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Repros and AliExpress


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So I am wanting a few SNES and Gameboy games that have either been translated into English, or are overly expensive.

 

I have found AliExpress and they have SNES games around $9 and Gameboy around $4. Has anyone used AliExpress or gotten repros from there? How was tour experience?

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I have a vid on it where I have pics of the inside, etc.  I'm actually a pretty huge fan of both the GB and SNES repros from there.

 

It's night and day different from old repros with brittle or flexible plastic cases and labels that peeled themselves off.

The plastic is so near to right I couldn't tell it apart.  Labels stick well, but have mild saturation issues with printing, and little inconsistencies relating to the quick creation of new label art from internet sources.  (I think one of mine uses art in the wrong aspect ratio, for example)

 

Batteries are socketed and the boards are very clean--the internals are made with more care than the originals, IMO.

 

 

Edited by Reaperman
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33 minutes ago, Reaperman said:

I have a vid on it where I have pics of the inside, etc.  I'm actually a pretty huge fan of both the GB and SNES repros from there.

 

It's night and day different from old repros with brittle or flexible plastic cases and labels that peeled themselves off.

The plastic is so near to right I couldn't tell it apart.  Labels stick well, but have mild saturation issues with printing, and little inconsistencies relating to the quick creation of new label art from internet sources.  (I think one of mine uses art in the wrong aspect ratio, for example)

 

Batteries are socketed and the boards are very clean--the internals are made with more care than the originals, IMO.

 

 

Is there a specific seller you recommend for the GB and SNES games? 

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40 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Is there a specific seller you recommend for the GB and SNES games? 

 

The SNES games in the vid came from Blue Intelligent Technology Co., LTD (link)

 

It looks like the GB aliexpress store I mostly went to has closed, but at one point I got a solid super mario land 2 DX (color hack) from 'Coolive' (link)

 

I will mention that the latest crops of GB games I've gotten from aliexpress (both the above linked, and the closed down one) had a slightly more purple hue than the usual gray, and the plastic shell has 'game' molded into the grip section vs the typical 'Nintendo GAME BOY.'  They're probably the same source.

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I'm very confident in my soldering skills so the last time I needed to replace batteries I just soldered in new ones. Though none of my repros used batteries.

 

I have these repros:

Gun-Nac (NES) I ordered this one from Etsy. It uses a real NES board (with some wires, but it's well done).

New Ghostbusters II (NES)  Similar to Gun-Nac but I bought this one at a Half Price Books store so I have no idea who made it.

Grind Stormer (Genesis) I bought this one from Etsy. The board was a glob top so at least it wasn't flash rom. The cartridge shell and label were awful so I stuck in in the shell from my copy of Slaughter Sport (Tongue of The Fatman) and printed a new label .

Override (PC Engine) I bought this from tg16pcemods.com. It's very well done.

 

I did buy the Thunder Force 3-in-1 which was being shipped from China. But it never arrived. They did refund me though.

Edited by DragonGrafx-16
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For whatever reason, I haven't gotten good genesis/megadrive repros from aliexpress.  They're still using that thin, flexible plastic for them, and the label glue is weak, meaning the part of the label folded up to the top surface tends to release and need reglue.  They play fine, though, and are at least a lot less expensive than the snes repros there.

 

They also have some neat titles for the platform like Fix it Felix Jr. (vid)

 

I haven't been daring enough to check out a genesis game with battery save from them yet.

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43 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I sometimes buy stuff like this, but often hate myself afterwards ...if I’m “pirating” anyway, what do I need a shell for? The ROM is the thing. 

I dunno.  I like the stuff that never came out here just fine--translations, hacks, betas, homebrews etc.  They've got some great prices for those.  I tend to buy repros after I play them on a flashcart, which makes almost zero sense, but collecting is a sickness.  The straight pirates don't interest me too much, though I will confess to sampling a gb gimmick and shantae, and I can totally see where the multicarts might be seen as an alternative for flashcarts for folks on a budget.

 

And yeah, even though it's piracy, I tend to think that if I ever made a homebrew for a mainline console platform, I'd be a bit thrilled if carts of it were made available.  That's more of a personal thing on me, but I'm pretty sure it's a sentiment that's probably not too uncommon. I'm sure nintendo's not happy, but the guys who made these pokemon hacks are probably tickled to bits that they can get a physical copy of their game in a retail package, complete with shrinkwrap and metallic foil treatment for under $5 shipped.  Granted that packaging is a bit crushed, but how can they possibly make these things so inexpensively?

 

o7OUi8tm.jpg

 

Fun fact about me: the second most expensive single-game purchase I've ever made, is for a fake Ironclad for MVS.

Edited by Reaperman
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18 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I sometimes buy stuff like this, but often hate myself afterwards ...if I’m “pirating” anyway, what do I need a shell for? The ROM is the thing. 

Well if you have a Flash cart, yeah, but if you haven't, what's your other choice ?

Save from "not buying the game at all".

