Family Computer Disk System (HVC-022) Review

How Did It Work?

Let us look at how the whole thing worked.

The Famicom Disk System was basically made up of two parts: the disk drive itself and a special RAM adapter that plugged into the console.

The disk drive itself is fairly straightforward. It used Mitsumi Quick Disk media, and in terms of how it worked, it was very similar to a normal computer disk drive.

The RAM adapter is much more interesting. It was basically a cartridge with temporary memory. Every time you turned on the console, the game was first loaded from the disk into the RAM adapter, and only after that did the console read the data from the RAM adapter as if it were a normal cartridge.

But the most interesting thing was not just the ability to run disks on a console. It was the fact that those disks could be rewritten.

There was even a special kiosk that let people write new games onto disks.

You could go to a store, buy a blank disk, and then write a game onto it. In the same way, you could also rewrite a disk that already had a game on it.

And of course, piracy showed up very quickly. Since Nintendo based the format on Mitsumi disks, which were not exactly widespread but were still used in other devices, it is no surprise that piracy took off rather fast.

The entire protection scheme relied on the “cutouts” in the Nintendo lettering. Look at this disk: see how the letters I and N have deeper cutouts?

That was the entire protection system. Inside the drive there was a raised Nintendo logo, and the letters had different heights. When you inserted a disk, it had to sit on those letters correctly, otherwise the game simply would not boot.

It was a very odd kind of protection, more legal than physical. Nintendo apparently expected that if pirates started using the logo, the company could deal with them in court.

In practice, though, things turned out to be much simpler, as usual. Why copy the Nintendo logo at all if you can just make the required cutouts? It is both easier and cheaper.

Pirated disks appeared on sale quite quickly. Some of them even contained adult games — something Nintendo itself would obviously never have released.

For example, this green disk.

It had Kobayashi Hitomi no Hold Up by Hacker International on it — a rather typical erotic game for that era, where the goal was to undress adult film actress Kobayashi Hitomi. It was a very characteristic kind of collaboration for the time: hackers and a porn actress.

Package Contents

The Family Computer Disk System came in a very attractive box.

The package included:

1. HVC-022 disk drive;

2. HVC-023 RAM adapter;

3. Manuals and other paperwork;

4. HVC-026 RF extension cable.

Now let us take a closer look at the Family Computer Disk System.

Disk Drive

I would say the disk drive looks much more serious than the Famicom itself. But thanks to the same color palette, they look very good together.

You can also see that the drive is roughly twice the size of the console itself.

Length: 24.6 cm

Width: 15 cm

Height: 7.3 cm

Front panel

On the front panel there is the drive activity light, the disk slot, and the yellow Eject button for ejecting the disk.

Above the drive activity light, that is above the red lamp, there is a warning that says not to remove the disk while the red lamp is lit.

Top panel

On the top of the drive there is only the battery compartment.

It uses six C batteries.

Side panels

There is nothing on the sides of the Family Computer Disk System.

Rear panel

At the back of the FDS there are only two ports: one for the RAM adapter and one for the power supply.

Bottom panel

On the bottom, as usual, you get the legal text and the serial number.

Now let us look at the RAM adapter.

RAM Adapter

As mentioned earlier, the RAM adapter is a cartridge that plugs into the console. Since the Disk System was released only for the Japanese market, the RAM adapter connects easily only to the Famicom and the AV Famicom.

If you want to connect it to an NES front loader or NES top loader, the console has to be physically modified.

Front panel and side panels

There is nothing on the front of the RAM adapter, and nothing on the sides either.

Top panel

On the top of the RAM adapter there are only the Nintendo logo and the HVC-023 model number.

Rear panel

At the back of the RAM adapter there is a cable for connecting to the disk drive and an expansion port. This port was not used in mass-market accessories that actually went on sale, but it was not completely useless. Nintendo even developed a separate Family Computer Network Adapter for it, so the idea of giving the Famicom networking features was very real.

Bottom panel

On the bottom there is the connector that plugs into the console, plus technical text warning the user not to disassemble the device and not to touch the connector with their fingers.

Now let us briefly move on to the third important element — the disks.

Disks

For something that looks simple at first glance, Family Computer Disk System disks had quite a few details worth knowing.

During the life of the Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo released two types of disks: yellow and blue.

You can immediately see that the blue disk has a protective shutter, while the yellow one does not. At first, Nintendo really did release disks without that protection. The idea was that they would be stored and carried in a special sleeve.

