Plutiedev has announced a set of guidelines for selling cartridges of original homebrew video games for Sega Genesis and Mega Drive. Here's my attempt to translate some of these guidelines to the NES platform, as a way to spark discussion on their practicality.
Compatibility
Game must be available as a Famicom cartridge and an NES cartridge.
- Famicom cartridge must work in all CPU and PPU revisions of Famicom, Famicom Titler, AV Famicom, and Dendy, as well as NTSC NES, PAL A NES, and PAL B NES through an adapter.
- NES cartridge must work in NTSC NES, PAL A NES, and PAL B NES, as well as Famicom, Famicom Titler, AV Famicom, and Dendy through an adapter.
Game must not rely on the microphone, player 2 Select and Start buttons, or any expansion controller that has not been released in all regions.
Cartridge
Don't use Nintendo branding on the box, on the cartridge, or in the game. No red oval logos, no design mimicking the black box of North American NES launch titles. It's OK to say a game is compatible with Nintendo systems, but don't go beyond that.
Cartridge must be 5 volt compatible, using either 5 volt parts or level shifters.
I doubt the practicality of testing "compatibility" for a studio's debut release, particularly given the difficulty of obtaining a 50 Hz CRT in the United States.
Compatibility
Game must be available as a Famicom cartridge and an NES cartridge.
- Famicom cartridge must work in all CPU and PPU revisions of Famicom, Famicom Titler, AV Famicom, and Dendy, as well as NTSC NES, PAL A NES, and PAL B NES through an adapter.
- NES cartridge must work in NTSC NES, PAL A NES, and PAL B NES, as well as Famicom, Famicom Titler, AV Famicom, and Dendy through an adapter.
Game must not rely on the microphone, player 2 Select and Start buttons, or any expansion controller that has not been released in all regions.
Cartridge
Don't use Nintendo branding on the box, on the cartridge, or in the game. No red oval logos, no design mimicking the black box of North American NES launch titles. It's OK to say a game is compatible with Nintendo systems, but don't go beyond that.
Cartridge must be 5 volt compatible, using either 5 volt parts or level shifters.
I doubt the practicality of testing "compatibility" for a studio's debut release, particularly given the difficulty of obtaining a 50 Hz CRT in the United States.