Famicom Titler

Sharp manufactured a number of interesting Famicom variants under licence from Nintendo, but this one is arguably the most desirable. The bulky device is a video subtitling machine, which allows you to type using a keypad, draw using a small touch-sensitive pad and even add narration via microphone. The system had ports for input from camcorders and output to TV and VCR, and unusually for the era, supported S-video as well as composite AV for both.

The desire to integrate a Famicom with such a setup is one we don’t understand, but it does provide some benefit to gamers. Unlike every other consumer model of the Nes/famicom, the Famicom Titler generates RGB video internally using a special variant of the PPU chip, and the S-video output is unique too. This means that it produces a better picture than most Famicom consoles right out of the box – but it has also been popular with modders, as it can be easily modded for true RGB output. While the development of the

NESRGB mod has made great picture quality much more accessible to owners of other NES consoles, the Famicom Titler remains highly sought-after as a quirky piece of Nintendo history.

Famicom Titler fact