Hong Kong Mah Jong

[DefaultGen | 5,385]

Anyone know when the last one of these actually sold? Smoke, mirrors, and speculation would be fine too if one hasn’t sold in a while. I’m not in the market in either direction, just curious.

[Romiked2689 | 120]

Last time I seen one it was owned by and Australian. His was a vga 80+ Q

[tordur | 28]

Assuming we're not talking about the HKGC versions - I know (believe I remember) one cart sold back in 2009 for around 800 euros. but that info is probably of little use to you.

I heard as a rumor (read in some Facebook thread somewhere) that one sold for 3000 euro some years ago (cart only), but don't know how valid it is. Honestly seems unbelievable.

So the above info is all smoke and mirrors and hearsay - But:

If you're looking to do a NES fullset, consider swapping the Hong Kong Version of Mah Jong with the Famicom Box version. The Famicom Box version is inside a gorgeous black NES cartridge AND it's a 72 pin game. Essentially every bit as much a NES game as the Hong Kong version at a fraction of the price!

If you want it to be more uniform in looks with the other NES carts, go with the Famicom Station variant, which is a gray cart.

The black cart pictured is one I used to own, the gray cart is one I pulled off of eBay right now. The board is one of the boards for the Famicombox cartridges I had, don't know if it's the one for Mah Jong or nor, but they all looked kinda liked that, were 72 pin and played fine on a NES with the region lockout disabled. Glitched a bit in 50hz (PAL), played flawlessly in 60 hz. (NTSC)

 

[RetroGE | 21]

On 12/7/2019 at 7:06 PM, tordur said:

Assuming we're not talking about the HKGC versions - I know (believe I remember) one cart sold back in 2009 for around 800 euros. but that info is probably of little use to you.

I heard as a rumor (read in some Facebook thread somewhere) that one sold for 3000 euro some years ago (cart only), but don't know how valid it is. Honestly seems unbelievable.

So the above info is all smoke and mirrors and hearsay - But:

If you're looking to do a NES fullset, consider swapping the Hong Kong Version of Mah Jong with the Famicom Box version. The Famicom Box version is inside a gorgeous black NES cartridge AND it's a 72 pin game. Essentially every bit as much a NES game as the Hong Kong version at a fraction of the price!

If you want it to be more uniform in looks with the other NES carts, go with the Famicom Station variant, which is a gray cart.

The black cart pictured is one I used to own, the gray cart is one I pulled off of eBay right now. The board is one of the boards for the Famicombox cartridges I had, don't know if it's the one for Mah Jong or nor, but they all looked kinda liked that, were 72 pin and played fine on a NES with the region lockout disabled. Glitched a bit in 50hz (PAL), played flawlessly in 60 hz. (NTSC)

 

Totally agree, it’s a good alternative!  Quick note: I’m not convinced the gray carts are Famicom Station exclusively.  I reached out to an admin at Famicom World (where I first heard this) and they weren’t able to find their documentation of where this comes from.  I have seen 2 sales of boxed Famicom Stations (one was dead new) and both came with Black carts.  (Sorry to nit pick on the smallest part of your post; it’s just a topic of interest for me  )

[8bitsupremacy | 208]

Hi.

[nick | 61]

I don't know the last time one sold, I seem to remember one that was available in a Facebook group a few years back, maybe like 2016 or so, I believe it had the box with it (my memory is fuzzy but for some reason I think it didn't have a manual?) and I saw it get posted a few times over maybe like a ~month period before I stopped seeing it so I guess that's when it sold.

My guess about "fair market" value is ~$3K for a used CIB copy (which used CIB is what I'd want). The Hong Kong games are dope but I don't think there's a huge market of people that collect them, Mah Jong is basically a stupid title where it isn't notable for any reason whatsoever other than the extreme rarity of it being an officially licensed Nintendo game, and people seem to be moving money away from CIB and into new/sealed or "investment" type games increasingly lately. I don't really see Mah Jong as a smart title to pick up for the investment value compared to other titles, and full set collecting is less popular than it's ever been. So despite that absolute insane level of rarity of it I don't think that the monetary value of it has also gone up that much in the overall game collecting market the way other games and items have. So that's why I am speculating $3K for its "fair market" value (like if it were hypothetically auctioned off) instead of like $10K or $20K or something like that. But this is just my judgement maybe I'm completely wrong IDK. Just speculating. . For an item like this though where literally only 1 copy would sell in maybe 5 years, if one were to change hands, it would really come down to what the seller lists it for and what a buyer decides to pay for it, so a hypothetical new sale price of it could really be anything.