 

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Saw the video listed above and I have the opposite experience with Etsy related repros. Yes I own a few of translated games that weren't released here in the West. In any event, there are two Etsy dealers I like for vairous stuff and I've seen their work on the inside and it isn't that hacked of a job. It was easily as good as anything I could have done and who cares if there are wires being used? As long as the solder joints are good and it is all self contained, then yeah. Still, on the Genesis side there is only one repro guy I use for that and he doesn't offer repros on many games, but he uses actual Genesis type clamshells, all new PCBs and shells that look like originals, with eproms of the game data. The PCBs he uses are designed for using eproms so there aren't a bunch of wires inside the cart. In fact they pretty much look just like a standard Genesis masked rom PCB aside from the stickers covering the eprom windows. The ones I've gotten lately came with full color manuals printed on good paper. They aren't scans because the guy that does this, creates he own label designs, inserts, and manuals.

 

So while I'm sure there are some on Etsy that might not do that great a job, I can tell that quite a few of the China repros from Aliexpress don't utilize the proper voltage and level shifters needed. As a result the games work, but put additional stress on the console and especially the game cart as I've noticed the few I've gotten heat up quite a bit due to the excess voltage coming off the Genesis to the cart.

 

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2 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

Aliexpress has flash carts too!

I don't buy those, especially since the most commons are Everdrive.

It doesn't hurt Capcom when you buy a pirated cart of a game they haven't sold in 20 years; it hurts Krizzk's business when you buy a pirated product rather than the genuine thing; ultimately it wil lead to him giving up on business.

So unless it's an old crutsy flashcart model that is no longer made, I do'nt buy flash carts from Aliexpress &co.

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He puts the plans out there like with SD2SNES, it happens, and if that causes him to cave that speaks more to his character.  The thing is everyone kisses his ass and he's not the be all end all, nor does he even make the superior product in some of the cases too but the Church of Krikzz seems to drowned out anyone else who does an equally good if not better job.

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I didn't mean that in that way. If someone make a better product out there, and it will happen, people will buy it.

What I mean is that if each and every flashcart made is ripped out from the get go and sold on Aliexpress, it will cause fewer peopel to work on them, and those fewer people, with no access to professionnal tooling and manufacturing processes that small scale production allows, will get the price of flashcart up the roof.

I prefer to pay 60$ for a clean, neat GB Everdrive cart than pay 175$ for a crude, hand-soldered PCB jutting out of my console.

It's a game where everybody lose in the long term.

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4 hours ago, Tanooki said:

He puts the plans out there like with SD2SNES, it happens, and if that causes him to cave that speaks more to his character.  The thing is everyone kisses his ass and he's not the be all end all, nor does he even make the superior product in some of the cases too but the Church of Krikzz seems to drowned out anyone else who does an equally good if not better job.

I'm sorry... how many flashcarts have you designed??

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13 hours ago, CatPix said:

Well if you have a Flash cart, yeah, but if you haven't, what's your other choice ?

Save from "not buying the game at all".

  

 

Saving up to buy a flash cart instead of paying $9+ each on a bunch of separate carts that will eventually add up to the same price as the flash cart.

 

3 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

See I would go the flashcart route but they are to expensive. I'm not sure I can think of enough games to get repros of to get to the price of a SD2SNES.


SD2SNES is the cream of the crop for the SNES, and as such it is expensive. There are much cheaper options and you don't have to get a SD2SNES. There are older Super Everdrives that still work great.

Edited by Austin
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5 hours ago, godslabrat said:

I'm sorry... how many flashcarts have you designed??

Irrelevant, doesn't mean I don't have a right to point out obsessive ass kissing to the detriment of other product, some equal if not superior on the market.  If someone wants to buy his stuff that's fine, just understand in some cases he has a premium price with a potentially matched product or one that makes his inferior.  As of now I have to decide if I want the 64drive or his ed64 v3 as it's the one system I lack a kit for that needs it now.

 

That wasn't the case a year or two plus ago, but it is now.  Blind love can only go so far before it turns into damaging obsession.

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12 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

Irrelevant, doesn't mean I don't have a right to point out obsessive ass kissing to the detriment of other product, some equal if not superior on the market.  If someone wants to buy his stuff that's fine, just understand in some cases he has a premium price with a potentially matched product or one that makes his inferior.  As of now I have to decide if I want the 64drive or his ed64 v3 as it's the one system I lack a kit for that needs it now.

 

That wasn't the case a year or two plus ago, but it is now.  Blind love can only go so far before it turns into damaging obsession.

You can buy his product or you can buy something else.  That's the beauty of a free market.  But to think either option makes you an expert on how he should run his business is quite silly.  

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You're assuming a lot aren't ya, perhaps taking it personally?  I never said I was an expert on his business operations.  I was pointing out that other consumers tend to kiss his ass, not about how good or bad his products are.  I think you're getting defensive reading too much into it.  The entire point was there are choices out there now, some better, some not, but it would be good to look into it.  As you said, beauty of a free market, but it's also good to let people be informed consumers.  BennVenn has better product for Gameboy and Gameboy Color lately.  EZ Flash Omega too with the GBA as a couple examples.

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