FC Twin

FC Twin
Manufacturer Qishenglong
Type Video game console
Generation Seventh generation
Release date November 20, 2006 (2006-11-20)
Units sold 1.3 million
Media NES/SNES cartridge
CPU NOAC (NES mode), Ricoh 5822 or compatible 3.58 MHz (SNES mode)
Storage on-cartridge
Controller input 2x SNES
Connectivity composite/RCA
Backward
compatibility		 NES, Super NES

The FC Twin (also known as the FC X2) is a Famiclone that can play Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES games. Manufactured by Qishenglong (奇胜隆), the system has been well-received due to the increasing scarcity of the original hardware. It is distributed by Yobo Gameware in the U.S. and Gametech in Japan.

Similar remakes exist, both by Qi Sheng and others, such as the FC 3 Plus,[1] RetroN 3,[2] Retro Duo,[3] Gen-X Dual Station,[4] GN Twin, etc.

Compatibility

The FC Twin uses a card slot reader rather than a ZIF connector and has separate circuitry and cartridge slots for the NES and SNES. With the Super Game Boy adaptor, Game Boy cartridges can also be used. It features a single-pole, double-throw power switch with open position; the switch can be thrown to 8-Bit (NES) or 16-Bit (SNES), or set to off.

Second-generation NESes also used a card slot reader and featured no 10NES lock-out chip; however, unlike the top-loading NES 2, the FC Twin is completely compatible with the Galoob Game Genie without the use of an adapter. Both the official NES 2 and the FC Twin capitalize on the card slot reader's greater reliability; games rarely suffer from bad connections as they did with the original ZIF socket.

The FC Twin console uses SNES compatible controllers and devices such as the Super Scope, Konami Justifier and the SNES mouse, but cannot use NES compatible controllers and devices. Qi Sheng has its own version of the NES Zapper which is compatible with games that require use of the NES Zapper. The Super NES controller buttons otherwise map to the NES controller inputs (B maps to Y, A maps to B. A maps to turbo B, X maps to turbo A; L and R serve no function). When using any controllers besides the actual FC Twin ones, A and X do not have these added turbo features.

Like the original Super NES, Super Famicom games require the removal of two plastic tabs around the cartridge slot in order to be inserted properly.

The FC Twin connects through an RCA connector, and can be hooked into a surround sound system. When using stereo and surround output from these systems, NES games may sound very different.

At times different copies of the same game can behave differently in the FC Twin. This may be explained by a malfunction with the cartridge itself. Some copies of Dragon Warrior or Super Mario Bros. 2 for example will not work in the FC Twin; while other copies of the same games will operate in the same machine. In other cases, the system simply does not function with certain expansion chips, such as those in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse.[5] However, the problem with Castlevania III can be corrected on some models of the FC Twin by adding a 7404 inverter or 7400 NAND Gate to modify an A13 signal from the cartridge slot. This may enable other games to work as well.

FC Twin with two games in it

Game Compatibility

Click "Show" to expand the lists. Games marked with [5] are results from 8-bit Alucard's Classic Games.

Accuracy

The FC Twin does not always produce sounds faithfully, even with mono output; sound effects in the Super Mario Bros. series games for example will immediately seem different. Nevertheless, some later models of the console produce NES sound much more faithfully than earlier units.

Conversely, sound quality for SNES games is more accurate as the SPC700 in the original SNES used a sample-driven mechanism similar to a type of instruction-driven MOD file. Reproducing the sound from these systems simply requires playing back clips of sounds with mathematically defined effects and loop points.

Graphics can appear darker in SNES games and color saturation is stronger for the NES. Graphics are also found to be overly sharp in NES games, particularly with text, as Ars Technica noted in their study.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Yobo Fc3 Plus: NES, SNES and Genesis Games in One Console". Technabob.
  2. ↑ Classic Console Combo
  3. ↑ "Retro Duo Console," GameInformer 180 (April 2008): 34.
  4. ↑ Gen-x Dual Station Video Game System for Nes 8 Bit & Genesis 16 Bit Games
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 "8-Bit Alucard's Classic Games". Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  6. ↑ Kuchera, Ben (2007-02-14). "An NES, two clones, and the Virtual Console. Where does Mario look his best?". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2011-09-11.

External links

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