How many known copies are there of it? Isn't there only like 5 or so known copies that come with the box? How many loose carts?

Edited October 4, 2021 by nick

[RetroGE | 21]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:42 AM, nick said:

I don't know the last time one sold, I seem to remember one that was available in a Facebook group a few years back, maybe like 2016 or so, I believe it had the box with it (my memory is fuzzy but for some reason I think it didn't have a manual?) and I saw it get posted a few times over maybe like a ~month period before I stopped seeing it so I guess that's when it sold.

My guess about "fair market" value is ~$3K for a used CIB copy (which used CIB is what I'd want). The Hong Kong games are dope but I don't think there's a huge market of people that collect them, Mah Jong is basically a stupid title where it isn't notable for any reason whatsoever other than the extreme rarity of it being an officially licensed Nintendo game, and people seem to be moving money away from CIB and into new/sealed or "investment" type games increasingly lately. I don't really see Mah Jong as a smart title to pick up for the investment value compared to other titles, and full set collecting is less popular than it's ever been. So despite that absolute insane level of rarity of it I don't think that the monetary value of it has also gone up that much in the overall game collecting market the way other games and items have. So that's why I am speculating $3K for its "fair market" value (like if it were hypothetically auctioned off) instead of like $10K or $20K or something like that. But this is just my judgement maybe I'm completely wrong IDK. Just speculating. . For an item like this though where literally only 1 copy would sell in maybe 5 years, if one were to change hands, it would really come down to what the seller lists it for and what a buyer decides to pay for it, so a hypothetical new sale price of it could really be anything.

How many known copies are there of it? Isn't there only like 5 or so known copies that come with the box? How many loose carts?

UPDATE: I was misinformed, the rules aren’t different.  I retract my “it’s notable” statement .

HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong.  And at my age, I’d much rather play it than Stadium Events . A guy I know in Germany has a loose copy I believe he picked up in the last 5 years or so.  I’ve seen maybe 2 other copies online over the years (never for sale) but I’m not actively looking so maybe I’ve missed some.  If I had to take the over under on $3k I’d say over but I agree demand is relative on this one so maybe if you luck into the right place/time you could get a deal on it.  

Edited October 25, 2021 by RetroGE
Updated to limit spreading misinformation

[DefaultGen | 5,385]

8 hours ago, RetroGE said:

HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong.  And at my age, I’d much rather play it than Stadium Events . A guy I know in Germany has a loose copy I believe he picked up in the last 5 years or so.  I’ve seen maybe 2 other copies online over the years (never for sale) but I’m not actively looking so maybe I’ve missed some.  If I had to take the over under on $3k I’d say over but I agree demand is relative on this one so maybe if you luck into the right place/time you could get a deal on it.  

Just like SE, the right time will be a few decades from now when everyone who cares is dead, lol. My game collecting strategy is going to be living forever so I can finally cash in on cool rare 80s junk.

I also would guess it's worth more than $3k loose, but at the same time it boggles my mind the price increases we've seen and that Sachen lot continues to not sell. Even multiple Sachen bros I talk to are like "Oh yeah yeah, I'm gonna get that"... yet there it sits unsold with some of the absolute rarest Nintendo games ever made while Day Dreamin Davey has apparently become a 5 figure game. Stuff without shrink wrap is just garbage these days.

Edited October 4, 2021 by DefaultGen

[DarkKobold | 190]

On 12/7/2019 at 5:06 PM, tordur said:

Assuming we're not talking about the HKGC versions - I know (believe I remember) one cart sold back in 2009 for around 800 euros. but that info is probably of little use to you.

I heard as a rumor (read in some Facebook thread somewhere) that one sold for 3000 euro some years ago (cart only), but don't know how valid it is. Honestly seems unbelievable.

So the above info is all smoke and mirrors and hearsay - But:

If you're looking to do a NES fullset, consider swapping the Hong Kong Version of Mah Jong with the Famicom Box version. The Famicom Box version is inside a gorgeous black NES cartridge AND it's a 72 pin game. Essentially every bit as much a NES game as the Hong Kong version at a fraction of the price!

