on.

The Power Player controllers come packed in with the Super Joy Famiclone systems. Over the years I have found plenty of these laying around thrift stores and I would dare say they are the most common Famiclone controllers out there. With a pseudo Genesis shape they are as comfortable as any Genesis controller, although significantly lighter and more bulky. Again the A and B are backwards, as the C button functions as Select, since there is only a stand alone start button. Again these seem universally compatible, so if you need Famiclone controllers in a pinch, these are most likely to be easier to find and ready to go.

The Powerstation controllers are, again, based on the Playstation, even Powerstation is kind of a play on the former's console name. If you're familiar with the Playstation controller, you're pretty much familiar with this one too! Comfortable, A and B are in correct alignment with turbo buttons just above them, diagonally left. This controller even features shoulder buttons being: L1 is B, R1 is A and pressing both L2 and R2 is the equivalent of start. The plastic, although still the cheap melty kind, feels good and solid in your hands, topped of with a good cable length. Seemingly universal as well.

I picked up the Super Video Game controllers with my 57000 Super Video Game, which displays a Playstation feel throughout. Sadly I had to add the D-pad myself, but even so these are very comfortable, albeit maybe a tiny bit smaller than a normal PS controller. The A and B backwards, unsurprisingly, but Z functions as an additional turbo B and C an additional turbo A. Seemingly universal!

Obviously if you're going to try and pass off a discreet Famiclone console as the genuine you'll need to clone the controllers as well! Very familiar Famicom style and comfort with buttons in the correct places and familiar turbo buttons within easy reach. There isn't really much else to say about this controller, other than I do have some third party NES controllers in this design and they are among my favorite NES controllers. Assumed universal.

Some Famiclones tried to mimic the Super Famicom, while having either a 60 (Famicom) or 72 (NES) pin connector built in. I've seen these controllers in both a DB-9 (Atari, Sega, Famiclone) end and even an NES controller end. The SNES style is very comfortable and familiar, A and B are where they should be, with turbo buttons clearly marked. The plastic is a bit chip, as per usual, but the cable seems like a quality thick cable. Again, assumed universal.

The Power Joy!

Ahhh, the Power Joy! The very first Famiclone I ever owned, as well as the one that kicked off my whole adoration for the Famiclone species in general. I had seen them before, strewn about the shelves of various thrift stores, but it wasn't until someone went a bit cheap with the pricing gun that I dared to take a chance and pick up one of these fabled "console in a controller".

The very first one I picked up was just the controller; no cartridge, no second player controller and no battery door. Ignorantly I used an NES power adapter to try and boot the thing and within seconds the pungent aroma of heavily leaded solder filled the air around the system, with no signs of life I quickly unplugged it and packed it away. I had seen a lot of people online showing off that the system would play Famicom games, a console I had yet to tap into, but with no way of powering mine up properly, or even know if it would ever work again at this point, I had to keep on searching for another.

It took a while but finally I had found myself another Power Joy that came complete, with the battery door and the PJ-008 cartridge, so I pulled my original one from its thrift store bag casket in my closet and give it a good play through. Without a cartridge plugged into the system there are 10 built in games, most of them taking advantage of the built-in light gun, which is quite accurate! Almost all of these games are based on different hacked versions of Duck Hunt, replacing the ducks with helicopters, alien ships, etc.

The PJ-00X cartridges are probably one of the best features of the Power Joy line, as they offered the choice of many great Famicom/NES titles. Mine came with the PJ-008 and I've seen different lists of games given to the same # cartridge, Chinese quality control there, huh? But the great thing about the cartridges is the simple fact that they work in an NES (w/ converter) or a Famicom, obviously as the Power Joy is a NOAC.

One of the main reasons I enjoy the Power Joy is due to its all-in-one design, so I don't need to hunt down accessories and parts if I want to play the thing. The Power Joy is strictly utilitarian but quite comfortable, as well as painfully obvious that this was spawned from the breeding of a Nintendo 64 controller with a fighter jet model kit. One of the major features, at least to me, is that unlike the Super Joy units the joystick on the Power Joy is fully functional, yet only a digital pad and not analog.

Another utilitarian feature that I quite like is the hardwired AV and power cables, although I think the power input could have easily been put about the same spot as it was in the Super Joy systems, but thats just splitting hairs. This means I don't need to hunt down a set of AV cables when I want to play the system, making the Power Joy completely portable. Powered by 4 AAA batteries, you're good to take this thing almost anywhere you need to go, as long as there is power for a television.

