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Snes Backup device


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Hello Atariage! This is my first post. I collect retro video games, and I was wondering how many people have snes/super famicom backup devices. I recently bought a Bung Game Doctor SF6 for $150. It is great for playing homebrews as well as roms. Does anyone else have any other different backup devices?

20201118_094154.jpg

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I had more of these types of devices in the 90's than I can count. Super Magic Drives, Super UFOs, etc. They were cool and still are from a historical point of view. But, other than that, modern devices such as Everdrives have made them pretty much worthless. Nobody is going to go to these floppy disk relics to play roms and homebrew. We all want to live in the past in some sense...but not that one ;)

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I decided to pay a little more for a game doctor because I read somewhere that everdrives don't work properly. I heard that they have a design flaw- something about the system requiring a 5v circuit and the everdrive only being built for 3.3 volts. I don't know if that's true, but I didn't want to risk it. And I had a bunch of old floppies laying around doing nothing, so I decided to give them a use. Sure, it takes 3 minutes to load up Donkey Kong Country, but I don't mind- I just like using floppies.
Btw, did you have a particular favorite backup device?

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1 hour ago, Thunderbird98 said:

I heard that they have a design flaw- something about the system requiring a 5v circuit and the everdrive only being built for 3.3 volts. I don't know if that's true, but I didn't want to risk it. 

 

This was true, but I believe the official everdrives have all been corrected. Any current models shouldn't have this issue, but the older ones might still be a problem. 

However, I believe you can contact them in order to get this flaw fixed.  

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On 11/19/2020 at 10:12 AM, Thunderbird98 said:

I decided to pay a little more for a game doctor because I read somewhere that everdrives don't work properly. I heard that they have a design flaw- something about the system requiring a 5v circuit and the everdrive only being built for 3.3 volts. I don't know if that's true, but I didn't want to risk it.

 

 

There was something going on with that years ago and it blew up into a thing.....that really turned out to not be a thing.  IIRC it was one particular model at the time that while had no cases at all reported whatsoever of any console damage it ran like wildfire through the interwebs. That was years ago. Since, all everdrives are functioning properly and none cause any risk at all. I have used them for years....and still continue to use them to this day.

 

I would say if anything it is these backup devices from random Chinese manufacturers back in the day could be the cause of console damage over anything else. They have no "stamp of approval"...and documentation of how they operate is sparse or perhaps even non-existent. I would certainly trust Krikzz and his devices over one of these Chinese get-rich-quick relics ;)

 

I recall having a Super Wild Card back in the day for my SNES and someone had to make me an adapter to allow my SNES to use a Genesis power supply in order to use it. That was because when it was used with a SNES power supply the screen would fade (power draw) with each click of the loading off of the floppy drive. That was bad news.

 

Bottom line are that current everdrives are not only safer (in my opinion over these old things) but much more convenient, reliable, and much more you can do with them. The only reason to own one of these old copiers is if you had one back in those days and are feeling nostalgic for it....or for collecting purposes if you are into collecting vintage pirate devices. $150 as a collectible was ok I guess. But if you spent $150 to actually use this over a modern everdrive for gaming...I hate to say it but it was not the way to go.

 

But I guess Jackie Chan approved it...so there's that!

 

 

 

jackie.jpg

Edited by eightbit
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  • 2 weeks later...

The problem I have with the SNES Everdrive is that mode 7 and games that use enhancement chips are not supported on the Everdrives that I am aware of. Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, FX-Zero and Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius or any other chip enhanced game can't be played on my Everdrive yet they work fine on my OG Xbox SNES emulator. 

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Mode7 is a graphics setting option of the system, the everdrive would have nothing to do with that.  Without Mode7 you'd have no ground on F-Zero, no rotating and pivoting backgrounds in Super Castlevania IV or Super Ghouls N Ghosts.  The rest though, true, mostly, you can add a DSP to the basic kit so at least Pilotwings and Mario Kart are playable along with a few others.