If you want it to be more uniform in looks with the other NES carts, go with the Famicom Station variant, which is a gray cart.

 

This is what I did for my "NES Worldwide fullset." However, it doesn't feel the same. HK MahJong is just too out of reach for me.

On 10/4/2021 at 11:02 AM, DefaultGen said:

Just like SE, the right time will be a few decades from now when everyone who cares is dead, lol. My game collecting strategy is going to be living forever so I can finally cash in on cool rare 80s junk.

I also would guess it's worth more than $3k loose, but at the same time it boggles my mind the price increases we've seen and that Sachen lot continues to not sell. Even multiple Sachen bros I talk to are like "Oh yeah yeah, I'm gonna get that"... yet there it sits unsold with some of the absolute rarest Nintendo games ever made while Day Dreamin Davey has apparently become a 5 figure game. Stuff without shrink wrap is just garbage these days.

I mean, look at the lack of movement on Mr. Gimmick vs. Little Samson. Gimmick, imo, is the much better game, but LS has doubled in value, while Gimmick hasn't really seen a massive spike, it's stayed relatively stable. The truth is, the NA fullset (with or without Stadium Events) is a far more attractive target to the general collector than any of the fringe stuff, like Sachen, PAL exclusives, and etc. I mean, Gluk games are still super cheap, despite being incredibly rare.

Edited October 5, 2021 by DarkKobold

[a3quit4s | 4,086]

52 minutes ago, DarkKobold said:

This is what I did for my "NES Worldwide fullset." However, it doesn't feel the same. HK MahJong is just too out of reach for me.

I mean, look at the lack of movement on Mr. Gimmick vs. Little Samson. Gimmick, imo, is the much better game, but LS has doubled in value, while Gimmick hasn't really seen a massive spike, it's stayed relatively stable. The truth is, the NA fullset (with or without Stadium Events) is a far more attractive target to the general collector than any of the fringe stuff, like Sachen, PAL exclusives, and etc. I mean, Gluk games are still super cheap, despite being incredibly rare.

I’ve got an NA full set minus SE and the retrousb Mr. Gimmick, it’s really a fantastic game! 

[nick | 61]

Yeah, we're not talking about the HKGG versions or FamicomBox here.

[nick | 61]

On 10/4/2021 at 1:37 AM, RetroGE said:

HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong.  And at my age, I’d much rather play it than Stadium Events . A guy I know in Germany has a loose copy I believe he picked up in the last 5 years or so.  I’ve seen maybe 2 other copies online over the years (never for sale) but I’m not actively looking so maybe I’ve missed some.  If I had to take the over under on $3k I’d say over but I agree demand is relative on this one so maybe if you luck into the right place/time you could get a deal on it.  

Very nice! As an owner of a loose cart, what would be your predictions of the monetary value of a loose cart, and what would be your predictions on the monetary of a CIB copy, in this current 2021 market that we are in? Also, how many loose carts total have you seen in your lifetime, and how many CIB or boxed copies total have you seen in your lifetime?

Edited October 12, 2021 by nick

[nick | 61]

.

Edited October 16, 2021 by nick

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

If you want a 72-Pin full licensed set you can just get the 35 PAL Exclusives, and the handful of Famicom Box carts that are exclusive which ALSO includes Mah Jong.

...I'd argue you also need NWC Gold though since basically any Nintendo Power reader at the time had a chance to win one. (Just saying)

[fcgamer | 4,717]

I agree with @ThePhleo on this - there are several ways of getting this game if you just want a worldwide full set of (licensed) games, no need to specifically grab the Hong Kong version unless you are collecting the HK subset of games, or are just going after dope rares as your focus.

Regarding the guy mentioning about HK rules mahjong and what not, if we want to use that reasoning, then the same logic could be applied towards the Sachen Taiwanense 16 tile Mahjong 1 + 2 72 pin carts. Or hell, what about Sachen's Chinese Checkers? The only 72 pin (or 60 pin for that matter) version of Chinese Checkers on the NES, licence be damned.

Just saying, I honestly see little significance in this one at all aside from the rarity.

 

[Tyree_Cooper | 738]

hkg mahjong rom hvc-mj-1  is the same as famicom rom in japanese, just in case someone here thinks it's some sort of unique revision with modified rules or tiles and with chinese or english text in it.

