Nes Tengen Tetris?

[0078265317]

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FNES-Tengen-Tetris-Prototype-Licensed-by-Nintendo-One-of-a-Kind-10-OFF-%2F251243407618%3Fpt%3DVideo_Games_Games%26hash%3Ditem3a7f462902

 

He says legit. But if this was a real prototype then why would they have ripped of a duck hunt to make a prototype. They can't make their own case. And why is this a regular case and all the tengens are black and not the same shape.

[NinjaWarrior]

Look's fake to me...

[Andromeda Stardust]

Look's fake to me...

I don't believe it's fake. A lot of Tengen prototypes used gray carts with hand-written labels just like with the licensed companies. A photo of the PCB will be needed to deterimine it's authenticity, but that will also expose the EPROMs. Edited May 12, 2013 by stardust4ever

[NinjaWarrior]

Can a Tengen PCB fit in a NES Shell..

 

I know how people like to fake stuff on ebay

[Uzumaki]

They should. Tengen did used to make licensed NES games before they broke away and created their own shell design with custom lock out chip. I haven't opened a black Tenegn cart but I would be very surprised if the board shape differs from licensed NES board.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Can a Tengen PCB fit in a NES Shell..

Whether or not a Tengen shell fits inside an NES cart is moot anyway. Prototype games had entire different board layouts compared to licensed games. On some games, the board stuck out beyond the end of the cartridge, which required either a top loader or an NES with the case removed in order to play, and others had holes cut out of the cart plastic to allow for socketed EPROMS. Almost none ever had color printed labels and most were hand written or black-on-white text. There was a similar Tengen Tetris prototype that was discussed on Nintendoage a while back. I remember something about a recycled Duck hunt cart. This would not be surprising since unlicensed companies were denied development resources. The prototyping process back in the day may have been similar to modern day repro makers where they take an existing game and modify it to work with EPROMs.

 

Either way, I hope this gets dumped if it hasn't been already. There is/was a Tengen Tetris prototype ROM going around online which says "Licensed by Nintendo" on the title screen and the graphics are similar to the VS Unisystem arcade ROM.

Edited May 12, 2013 by stardust4ever

[0078265317]

Still seems odd they woyld use a duck hunt or at least not clean off the label.

Edited May 12, 2013 by 0078265317

[0078265317]

I think this is the same thing.

 

http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/21/3899490/tengen-tetris-prototype-auction

[godslabrat]

Prototypes were made with whatever materials were on hand at the time. The idea was to make them quickly and cheaply, and they didn't need to last for more than a few weeks or maybe a few months.

 

This is upsetting:

 

I will NOT attempt to open this cart for pictures of the board for

fear it will destroy the prototype altogether. Don't even ask.

 

If you're dealing with a proto, you KNOW how important it is to inspect the PCB, and if you're legit you should find some way to do it... ESPECIALLY if you have the stones to think you can get $40k for it (seriously, GFY!) This is like buying a used Ferrari from a guy who for some reason won't let you open the hood.

 

OTOH, the hand-written labels really *do* look like they've been there for over 20 years.

[+Gemintronic]

I thought how Tengen got in trouble is that they did start out as licensors to get the ball rolling on breaking the DRM (plus perusing patents). Doesn't seem like they'd have to use a Duck Hunt cart..

[Uzumaki]

They probably had Duck Hunt with custom EPROM board bade before and simply used it for Tetris.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Prototypes were made with whatever materials were on hand at the time. The idea was to make them quickly and cheaply, and they didn't need to last for more than a few weeks or maybe a few months.

 

This is upsetting:

 

 

 

If you're dealing with a proto, you KNOW how important it is to inspect the PCB, and if you're legit you should find some way to do it... ESPECIALLY if you have the stones to think you can get $40k for it (seriously, GFY!) This is like buying a used Ferrari from a guy who for some reason won't let you open the hood.

 

OTOH, the hand-written labels really *do* look like they've been there for over 20 years.

 

A set of security bits can be had for $7.00 online. Hardly a drop in the bucket compared to what the cart will sell for. But the fact that it's a prototype, and potentially a five screw DH cart means that it may even be possible to use a common screwdriver to open it. Even if he's not willing to open it, at the bare minimum, a screenshot of the game on a TV set with the NES in plain view and the cart clearly visible, to verify that the prototype is not bit-rotted. If it's one of the early protos with the "licrnsed by Nintendo" title screen and the VS unisystem styled graphics, it will be worth a lot of money. Even then, a $40,000 reserve is pretty steep. Better to show photographic evidence of the PCB as well as screenshots to show that the game is legit and working, and then the bidders will come. Does anyone know if this game cart has ever been dumped?

[icemanxp300]

He should get it VGA graded

[Andromeda Stardust]

He should get it VGA graded

NNOOOOO!!! Doing so will only guarantee that this prototype will never get dumped, ever...

[+FujiSkunk]

A set of security bits can be had for $7.00 online.

 

The auction states the shell has been glued shut.

[Uzumaki]

Glued... that is unusual. Even with the cutout for EPROM chips, there isn't any reason to glue it shut.

[+FujiSkunk]

Not sure if it matters, but I've seen pirate NES cartridges use glue instead of screws.

Edited May 14, 2013 by FujiSkunk

[Andromeda Stardust]

The auction states the shell has been glued shut.

 

Okay, that's definitely not kosher. It's certainly possible that a company might glue it shut to prevent tampering, but I've never heard of this. It could possibly be a repro of the previous Tengen prototype with the "Licensed by Nintendo" screenshot. How much feedback does the seller have? Have they been an EBay member for longer than abfew months? Definitely something fishy going on if it's been glued. People have pulled that bullcrap before, for instance gluing down the screws on repros of rare SNES games. A dental Xray or Airport scanner would reveal certain details about the PCB board, but there would also be risk of partial erasure of the EPROMs due to the radiation exposure. Also, who the hell outside of medicine/security/research field has access to an X-ray machine? Things are starting to get a little fishy...

[0078265317]

Yes definitely fishy...

[+Gemintronic]

I'm surprised no one at assemblergames has looked into this yet.

[Classic Pac]

I say total ripoff

[the.golden.ax]

I'd like to know who he is, that would clear allot of things up. If he really was and editor for EGM. A little proof of that credential would verify the story.

[Uzumaki]

I posted on Assembergames forum, we'll see what they have to say over there. I wonder if anyone's a regular on any Nintendo forum and knows if there's a thread yet or not. The more this spreads, the more people will read about it and the easier for truth to come out.

[+asponge]

I know absolutely zero about prototype carts, but can someone explain to me why the cart in the first image in the auction is clearly not the same cart in all of the other images? It's almost like the guy accidentally uploaded the image he used to create the forgery.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I posted on Assembergames forum, we'll see what they have to say over there. I wonder if anyone's a regular on any Nintendo forum and knows if there's a thread yet or not. The more this spreads, the more people will read about it and the easier for truth to come out.

Trust me, there was a thread about it on NintendoAge. It can be found here:

http://www.nintendoa...&threadid=98161

 

But I'm not bumping a thread that's over a month old. and judging by the eBay photos, it looks legit enough. You can see the imprint of the EPROMs through the white adhesive decal, and the photos of the screenshots. Did anyone ever dump this game?

 

I still think they're asking a crazy amount for it, although who knows considering the price on the Air Raid cart that sold last fall? There are probably more Air Raids floating about than Tengen Tetris Prototypes, and given the game's colorful history, this cart is sort of a holy grail.

Edited May 16, 2013 by stardust4ever