How do you guys approach and deal with all of the small Wii game variations?

[SilverspoonGaming | 330]

I attached a pic of my 3 box art variations of Twilight Princess and marked the different serial numbers? for the 3 I have.  I have many more games like Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Sports that each have a different code in the back, so I keep them all and consider them as variants.  What do you think about them, and what do they mean?  I dont believe they are revisions of any sort...

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

That's kind of cool. I would say they're internal build numbers. Any time you release software, you release major release numbers but you always have internal builds which don't make it as release candidates. These could be revision A, B, C but have specific internal build numbers associated.

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

I posted about them here

On 10/21/2019 at 11:29 PM, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

There are three identifying features on the box and one on the disc. First is the made in label (usually USA or Japan). Then to the left of the product code on the box is another code where the letter at the end denotes version. Right of the UPC is another 5 number barcode with the format 00A0B where A is the country of manufacture (0 = Japan, 1 = US) and B is the box revision starting from zero (correlates with the letter after the product code). Finally, on the back of the disc near the center hole is a version code.

If you look close you will notice that the 62483A one was made in Japan, while all the 61602X ones where made in the USA. There are differences between 61602A and 61602B. If you look at the bottom left of the dark section, 61602A doesn't have any text while 61602B has the words "Incluyó contenido de juego en Español". Also there is a 61602C.

The difference with this version is that the "Player's Guide Available" icon at the bottom right of the dark section was removed.

And of course there's a Nintendo Selects version with the code 74472A.

EDIT: I also noticed that the 61602C variant has a white Nintendo logo on the bottom right of the front of the box thanks to this thread.

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by 0xDEAFC0DE

[austin532 | 467]

I've always wondered what the difference was. The code in gray is the product code but the code above it I'm not sure. I've seen A and B but never C. I always assumed A's were first printings.

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

1 hour ago, austin532 said:

I've always wondered what the difference was. The code in gray is the product code but the code above it I'm not sure. I've seen A and B but never C. I always assumed A's were first printings.

The code above the product code is some sort of id number. I've noticed that it has been increasing with release date and continues on from Gamecube/DS to the current generation so they are probably assigned in order with each new release. 

I only follow Zelda variants but TP for Wii is the only one I know of that has a revision C boxart. But manuals also have the revision letters and I believe the last TP Wii manual has a D revision (61603D). It came with the Nintendo Selects variant. 

[Tyree_Cooper | 741]

does it really mean there's an actual difference? im not sure they are variants worth collecting. maybe they ID the place and date of print/production

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

23 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

does it really mean there's an actual difference? im not sure they are variants worth collecting. maybe they ID the place and date of print/production

Usually there are other differences as I pointed out with TP. But is it worth collecting? Probably not for most people, unless you are deep into variant collecting. 

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

I pretty much aim for what I hope is a first print variant.

There are cases where I will aim for a later print, but those reasons are circumstantial. And for me re-releases should have a re-release of their own if I am to pick them up. However... I am still a bit behind on my own variant finds, and the only source I found mostly deals with the main series in Japan. So all I can say is that a few games I am eyeing will either be later prints, or have to be such due to one reason or another.

But yeah... Something like that is cool for reference sake. But for me my dealings with variants in 2017 has me want to avoid it for a while. 

[SilverspoonGaming | 330]

On 11/25/2020 at 7:51 PM, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

Usually there are other differences as I pointed out with TP. But is it worth collecting? Probably not for most people, unless you are deep into variant collecting. 

Im unfortunately super deep in that rabbit hole...