[OptOut | 8,871]

5 hours ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

hkg mahjong rom hvc-mj-1  is the same as famicom rom in japanese, just in case someone here thinks it's some sort of unique revision with modified rules or tiles and with chinese or english text in it.

This is probably why the game sold so poorly, other than being sold in such a comparatively tiny market, because it's the standard Japanese mahjong ruleset, which differs from the rules they use to play mahjong in Hong Kong.

[RetroGE | 21]

On 10/23/2021 at 3:51 AM, fcgamer said:

I agree with @ThePhleo on this - there are several ways of getting this game if you just want a worldwide full set of (licensed) games, no need to specifically grab the Hong Kong version unless you are collecting the HK subset of games, or are just going after dope rares as your focus.

Regarding the guy mentioning about HK rules mahjong and what not, if we want to use that reasoning, then the same logic could be applied towards the Sachen Taiwanense 16 tile Mahjong 1 + 2 72 pin carts. Or hell, what about Sachen's Chinese Checkers? The only 72 pin (or 60 pin for that matter) version of Chinese Checkers on the NES, licence be damned.

Just saying, I honestly see little significance in this one at all aside from the rarity.

 

To my comment about the rules being different and it being “notable”, I believe this is different than Sachen games: HKMJ is licensed and depending on what definition of “set” you use I still stand by it being notable since most people these days care about mild licensed variants over unique unlicensed games. All that said, I love Senchen games, I just don’t think they are a good example.  A better one would be regional rom differences, something similar to Dragon Ball and Dragon Power, or to a lesser extent significant ROM differences within a region (the early Zelda Roms come to mind but I’m sure there is a better example).

[RetroGE | 21]

8 hours ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

hkg mahjong rom hvc-mj-1  is the same as famicom rom in japanese, just in case someone here thinks it's some sort of unique revision with modified rules or tiles and with chinese or english text in it.

You seem pretty confident, can you site a source?  If it’s the NESDev site I’d be careful, I’ve found issues there before. I try not to make definitive statements unless I’m confident (VGS is a great repository for info and we need to make sure we don’t mislead anyone who is looking for facts).
 

Both NES and Famicom were released in HK, are you sure that isn’t the Famicom ROM? HVC is part of the Unique ID for Nintendo published Famicom games and there is a HK Rad Racer up on EBay now and it has the unique ID of NES-RC-HKG. Note, this is all complicated by there being a HKMJ for FDS (but that code is GTS-HKD) All that being said they occasionally interchanged these codes on boards and in the roms so maybe HVC-MJ-1 is the HK one). 
 

I’ve reached out to my friend who owns a copy to see if there is a difference. I am fairly certain he dumped it but not sure he uploaded it anywhere. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the manual, which would clear all this up as well).

[RetroGE | 21]

On 10/12/2021 at 9:34 AM, nick said:

Very nice! As an owner of a loose cart, what would be your predictions of the monetary value of a loose cart, and what would be your predictions on the monetary of a CIB copy, in this current 2021 market that we are in? Also, how many loose carts total have you seen in your lifetime, and how many CIB or boxed copies total have you seen in your lifetime?

Sorry, just saw this.  I don’t own a copy, I just know someone who does. I haven’t been watching sales closely so I’m far from an expert on quantity or price. I’ve definitely not seen more than 5 copies but I don’t live in HK so maybe they just don’t make it to the internet. I know about 10 people interested in the $1k+ price range but I doubt I know anyone willing to pay $10k+ for CIB or otherwise.

Edited October 24, 2021 by RetroGE
Fixing typos 😅

[RetroGE | 21]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:37 PM, ThePhleo said:

If you want a 72-Pin full licensed set you can just get the 35 PAL Exclusives, and the handful of Famicom Box carts that are exclusive which ALSO includes Mah Jong.

...I'd argue you also need NWC Gold though since basically any Nintendo Power reader at the time had a chance to win one. (Just saying)

Agreed, depending on where you draw the line on what constitutes a different game, you can rationalize away a lot of games (including SE ).