 

Given the price of an everdrive being (was?) around $100, and then having to buy and tear up a SNES cart and do it or pay even more for someone to do the solder job of adding the DSP pushes it with price, but also time and effort factor into being a total waste of money against the SD2SNES/FX Pro...a second hand one of them can go around $150 anyway if $200 sucks too much for you.  I figure it as this much, +50 ...that's like one, maybe two, maybe even under less than 1 value than most expansion chip cart game costs anyway.  Kirby's Dream Land 3, Mario RPG, Parodius 3, etc it adds up or exceeds very fast.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/23/2020 at 11:50 PM, eightbit said:

 

 

There was something going on with that years ago and it blew up into a thing.....that really turned out to not be a thing.  IIRC it was one particular model at the time that while had no cases at all reported whatsoever of any console damage it ran like wildfire through the interwebs. That was years ago. Since, all everdrives are functioning properly and none cause any risk at all. I have used them for years....and still continue to use them to this day.

 

I would say if anything it is these backup devices from random Chinese manufacturers back in the day could be the cause of console damage over anything else. They have no "stamp of approval"...and documentation of how they operate is sparse or perhaps even non-existent. I would certainly trust Krikzz and his devices over one of these Chinese get-rich-quick relics ;)

 

I recall having a Super Wild Card back in the day for my SNES and someone had to make me an adapter to allow my SNES to use a Genesis power supply in order to use it. That was because when it was used with a SNES power supply the screen would fade (power draw) with each click of the loading off of the floppy drive. That was bad news.

 

Bottom line are that current everdrives are not only safer (in my opinion over these old things) but much more convenient, reliable, and much more you can do with them. The only reason to own one of these old copiers is if you had one back in those days and are feeling nostalgic for it....or for collecting purposes if you are into collecting vintage pirate devices. $150 as a collectible was ok I guess. But if you spent $150 to actually use this over a modern everdrive for gaming...I hate to say it but it was not the way to go.

 

But I guess Jackie Chan approved it...so there's that!

 

 

 

jackie.jpg

BTW, what game is Jackie playing?

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14 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Looks like Aero Fighters, damn I wish I still owned it, but at least I have the two sequels. :D

I looked up some youtube videos.  Looks like it is aero fighters.  Cheapest on ebay is 75 boxed.  Even loose is 89.  And there is one loose for 475.  Must be rare.

 

Actually there are some cheap ones from china.  Not sure if those are repos.

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1 hour ago, 0078265317 said:

I looked up some youtube videos.  Looks like it is aero fighters.  Cheapest on ebay is 75 boxed.  Even loose is 89.  And there is one loose for 475.  Must be rare.

 

Actually there are some cheap ones from china.  Not sure if those are repos.

Last time I even cared to look before I got disgusted was when it crossed the $300 mark.  It had been at $200 for a time and back then we thought this asinine behavior would be a bubble, not a decade long trend leading up to a long term crash, and that was closer to 8~ years ago at that price.  Anything boxed at $75 is a complete damn near correct excellent bootleg, and a loose one would be really as low as $20 I think off aliexpress and the sort while ebay people will try and hit the domestic buyers for 2-3x the price.  It's really other than an Earthbound box my last loss of Nintendo regret of mine as I got it originally around 1996 or so for $10 complete minus the box (has a poster, manual, dust clip and game) and had to dump it due to unemployment and long term off that low pay issues starting in 2005.  I can only say really, having 2 and 3 on MVS lessens the blow, and they are better games, but I really liked it because the stages randomly placed the enemies so it kept it fresher, longer.

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3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Last time I even cared to look before I got disgusted was when it crossed the $300 mark.  It had been at $200 for a time and back then we thought this asinine behavior would be a bubble, not a decade long trend leading up to a long term crash, and that was closer to 8~ years ago at that price.  Anything boxed at $75 is a complete damn near correct excellent bootleg, and a loose one would be really as low as $20 I think off aliexpress and the sort while ebay people will try and hit the domestic buyers for 2-3x the price.  It's really other than an Earthbound box my last loss of Nintendo regret of mine as I got it originally around 1996 or so for $10 complete minus the box (has a poster, manual, dust clip and game) and had to dump it due to unemployment and long term off that low pay issues starting in 2005.  I can only say really, having 2 and 3 on MVS lessens the blow, and they are better games, but I really liked it because the stages randomly placed the enemies so it kept it fresher, longer.

