[There's a reason I put this in Computer Lab rather than Amphitheater as you'll see shortly. ]
Many years ago when Super Mario Bros. 3 was brand new, several months before it was actually released in North America, a couple of my cousins somehow managed to get a copy of a Japanese import cartridge -- intended for the FamiCom, but it worked on the NES anyway. We borrowed it from them for a while so we could play it, but we came across a baffling problem.
After playing for a couple of hours or so at a time, the game would freeze up. And then we found that the cartridge was really hot to the touch, so we had to turn it off. We figured out that before we could play any more we had to simply give it time to cool down first, and then it would work again. So we'd play until it got hot, and then took a break for a while before playing again. It was a long while before we could finish the game and give it back to our cousins, but for some years afterwards it was a mystery as to why it got hot while the official North American release of the game we got several months later remained cool and worked with no trouble.
And then a few years later, I took an electronics course and read something that made me figure out what was going on.
In Japan, the electrical timing standard for alternating current is 50 Hz (meaning it alternates back and forth 50 times per second). But in North America, it's 60 Hz. We were trying to use something intended for a 50 Hz AC machine in a 60 Hz one, and when that happens it takes all that extra current and converts it into heat energy.
So although it took several years to figure it out, the mystery of the hot game was solved!
(Unless someone else has another explanation. )
Many years ago when Super Mario Bros. 3 was brand new, several months before it was actually released in North America, a couple of my cousins somehow managed to get a copy of a Japanese import cartridge -- intended for the FamiCom, but it worked on the NES anyway. We borrowed it from them for a while so we could play it, but we came across a baffling problem.
After playing for a couple of hours or so at a time, the game would freeze up. And then we found that the cartridge was really hot to the touch, so we had to turn it off. We figured out that before we could play any more we had to simply give it time to cool down first, and then it would work again. So we'd play until it got hot, and then took a break for a while before playing again. It was a long while before we could finish the game and give it back to our cousins, but for some years afterwards it was a mystery as to why it got hot while the official North American release of the game we got several months later remained cool and worked with no trouble.
And then a few years later, I took an electronics course and read something that made me figure out what was going on.
In Japan, the electrical timing standard for alternating current is 50 Hz (meaning it alternates back and forth 50 times per second). But in North America, it's 60 Hz. We were trying to use something intended for a 50 Hz AC machine in a 60 Hz one, and when that happens it takes all that extra current and converts it into heat energy.
So although it took several years to figure it out, the mystery of the hot game was solved!
(Unless someone else has another explanation. )
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