Every once in a while, a console just up and changes its media format
on a whim.
Observe: The Turbografx-CD, Sega CD, Neo-Geo CD, Nintendo 64DD, Jaguar CD... awright, so
most of these were a move to optical media, which was several times cheaper than cartridges.
But before there was optical media, we made do with FLOPPY DISKS.
Sure, they were prone to media degradation, magnetic fields, cats, dogs, sunspots, and
any of a number of other hazards, but they were cheap and rewritable.
So in 1986, Nintendo - after scoring a grand slam with the Famicom - created the Disk System,
a floppy drive for their console that could play games off of proprietary 2-inch disks.
And if you got bored, you could schlep the disk down the nearest convenience store and
load it with a different game for 500 yen - which at the time was barely three bucks.
(As everyone who’s imported a game in the last couple years gets all teary-eyed.)
Felicity from Worcestershire included one with her mass of donated awesomeness, and
if I’m ever on that side of the pond I owe her a pint for her benefaction.
The primary components of the Disk System are the actual floppy disk reader and the
RAM cart that plugs into the Famicom’s cartridge slot.
Said disk reader requires its own power off of an AC adapter...
Unless you want to load it up with a half-dozen C batteries.
I don’t even know if they still make those.
The RAM cart also plugs into the back of the system, though since the cable’s so short,
the only reasonable place to put the Famicom is directly on top of the reader.
The disks themselves come in jewel cases, sometimes with game art displayed (in the
case of a retail release), though this insert comes short of obscuring Nintendo’s almighty
brand name.
It’s this Nintendo imprint that serves as a kind of copy-protection, as a physical “key”
fits into that word; if it’s not there, the disk won’t sit properly.
Unless, of course, you just leave that entire space recessed, as legions of software pirates
would soon discover.
And thus, the problem with cheap media: Anyone with some breadboard, a few wires, and a list
of instructions from a magazine could rip off your product, real cheap.
Publishers hated the thing, partly due to Nintendo’s draconic licensing policies,
partly due to the piracy, and partly due to rather lengthy load times that broke up the
flow of the game.
Not to mention the FDS had an additional sound channel, making translation from a Disk-System-developed
game back to a cartridge a right pain.
Many just gave the extra channel a miss, though if you can find footage of the original versions
of Legend of Zelda, Kid Icarus, or Doki Doki Panic, you’ll hear the weird honking noises
I’m talking about.
In total, almost 200 Disk System games were published between 1986 and 1992, comprising
almost a fifth of the total Famicom catalog.
Not bad for a such a “hated” peripheral.
(And that “hated” is in quotation marks, because I think it’s downright spiffy.)