Nameless pirate console: what kind of connection?

[DaVince]

Well, all the internal boards are labeled with WT0210. I'm not sure if that's going to help compare it to the consoles you mentioned, if you have any.

What you're saying makes sense, though - I don't see any reason for there to be all these accessories if they didn't serve some sort of purpose. It would just drive up the cost and make the buyer suspicious. If this is the case, I would try to hunt down a cartridge, but I don't think I'd be able to find any. Sounds a bit *too* obscure to just hunt down.

[mrdomino]

WT might be the initials of the manufacturer (not every company does that, but some do - eg consoles manufactured by Subor always have SB-something on the PCBs).

Nothing I have seems to be WT-anything, although I don't have an actual Family Sports console to compare it with (the Zone Interactive uses the same software, but its manufactured by some other company). this is what made me think it might be related:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/7049...-shipping.html
the accessories and controllers look identical, even though the console looks different (and doesn't have a cartridge port) so it may well be a member of that family.

that said, a few of these consoles do somehow manage to maintain compatibility with both famicom carts as well as their own 16-bit stuff (i've seen one for sale in a chinese auction that advertised that capability) so it might be worth picking up a really cheap famicom cart just to test it out.

[DaVince]

That's what I was planning. And if it doesn't work, I at least have a good incentive to buy a real Famicom. :)

The accessories do seem to be close to identical! I do see some differences, though. For example, I don't have a tennis racket and there's more plastic on the wheel, which makes me think I may have an older version in the series (or at least an older version of the accessories). At the very least, the accessories are related. The hardware probably is too, since neither console has any kind of real name.

[mrdomino]

actually this one looks a lot like it:
http://www.ibood.com/nl/nl/product_specs/13068/Play_It_OS32_Game_Console_met_31_Games_en_2_Wirele ss_Remote_Controllers/

[DaVince]

English version of that URL for the interested.

Definitely seems related. The console and accessories are black, but the console looks the same, even with the power/reset buttons on the sides (well, on one visible side, anyway).

http://computer-software.marktplaats...lcomputer.html further confirms that this may be another variation of what I have. The picture does only show mono audio on the console while mine has stereo audio. But it's probably a variation, especially considering both of these can be found and were sold in my country.

It seems rather cheap, I may pick it up for laughs. Then I'll have a black and white version of the same silly console.

[Yakumo]

It's just a shitty Wii clone from China. They've been released in many different forms and run their own software cartridges. I had one years ago. Quite good fun at first but after a while you sort of figure out it's just the same old crap from China.

[DaVince]

That's alright, I like collecting oddities like these (even though I don't have much of them). The Vi didn't last very long either.

[bushing]

Not all of these are created quite equally -- some of the cheaper machines are not Famiclones, but actually use SoCs from an obscure chip company named Sunplus -- the Vii is a good example of this. It supported cartridges with a GBA-like connector but would only work with 3-4 "VC" cartridges allegedly sold alongside the device. (Its controllers not only had an accelerometer -- they also had a bidirectional RF interface and a vibe motor!)

Investigation into that device turned up a whole slew of other devices that used these unknown chips -- most of the modern "Learning System" game consoles for young children use these cartridges (e.g. the V.Smile -- I actually made a flash cart for that system), and the Jakks Pacific TV Plug-n-Play games also use these chips.

I posted here about these systems a while back, and at a bit more length on my blog:

http://hackmii.com/2010/04/sunplus-t...ever-heard-of/

[DaVince]

Wow. That was really interesting. Gotta love Fry Egg. And that blatant GPL violation.

Mine definitely looks a ton simpler from the inside. :P There is a chip covered with epoxy so who knows what could be there?

[XxHennersXx]

Wow. That was really interesting. Gotta love Fry Egg. And that blatant GPL violation.

Mine definitely looks a ton simpler from the inside. :P There is a chip covered with epoxy so who knows what could be there?

does it have built in games?

[bushing]

Too bad you can count the number of different board revisions on one hand.

Any idea where I could find some PCB pics (bonus points for high-res scans)? It wouldn't be too hard to start categorizing them by chip, based on support circuitry and power rails.

[HEX1GON]

Ah they were selling something similar in a shopping centre here in Australia however it was round, was called GameSporz. I think it took custom carts that could only be bought from variety stores. If the controllers run off IrDA, then it's exactly the same thing, with different housing.

Gotta love Chinese pirates :)