Most of the repos on ebay if you look at the back there is no logo.  But this has the nintendo logo on the back so not sure.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114430008062

 

Just got an offer to but it for 29 dollars and 63 cents.

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On 12/27/2020 at 1:02 AM, 0078265317 said:

Most of the repos on ebay if you look at the back there is no logo.  But this has the nintendo logo on the back so not sure.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114430008062

 

Just got an offer to but it for 29 dollars and 63 cents.

Looks good, looks like a legit re-used shell too, but the ONE immediate glaring wrongness of that is the label flap with the ugly big unprofessional looking white printed name of the game when it should be a color mini of the one on the front of the sticker.

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2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Looks good, looks like a legit re-used shell too, but the ONE immediate glaring wrongness of that is the label flap with the ugly big unprofessional looking white printed name of the game when it should be a color mini of the one on the front of the sticker.

Good catch did not see that.  This one has the logo on the lable.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154243840468

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4 hours ago, 0078265317 said:

Good catch did not see that.  This one has the logo on the lable.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154243840468

That's better, and honest showing the board.  I just don't remember the game ever saving anything so I have to wonder about that last picture.  Cart shell isn't a cheapo with plastic mold including fake screws, sticker looks right at a distance since it's not close.  Not a bad deal at all for something that looks perhaps 1:! ideal from the outside.

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I have an MGH (Multi Game Hunter).  The one I had, bought in 1993, worked for SNES and Genesis.  The SNES side broke so I sent it back, they fixed the SNES side, but the Genesis side came back broken.  Keep in mind I take very good care of my stuff so these things can be poorly built.  I held onto it and bought a used one on ebay for $15, missing the adapter to hook it to the Genesis.  Since mine had both adapters, I now have one of each (One for Genesis and one for SNES I mean)...And they both work.   But, I rarely use them and instead I bought a bunch of original carts mostly before the prices went through the roof... Then I bought a SD2SNES and an Everdrive X5 and never looked back....Also Everdrives for NES/Turbografx/Famicom/GBA + a Harmony Cart for Atari, a Dragonfly etc...They are miles ahead in terms of reliability and ease of use.  You might look into them.

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  • 1 month later...

From what I can gather that floppy drive is a generic IDE/ATAPI drive for PCs... I wonder if you could replace it with an Iomega Zip drive, or maybe hook up an external one to the parallel port.

 

I'm super jealous of you... I really want that Game Doctor. Loading SNES games from floppy is very intriguing. Maybe I'll get one someday. Have you tried downloading games off the web?

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I remember back some years, but I think this century, that people were hacking these things to do as you thought.  I've seen where custom firmware or adapters were used to enable either the use of a zip drive or even burned CDs since it is as you said standard PC parts there as far as the drive/bay connector goes.

 

Now I'm talking some old UFO device from China here, and also before 1995 too, my best friend had one of them and it used standard PC parts and normal formatted floppy disks.  The annoyance came from when a SNES game was over 1MB in size and they'd need to be split over a couple disks.  I don't remember how that was figured out, other than borrowing someones game and using the menu to copy a cart and it would bust it into pieces and spread it evenly over a couple disks.  I would think there had to be some old pre-windows 95 style DOS/Win 3.X tool in the day that would allow you to do it on a PC and stuff it on there too, or dice up early rom dumps all the same.

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On 2/18/2021 at 5:04 AM, bluejay said:

From what I can gather that floppy drive is a generic IDE/ATAPI drive for PCs... I wonder if you could replace it with an Iomega Zip drive, or maybe hook up an external one to the parallel port.

 

I'm super jealous of you... I really want that Game Doctor. Loading SNES games from floppy is very intriguing. Maybe I'll get one someday. Have you tried downloading games off the web?

I tried a zip drive and it doesn't link properly.
if you want to get a game copier, you should try to get one of these
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MGH-Multi-Game-Hunter-Multi-console-version-SNES-Sega-Genesis-Mega-Drive/233857767169?hash=item3673025701:g:EKkAAOSw15pf~pVY
they work with both snes and genesis games. There are others like the double pro fighter, but I wouldn't recommend getting one of those because they break easily.

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