The Famicom Box exclusives are Super Chinese 2 and Gomoku Narabe Renju

Fun fact: since I know you are a fan of manuals, I should note that HKMJ has an English manual

[fcgamer | 4,717]

1 hour ago, RetroGE said:

To my comment about the rules being different and it being “notable”, I believe this is different than Sachen games: HKMJ is licensed and depending on what definition of “set” you use I still stand by it being notable since most people these days care about mild licensed variants over unique unlicensed games. All that said, I love Senchen games, I just don’t think they are a good example.  A better one would be regional rom differences, something similar to Dragon Ball and Dragon Power, or to a lesser extent significant ROM differences within a region (the early Zelda Roms come to mind but I’m sure there is a better example).

You are changing your argument, and to me, it just adds credence to the fact that this particular game shouldn't isn't very notable. As was pointed out earlier, there are other ways of owning this one on a (licensed) 72 pin cart, and the only folks that are going to be interested in this game are either one of the following groups:

A. Those who are trying to obtain licensed copies of every Nintendo software released in 72 pin format.

B. Those who are trying to obtain a complete set of Hong Kong NES games.

C. Those who want to play mahjong on the NES, either Japanese rules or Hong Kong rules (as we don't know with 100% certainty what is on the ROM).

D. Those who want the game because its rare!!!!!!!!!

I see group C to be a very small portion of gamers, and as pointed out before, A can be fulfilled with cheaper alternatives. So the majority of people going after this game are likely going to fall into camps B or D, and I personally don't find that in and of itself enough to make the game notable. There's tons of rare NES games across regions, but if something like Stadium Events, with its alleged recall, doesn't even appeal to many or feel significant to the masses, then I really don't see this mahjong game being particularly significant to most, either.

On 10/4/2021 at 4:37 PM, RetroGE said:

HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong.  And at my age, I’d much rather play it than Stadium Events . A guy I know in Germany has a loose copy I believe he picked up in the last 5 years or so.  I’ve seen maybe 2 other copies online over the years (never for sale) but I’m not actively looking so maybe I’ve missed some.  If I had to take the over under on $3k I’d say over but I agree demand is relative on this one so maybe if you luck into the right place/time you could get a deal on it.  

You said that my mention of the Sachen games wasn't a good example; however, in your initial argument you state that HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong. No mention of licensed versus unlicensed, etc. Therefore, my point still stands, Taiwan version mahjong by Sachen is equally as notable, since it's the only way to play Taiwan rules mahjong on the NES. Or an even better example, Chinese Checkers, literally the only electronic version of that game on the system. 

[RetroGE | 21]

3 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

You are changing your argument, and to me, it just adds credence to the fact that this particular game shouldn't isn't very notable. As was pointed out earlier, there are other ways of owning this one on a (licensed) 72 pin cart, and the only folks that are going to be interested in this game are either one of the following groups:

A. Those who are trying to obtain licensed copies of every Nintendo software released in 72 pin format.

B. Those who are trying to obtain a complete set of Hong Kong NES games.

C. Those who want to play mahjong on the NES, either Japanese rules or Hong Kong rules (as we don't know with 100% certainty what is on the ROM).

D. Those who want the game because its rare!!!!!!!!!

I see group C to be a very small portion of gamers, and as pointed out before, A can be fulfilled with cheaper alternatives. So the majority of people going after this game are likely going to fall into camps B or D, and I personally don't find that in and of itself enough to make the game notable. There's tons of rare NES games across regions, but if something like Stadium Events, with its alleged recall, doesn't even appeal to many or feel significant to the masses, then I really don't see this mahjong game being particularly significant to most, either.

You said that my mention of the Sachen games wasn't a good example; however, in your initial argument you state that HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong. No mention of licensed versus unlicensed, etc. Therefore, my point still stands, Taiwan version mahjong by Sachen is equally as notable, since it's the only way to play Taiwan rules mahjong on the NES. Or an even better example, Chinese Checkers, literally the only electronic version of that game on the system. 

I’m not looking to argue, I appreciate all your work on documenting Famicom stuff and your approach, but I believe bringing up unlicensed is hyperbolic. Most people, when talking about 72 pin games, from outside NA, don’t care about unlicensed and this has been implied throughout the string (outside of a stray RetroUSB commonly or 2).