And finally we reach something that Super Mario Bros. taught us all those years ago, other people want to play too, and they have as much right as we do, us controller hogs! It took me a while to actually track down a Power Joy second player controller, but I did and its fairly standard, yet pretty good. My only complaint would be that the spacing on the grips is a bit strange, which I personally can't use it for too long, but then again that could be a ploy to keep people from wanting to become player 2.

I currently own the Power Joy and Power Joy Voyager, but I hope in the future I will find more Power Joy systems and even more of the cartridges. I'll never forget the first time I passed up an absolutely complete Power Joy for $10 at a thrift store, but through time and patience I've pieced one together, with a spare one for parts if needed. The Power Joy is nothing more than pure Chinese piracy and I don't really favor it over any of my other consoles, or even Famiclones, but it was my first and thus I will forever remember the joy and excitement of exploring a world that was completely new to me.

The Dreamstation Famiclone

The Dreamstation was a console I stumbled upon at a local flea market, after I spotted a yellow pirate multicart on top of its box. It was also my first proper Famiclone console. I had just bought the 57000 Video Games less than a month prior, but the Dreamstation was my first complete in box, with everything needed to get started right away Famiclone console.

Up to this point I was only familiar with the numerous handheld clones and the clunky 57000 Video Games, so when the Dreamstation actually worked as well as any of the officially branded systems I own, I was kind of shocked! The Dreamstation isn't flashy or splashy but it did exactly what I wanted it to do, it worked. The video quality was good, the sound quality was what you would expect from an NOAC, yet a year later I found out that the Dreamstation had a trick up its sleeve.

One night I was playing my (official) Famicom copy of Bases Loaded when I noticed the volume was much lower than any of the other games I had been playing, so I simply turned the volume up. Shortly after the game started I heard voice clips and additional sound effects I had never heard from the game before. The  Dreamstation was somehow emulating the FM synthesis chip from the Famicom.

None of my other Famiclones will play these voice or audio clips hidden deep within the game's coding. And the NES was never given the FM chip, so when I play that cartridge in my NES all volume levels are normal, but the game play is devoid of any real noise, I can tell there are missing sound effects. I'm not exactly sure how the Dreamstation is able to emulate or replicate the FM chip, but I know for a fact it does.

Besides being able to emulate FM sounds and overall functioning better than any of my other Famiclones, the Dreamstation isn't without it's faults, simply the short controller lengths. I covered this in my controller extension cable article. But to their credit the A and B buttons are laid out like an actual NES, with A and B shoulder buttons as a cool bonus, meaning I can use these controllers without getting confused by backwards controls.

In addition to the controllers the Dreamstation also included a gun, which looks insanely too real to be used outside of the home. The trigger on mine was snapped off by the previous owner, but even so the light gun is quite accurate and comfortable to hold. Not surprisingly the included pirate multicart has quite a few variants of games to test the gun out, which is handy.

Not only did the seller toss in the above mentioned cartridge, which looks a lot like a Nintendo 64 cartridge, they also included the yellow cartridge, as I stated at the beginning of the article. Both cartridges are filled with the standard pirated games as well as some random hacks tossed in. Finally I have a pirate cart with Dream Mary built in! (Super Mario Bros. with the wrong scrolling)

I've seen many other Famiclones in this shell with various other names, but I'm not sure if they are the exact same board inside or not. Which makes me wonder if they would all be able to emulate the FM chip. So far the Dreamstation is my favorite Famiclone console that I own, but if there is a better Famiclone on the market I'm sure I'll track it down!

Power Games aka Penguin Famiclone

The Power Games Famiclone, aka the Penguin Famiclone, was one that I had seen a handful of times while doing research on Famiclones in general. Possibly the most extreme, and adorable, variant of all Famiclones, the system is housed within a simple Penguin shaped shell. The Power Games "Penguin" was a Famiclone I have wanted since the time I first saw it, but I never knew where, or if, I would ever run across one.

While the local Goodwill shelves are no stranger to the likes of the Super Joy III or the Power Joy controller based Famiclones, as far as I've seen they have been devoid of anything console based. I've learned that sometimes you need to trust your gut and just walk into a store, worst case scenario you had a little exercise and didn't pay them a dime! The other day that feeling struck me as I walked into a local Goodwill, where I eventually saw a boxed Power Games system sitting on a shelf.