But even though the missing shutter is the first thing you notice, the main difference between them was something else.

Yellow disks were meant for regular games, while blue disks were competitive gaming disks, strange as that may sound today.

The following games were sold on those disks:

1. Golf: Japan Course;

2. Golf: US Course;

3. Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race;

4. Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally;

5. Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School.

In those games you could set a record and send it directly to Nintendo through the Disk Fax system. You could even win prizes for that.

There is another odd detail here. Blue disks are considered more “compatible.” At least Nintendo wrote that yellow disks could not be used with the Disk Fax system.

It is hard to verify that now — there is probably no working Disk Fax system left anywhere — but the two disk types really do have one physical difference that could theoretically prevent a yellow disk from being inserted into such a machine.

Yellow disks have a protruding part at the top that blue disks do not have.

That is basically where the differences end. Now let us talk about what they have in common.

1. Every disk had a Side A and a Side B. That is exactly how they were labeled: Side A and Side B.

That did not necessarily mean that both sides were always used. Some smaller games took up only one side of a disk.

2. All disks could be rewritten. When you went to a store and used a Famicom Disk Writer Kiosk, you would get a new label for the disk. That is why you can still find copies today with two or even three labels stuck on top of each other.

3. The disks could be write-protected. If you did not want to overwrite a game by accident, you could break off a small tab in the corner of the disk, which blocked rewriting.

And if you later wanted to rewrite that side after all, Nintendo suggested using tape — simply cover the hole.

Pros and Cons

As usual, let us start with the cons.

Cons

1. Probably the biggest weakness of the Family Computer Disk System is the drive belt.

The belt is the drive belt inside the disk drive. It is made of thin rubber, so reliability is not exactly its strong side. Belts snap, dry out, stretch — in short, they constantly cause problems.

Even if you buy an FDS that has just been serviced, sooner or later you will almost certainly have to deal with the belt.

And replacing the belt is not a simple job either, because it requires fine adjustment. Otherwise, you can end up getting constant errors.

2. Disks are not the most reliable storage medium, especially compared with cartridges.

Over time, disks can lose their magnetization, which means a game may eventually stop loading at all. On top of that, they can be damaged by one careless move.

3. You need a separate power supply. It is not a huge drawback, but it is still annoying. First, you have to find one, because the standard Famicom adapter will not work. Second, it is not exactly small and it takes up its own outlet space.

And the other option — buying six batteries — does not look very attractive either.

4. Loading speed. With a cartridge, you start playing immediately. With the disk drive, you first have to wait for the game to load into memory, and only then can you play.

5. The Family Computer Disk System was released only for the Japanese market, so some games are available only in Japanese. Of course, there are many simple games where that does not matter, but there are also full-scale titles that are hard to play properly without knowing the language.

6. The whole FDS + Famicom setup is fairly bulky and takes up a lot of space.

7. The price can sting too. If your budget is under 10,000 rubles, it is hard to even start looking at an FDS. And you need three things right away: the drive, the RAM adapter, and disks, otherwise there is nothing to play.

Now let us move on to the pros.

Pros

1. Retro aesthetic. Personally, cartridges no longer give me the same feeling, as if we have simply gotten used to them and started seeing them as the “normal” way games come. Disks feel completely different. You hold one in your hand, put it into the drive, and you really feel that retro atmosphere. It is a very pleasant feeling.

2. Spare parts are still easy enough to find. The Family Computer Disk System never disappeared from the retro community's radar, and even after forty years you can still find parts for it. Not to mention that there is a repair guide for almost every possible issue.

3. Extra audio features. The FDS had its own sound channel, so some games on the system sound richer than the regular cartridge versions for the Famicom.

4. Historical and collector value. Today the FDS is interesting not only as a way to play, but also as a separate Nintendo artifact from the mid-1980s: the disk format, the Disk Writer kiosks, special game versions, and the extra sound channel.

Epilogue

The downsides of the Family Computer Disk System really can scare people away. It is unpleasant to know that the device may stop working at some point simply because the belt is so fragile. On the other hand, this problem has been known for a long time, and the fix is described in detail online.

What really pleases me, though, is how well the system has been studied. If you have an FDS and an FDS Key, you can even rewrite disks yourself, and that still sounds almost unbelievable on its own.

And in the end, there are not that many things in the console world that really stir emotions, and the Family Computer Disk System is one of them.