Inside a NES Cart...and It's Not What You'd Expect

If you were to open up an old school NES cartridge what would you expect to find? The most likely answer is not much besides the circuit boards that sit inside the plastic casing. Well check out the image below which shows the casing of a cartridge which contains not only the PCBs inside but also $5,000!

I wouldn't start cracking open all your old games yet though as I'm sure this is just a one off.

3DS XL Sports a Little See Through Number

It's obvious that at this blog we like video games and circuit boards, you only have to look at the logo to tell that. Since it's Mario's hat up there it's safe to say that we are also Nintendo fans. So if you combine video games, PCBs and Nintendo into one image, well, that's going to be an image the VideoGamesandPCBElectronics blog likes.

1992 Nintendo Challenge Game Cart

The other week we posted about the Nintendo Powerfest '94 game cart and how it's the only one left. Well if you enjoyed that then have a look at the 1992 Nintendo Challenge game cart.

The NES Bed

Whilst looking at this memory foam mattress blog I came across this NES design bedding set. Do you want to know the first thing I thought...

"I wonder if there is a printed circuit board design sheet

underneath when you pull the quilt back?" :-)

Console Spotlight: Nintendo 3DS

All week I've been giving you a run down of the different iterations of Nintendo's handheld over the years leading up to this, a console spotlight and a look under the covers at the printed circuits that make up the newest addition to Nintendo's handheld army; the Nintendo 3DS.

The Nintendo DS Revisions

Following on from the other days post about the different Game Boys over the years, here's a look at the changing face of the Nintendo DS. You may notice that the outer changes aren't as drastic as with the Game Boy but the inner workings and printed circuits inside are enhanced to improve the network connectivity and the addition of a camera from the DS model to the DSi model. As for the DSi XL, that was just a big chunky version for older people that liked Brain training and 100 Classic Book Collection.

Many Faces of the Nintendo Game Boy

Nintendo dominated the handheld market throughout the 90's and saw many different redesigns until it was replaced with the touch screen Nintendo DS in 2004. These redesigns continued with the DS which was replaced last year with the 3DS. The process of shrinking the size of the handhelds whilst maintaining all the same functionality shows how good at electronic manufacture Nintendo is. Here's a look at the different hardware revisions for the Game Boy and we'll take a look at the DS iterations soon, all in preparation for my look at the 3DS in a couple of weeks.

Nintendo PowerFest '94

An article recently caught my eye about the Nintendo PowerFest '94 game cartridge which appeared on ebid recently with a 'buy it now' price of $300,000! Here's a look at why the asking price was so much and why this particular game cartridge is so rare.

Amazing Homemade Handheld N64

There are some very clever people out there on the Internet and one project which recently caught my eye was this...a homemade, handheld, fully working Nintendo 64!

Different Generations of Zelda

The other week we took a look at different generations of Mario, showing how the platforming plumber has evolved over the years with each new console released and how the power provided by the CPU and PCB inside each one has allowed the games developers to create drastically improved games. Another of Nintendo's iconic characters is Link from The Legend of Zelda (LoZ) series and some fans wait for the latest adventure with more anticipation than Mario's adventures.

Wii Remote and Nunchuk

Following up the console spotlight on the Nintendo Wii, here's a look at the PCB inside the main controllers for the console; the Wii remote and the Nunchuk add-on.

Console Spotlight: Nintendo Wii

The release of the Nintendo Wii issued in the dawn of motion controlled gaming with many people blown away by the fun to be had playing Wii Sports and using the Wii remote to play bowling, golf and tennis. The Wii became the fastest selling video game system and targeted an audience that weren't used to playing video games. The console still had a great selection of "gamers" games though and so was very popular with a wide range of people. The architecture, PCB and CPU of the Wii included backwards compatibility with GameCube games and other older Nintendo console games were downloadable through the new online store.

Although Nintendo haven’t officially released the majority of technical details for the Wii, many key facts have been released by press and electronic manufacture fans since release.

The Super-FX Chip

[Have the noticed the markings on the PCB pictured in the header for this blog? The circuit board features the ‘MARIO CHIP 1’ which whilst sharing the same name as Nintendo’s famous mascot, is the name of the Super FX chip which was introduced into certain Super Nintendo games to offer improved graphics, render polygons and stretch and scale sprites which wasn’t previously possible.

Different Generations of Mario

Mario is to Nintendo what Mickey Mouse is to Disney and has been the mascot for the Japanese video game company since he was introduced in the Donkey Kong video game in 1985. Each new iteration of Nintendo hardware has seen a new Mario game entered into the main platforming series of games starring the plumber. There have also been numerous offshoots as Mario and friends have taken part in karting, golf, tennis, party games, dancing and basketball over the years. Its’ the main platform adventure series that are the jewel in Mario’s crown so here’s a look at the Mario games on the different systems so you can see how the PCB, processors and CPU’s have improved the look and capabilities of Mario over the years.

Nintendo Video Game Consoles

Many people enjoy nothing better than sitting down and playing video games to enjoy their free time. Where once it was the hobby of teenage boys, video games these days are big business and the Nintendo Wii captured the minds of all ages with its unique motion control method. Nintendo has been developing both consoles and games for many years and as time goes on the PCB and hardware inside the consoles is getting more and more powerful. Here’s a look at the different consoles released by Nintendo over the years.