NES Test Station
The NES Test Station was a Nintendo Entertainment System testing machine made by Nintendo in 1988. It is a NES-based unit designed for testing NES hardware, components and games. It was only provided for use in World of Nintendo boutiques as part of the Nintendo World Class Service program. Visitors were to bring items to test on the station, often with assistance from a technician or store employee.
The NES Test Station features a Game Pak slot and connectors for testing various components (AC adapter, RF switch, Audio/Video cable, NES Control Deck, controllers and accessories) at the front, with a knob selector in the center to select the component to test. The unit itself is very large, weighing almost forty pounds, and securely hooks up to the television through both AV Cables and RF Switch in one wire. The user can choose which output to use for gameplay by pressing the RF/AV for Audio/Video Cable connection, or leave it unpressed for RF Switch connection. The television it's hooked up to (normally nineteen inches) is meant to be placed on top of it. On the front edge are three colored button switches: an illuminated red Power switch, a blue Reset switch and a green switch for alternating between AV and RF connections when testing an NES Control Deck. The different knob selections are:
- Game Pak Channel (for testing Game Paks)
- Control Deck and Accessories Channel (includes tests for NES Controllers, the Zapper, R.O.B. and Power Pad)
- Audio Video Channel
- AC Adaptor Channel
- RF Switch Channel
- System Channel (for testing a Control Deck)
The testing simply displays the selected output's results as either 'Pass' or 'Fail.' Very little is known about this equipment. Nintendo later provided an add-on for testing Super NES components and games, named the Super NES Counter Tester.
Read more about this topic: Nintendo Entertainment System
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