The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Discuss technical or other issues relating to programming the Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom, or compatible systems. See the NESdev wiki for more information.

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Billy_IsntA_Stickman
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The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by Billy_IsntA_Stickman »

Someone please help me! :(
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jeffythedragonslayer
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by jeffythedragonslayer »

NESMaker has their own forums too:

https://www.nesmakers.com/index.php

That might be a better place to ask.
calima
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by calima »

If your game doesn't need flash saves and fits to 256kb (and possibly doesn't bank CHR-RAM), you can port it to UNROM and use oversized UNROM boards and flashers. This is a bit technical but doesn't require a programmer.

If your game does need saves and/or is large, porting to other mappers would need a programmer's help and may be a large undertaking.
Catyak
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by Catyak »

Billy_IsntA_Stickman wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 5:35 pm Someone please help me! :(
Infinite NES Lives still appears to sell them. (They are the manufacturer of the official NESMaker cartridge and flasher bundle) But it's unclear at a glance if they actually have stock of the items in question. If you can't get the flasher and cartridge bundle from them, you can use other cartridge programming solutions and a UNROM 512 cartridge PCB instead. (although it seems you can only get unassembled PCBs at the moment from non INL sellers)
Catyak
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by Catyak »

lidnariq wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:58 pm Retrostage has https://retrostage.net/?product=nes-dis ... laster-pro
Their own programmer (which is required to program their PCBs) is currently out of stock, although they say they will have stock of it by April, per the product page.
gzip
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by gzip »

You also have the option of bare boards from suppliers like Mousebite Labs or Murumasa. I've been happy with boards from both of them but only Mousebite provides awesome guides and support.

This is the more complicated route since it requires soldering skills, the ability to source components, and a separate programmer like the TL866II, but it also opens up the capability to program all types of boards and chips.
Bananmos
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by Bananmos »

If your main goal is to sell/gift carts of your finished game, see the above replies.

But if all you want to do is test your game during development, an Everdrive N8 Pro works fine for that: https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartrid ... 72pin.html

Also comes with a USB port so you can keep the NES permanently connected to your PC instead of swapping carts between programmer/console.

Yes, it's a more expensive option. But given the USB convenience and that you can play nearly every game ever made on it, it's a good long-term investment.
Billy_IsntA_Stickman
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Re: The NESMaker cartridge and flasher are sold out, what should I do?

Post by Billy_IsntA_Stickman »

Catyak wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:31 pm
lidnariq wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:58 pm Retrostage has https://retrostage.net/?product=nes-dis ... laster-pro
Their own programmer (which is required to program their PCBs) is currently out of stock, although they say they will have stock of it by April, per the product page.
Thank you! I will wait until April comes, then.
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