Custom Playchoice 10 Topper for PC-10 NES Adapter: Interest?

OldTymeToys

Well-known member

Donor 3 years: 2011, 2013, 2018
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
12,839
Reaction score
1,142
Location
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Custom Playchoice 10 Topper for PC-10 NES Adapter: Interest?

As some of you know, I've been working on getting some of the Playchoice toppers reproduced, but haven't had any real luck for a decent price: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=178743

But, with 2600's AWESOME adapter for NES carts, this opens up an avenue to create a new one! It's much easier to create a new one than to vectorize one of the old ones.

So, what I have done is taken the "NES cartridge box" look and went with game/game characters that seemed to be the most popular for the adapter, that weren't technically available on the PC-10- Dragon Warrior, Mega Man, Zelda and Blades of Steel (I used Blades of Steel to symbolize the sports games.) I've gotten some quotes and most likely can do these for around $25 shipped. If there is enough interest for at least 25 toppers, I'll start a thread for a pre-order.

So, here's what I've come up with. Let me know what you think:

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • nestopper preview.jpg
    nestopper preview.jpg
    93.2 KB · Views: 453
Last edited:
Awesome! Imagine embedding a digital photo frame in the topper and load it with NES box scans, like minimarquees on a Neo Geo?
 
I wanted to be sure to mention that the metal topper piece will be steel, not aluminum like the originals. It will be the same thickness, but aluminum is about half again more expensive than the steel. Also, if the interest (and eventually the pre-orders) get to the next price break of 50 pieces, the price will come down!
 
I'll take one! My only suggestion if I could would be to stick to one or the other. The mix of the 8bit game graphics and the drawn style clashes in my opinion
 
Last edited:
I'll take one! My only suggestion if I could would be to stick to one or the other. The mix of the 8bit game graphics and the drawn style clashes in my opinion

Thanks. What I tried to do was use a little "chaotic symmetry" and flank the drawn characters with an 8 bit character on each side to represent both styles of the NES box art from BITD...
 
I like the idea, but I'm with that other dude. Lose the 8-bit stuff. It doesn't look retro, it just looks pixelated. Even though the early NES cart boxes used that style, the PC-10 toppers never did. Or, if you wanna go all 8-bit, try that. I did love the old NES boxes. Urban Champion, Gyromite, Metroid, Kid Icarus, etc.
 
I like the idea, but I'm with that other dude. Lose the 8-bit stuff. It doesn't look retro, it just looks pixelated. Even though the early NES cart boxes used that style, the PC-10 toppers never did. Or, if you wanna go all 8-bit, try that. I did love the old NES boxes. Urban Champion, Gyromite, Metroid, Kid Icarus, etc.

I couldn't disagree more. All the original NES games were "pixel" art (although it wasn't actual in game graphics, but an artist's interpetation) If I were to contribute to this, I would say the only thing that looks out of place is the NES controller background with noise (or dissolve) on it.

smb_box.jpg
NES-Popeye-box.jpg
dkcoverart.jpg


The problem is that pixel art didn't last and then every box was different. I think what he did looks great.
 
I really like the current version with the mix of 8 bit and drawn (as Tighe said, that's what NES boxes had BITD), but I'm not opposed to changing it...

So, if I remove the 8 bit characters and put in cartoon characters- should I use the same game characters that are on there now? Should I substitute characters from different titles? Should I scrap the sports ones altogether? Should I use other familiar NES characters, even though those titles are available as PC-10 games? I think Link and Mega Man stay, no matter what...
 
In the end, you do what you feel is best. You're the artist. Just a piece of constructive criticism: I'd go either all hand drawn or all in-game pixelated graphics for the characters. It would look more visually consistent. I otherwise like the overall concept.

I don't recognize the dragon on the left, is it a chunk of SNES art? Just asking because the amount of pixels in it is much higher and allowing for more details than what I tend to see in NES pixel art.
 
I really like the current version with the mix of 8 bit and drawn (as Tighe said, that's what NES boxes had BITD), but I'm not opposed to changing it...

So, if I remove the 8 bit characters and put in cartoon characters- should I use the same game characters that are on there now? Should I substitute characters from different titles? Should I scrap the sports ones altogether? Should I use other familiar NES characters, even though those titles are available as PC-10 games? I think Link and Mega Man stay, no matter what...

If you were to swap the Blades of Steel box art it would look bad:
blades_of_steel_box_eu.jpg


Maybe if you made the sprites larger and added some motion blurs like SMB and Donkey Kong box sprite art
 
In the end, you do what you feel is best. You're the artist. Just a piece of constructive criticism: I'd go either all hand drawn or all in-game pixelated graphics for the characters. It would look more visually consistent. I otherwise like the overall concept.

I don't recognize the dragon on the left, is it a chunk of SNES art? Just asking because the amount of pixels in it is much higher and allowing for more details than what I tend to see in NES pixel art.

It's from Dragon Warrior and it probably is SNES art...
 
Back
Top Bottom