[Usual intro sounds]
[JAZZZZ BABEY]
In today's video we're going to have a light look at some Famicom action, some obscure
Famicom action, and it's going to be dusted with a whole heap of bizarre 1980s video transforming
functions.
That's because I'm talking about the Sharp Famicom Titler, model AN-510, sometimes referred
to as the Famicom Editor, or if you're from the West......
*wind howls*
Because even in it's home market, this little device, well, I say little, it's flippin'
huge, was an obscurity.
Say you wanted the ability to add titles and images onto video?
That's great, you'd buy a Genlock machine.
Say you wanted to play some games?
That's great, you'd buy a console from the time, let's say a Nintendo Famicom.
But say you want to combine both?!
WHO WOULD WANT THAT.
Why would you want to combine them into one system?
Apparently someone at Sharp did, and that's what we've got.
To be fair, this wasn't Sharp's first project with Nintendo.
In 1983 they launched the Sharp Nintendo Television, combining a Famicom within a TV, and in 1986
they launched the Twin Famicom, combining a Famicom with the Family Computer Disk System.
So it's clear they had form for Famicom combinations, but pairing it with a Genlock device does
seem the most obscure of the 3.
By a LONG Way.
But, it doesn't matter, this thing has it's advantages, and it's uses, as well as being
highly collectable today, hence why I've borrowed it from Quang of Asobi Tech, who many of you
will know as that guy who has possibly the largest console collection anyone has ever
seen.
He's here to help us wade through the incomprehensibility of this machine and find out why Sharp felt
it was so damn necessary
*clunk*
Starting with aesthetics, you really can't fault it.
It's a sizeable, blocky, yet beautiful machine to look at.
It really conjures that late 80s Japanese VCR feel, with all these differing shaped
buttons, pads, flaps, vents and even bespoke Famicom controllers, which naturally have
their own storage bays.
*plastic sounds*
We'll get to all these buttons in operation, but the basics are this toggle, between Famicom
and Titler mode, this satisfying eject button -hohoho-, and this power button.
*click*
Without a cartridge inserted, we power up direct into Titler mode, and we get this lovely
title screen.
But obviously if we're going to do some Genlocking, we need an external source to plug into it,
and that's where things get interesting.
"SEGAAAA"
So, Genlock, stands for Generator Locking, and this is, and especially was, a technique
where the video output from one source (i.e. the Titler) is used to synchronise other picture
sources together.
This state is known as Generator Locked, or Genlocked, which is what you can see here.
The empty, or black space of the Titler output is filled with the output from the Sega Mega
Drive, and in this case, Epic Pinball.
Quang can continue to use the Titler's custom image editor, whilst I happily play away in
the background.
Of course, that's all well and good, but to make use of this, we need to really record
what's going on.
That's where these other ports come in handy, and indeed, one of this machine's advantages;
[Funky tones]
See here, we've got composite in and out, allowing for your basic, low level picture
quality at 60Hz in NTSC-J. We've also got this DIN socket that allows an RF signal,
should you need that route.
BUT, to the left we have S-Video in and out.
Combined with an upgraded Picture Processing Unit, this makes it the only Famicom system
to both generate RGB video and have S-Video to carry that crisp clarity through to either
a recording device, or your CRT.
Alright, so it's not true RGB, but you can mod it if you so wish
Now, that's great if you want some sharp looking Famicom games, but it's also great to ensure
that your recording source doesn't degrade during the Genlocking process.
Otherwise you could end up with a VCR recording that looks like it's from the Friday market.
As well as all that it features the standard 2KB of RAM but combined with a battery backup
to save your work.
Nice!
[Funky Japan Music]
[Japanese]
"Famicom Titler!"
This system might have set you back 43,000 yen (roughly $400), which was a lot in 1989,
but to some, that may now have seemed pretty tempting.
Of course, it still begs the question, who the hell is this aimed at?
Were Sharp so used to the Famicom hardware, that they decided to repurpose it as a Genlock
device, and then just chuck in the cartridge slot as a bonus?
Perhaps to give your casual video editor some downtime and play Super Mario 3 inbetween
editing customer wedding videos?
Did they think that a new market was afoot for those hoping to sneak some game footage
into their home movies, or had they just lost their minds and thought, BLOODY HELL, LOOK
HOW COOL IT IS TO SUPER IMPOSE ONE SHOOTER OVER ANOTHER.
"Let's go!"
[Game sounds]
"Hahahaha"
-"Hahahahah!"
"Ahhhh, it's trippy as hell!"
Because frankly, that is pretty cool.
Here's ThunderForce IV on the Mega Drive running behind Gradius, and holy hell, it makes for
some incredibly trippy game play.
It takes a little while for your brain to work out who's enemies are who's, but then
it's a whole heap of mind melting maddness.
