silentshadow56

I found this archived link from the Nintendo Age forum (below) and figured here would be the best place to ask for clarity in regards to what region had the designation of "MSA" and what it stands for? http://archive.nes.science/nintendoage-forums/nintendoage.com/indexadb4.html?FuseAction=Search.Results&pId=5&Code_Region=MSA

I came across what I assume is a scan of the excitebike box art, but I'm really having a hard time figuring out the mystery behind the UPC on this one. For those that don't know long story short (I can elaborate if necessary to help unravel the mystery) on a UPC the first digit to the left of the barcode is relative to the product being sold in this case "7" is just a general use so nothing anomalous there. However the next five digits are unique to the company and are referred to as the "company prefix" and furthermore the first three digits of the company prefix denote the region of manufacture. For example the UPC for this Excitebike would break down as such 7 - Denotes a general use UPC code to follow 25272 - The company prefix w/ 252 denoting the region of manufacture This is puzzling to me for two reasons: Nintendo's company prefix is typically 045496 (Again, in this case "0" just denotes a general use UPC) 200 - 299 for the region of manufacture is reserved for "Restricted Distribution" I could take a guess at what restricted distribution means, but all the same what was "restricted" about this particular version of the game? Furthermore why would Nintendo pay to have an additional UPC for what all intents and purposes is the release of the same game? Excitebike is the only example I've stumbled across thus far but I'm sure there are others and I wanted to see if anyone here had any insight or even knew exactly what the reason was? REALLY looking forward to see what anyone might have to say! *I've named the anomalous Excitebike "pic_a" and the regular one "pic_b" and you will be able to see that there is some difference in the pictures shown to demonstrate gameplay

So, to start, for those that aren't aware sometimes revisions were made to the game code with the most common example being The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. This actually had two revisions to the game code which are denoted by the machine stamp on the back of the game with either an A next to the two digit number or a B indicating which revision it is. I believe the revisions were to remove an Islamic chant for the soundtrack to one of the temples as well as some of the markings on the wall with another revision changing the blood during the battle with Gannon from Red to Green. However, there were plenty of other games which saw revisions to the rom as well which are listed below. I was wondering if anyone here knew of any of the other revisions that were made? Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage Banjo-Kazooie Blast Corps Castlevanaia (A & B revisions) Chameleon Twist Cruis'n USA (A & B revisions) Diddy Kong Racing Doom 64 Excitebike 64 F-Zero X International Superstar Soccer '98 Killer Instinct Gold (A & B revisions) Mischief Makers Mortal Kombat Trilogy (A & B revisions) NFL Blitz Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber Perfect Dark Pokemon Stadium (A & B revisions) Resident Evil 2 San Francisco Rush Extreme Racing Scooby-Doo! Classic Creep Capers Star Fox 64 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Tonic Trouble Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (A & B revisions) Turok: Rage Wars Waialea Country Club Wave Race 64 Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey WCW vs. NWO: World Tour WWF: No Mercy

Yeah, I'm trying to put all the information together in a cohesive manner and make an "official" documentation of it as this stuff completely fascinates me and as you said it's not easy to coming across

Again, I can't stress enough that I really appreciate the insight you've been able to provide, but because it's not apples to apples (1080 and 1080 -01) I want to make certain I'm grasping this correctly. Obviously they wouldn't have made any revision to the game on the bigger PCB, but is it to assume that Nintendo just moved to manufacturing these larger PCBs and stopped producing the smaller ones? So even though the size wasn't necessary for a game like 1080 it was just simply easier to give it the larger PCB and just denote as such on the front label? I did have one or two more questions in regards to the code on the front of the label that I wanted to see if maybe you didn't have the answer? Would it be okay to send you a PM?

I appreciate the response and follow up, but still not 100% certain what the difference is on all of this because you're showing a (-01) 1080 PCB and then a non (-01) Mario 64 PCB. I'm not as familiar with the board layouts on N64 as I am NES but is it safe to say a 1080 NUS-006 will have a "NUS-01A-02" board or something similar where as a 1080 NUS-006(-01) will have a "NUS-03A-01"?

Hello all, Hoping there are some super sleuths that are on here that can help me determine a few different things that have plagued me over the years that I would really LOVE to finally understand and put to rest. On the front of Nintendo 64 cartridges in the center towards the very bottom you will always see a "Model#" which is NUS-006 and is the model # for all cartridges. However, on occasion I have seen "Model# NUS-006(-01)" and was wondering if anyone knew what the "(-01)" denoted? I know that a "-1" on the next line down after the "USA" denotes that it's a player's choice copy or in the case of pokemon snap that a revision to the artwork in the style of the ESRB has changed, but this would more likely denote a change in the design of the cartridge. Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello All! First let me preface this by saying I'm more than proficient in spotting fake N64 cartridges (I can honestly tell they're fake just by holding them without looking at anything else), but I wanted to hear from the community if there aren't any tips or tricks that I'm absolutely missing? ANY advice you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated because it may be the simplest of things that I've never noticed that's a great way to spot a fake. Thanks!

Hello all! I'm wondering if anyone has ever been able to determine the diameter of the bit necessary to unscrew the security bits that EA used on their Sega Genesis games? I KNOW that the security bits they used are called "Holt Head" and it seems like it's something more common in plumbing than anywhere else. Regardless I've been unable to determine the actual diameter of the screw head and was wondering if anyone had that information or knew of a way to measure it? Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!