Modern homebrew is unlicensed.  Most of Eastern Europe had famiclones (Dendy/Pegasus/Ender-Man and so-on) that had multi-carts that were unlicensed, etc…
 

Using your logic, I don’t believe Chinese Checkers is unique to the Sancen cart: I have my wife’s childhood Dendy carts (which she got in the early 90s in Poland) and I’m fairly certain one 1000 (more like 80) in 1 cart has Chinese checkers on it. You could argue this wasn’t retail but her dad bought it in an official Polish store brand new.  You could argue 60 pin Famiclones and “modern” homebrew don’t count… ok, but we’re right back to how we define terms and what nuance we can assume is implied.
 

Assuming the rules are different, which I’m waiting to hear back on if that’s true, HKMJ it is notable and as far as my definitions go, it’s unique in the world-wide licensed retail set (since I believe both the gray and black FamicomBox versions were never sold in retail stores new). 

[RetroGE | 21]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

You are changing your argument, and to me, it just adds credence to the fact that this particular game shouldn't isn't very notable. As was pointed out earlier, there are other ways of owning this one on a (licensed) 72 pin cart, and the only folks that are going to be interested in this game are either one of the following groups:

A. Those who are trying to obtain licensed copies of every Nintendo software released in 72 pin format.

B. Those who are trying to obtain a complete set of Hong Kong NES games.

C. Those who want to play mahjong on the NES, either Japanese rules or Hong Kong rules (as we don't know with 100% certainty what is on the ROM).

D. Those who want the game because its rare!!!!!!!!!

I see group C to be a very small portion of gamers, and as pointed out before, A can be fulfilled with cheaper alternatives. So the majority of people going after this game are likely going to fall into camps B or D, and I personally don't find that in and of itself enough to make the game notable. There's tons of rare NES games across regions, but if something like Stadium Events, with its alleged recall, doesn't even appeal to many or feel significant to the masses, then I really don't see this mahjong game being particularly significant to most, either.

You said that my mention of the Sachen games wasn't a good example; however, in your initial argument you state that HK Mahjong is notable because the rules are different than standard Mahjong. No mention of licensed versus unlicensed, etc. Therefore, my point still stands, Taiwan version mahjong by Sachen is equally as notable, since it's the only way to play Taiwan rules mahjong on the NES. Or an even better example, Chinese Checkers, literally the only electronic version of that game on the system. 

I didn’t see your first response when I replied and frankly don’t see your logic (with regards to me changing my position).  I didn’t change my position, “notable” by definition means worth noting and different rules is notable.  I don’t have a dog in this fight I just want to share info.
 

Discussions and debates are helpful, arguing over if something was implied or not is useless and better suited for Twitter.  If you want to discuss anything productive or that further’s our understanding of what’s out there (and as I said I know you have made major contributions) I’m happy to do that but I have better things to do with my time trying to “win”.

Edited October 24, 2021 by RetroGE
Clarifying a point

[Tyree_Cooper | 738]

9 hours ago, RetroGE said:

You seem pretty confident, can you site a source?  If it’s the NESDev site I’d be careful, I’ve found issues there before. I try not to make definitive statements unless I’m confident (VGS is a great repository for info and we need to make sure we don’t mislead anyone who is looking for facts).
 

Both NES and Famicom were released in HK, are you sure that isn’t the Famicom ROM? HVC is part of the Unique ID for Nintendo published Famicom games and there is a HK Rad Racer up on EBay now and it has the unique ID of NES-RC-HKG. Note, this is all complicated by there being a HKMJ for FDS (but that code is GTS-HKD) All that being said they occasionally interchanged these codes on boards and in the roms so maybe HVC-MJ-1 is the HK one). 
 

I’ve reached out to my friend who owns a copy to see if there is a difference. I am fairly certain he dumped it but not sure he uploaded it anywhere. Unfortunately he doesn’t have the manual, which would clear all this up as well).

all hkg games have an hkg code, sure. nes-rc-hkg is the game code, just like excitebike is nes-eb-hkg and so on. i'm confident because i have one and it was in japanese when i tested it. here you can see the pcb and here you can see the cart running. if your friend has a loose copy on hand, ask him to test it, it will be in japanese

i haven't dumped it but it looks to be just like all the other hkg games - rom from another existing region, with a different lockout chip (3196A).

not sure what the manual would clear up? all we need is a proper dump. i only have a GB/GBA dumper. dumping hkg nes games is surely something worth doing for preservation.