What should constitute as a "First Print" of a game?

[inasuma | 1,203]

i enjoy everyone's answers. they all basically follow the same themes.

to me, a "first print" should quite literally be games produced on the earliest known manufacturing runs. chip boards and discs have date codes on them, typically, which is the most direct way to validate the info.

[fcgamer | 4,723]

3 hours ago, inasuma said:

i enjoy everyone's answers. they all basically follow the same themes.

to me, a "first print" should quite literally be games produced on the earliest known manufacturing runs. chip boards and discs have date codes on them, typically, which is the most direct way to validate the info.

Except for later runs made using leftover old parts. . .

[inasuma | 1,203]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:21 PM, fcgamer said:

Except for later runs made using leftover old parts. . .

 hey if the game is sealed no one will ever know.

?????

profit

[fcgamer | 4,723]

1 minute ago, inasuma said:

 hey if the game is sealed no one will ever know.

?????

profit

Some items don't come sealed though

[Tyree_Cooper | 755]

then you have to grade them to make sure you don't know what's inside

[3rdStrongestMole | 430]

On 1/26/2023 at 11:17 AM, DefaultGen said:

I kind of ignore trying to rigorously defining it. I try to get the earliest/coolest variant if that's what I'm after. There are games that had simultaneous Made in USA/Made in Japan releases on day one, but come on, I want the Made in Japan. Everyone knows Japan is cooler.

For things like the Target/Walmart variants you mentioned, personally I like those as a side thing, but if I was buying one copy of a game I'd want the normal clean black label copy.

For the vast majority of games we don't know the nitty gritty details and variants or put intentional blinders on to simplify collecting. There's """one""" """first print""" (airiest of air quotes on both of those) Mario Kart 64 variant for example. Look there's even a website that tells me that there's just one first print!

https://standardgaming.com/blogs/variant-guides/mario-kart-64-n64-graded-video-game-variant-guide

The K-A player's choice is the "second print"!

Except when you open Mario Kart 64s up, there are tons of revisions. Literally the first picture I pulled off Google shows 3 different PCBs from mid 1996-early 1997. Earlier copies split the game ROM onto two smaller chips for cost savings. The two single ROM PCBs are different types (NUS-01A-01 vs NUS-01A-02). All of this shit of course has date codes on top of that adding exponential complexity the closer you look. Calling any non-PC Mario Kart 64 a "first print" is a huge oversimplication.

I think "first print" is a worthwhile shorthand for games where people generally don't know or don't care about the nitty grittiest true earliest manufactured copy of the game. I just don't take the term super literally.

Side note, it's hilarious that in the sealed world Made in Japan 'first print' variants of many games can sell for huge premiums but the earlier actual Japanese copies sell for peanuts, lmaooo.

Off topic, but I think my friend has an early version where the auto-blue shell on top of the mountain in Koopa Beach is invincible when you hold it behind you lol