As per (Goodwill) usual the box was open and everything was haphazardly thrown inside, yet I could see the Penguin was there, along with a lot of wires, so I decided to plunk down the $3.99 asking price and take a chance that it was complete. Once I got the thing outside and into the car, lucky for me, everything was inside the box and seemed as if it had only been played a handful of times, if that, and tossed straight back into the box. Sadly the Penguin's foot was broken off and the included multi-cart was busted open as well, but thats nothing a quick spot of hot glue hasn't remedied.. so far!

The box art is just as bland as any other box art you'll find across any other Chinese system, but there was a gold sticker on the front proudly proclaiming "108IN 1", so I was super curious to get this thing plugged in and thoroughly checked out! Once everything was plugged up and ready to go the first thing I noticed was how ominous the system looks with its beady little red eyes giving you the cold stare down. Secondly I noticed that there actually were 108 games built into the system itself and not coming from the cartridge, as I originally thought.

Most of the 108 built in games are unique with very few repeats/variations of the same game. The pirates did quite a good job with title screens and making slight changes to original games, enough to make the pirated version fun yet different, some are actually really fun but most of the games are just complete and utter junk! Games such as Desert Storm (Contra clone) and Overspeed Racing ( Rad Racer with a dash of Spy Hunter) are fun games that were simply redone, while games such as Assart, are completely new to me, but still fun to play.

The Power Games is unique in design but it isn't very practical, strictly using wireless controllers and not even offering the option for wired controllers, but it does give the light gun its very own port on the side. Player 1 has a completely wireless (via infrared) controller, while player 2 plugs into the first controller and both signals are sent from controller 1. The finicky nature of infrared is on full display as I'll often find myself not pointing the controller correctly and end up losing a life, but the worst part of this so called wireless controller is the way its eats batteries!

The controller designs, despite being infrared, are the standard Famiclone style of Playstation ripoffs, comfortable and merely functional, sort of. One of my main complaints about Famiclone controllers has been that they simply can't seem to get the layout of B and A correct, which is the case with the Power Games controllers. I have found controllers that manage to get it right, but since the Power Games system uses proprietary controllers without the option of using other controllers you're pretty well stuck with this fact.

After all was said and done I thought the saving grace came down to the included multi-cart, boy was I wrong. I had to take the broken cartridge apart and put the board into the Power Games manually, which took me a while to figure out which way to even put the thing into the system as it doesn't have angled edges around the cartridge slot. After putting the bare board into the system the right way I heard the extremely familiar jingle of the 12000 in 1 menu of a couple of my Super Joy III units.

From the wireless controllers that are minimally problematic, yet problematic just the same, to the limited handful of built in games that are entertaining, the Power Games turns from a practical Famiclone into more of an occasional conversation piece. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I own the Power Games system, but I have other Famiclones that work better and offer the option of correctly mapped controllers. That means this poor Penguin is most likely doomed to spend most of his days in the closet.

Power Joy Voyager - The Last Voyage?

If I told you that I have a portable Famiclone you would most likely assume I was talking about a Super Joy 3 or a Power Joy. What if I said it was in fact a Power Joy, but it was in the shape of a quasi Game Boy Color, played "9999" built in games on an LCD screen but also played NES games from a Game Boy style cartridge? Well its all true, and that Famiclone's name is the Power Joy Voyager.

The Power Joy Voyager does everything the original Power Joy can do, with the bonus of having 9999 different Tetris clones as well, if you can consider that a bonus. This system has the unique ability to be powered by 4 AA batteries, unlike the original Power Joy, as well as allowing you to use the Game Boy style controller layout for single player games (While in "NES" mode) or plugging in a pair of controllers, which are tied together to a single DB9 end.

 Although slightly bigger, the overall design is undoubtedly trying to resemble that of a Nintendo Game Boy Color, and at first glace thats what I originally thought it was. Even the cartridge has a slight Game Boy look to it, but more of a knock off Game Boy pirate design. Its comfortable to hold, but the built in games aren't really what will have you holding the system for too long, thats the built in NOAC.

