Epicenter
10-12-2003, 05:31 AM
I picked up an .. interesting cartridge at a used games store today, it looks at first like a VOLLEYBALL NES cartridge. But, there are some .. oddities about it.
1. The VOLLEYBALL name on the label (top and front) has been crossed out with black permanent marker
2. In the same marker, written on the front is scribbled "KARATE CHAMP".
3. It appears something else was written on the other side of the front. It's been smeared off with a chemical or something, and it's also been scraped out partially with a flathead screwdriver.
4. The cartridge's previous owner's name is scribbled on the back
5. The back of it has 5 screws, not the Security bolt in most cartridges .. it's a flathead-like screw with a circle in the center. Nothing I am familiar with, but a friend of mine's seen it before.
6. The PCB has 2 EPROM chips on it and a logic chip, both chips are labelled with "NES-" followed by a part #.
7. One of the EPROMs is not soldered properly, it's shifted up at an angle as though it was incorrectly attached
Looks to me like whoever made this cartridge desoldered the chips from a VOLLEYBALL PCB, soldered in pirate EPROMs, and closed it back up, then so it to someone, or a used games store .. judging by the # of screws and the odd type, it almost sounds like they were TRYING to keep someone from opening it, which'd make sense ..
Definitely strikes me as a tribute to pirating at its laziest ..
1. The VOLLEYBALL name on the label (top and front) has been crossed out with black permanent marker
2. In the same marker, written on the front is scribbled "KARATE CHAMP".
3. It appears something else was written on the other side of the front. It's been smeared off with a chemical or something, and it's also been scraped out partially with a flathead screwdriver.
4. The cartridge's previous owner's name is scribbled on the back
5. The back of it has 5 screws, not the Security bolt in most cartridges .. it's a flathead-like screw with a circle in the center. Nothing I am familiar with, but a friend of mine's seen it before.
6. The PCB has 2 EPROM chips on it and a logic chip, both chips are labelled with "NES-" followed by a part #.
7. One of the EPROMs is not soldered properly, it's shifted up at an angle as though it was incorrectly attached
Looks to me like whoever made this cartridge desoldered the chips from a VOLLEYBALL PCB, soldered in pirate EPROMs, and closed it back up, then so it to someone, or a used games store .. judging by the # of screws and the odd type, it almost sounds like they were TRYING to keep someone from opening it, which'd make sense ..
Definitely strikes me as a tribute to pirating at its laziest ..