Talk:Nintendo Entertainment System

Released in 1984 and 1985?

Was this really when it was released in North America? I remember seeing the commercials for it a month or two before Christmas of 1986, that's what made me want the system, guess it wasn't widely advertised until 1986. The snare (talk) 01:40, 18 December 2016 (UTC)

Mini NES Redirect: Where to?

Quick question: NES Classic Edition currently redirects here to the bit about it under Legacy. Should it redirect here or to the bit about it here: Nintendo#Future: Mobile, NX, and NES? -- Gestrid (talk) 16:16, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

I would think here would be the better target. If anything, that content could be pared down a bit at Nintendo - its a bit detailed to have that much on something announced today in a 40+ year spanning history section - and put here it here instead. Sergecross73 msg me 17:02, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Proposed merge with History of the Nintendo Entertainment System

Similar to all the other old console-specific history articles (e.g., History of the Sega Master System), what is unique about this article's sources so as to warrant a split from the dedicated history section in the console's main article? It should only be split out summary style. As of the current sourcing, everything said in this article should be incorporated into the main article, making this history article a duplicative split. czar 20:40, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

Missing technical specifications

A list of technical specifications is missing. For example, the CPU clock speed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 111.222.101.52 (talk) 20:22, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

It's not missing, it has been removed. Go back to 2015 for that bit.Anss123 (talk) 08:15, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

"low-quality" digital samples?

Please, be more specific, "low-quality" it's too relative. For me, this quality is pretty well for a 1983 console https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0dBXuZtbos . The correct description is "7-bit DPCM samples". Source: https://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/2A03 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brayatan1990 (talk • contribs) 05:21, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 15 February 2017

Hello, I am hoping you will consider changing this section. I've done my research on the design flaw of the NES and there are big mistakes in this section. There are also aftermarket solutions for this flaw and a successful crowdfunding campaign that isn't mentioned. I have no commercial interest in promoting them, but it deserves a mention in an encyclopedia.

Please change:

When Nintendo released the NES in the US, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The newly designed connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. Unfortunately, the ZIF connector was not truly zero insertion force. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly, as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges caused the pins to wear out from repeated usage over the years and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector.[86] These design issues were not alleviated by Nintendo’s choice of materials; the console slot nickel connector springs would wear due to design and the game cartridge copper connectors were also prone to tarnishing.[87] Many players would try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually hurt the copper connectors by speeding up the tarnishing.[88][89]

To:

When Nintendo released the NES in the US, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The newly designed connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges cause the pins to fatigue from repeated usage over the years. Retro gamers that are still using the NES can expect the connector to fail eventually.

New 72 pin connectors that are made in Asia are commonly available. These connectors do not appear to carry a brand and the location of the factory is unknown. Some connectors have poorly manufactured contacts and a very high insertion force, which causes contacts to scratch and permanently damage games. Internet users have been referring to these as connectors with the 'death grip'. A successful crowdfunding campaign funded the Blinking Light Win in 2014, almost tripling its funding goal. This modification kit replaces the original tray with a tray that can't be pushed down, with new connectors that are technically similar to an NES-101. This effectively eliminates the root cause of the design flaw.

Because:

zero insertion force (ZIF): Zero insertion force connectors are typically used for rigid flexcable. You can do a Google image search on zero insertion force connectors (Molex) to verify. This connector is a PCB card edge connector and makes no attempt at reducing the insertion force, let alone approach zero. I think leaving the ZIF reference out is appropriate.

as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself: The cartridge's PCB is pretty well secured in the cartridge and does not move. This part is nonsense. The part about contact bending is true.

and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector.[86]: Again, this is nonsense, it *is* a PCB card edge connector. The source material is wrong and a google image search is enough evidence to support that.

nickel - removed reference, there is no evidence to support that, also not in the source. I actually think it's iron with nickel and gold plating, but I can't prove it.

and the game cartridge copper connectors were also prone to tarnishing. - This is not an NES design flaw, it is becoming common with old card edge connectors that have been used heavily. The SNES, N64, Segas etc also suffer from this. These connectors are also gold plated by the way, which is your only option in this application, not a flaw.

Many players would try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually hurt the copper connectors by speeding up the tarnishing.[88][89] - Again, not an NES design flaw, all cartridge consoles suffer from this and there's nothing you can do about it except cleaning.

to wear out -> fatigue - Because that's the scientific term for what is happening. Material fatigue has its own wikipedia page to refer to.

These design issues were not alleviated by Nintendo’s choice of materials; the console slot's connector springs would wear due to design.[87] : After proofreading, I just don't like it.

I've added information about the new asian 72 pin connector. If you need something to refer to, use this blog: https://flake.tweakblogs.net/blog/14365/nes-aftermarket-72-pin-connector-repair-and-review

The Blinking Light Win is not my company but a crowdfunded initiative for this problem deserves a mention on Wikipedia. Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes Littlegamer87 (talk) 20:49, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Sir Joseph ^(talk) 19:35, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Please review: There *are* no scientific sources on this subject and the sources referred to in this article are also unreliable and wrong. I've motivated my changes the best I can in the 'because' section. Please assume good faith, I'm trying to help out here.Littlegamer87 (talk) 09:07, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Not done: If there are no reliable sources on the subject then there's nothing we can do - as per the Verifiability policy, all material in Wikipedia mainspace, including everything in articles, lists and captions, must be verifiable. If you find reliable sources to verify your assertions feel free to reopen the edit request. Pishcal (talk) 23:22, 21 February 2017 (UTC)