Revisiting the Genesis Game Factory cart....

[Jasoco]

There's my answer. Cool to know. So apparently, the Factory cart doesn't even register as a cart. If it were registered as a normal cart, it would show that "No Way!" screen where you can play "Blue Spheres". But not showing anything is totally different. Guess that rules out the cart being swapped insides.

Also, you have to get a Game Genie and try that too.

[jerkov]

Well, one thing.......I plugged in a Super SFII cart and didn't get that screen either. What Genesis games do you need to plug in to get that bonus screen?

[Jasoco]

Well, one thing.......I plugged in a Super SFII cart and didn't get that screen either. What Genesis games do you need to plug in to get that bonus screen?

Well, ANY game is supposed to display the screen. Try every game you can. The S&K may be broken.

[jerkov]

How can the S&K be broken if it works fine with Sonic 2? Let me try some more games....

[Jasoco]

I dunno. It's strange because it's supposed to do the Bonus screen when you insert anything other than S2 and S3. What shows up when you put anything else in? Does S&K play normally or does it show nothing?

[jerkov]

Heh, just plugged in a Revenge of Shinobi cart and I'm getting the "No Way? No Way!" screen. Is "Blue Spheres" some kind of minigame? If so, I don't know how to start to play it.

[Jasoco]

You gotta press a certain combo. I think it's A+B+C. And maybe you have to press Start with them pressed. It's the bonus you get in Sonic 3 were you run around turning all the blue spheres red and collect the rings. There are thousands of combos as it's randomly generated based on a string of characters. Some say each game cart produces a different generated map. (Based on the serial number or CheckSum or something.)

[jerkov]

Well, with Super SF II or the Game Factory Sonic 3 inserted, Sonic & Knuckles just boots up normally. Maybe the cart just doesn't read certain games at all?

[Jasoco]

Well, with Super SF II or the Game Factory Sonic 3 inserted, Sonic & Knuckles just boots up normally. Maybe the cart just doesn't read certain games at all?

I think so. Now that you mention it, I believe there are a certain select few games that won't generate a response when installed.

[jerkov]

Heroic bump after almost five and a half years.....

I was going through a couple of plastic bins of miscellaneous loose carts the other day that I hadn't looked through in a couple of years and ran across my Game Factory cart with Sonic 3 on it. Actually, it's kind of depressing to think about what has changed in five years and how much little time I can devote to gaming now compared to then, but I guess that's how life goes....

In any case, have there been any other of these carts uncovered that have a game written on them? Or is this still a "one of a kind" item? I did a Google search and it still doesn't seem as though there is a ton of info out there on these.

It'd be nice if my little cart would turn into the next Stadium Events as a highly sought after retro gaming collectible, but it is still pretty cool to have stumbled across something like this and have it in my collection. I probably haven't even tried it out or played it since this thread was originally started, so I should probably plug it in and make sure it still works, but definitely curious to hear if there have been any Game Factory developments over the past few years.

[Blitzwing256]

have you considered getting the contents of your cart dumped to see if the sonic3 data is identical to the regular release?


also can it save data at all (original has a save battery)

getting it dumped might help with figuring out how to write to em as well.

[Steve W]

Didn't someone fairly recently post about one of these, and with some kind of kid's game on it? It might have been in the "How Much Is It Worth?" section.

[Gameguy]

Well, one thing.......I plugged in a Super SFII cart and didn't get that screen either. What Genesis games do you need to plug in to get that bonus screen?

I know this is an old thread, but wasn't the Super SFII game for Genesis the largest Genesis game produced? Maybe that's why it can't register with Sonic and Knuckles, it takes up too much memory. I thought I read this somewhere but can't remember.

[swlovinist]

I would love to see the inside of this cart and see the board. Pics would be great. I am not saying it happened, but it would be pretty easy to swap out a sonic board in a game factory cart as well. For a legit game factory cart to have a game is not Stadium Events prices, but I could see easily going for a couple hundred.

[Goodwill Hunter]

Here's the PCB of a green Game Factory cart (no game on it):



I googled "Fairway Technologies Game Factory" and got this article from the January 28, 1995 edition of Billboard magazine:

http://books.google.com/books?id=sgs...actory&f=false

It talks about a test of the game factory service at 10 Blockbusters in Columbia, SC starting in August of 1994. It stated that Fairway Technologies' parent company, NewLeaf Entertainment, was a joint venture between Blockbuster and IBM created in 1993. The article also talks about the service being displayed at a 1994 or 1995 National Association of Recording Merchandisers technology conference (I bet that was a party!). It names Robert Carberry as the acting CEO of NewLeaf at that time.

Anybody here from Columbia, SC that was renting Genesis games at the end of 1994? Hope the above info is helpful...

Rich

[jerkov]

You know, I think the next step really should be opening this thing up.....do you need some kind of special security bit to crack open a Genesis cart?

I will have to double check whether it can save data or not.....good question. I'll drag it out later this afternoon or tonight and play it for a bit and see if saving is possible.

I would not be opposed to having it dumped, but as I am not especially tech savvy, what is the best way to have it done? Would I be at risk in damaging the game at all? I'm guessing the answer is "no" and this is a stupid question, but figured I'd ask anyway.

[portnoyd]

jerkov,

You'll definitely want to see this.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...light=new+leaf

[jerkov]

Very interesting find with that New Leaf cart....has to be quite a rare item for sure. I'm also impressed with the archived LA Times article going back to 1994 that sheds some more light on it. Wonder if that guy ended up keeping the cart or getting rid of it - didn't seem like he had much interest in it at the end of the day, but how do you value something like that?

I did not end up getting any time today like I thought I would to dick around with the Sonic 3 cart, but I'll make sure to post some kind of update tomorrow night. I should also scrounge around on eBay for a Genesis security bit so I can open this baby up and post pics for everyone to see.

[rbudrick]

Well, this sure makes it a pain for complete Genesis collection owners! You missed one, guys!

-Rob