Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 These 5 Screws are tricky to distinguish if they are real or fake . Anyone have some insight on this particular cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Just now, Sam NES Litman said: These 5 Screws are tricky to distinguish if they are real or fake . Anyone have some insight on this particular cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 Just now, Sam NES Litman said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 1 minute ago, Sam NES Litman said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 1 minute ago, Sam NES Litman said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, Sam NES Litman said: These 5 Screws are tricky to distinguish if they are real or fake . Anyone have some insight on this particular cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DK | 267 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Looks real to me. Maybe tag one of the members from this thread that has one to make sure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,537 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Konami/Ultra always threw a wrench in the 5-screw/3-screw variant aspect, what with them using 5-screws way after everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docile tapeworm | 4,204 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 I got bayou Billy same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarzombie | 927 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Theres a collection of these that @Hybridput together. There are quite a number of 5 screw Ultra/Konami games, and none of them have back labels. No one is really sure what they are. Perhaps early internal prototypes that eventually got sold? But it only was done by those two companies, with some Konami games that were made as late as 91 being found as 5 screw. Which doesn't make sense since the transition from 5 to 3 happened in mid 87, where the last super hard 5 screw variants being sold in very late 87 (Gotcha, MTPO, Mega Man, Star Force) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam NES Litman | 53 Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 2 hours ago, DK said: Looks real to me. Maybe tag one of the members from this thread that has one to make sure: So how do I find out who has one of these? Just post again asking if anyone has this? Thanks for the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,537 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 1 hour ago, Sam NES Litman said: So how do I find out who has one of these? Just post again asking if anyone has this? Thanks for the time There's a Metal Gear NES listing. It has these users listed as owners: _Brink_(Cart Only) CrowTRobot(Cart only) Divingninja (cart only) Wyansas (cart Only) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdStrongestMole | 430 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 57 minutes ago, Tulpa said: There's a Metal Gear NES listing. It has these users listed as owners: _Brink_(Cart Only) CrowTRobot(Cart only) Divingninja (cart only) Wyansas (cart Only) I don't know if any of them will sell, as these are pretty hard to come by, but it's worth a shot. 2 hours ago, Sam NES Litman said: So how do I find out who has one of these? Just post again asking if anyone has this? Thanks for the time This looks legit (as legit as a 5 screw konami/ultra variant can be). No sticker on the back is a good sign. Peeling label is not uncommon at all on these, so don't be too concerned about that. @guitarzombie about as close to a good guess as anyone else has come up with. Could also be carts with issues sent back within warranty and repaired, possibly relabeled by hand. But, this is a discussion covered ad nauseam in the variant thread... Anyways, good luck hunting one down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,537 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 10 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said: I don't know if any of them will sell, as these are pretty hard to come by, but it's worth a shot. I think he already has one, he's just trying to confirm his is real. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,127 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 I want to agree with @3rdStrongestMole that this is a warranty repair. The back of the cart missing a sticker is not something I have seen at retail, but I’m far from an expert. Label peeling is nothing new but a shell missing the back sticker is interesting. A retail release wouldn’t have that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarzombie | 927 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 10 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: I want to agree with @3rdStrongestMole that this is a warranty repair. The back of the cart missing a sticker is not something I have seen at retail, but I’m far from an expert. Label peeling is nothing new but a shell missing the back sticker is interesting. A retail release wouldn’t have that Did Konami do their own repairs? I know Konami/Ultra did produce their own boards. If that was the case, it certainly makes sense since its ONLY Konami/Ultra that have these and none have back labels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,127 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, guitarzombie said: Did Konami do their own repairs? I know Konami/Ultra did produce their own boards. If that was the case, it certainly makes sense since its ONLY Konami/Ultra that have these and none have back labels. Out of curiosity I tried to Google some stuff to try and find the process for warranty repairs; whether Nintendo handled it or it was up to the vendors. I want to say someone sent their cart in and got this one back from whomever and that’s why it’s an odd 5 screw (recycled shell housing) with no back sticker. I had no luck in my search so if one of the other members has knowledge I’d love to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorEncore | 3,691 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 18 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: I want to agree with @3rdStrongestMole that this is a warranty repair. The back of the cart missing a sticker is not something I have seen at retail, but I’m far from an expert. Label peeling is nothing new but a shell missing the back sticker is interesting. A retail release wouldn’t have that 8 minutes ago, guitarzombie said: Did Konami do their own repairs? I know Konami/Ultra did produce their own boards. If that was the case, it certainly makes sense since its ONLY Konami/Ultra that have these and none have back labels. I don't know for sure, but it would make sense since Konami is one of the very few companies that made their own carts and PCBs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,127 Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 (edited) 20 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said: I don't know for sure, but it would make sense since Konami is one of the very few companies that made their own carts and PCBs. Could also mean they produced their own front labels but not the back ones? Maybe those could