Nice find! I got a 13" CRT for $7.99 at a Goodwill about 15 years ago. Still sits on my desk for gaming. Fake wood grain, too!

Did you use Agent mode? Tends to work a lot better and have actual web references. Basically "go search the internet for a while" mode.

I'll probably write a longer article about this later, since some of the things in this book are just bonkers, like a 16-line Family BASIC program that will dump the Family BASIC ROM contents to tape 🤯

A high level map of addresses was provided in the Family BASIC manual, so it would have been obvious that the mysterious block reserved for "system" would be where any registers were at. From there it's just a matter of examining game code and experimentation to reverse engineer them.

I think the most reasonable path would have been:

1. Use DIY hardware to dump Famicom ROMs
2. Load ROM data onto a capable PC (PC98, Sharp X1, etc.) and examine it as 6502 assembly code.
3. Use POKE/CALL in Family BASIC to write/run ad-hoc assembly code to test the registers.

I like that they made the cart with a white plastic front and brown plastic back, so the entire cart sort of resembles a mahjong tile.

Okay, I found the Backup Katsuyou Technique books on a Japanese ebook store. Volume 3 from May 1986 has a whole bunch of info about Family BASIC and the Famicom in general, including mapping out at least some of the registers.

Doing some research in my down time :D

Do you have scans of Backup Katsuyou Technique or Beep from '85 and '86?

The only community that will tolerate my Family BASIC ramblings. Congrats on 10 years!

No Nose Niesta

They made sequels to Mad Maestro?!

But what about Pong Kombat?

www.mobygames.com/game/10443/p...

Wow, not too many Blinx fans out there.