THE TOPLOADER: PROS AND CONS --------------------------------------------
It's the "new NES". One of the most sought after
items for any aspiring NES collector, and just damned useful
to gamers. It's the toploader. Produced by Nintendo in the
early 90's at the end of the NES's lifespan, the toploader
was meant to replace the standard toaster NES. It sold for
49.99 in most stores, and was an evolution of the NES design
into one looking similar to a SNES. Problem is, it didn't
sell squat, and nowadays is quite the rarity in the videogaming
world. But is it really worth paying *your* bottom dollar
for? Let's weigh the facts.
PROS
------
Don't Waste Your Breath: The toploader is functionally different
from the old toaster NES in that it uses a standard, toploading
connector like in Nintendo's newer systems. This virtually
eliminates any problems with the old NES and dirty contacts
inside the machine. No more buying cleaning kits or blowing
dust out of games until you're gasping for air. Although the
workrate isn't TOTALLY perfect, it's damned close (about 98%,
the other 2% just necessitated a quick cleaning).
Size Matters: The proportions of the toploader as compared
to the toaster are amazing. The actual dimensions are about
6'' x 7'' x 1 1/2'' for the toploader and 10'' x 8'' x 3 1/2''
for the toaster. This may not sound like a lot, but it saves
a HUGE amount of space for those using multiple systems. It
also eliminates a lot of airspace in the system, meaning leaving
the system on for a while may cause nuclear meltdown.
Locked Out No Longer: Realizing that no one else would probably
make games for the damned thing anyways, Nintendo has finally
done away with the lockout chip. This means PAL games and
certain unlicensed games incompatible with some revisions
of the total should now work fine. It also means you'll never
see the ever-familiar blinking screen when a game is dirty
again, just a steady gray screen. *sob* I'll miss you, blinky!
Futuristic Stylins: I have to admit, the system just looks
snazzy. No more huge, chunky gray box, just a compact, curvaceous
off-white deck to show off to your friends.
CONS
-------
RF Only: To save space (although i don't really see how much
space they could save), Nintendo did away with the A/V ports
on this system, making it R/F only. To the standard gamer,
this isn't that big of a deal. However, to those who liked
the slightly higher quality AV signal, you'll have to make
do with RF. It's also a pain in the ass to hook the toploader
up to a stereo system, whereas a toaster only needed 2 RCA
cables.
Signal Connundrums: Due to some poor decoupling of the video
signal, i.e rushing on Nintendo's part and overall lazy design,
the toploading NES outputs a slightly lower quality signal,
even compared to the toaster's RF connection. Faint lines
are displayed every 8 columns on the screen, and the colors
are slightly bleached. Again, not a major problem, but one
that I noticed immediately upon starting up the system. It
can prove to be an annoyance on games where the colors make
it noticeable, like Super Mario Brothers.
Out of Control: Maybe it's just me, but the new dogbone controller
just doesn't feel the same as the original square NES controller.
The comfortable, slick plastic shell, concave D-pad and buttons
have been replaced with a smaller controller with a rougher
matte finish, slightly softer D-pad and convex buttons. I
also find the dogbone controller's buttons to be slightly
stiffer than the original. It's surprising just how much this
matters when playing the game for an extended period of time.
Incompatibilities: If you're a Game Genie user (CHEATER!!!),
you'll find that your ever-present cheating device will not
fit into the cart slot. Tough shit, true gamers don't use
em anyways. :-D Camerica/Galoob did release adapters so the
system could be used with a toploader, but only on demand,
so they too are quite the rare find nowadays. Alternatively,
some have suggested you could simply chop away some plastic
on the toploader shell, although I personally wouldn't do
this because it makes the system just a little bit uglier
and less attractive.
The Final Word
----------------
So, is the new cart connector and sleek, sexy controller enough
to warrant paying astronomical prices on ebay and other sources??
I'm probably gonna offend a lot of gamers by saying this,
but no, it really isn't. Although I do have a toploader, and
use it in place of a toaster, it's not worth paying an extra
20-30 bucks for the newer model as compared to the original
NES. For image quality perfectionists, the video signal will
quickly piss off those obsessed with the sharp look of the
toaster. However, if you can find one for cheap, and are fond
of the idea of playing games without cleaning them, a new
controller to freshen things up, and are looking to save just
a few inches more of gaming desk space, by all means, look
into it.
