the_wizard_666

I gave it a 4. There are a couple decent games, but on the whole, let's just say I've had it since shortly after launch and I've played it less times than I have fingers. If it wasn't for Punch Out I likely would've gone lower.

I will once I replace it, and unpack it for that matter (planning a move). It kinda pissed me off tbh...I bought a sealed copy, opened it up, and it was missing a tab. What are the odds I open up a factory defect?

Couldn't you just do a back swap on it? I can't imagine the back label is a rare one. It's not like the copy of Overlord I have with the same problem, where the only cart with that particular back is Overlord

I'd never played this before. Now I understand why. It's like the first game, but inferior in every way possible. This contest is gonna be a chore for sure.

Damn...only another 100K...and a near-guarantee that Basil won't be getting another crack at it (he leaves town for long weekends). If I had the desire, motivation, and thumbs for it, I might actually attempt to cash in for $20. But I'm probably not gonna be arsed because fuck it.

Well, I would, but to be fair I'm not so into the style of game that requires that sort of thumb work anyway. I'd rather play an RPG or a turn-based strategy game than a run-and-gun shooter or beat-em-up.

Can't wait until we get a game that doesn't destroy my thumbs. Carpal tunnel + arthritis is not a pleasant mixture. *looks through schedule* Well, looks like I'm screwed for the forseeable future...

54830 76240 146,630 First time playing the game in years. Forgot how much my thumbs hate it, but not a bad game overall. Still, I suck at it Got to level 10 and failed miserably to finish the game. Still, a great game. Gonna try and at least beat it by the end of the week, although I don't expect a great score or anything. Almost looped the game twice - got to Stage 20 before my thumbs pretty much crapped out on me. Since I don't feel much like pausing every 15 levels or so to get a better score, I think I'm done for the week.

I gave it 6/10. I don't think I've played a terrible version of it, but I'm not crazy about it either. It's alright, and I fire it up from time to time, but it's kinda meh overall.

Then explain the Konami/Ultra 5 screw variants... That said, this one is 100% not the real deal.

Well that sucks. At least your plushies fill the gap nicely, I never would've known one was missing. I'm sure if you notify the store though, they'll hook you up. They likely have some spare parts kicking around from other damaged units. It doesn't sound like it'd suit my needs very well though, but that's okay. I'm in no hurry right now, as I'm a year away from moving anyway. Just looking to put things on my radar

You may be right there. Since the only thing visible on them was "inbond," I took to Google. There's a company called Winbond (the circular thing next to "inbond" is likely the "W" shaped like a logo or something), and while they don't carry any sort of EPROM, they DO carry EEPROMs. So they won't have the dead-giveaway windows, but they would most certainly be fakes. I'm curious though - wouldn't the EEPROM still need rewiring to work on an NES board? Of course, if you're going to that extent, it's not much more work to go and rearrange the code to the required pinout, so I guess that's irrelevant anyway. I was hoping it was a case of a good cart with a repro box and manual...but now it looks like a straight up fake. I pity the fool that buys it...and if these guys are legitimate victims thinking they bought the genuine article, I pity them too.

I find with a lot of shelving units, they tend to lean a bit when stood up. That said, they also usually have some sort of bracket that you can screw into the top of the unit as well as the wall to enable it to be secured. The gap in the door could be a matter of realigning it, but odds are it's normal. I'd say just use those brackets to attach it to the wall and you'll be fine. On an unrelated note, that display looks great! I should think about using something like that for my Wizardry collection. Are the shelves adjustable? Do they sell extras? There's not much to fill the bottom with, but there's a ton of guide books and stuff, so I'd love to display them nicely!

The damage on the label looks completely wrong. The way the corners are cut is wrong. Even the code on the bottom is wrong imo. The board is legit, but in extremely poor shape. My guess is what @Funky_brewstasaid, it's a legit board that received a case swap into a 5-screw case with a fake label.

Well, being that I don't know anywhere where I could get a custom MMC5 board, not to mention the mapper itself, I'd have to do it with donor carts. I could definitely make them, but not from scratch, and given the likely cost of a donor, it won't be cheap. I think the "one nut on eBay" is likely not making much off that cart. Also, the fact that it uses a battery backup makes a lot of work to use the cheapest NES donor cart (Laser Invasion), or requires a converter to utilize a Famicom donor. Either way, it's more money and time to create it, increasing the cost to the consumer. I'd definitely be willing to do it, but it'd take a couple months between sourcing the stuff I need, building the cart, and shipping it out.

Because that's the last time the game was in the competition

I agree with that, and with the last game with the 3B chip being mere months before, unless the game requires something that was only available on the 3C revision, I wouldn't automatically assume it's fake because of that. However, with the inability to see what is written on the ROM chips, I would say the mismatched mapper does increase the sketchiness of the auction.

It also doesn't hurt that I'm using all new parts whenever possible, which makes even the common stuff attractive to some. But yeah, I'm mostly gonna be taking requests. Anything I've already built will be available for sale, but I like the idea of doing them by request as well. Also, by offering to translate languages other than English, I feel like that opens the door to a niche that isn't really being catered to either.

The chips not being legible precludes that possibility. The mapper variants COULD be all over the place, but by looking up what's there, the last MMC3B release was Contra Force, two months before Little Samson was released. Also, the MMC3B was being phased out long before that, with only 20 releases in 1992. The MMC3C was first used in 1991, but only 10 games were released with it prior to January 1992. Additionally, EVERY MMC3 release after Contra Force uses MMC3C chips aside from Acclaim's (they used their own custom MMC3 instead). So even though the chips are unreadable, this circumstantial evidence would show that either the board in the listing is NOT the one in the cart, or it's a fake of some sort. That said, this is not information someone without the wherewithal to look would think about (I didn't until I looked closer).

There is. I'll have to get the patch to test it out before I can estimate the cost (Romhacking isn't loading for some reason right now), but it should be doable unless the patch expands the ROM past the mapper's capabilities. EDIT: Site back up, ROM patched, PM sent.

I bought one, and have a desire to play it, but I haven't bothered to hook it up because all I have is Cybermorph and I don't have any interest in playing it. Can't really rate it when I have no experience whatsoever with the games

I also have no interest in giving them business anymore. Ever since they got bought out, it's gone to shit, and I'll have no part in dealing with them.

I have UNROM boards, so it's doable with all new parts. That said, it's more than one chip because of that. Additionally, there are two ROMs available for the game, so I'm not sure which is the more "complete" version. But I can definitely make it. @Code Monkey Uncle Tusk sells the box and manual: https://uncletusk.com/products/california-raisins-box-and-manual-combo-for-nintendo-nes?_pos=1&_sid=ee5266f36&_ss=r I have all the parts on hand. PMs will be forthcoming.

I'll have to get the ROM to figure out what materials I need, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'll PM you shortly.