8 Bit Music Power to be the first Famicom title in 21 years

Columbus Circle, a Japan-based maker of videogame accessories, announced this week that it will sell 8 Bit Music Power, a collection of old-fashioned chiptunes packaged in an original Famicon cartridge. The software isn’t an official Nintendo-licensed title, but Columbus Circle said it is the first commercial cartridge for the console in 21 years.

The title will come with 12 original tunes composed by videogame sound creators.

Columbus Circle plans to release it in Japan on Jan. 31 at a price of ¥3,800, or about $30. Several thousand copies would be made, and the software might be offered outside Japan if demand appears to be strong, it said.

The cartridge format is different for Famicon and its U.S. sibling, known as Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. A Columbus Circle spokesman said NES owners would need an adapter to play the software, but the company may decide to make an NES-format version.

“This was just a project among old Nintendo fans around us,” the spokesman said. “We were surprised at the overwhelming reaction we’ve received. Fans and major retailers in the U.S. asked us to make the product available there.”

Columbus Circle plans to make more Famicon cartridges, probably music albums with new tunes but it hopes to make real new videogames for Famicon, the spokesman said.