You can't actually use any of the Titler's editing features whilst the system is in Famicom
mode, BUT any black areas of the game will still be Genlocked with whatever signal you're
passing into the Titler.
Gradius, of course has a pretty much black background, so it's perfect for infusing with
some 16 bit Blast Processing.
The difference when you turn the Mega Drive off is really quite striking.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"That is quite a difference!"
-"It really does my eyes in"
Alright, so that aside, what else can the Titler do in it's normal mode.
Well, you saw Quang produce a rough representation of my logo, but you can also use the built
in clip art and messages, ranging from birthday greetings, to celebrations and even Christmas,
"1989, why is it such a specific date?"
-"I'm guessing you can change the date on this"
"Ah, ok"
-"I'm assuming"
"So these will be like... Happy Birthday!"
"and stuff like that"
-"That was a Christmas one"
"Ahhhh, look at Santa's eyes!!!!"
"Haha, Jesus Christ!"
-"Christmas Pit Fighter?"
*beep*
or you can get some text on the screen.
You might think this is achieved by using the Famicom pads to scroll through some characters,
but oh no, Sharp decided to go with a stylus pen to allow character entry
[Funkier Hip-Hoppy tones]
now whether that was a good idea...
I'll leave you to...
*beep*
-*sniggers*
-"Dunno why it's put the P in the middle...?"
"Whaaa?".. "hahaha"
[Indistinct surprise]
IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA.
It's nice that you can enter latin characters, or Japanese, but entering each character is
a struggle.
Rather than trying to identify what you've scribed in from it's shape, the Titler requires
you to scrawl in each letter in a certain way.
The instructions for each letter are shown in the manual, but it seems a lot to take
in... especially when you can't read Japanese of course, but I'm sure this was cumbersome
even in it's home territory.
It took Quang a number of attempts to write Buzz on the screen, just so we could line
it up with his incredible intro screen on Pit Fighter.... that seemed worthwhile.
-"So that's in... so..that's Kato"
-"We'll wait for Buzz to come around"
*beep*
"BUZZ"
Now, whether you're using text or images, you can choose the "ease in" direction
or maybe apply a fade using these various buttons,
which allows you to spice things up a bit.
This button turns on or off the external video source.
*somewhere between a click and a clunk*
There are also some controls on the side, which enable you to change the volume of your source device...
allowing you to mix like a god damn disc jockey!
Anyway, of course if you're looking to dub your source footage, then it would be hard to navigate
through all these menus LIVE without ruining the recording.
In fact, it would be impossible.
So in order to create your desired output, you need to program what you like into one
of these 5 memory locations.
You could put a message in slot 1, an image in slot 3 and maybe some clipart in slot 2.
You'd then set your source running, set your destination to record, and then at the appropriate
moments, recall each component from memory and have it seared onto the destination tape
for life.
You could even add extra sound on top, thanks to the built in controller microphone.
Lovely stuff.
It's kind of a very low-fi way of editing on the fly.
and that's really what this machine is for.. creating recordings.
It has enough capabilities to do basic Genlock editing, but even now, I don't know exactly
WHO this machine is aimed at.
It certainly seems like it wouldn't suit a professional video editor of the time.
It's just too limited.
Likewise, it's far too expensive for your average game player.
I guess it would suit a video hobbyist, or even a game reviewer looking to capture high
quality footage, the original Youtuber if you will, although with it's 1989 release,
it feels a bit late to jump on the Famicom bandwagon, especially with the SNES (or I should say Super Famicom) just around
the corner.
[Shhhmupppp sounds]
You also can't use the Titler effects whilst playing a game, so it's quite limited in that
sense, and that's because the Titler uses the Famicom hardware to run it's set of editing
tools.
What it feels then, is like a rich kid's toy.
Designed for either adults or kids during Japan's home video boom.
You remember that, we had the same, with shows such as You've Been Framed offering an early
90s platform for our antics.
This then is a device that you could buy if you had a cam-corder and you liked games,
which again seemed pretty common for Japan in 1989.
Maybe you could excrete your creative energies into some glorious totality of your combined
passions.
Then maybe you could invite the family around, show them your Halloween footage, interspersed
with Friday the 13th gameplay, and the odd piece of spectacular clipart and be content
that you were winning life.
You could even use the Titler to send out video invites for the occasion, thereby securing
your position as that utterly annoying member of the family who comes up with far
too elaborate ways to waste everyone else's time.
Why don't you just get lost, you little sh*t.
Who knows, all I know is that it's a thing of beauty, it's a thing of obscurity and it's
equally as expensive now as it was back then.
Thanks for watching, have a great evening.
[The jazz eases us out]
Hi Quang!
What have you got there?!
-Heya, so this is the Sharp Famicom Titler
Who's is it?
-It's My Sharp Famicom Titler
Okkkkk
-This maybe your office, and it maybe here...
It's MIINEEEEEE *whispered*
-Temporarily, but this is coming home with me... eventually.