 On the very top are the (mono) AV outs, all you have to do is plug in your cables and flip the switch on the side from LCD or Off to TV and you have a tiny Famiclone. For the Famiclone part there are no built in games, the software comes from the PJ-007 cartridge. The cartridge shares the same name, and game list, as the Famicom style cartridge that comes with the original Power Joy.

Short of it having the 9999 LCD games, the Power Joy Voyager functions exactly the same as the Power Joy. I find this one to be more unique in design and a lot easier to shove in a bag and take on the road. Although they made different cartridges for the Power Joy, I believe the PJ-007 is the only one they made for the Voyager.

57000 Super Video Game

My deep interest in Famiclones started when I picked up my first Power Joy, and although it didn't initially work it still spurred extensive research into Famiclones and their history. That research lead me to want more Famiclones, not just handhelds like the Super Joys and Power Joys, but more console based Famiclones. That day finally came when I found a Super 57000 Video Game at the Goodwill outlet store.

The Super 57000 Super Video Game's shell and controllers are, unashamedly, based on the original Sony Playstation, although made of much cheaper plastic. The insides are pretty simplistic, running a NOAC (Nintendo on a Chip) with two built in Famicom slots, one for the built in games board (mine doesn't work so I swapped it out for a loose Hogan's Alley board I had) and the other for Famicom or pirated cartridges, which is hidden under the giant, round lid. From there you have the standard db-9 controller inputs on the front and the audio/video output board on the back, nothing fancy.

When I found mine it was quite yellow, one controller was pretty beat up and neither controller had D-pads; I later found a D-pad that fits, while it works it doesn't really fit the controller. As for it being a console, I didn't know what I expected because honestly, it works like a console. Even though this thing is quite ugly its still functional!

As such the Super 57000 uses the same DC 9v adapter as all of my other Famiclones, as well as offering not only AV out, but a pseudo-RF output as well. Sadly I could never get any of my TVs to find the RF channel this system sends the signal to, perhaps it doesn't and its just on there for looks. The back of this thing really shows Chinese ingenuity, a simple output mix up was "corrected" when they sharpied the white jack black, to use for RF, and painted the black output red, for audio, instead of just resoldering them into the right place.

The front of the console isn't much better either, the plastic shows gaps all over the place. The lid doesn't always shut properly, half the time due to the sticky release button. But since its only covering a 60 pin port, instead of a CD drive unit, the gap is forgivable.

Again, I honestly don't know what I expected from the Super 57000 Video Game, other than the excitement of finally having my own console style Famiclone. Which its just that, a Famiclone in a console shell. The console does what its asked and nothing less, nothing more, it just works!

The controllers are comfortable, the video quality is what you would expect from a Famiclone and the audio is what you would expect from a NOAC. This was my favorite (I mean only) Famiclone console until I found my Dreamstation. Sadly, it took a slightly better Famiclone to make me realize how abysmal this system was, but that still doesn't mean this system is complete junk.

An Additional (Blue) Super Joy 3

As you can see I own three blue Super Joy 3 Famiclones. No, I'm not being greedy, its the fact that two of them have different game sets inside and the third one, although looking identical from this angle, is quite different from the other two. In fact, its different from almost all of my Super Joy 3 systems, and not just by color.

The two on the center and right have an open Famicom slot, as where the one on the left has a strange blue thing that seemingly hangs underneath it. This isn't the first Super Joy 3 I've found that has one of these, but I've found them to be harder to find than the ones with open cartridge ports. If you're quite careful and push in on the bottom of the cover (oriented as shown below), after breaking loose those two clips, then gentling pulling it back down toward the long handle of the unit you can easily pop that cover off, revealing the Famicom slot and extremely small board inserted within.

The board is much smaller than any true Famicom game board, so much so that the 60 pins hardly align up correctly in the 60 pin slot. And even though I tried, you simply can not use these type of Super Joys to play Famicom games, unless you have loose game boards. And for some strange, inexplicable reason these units prefer to be powered by battery, giving an extremely poor quality video output when powered by a wallwart.

My total Super Joy 3 count is up to a total of six, half of those are blue, but I will continue to collect them as I find new colors or maybe even more like this and the light blue/gray one. Well, that previous statement isn't strictly true as I do have one that's shell was broken beyond repair, so I salvaged the guts and plan to turn it into a console... someday, but it doesn't really count as its no long in its shell. Regardless, the Super Joy 3 is fun in short bursts of time and to some, like myself, fun to collect all the different colors and variants.