. It is marketed by “Hyperkin” seemly having a base in the US. But the FC Mobile is obviously made in China. The Engrish on their site makes it more obvious that they are China related. This will be my first experience with them. It seems that they put out some clone systems and other game related peripherals.
     Now for the grand opening. Three User Guides, thankfully, one is in Engrish, which is hilarious to read. The first problem I encountered was, this thing would not turn on! I used two sets of new batteries. I was very close to contacting the supplier when I discovered that the first battery that you place into the unit was not staying in place. CHEAP Chinese springs! I cut a piece of bubble wrap and placed it on this battery, then putting the remaining two, on top, in their place. Ah Ha! It Lives! Master it Lives!
     My second problem was concerning that "protective plastic covering" that they place on the LCD until the consumer gets it out of the box. That stuff was almost embedded to the screen. I had a horrible time peeling that off without damaging the screen. Because of this, it came off in pieces. I think I did put a couple of small nearly unnoticeable scratches on the screen in the process. I actually began to think that I was pulling off the real screen and thought I was in the process of doing so a few times.
     Now for some playing. The online store, where I purchased the unit, was kind enough to supply a "randomly picked" free NES game cart. The game is an NES Zapper game!  (Laughing over the irony of it all.) Fortunately I have my own games. This thing is fun with NES gaming in my hands. At first a little awkward but fun none the less.

    This plays the original NES game carts. We are talking of the 8-bit games of yesterday, about 20 years ago.  I am thinking that you could probably use the Japanese Famicom carts also, but a converter will be needed. The NES carts use a 72 pin-out while the Famicom uses only 60. I have seen this exact same system in a totally different packaging calling itself the “Game Porter.” And claiming to play Japanese Nintendo Famicom Game Carts. So ther must be two versions of this system. The “User Guide” shows pictures of Japanese Famicom Games with the system on the cover.
     Using the original NES game carts opens up a very big library of games. And you can still find them relatively cheap and affordable in yard sales, flea markets, and sometimes a remote video game store stashed in the corner bargain bin. And of course there's eBay. Some of us may have them stored away in our closet. This system is a very good reason to get them out again. The NES 8-bit games make good portable game playing. On the down side of this is finding the faults of hardware using the Nintendo-on-a-chip technology. There are some or a few games you may find that are just not compatible. Either they will not work or the graphics will be messed up so bad that it will render them unplayable. The graphics problem may be as much as a blocky garbled mess or just the colors being off. The sound can also be off a little in some games. I have found only two games, within reach, not working and that was Bee 52 and The Three Stooges. I have one game that the color is off on the system's LCD, but is perfect on the TV-out. Most games I tried needed only a bit of cleaning on the contacts. Marble Madness seems to have graphical problems that interfered with playing, the screen kept rolling. But I am thinking that the list of incompatible games being small when compared with the big library of games that are available. I have found that the “favorites of fans” work flawlessly, at least the ones that I have available for me to try.
     Calling this a portable system may seem, to the modern gamer, a bit of a joke when you consider the size of the game carts. You would need a piece of luggage with wheels on the bottom if you want to lug around any large volume of games with you. Even with only your one favorite game it seems awkward and in need of some large pockets. But for bumming around the house, dorm room, or apartment, perfect. Add the convenient stashed-in-a-drawer size and the TV-out feature makes it all the more appealing to the dorm room or apartment. But only solo playing as there is no jack for a second gamepad. It does have a headphone jack for those moments of needed privacy when playing!! This, for me, is a rarity when it comes to these TV-out devices. Volume control uses an analog disk. The outside box says it has stereo, but the unit inside technically only has one speaker. The outward appearance of the unit gives the impression of having two speakers. Are we the victim of Chinese hype? Maybe that is the reason we only get a mono plug with TV-out. NES games are mono, so it really doesn't matter. The sound seems to be coming from the gameplay area. That is what counts. And when you are using headphones you get sound from both ear buds. There is also a slight hum in the speaker, yuk.