Disclaimer - I’ve never actually owned a real NES. When I was growing up, most kids who were into computer games played them on “real” (mostly non-IBM) personal computers. And as far as retro gaming is concerned, my main interest is in emulating old arcade games.
So I don’t have any particular feelings of nostalgia towards the NES platform. But I’m still interested in old gaming platforms in the more general sense, so when Nintendo released the NES mini last year, I got caught up in the hype, and decided that I wanted one. Unfortunately, like most people, I failed to get one before Nintendo inexplicably pulled the plug.
I think it’s likely that Nintendo will eventually re-release the NES mini (or something like it). But in the meantime, I’ve been looking at alternatives. I had an old Raspberry Pi lying around gathering dust. So I installed a Nintendo based Retropie image on it, and overall, I’m pretty happy with the end result. I’m discovering a lot of decent arcades style games for the NES and SNES (particularly the latter) that I’ve never played before.
But for me this hobby is as much about recreating the physical hardware as emulation. So I’ve been toying with the idea of buying a cheap NES (or Famicom) clone, and using the case to house my Raspberry Pi.
However, now I’ve done some research into the clones, I’m thinking they might actually be worth buying in their own right. I’m amazed how much hardware you can get direct from China for about $25 these days. For that sort of money I’m prepared to take a punt.
Most of the clones come bundled with hundreds of games. Even allowing for the inevitable repeats and hacks, that’s an awful lot of games. And if the console turned out to be crap, I can still fall back on my original plan to use the case to rehouse my Raspberry Pi.
The problem is, I know from past experience, that buying from China can be a bit of a gamble. A lot of the sellers have a very cavalier attitude towards describing their products, and quality control is practically non-existent. So, I’m wondering whether some of you guys who are more knowledgeable about the NES platform than me, can give me some pointers over what to look out for, what to avoid etc. when buying a clone.
Thanks in advance.