It's common knowledge that the name 'Famicom' is a shortened form of 'Family Computer,' but less well known is the fact that Nintendo actually embraced its game console as a legitimate home computing solution in the early '80s. Nintendo did eventually release a Famicom of their own with composite audio/video output which became known in the West as the AV Famicom, but this didn't happen until 1993, well after the Super Famicom was out.1.

When I first saw this I was very excited thinking that it may be for RGB output, but unfortunately this is not the case. There is also an 8-pin DIN connector on the back of the Twin Famicom as well for RF output. While composite is far from the best analog video output, it is a huge step up from RF and looks way better when viewed on a CRT television. The Sharp Twin Famicom however offers composite video and mono audio output over standard RCA connectors. Many gamers today know that this is the worst possible audio/video output available. The original Famicom only provided RF audio/video output. The Sharp Twin Famicom has one final advantage over Nintendo's original hardware and it is a big one. The Twin Famicom also features the same expansion ports as the original Famicom and Famicom Disk System so you can still use external controllers such as a light gun. Pressing it causes the cartridge in the slot to pop straight out with ease. Next to the mode switch is an eject button similar to the one found on the Super Famicom or the SNES in North America. flipping the switch up to disk mode locks the cartridge slot doors closed. There is a switch below the cartridge slot that allows you to switch between cartridge mode and disk mode before you boot up the console. The console does not allow for both the disk drive and the cartridge slot to be used at once. My console is the black/red version but the Sharp Twin Famicom also came in a black/blue/green colour configuration as well as a completely red colour configuration. I really like the red directional pad and the giant 1 and 2 labels are awesome. The controller configuration is the same as the original Famicom, with player 2's controller featuring a microphone in lieu of Start and Select buttons, but they have a very cool visual design. On the Sharp Twin Famicom the controllers sit neatly in a tray at the rear of the console. Just like the original Famicom there are two controllers that are hardwired to the console and the controller cables are as short as ever.

My famicom library