Twin Famicom

Infobox CVG system
title = Twin Famicom
logo =


manufacturer= Sharp Corporation
type= Video game console
generation= Third generation (8-bit era)
lifespan= ^JPN July 1, 1986
CPU =
media= Cartridge
Famicom Disk Card
controllers = 2 controller ports
onlineservice=
unitssold = The nihongo|Twin Famicom|ツインファミコン|Tsuin Famikon was Produced by Sharp Corporation in 1986, and was released only within Japan. It is a licensed Nintendo product, and is basically the Family Computer (Famicom) and the Famicom Disk System (FDS) which have been combined onto a single piece of hardware.

Overview

The basic parts of the Twin Famicom include a 60-pin slot for Famicom cartridges, a slot for FDS disks, a switch located right below the cartridge slot which allows the player to choose between "nihongo|Cassette|カセット" or "nihongo|Disk|ディスク", the power button, and the reset button.

And then, there are of course the ejection buttons. FDS disks can be removed using the yellow button at the button of the disk slot. The mechanism that is uses is similar to the ones that are used in modern day floppy disk drives. Meanwhile, the ejection switch for cartridges is located between the power and reset buttons. It is amusing to note, though, that this particular ejection mechanism usually causes the cartridge to "pop" out of the slot, much like the way bread slices do when coming out of a pop-up toaster. This particular trait has caused the Twin Famicom to sometimes be referred to as a "toaster" among video game consoles.

Lastly, it can also be noted that the system does not allow both slots to be used or even occupied at the same time. The switch which changes the mode from Disk to Cassette works in a manner in which choosing to use the cassette slot will block the disk drive, and vice versa.

pecs

* Main Processors: 6502 modified at 1.79 MHz
* RAM: 2 KB work RAM, 2 KB video RAM, 32 KB extra work RAM in FDS mode, 8 KB extra video RAM in FDS mode
* ROM: Game Paks and FDS BIOS
* Audio: 5 voice, two channels square wave, one channel triangle, one channel noise, one channel PCM
* Graphics: 256x240 pixels, 64 sprites, display 25 colors out of 53

Unique Features

Besides the very fact that it has put together two pieces of video game hardware into a single package, the Twin Famicom comes with some extra features.

The console comes with two hard-wired controllers, which like the normal Famicom, only the 1 player controller has the start and select buttons. On the second player controller, they are replaced with a microphone; again just like the normal Famicom. It also comes with a port (like the Famicom) which allowed games like "Moero TwinBee" to support more than the usual two players, or for the matching version of the NES Zapper to be attached. A second port (of a slightly different shape) is also present for connecting to another Famicom via the usual black RAM unit that comes with a Famicom Disk System. This allows another standalone Famicom to use the disk drive on the Sharp Twin Famicom.

Lastly, another unique trait of this console is its color. Whereas most of the Famicom units which we see today bear the familiar red and white color combination, the Twin Famicom was sold in two colors: red with black highlights (AN-500R), and black with red highlights (AN-500B). There is also a re-released version with a slightly different case design, turbo controllers, and a different color scheme: black with green highlights (AN-505-BK), or red with blue/grey highlights (AN-505-RD).

References

* [http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/odd/scans/twinfamicom.html Atari HQ]
* [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1480623 Everything2.com (for the specs)]