only be had at the assembly process in a factory, not just replacing a one off warranty repair/replace edit: in my searching I came across a familiar name that might be able to help @Dr. Morbis Edited February 8, 2022 by a3quit4s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Code Monkey | 2,014 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 a) Why would you go through all the trouble of taking a screenshot of a photo? Just hold your finger on the photo and choose the download option when you see the menu. b) I can't zoom in enough to see the dates on the chips to verify when this one was made c) Konami / Ultra cartridges look like this, no back label after their repair centre got their hands on it. The exterior looks legitimate but I'd have to get a close photo with varying lighting to confirm the label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,092 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, DoctorEncore said: I don't know for sure, but it would make sense since Konami is one of the very few companies that made their own carts and PCBs. Konami didn't make their own carts for North America, just custom chips and pcbs. Or, at the very least, they made everything except the plastic cartridge casing, since those would state as such on the back if they did. Either Konami shipped the big N their own pcbs (more likely) or the big N shipped cartridge casings to Konami (far less likely, considering the boxes and manuals of all Konami/Ultra games have the same exact qualities of the NES games manufactured by Nintendo). And considering the fact that Konami had Nintendo manufacture some of their Famicom games, even with their custom Konami chips/pcbs inside, this is almost certainly the case with their NES counterparts... 5 hours ago, a3quit4s said: Could also mean they produced their own front labels but not the back ones? Maybe those could only be had at the assembly process in a factory, not just replacing a one off warranty repair/replace edit: in my searching I came across a familiar name that might be able to help @Dr. Morbis This cart looks 100% legit to me. And there's no point opening it up and taking a picture of the pcb with these 5 screw Konami/Ultra's since they can come from any point in any run. The only true way to tell is by inspecting the front label of the cartridge in person, and there's only one man in this thread who can do that with this cart... Edited February 9, 2022 by Dr. Morbis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis | 2,092 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) The general concensus seems to be that these 5 screw Konami/Ultras are warranty replacement carts, but my issue with that is: why do we only see this with Konami and no other publisher in the NES library? Well there's one other unique circumstance we only see with Konami: custom chips and pcbs in Nintendo manufactured cartridges. Therefore, my personal theory is that Konami, for whatever reason, had or found a surplus of random NES pcbs that had not been sent to Nintendo to be made into cartridges (again, for whatever reason), asked Nintendo if they could send the few hundred/thousand they had to Nintendo to be manufactured, so they could make some sort of profit off of them rather than writing them off, were told NO by Nintendo (too small of a run to waste rigging the assembly line for, game variety not compatible or worth throwing on the line, or whatever), but, as a concession, Nintendo says, "here, we'll send you some 5 screw cart casings since they are useless to us as we can no longer use them on our new 3 screw assembly line, and you can make your own damn carts out of those pcbs." But, in doing so, Nintendo doesn't think to send the back labels along to be stuck on the carts, so we get what we have today: a random mishmash of games from one specific company that has 5 screw carts out of time and place, all of which are missing their back labels. That's my theory anyway.... Edited February 9, 2022 by Dr. Morbis 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a3quit4s | 4,127 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 45 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said: The general concensus seems to be that these 5 screw Konami/Ultras are warranty replacement carts, but my issue with that is: why do we only see this with Konami and no other publisher in the NES library? Well there's one other unique circumstance we only see with Konami: custom chips and pcbs in Nintendo manufactured cartridges. Therefore, my personal theory is that Konami, for whatever reason, had or found a surplus of random NES pcbs that had not been sent to Nintendo to be made into cartridges (again, for whatever reason), asked Nintendo if they could send the few hundred/thousand they had to Nintendo to be manufactured, so they could make some sort of profit off of them rather than writing them off, were told NO by Nintendo (too small of a run to waste rigging the assembly line for, game variety not compatible or worth throwing on the line, or whatever), but, as a concession, Nintendo says, "here, we'll send you some 5 screw cart casings since they are useless to us as we can no longer use them on our new 3 screw assembly line, and you can make your own damn carts out of those pcbs." But, in doing so, Nintendo doesn't think to send the back labels along to be stuck on the carts, so we get what we have today: a random mishmash of games from one specific company that has 5 screw carts out of time and place, all of which are missing their back labels. That's my theory anyway.... I much agree with this. Thanks! After reading this I’m curious to see what your take is on Overlord for NES - I remember getting it and going to change the battery and thinking it was fake because the PCB and the plastic housing were both manufactured by Virgin. Ran to Bootgod and sure enough it was legit. edit: does anyone have a complete Metal Gear? I wonder if there is something in there that covers the warranty process Edited February 9, 2022 by a3quit4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorEncore | 3,691 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Dr. Morbis said: Konami didn't make their own carts for North America, just custom chips and pcbs. Or, at the very least, they made everything except the plastic cartridge casing, since those would state as such on the back if they did. Oops, you're right. I was thinking of Acclaim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorEncore | 3,691 Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 (edited) 6 minutes ago, a3quit4s said: I much agree with this. Thanks! After reading this I’m curious to see what your take is on Overlord for NES - I remember getting it and going to change the battery and thinking it was fake because the PCB and the plastic housing were both manufactured by Virgin. Ran to Bootgod and sure enough it was legit. I believe Acclaim/ljn, Virgin, and Hi-Tech were all granted manufacturing licenses and made their own carts. Any others @Dr. Morbis? Edited February 9, 2022 by DoctorEncore 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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