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[Bishonen]

I'am using the Super Flash Card on my FC Twin...

This Clone System is made for US SNES Cartridges only... but if you open it and remove the 2 plastic pieces you can also insert Europe and JAP SNES Cartridges... and the FC Twin playes them all!

BUT NOW... Attention please...

As i recieved my FC Twin, i was using it with my NTSC Super Wild Card DX2... everything worked fine (as far as i can remember...)

Then, one day, i opened it and used a rasper to widen the Slot... well... not the Slot directly, to be exactly: The black pice of plastic who is screwed up to the Slot from the inside...(i guess this was senseless because this is not what prevents you from insersting EU and JAP Carts - at lease i think so) ...

soon i noticed that... (because i still couldn't insert the JAP Carts)... after that i checked that there are just 2 pices of plastic, that you can easily reach trough the Slot, without opening the System... i used a pliers to remove them - NOW i could insert all Carts...

BUT...

Now the Screen flickers... just a little, when Sound Effects are used by the game...

Strange... JAP Carts, SWC DX2, Super Flash Card, Super Game Boy 1 and 2... many games (not completely all) are now flicker when Sound Effects are played... as far as i can remember it was not that way before i did my "mod"...

Have i maybe, removed an insulating part as i widen the Slot?

Has anyone anything to say?

I would really be grateful...

[kyuusaku]

Chances are the problems were there but you didn't notice them. Cloned hardware is notorious for being poor in many aspects. For the real experience, I would suggest using Nintendo brand consoles.

[Bishonen]

You're right sure... the clones made in the 90's were just fraud...

But i really have to say that the new made NES Clones and now the FC Twin are really great at all...

There are just a few NES and (on the FC Twin also SNES) Games who are incompatible... Chatting Parodius, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and some other Special Chip Games.

I could run Doom (PAL) with FX2 Chip on the Twin with no problems

...and i found out that it seems only JAP Games (Original Cart or copy) are causing the flicker problem, US and PAL are flawless.

[kyuusaku]

"JAP" SNES games are identical to US games, so whatever problems you are experiencing with them is purely coincidence.

New NES clones made today are exactly the same as NES clones made in the 90s, they are made by the same people and have the same known problems. The problems associated with clones stem back to the first clones produced in the late 80s. It's not worth their time to fix the problems and most customers don't know or care.

The SNES clone portion of FC Twin is also from the 90s, to this day only one group has cloned SNES and so all SNES clones are equally poor.

There are a great number of NES games which are not compatible. Why someone would want a system without complete compatibility is beyond me. If you want to read about the clones shortcomings go to NESdev.

[Bishonen]

[kyuusaku]

For the price of a FC Twin, you can probably get a nice used SNES or even SFC. A few years ago I decided it would be worth my time to buy two new SFC so I wouldn't ever be disappointed when buying more used consoles. Each was roughly the price of two FC Twins and well worth it in my opinion.

[Bishonen]

Have your 2 new SFC already started discoloring/yellowing?

It's a terrible process of time... some do it, some not... has nothing to do with sunlight or smoke... it's just the plastic they are made of in combination with the simple air... it happens to PAL, NTSC-J and NTSC-U Systems...

It seems Nintendo has sometimes changed the ingredients of the plastic and so some Systems from an production range that i don't know are save from this process...

[kyuusaku]

Nope, they aren't yellowed, they've only been out of their boxes once. My 13 year old SNES is slightly faded--not yellowed and that's been in direct sunlight since it was purchased. I am convinced it has a lot to do with environment; I've had things yellow only as soon as I placed them in high humidity storage, and experience buying second hand suggests that years of sun exposure will stain on the any dust/dirt/nicotine grime.

[Bishonen]

I'am glad to hear you're lucky...

But, in the past, my SFC and PAL SNES - both have started to yellowing inside their boxes, inside their plastic bags...

In between also my jap. Clear Red N64... the Controller, the downside (transparent plastic) has also started to do it...

And all those PCE's you can see on ebay.com ... uhhh real bad...

I'am glad today Systems are all made of non-yellowing plastic and magnesium... the good old times are yellowing

[rbudrick]

The yellowing is caused by oxidization of the plastic. Generally, such plastic is cheaper than the plastic that doesn't yellow with age It is said that SNESes started doing this when (some have speculated) NOJ moved manufacturing to Mexico.

SNESes have been known to be mint in box and unopened that are yellow. So, sunlight, smoking, etc, have nothing to do with this. While it is true that sunlight can speed the process, it is hardly the main contributor to the oxidization. In fact, it is probably the least contributor, next to smoke.

-Rob

[Bishonen]

Yes... i totally agree to this

Of course, smoking, sunlight etc, are additional problems and/or reasons... but, if your SNES is made of the wrong plastic - You're screwed!

The only thing you can do is: Seal it, shrinkwrapp it (Air-Proof) and place it in a safe storage... but of course: Then you can't use it anymore

That's why i like those new made clones, maybe they are only 95% compatible with all the games - but they look cool, are cheap and NEW!!!

BTW: Many SNES Cartridges are also yellowed and/or starting to get brown spots on the downside (where the contacts are).