Odd Sega Cart

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

I bought a massive bulk lot yesterday and after sorting through everything, I found this odd Sega cart.

No idea what Sega System it goes to, nor what game it is, doesn't look like it ever had a label either.

It came in that plain box.







Any ideas?

[Gameguy]

It's for the Japanese Sega Master System, the Mark III.

http://www.rfgeneration.com/blogs/ni...System-798.php

I have no idea which game that is though.

[Dark_Sol]

Wow that's indeed MARK 3. Maybe some proto. You need to find Mark 3 to check

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

Thanks for the info guys.

Finding a Mark III in Australia is a pretty tall order me thinks, I might have to send it to someone and get it dumped or to at least see what it is.

[Enigmus]

Nice find! I hope it's a proto.

[SparTonberry]

Could also be for the SG-1000, the predecessor for the MS/Mark III (released only in Japan, and in computerized form in AUS/NZ/Europe as SC-3000).

But seeing as the chip label suggests it was made in 1988, it's unlikely (as the last SG1K game I think was released in 1987).

[mobiusclimber]

I'd bug Breetai (does he post on these forums?) since he's likeliest to own a Mark III at least. Are we certain this is a proto, tho, and not just a cart whose label got messed up and so the last owner just scrubbed it off?

[Ryaan1234]

I'd bug Breetai (does he post on these forums?) since he's likeliest to own a Mark III at least. Are we certain this is a proto, tho, and not just a cart whose label got messed up and so the last owner just scrubbed it off?

There's a sticker on one of the chips, chances are it's covering up the window of an EEPROM.

[Gameguy]

There's a sticker on one of the chips, chances are it's covering up the window of an EEPROM.

Plus the chip is in a socket, unlike the one next to it which is soldered directly to the board. It would be neat if it was a prototype, I don't know if any official released games were on EEPROMs like some Atari 2600 games were(I think Atari 2600, maybe I'm confusing it with some Colecovision games).

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

I ran my finger over the sticker, and it feels like a small indented circle, which as Ryaan1234 stated, is most likely covering up the EEPROM window.

[Dark_Sol]

Would be interesting to know what's the game actually..

[Ryaan1234]

Plus the chip is in a socket, unlike the one next to it which is soldered directly to the board. It would be neat if it was a prototype, I don't know if any official released games were on EEPROMs like some Atari 2600 games were(I think Atari 2600, maybe I'm confusing it with some Colecovision games).

Sometimes you'll find completed NES games on EEPROMs, as they were sometimes sent in that state to magazines as preview copies. For instance my "prototype" copy of Black Bass has a special company label and the game itself is on an EEPROM but the game on the cart is 100% complete (or at least very close to completion, just try playing through Black Bass, which is one of the most boring NES games ever made ). Maybe you could find completed (and officially released) SNES or Genesis games in this form?

EDIT: Also, there's a few early NES titles (like Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman) which may have EEPROMs inside, the same goes for some Colecovision games (like you said). People have speculated why that is. You can read a little further here although I think this Mark III game is a true prototype.

I ran my finger over the sticker, and it feels like a small indented circle, which as Ryaan1234 stated, is most likely covering up the EEPROM window.

This would be an amazing find then, to have a prototype Sega Mark III game! Now the problem is finding a Mark III to test and then if it is a new game to find a way to dump it.

[APE992]

It is an EPROM, it says so right on the chip:

http://www.alldatasheet.com/view.jsp...d=27C256-25JL]

One made by Texas Instruments as indicated by the logo and the letters TMS.

The chip next to it is an SRAM chip used for your save games made by Motorola. If you want more than that I'd suggest heading to ASSEMBlergames.com as, no offense to anyone here, they actually can help you with this sort of thing. The biggest giveaway that this is a prototype of some sort is the fact the PCB isn't factory made, it looks like someone did it by hand.

Or build this in an afternoon:

Mark III/SMS dumper

[BeaglePuss]

If you want more than that I'd suggest heading to ASSEMBlergames.com as, no offense to anyone here, they actually can help you with this sort of thing.

I could dump the prototype and tell you exactly what game it is in about four seconds if I had the cart in hand. I'm sure plenty of others here could too.

[APE992]

I could dump the prototype and tell you exactly what game it is in about four seconds if I had the cart in hand. I'm sure plenty of others here could too.

Seems that expertise runs thin around these parts.

[Ryaan1234]

Seems that expertise runs thin around these parts.

How so?

[Cornelius]

I know nothing about this stuff but how to google... could it be a educational language 'game' like the Linkword _____ games for the ZX spectrum? Maybe a port or something?

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

Alright, I have decided to send it off to BeaglePuss to get it dumped, then we can get to the bottom of this.

How else can I sleep at night?

[megasdkirby]

It's a miracle Bock hasn't seen this thread!

[Emuaust]

I think Bock is busy on his cart dumping tour of Japan at the moment