So what's the Famicom Channel?

The Famicom, short for Family Computer, is the Japanese version of the original Nintendo entertainment system. It's distinct red and white shell with side mounted hard-wired controllers set it apart from the grey boxey American version: aka the NES. On the back of the Famicom is a channel switch for channel 1 and channel 2. When we first purchased a Famicom in Japan and brought it back to America, we thought for sure it would work on channel 2 of our American TV. Right? Wrong! Turns out that Japanese TV's have a different signal standard than American TVs. In short, the Famicom doesn't work on a American TV at all. At least so we thought.... Flip to the Famicom Channel. Wait a sec. Was that the new limited edition gold PG super rookie card? Turn back.

As weird as it may seem, most American TV's will accept the Famicom's channel 1 output signal on Channel 95. Weird but true. Check out the screen shots with some of our Famicom fav's : Power Blazer (a Megaman-like platformer) and Flipul (an "Exciting Puzzle Game"). Notice the channel number in the top right corner of the TV. Channel 95 - The Famicom Channel!!!!!