Hong Kong version Nintendo 64

[No One You Know]

Hello. I bought a boxed Hong Kong Nintendo 64 missing the controller (plus unboxed hong kong version super mario 64 - basically the North American release on Japanese region cartridge) off of ebay for £44 the other day. They are basically Japan region units but they have dual language english/chinese manuals and come with a Hong Kong AC adapter which is UK compatible though voltage is slightly off and two of the pins are slightly wrong sized. At the time I was wondering how what i presumed must be a PAL system (it's not) in a PAL country is allowed to play NTSC (japanese) games, after reading that there is proper electronic region locking between PAL and NTSC N64s and games.

 

I was also wondering if there were any differences for the hong kong version of the game (super mario 64) as it is one of the 7 games with a proper hong kong release. As far as i can tell it's just the North American version (based on cartridge art and demo) on a Japanese cart. It still has the instruction and precaution manual for the machine, with a bag for the manuals and a bag for a presumably third party SCART lead which has the full set of pins (I assume not all are wired), possibly a broken sound pin and "Ultra 64" to try and convince you to think that its cool when the sound doesn't work (the machine's sound miraculously works - I originally thought it didn't and was expecting continued silence when trying with my madcatz combo lead).

 

So I don't think it is anything particularly special but I can't see that these Hong Kong units are a numerous thing, at least not outside hong kong (especially not HKG games, not that they are that unique). It was a little bit of an impulse purchase as I bid on the ebay auction at a slightly higher price than I was originally going to go to, but was pushed on a little by the thought in my head that I might regret not going for it later on. A couple of years ago I saw a boxed Amiga CD32 at an auction and was immediately surprised to see it because of how rare they are. I left a £50 bid with them in advance because I was at school the next day when the auction took place. it went for £80. Worth more on ebay i think (and we checked at the time afterwards). And a ridiculously rare thing regardless of value. I also didn't buy a £15 original Xbox (inc pad and leads) from a pawn shop a couple of years ago too, buying a £20 Saturn (inc pad, sega rally and leads) that was presumably traded in by the same person. It was gone the next day when I decided I should get it. So that's another thing I regret.

 

So I just wanted to see what other people know about Hong Kong N64s (there is not that much info on the web, at least not obvious) and whether people think I should regret buying the machine or not (I found it whilst looking for just a normal N64, like a PAL one that I can use to play games i find in my own country, one of which I have now bought, something I thought my dad wouldn't let me do (buying two of the same machine)). It did not come with any Doctor V64 or tristar unfortunately lol. Here is something I did find with a little info:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IToY_73pRHU

And something else: http://www.nintendo64ever.com/Nintendo-64-Games,Hong-Kong,15,1.html

And something else: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nintendo_64_forever/nintendo-64-hong-kong-version-t2738.html

And something else: https://www.ign.com/articles/1996/12/18/n64-copying-device-released-in-hong-kong

And one last thing (the first thing I found): https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/04/09/piracy-in-hong-kong

That is quite a few links now I think about it but each one only gives a bit of information on the topic. from what I can gather at least hong kong region games must be pretty uncommon as most were pirated via CD and very little games even had proper HKG releases.

Anyway, here are pictures of mine:

Box:

Manual:

Super Mario 64 cartridge:

Mystery double ended cable (its not a PS1/2 av connector like it looks similar to, whyever you would have a double ended one) if anyone can tell me what it is:

I took more pictures but I don't want to add too many and then find that the page crashes or I get formatting problems on the post or something. Ask me if you want the ones of the scart lead, AC adapter, console or the sides of the box (just a lid over polystyrene with no bottom as with Japanese units - I didn't know this when I picked it up and was feeling depressed about it for a while until I found out they don't have bottoms). Oh yeah apparently N64's have gone up in value. I only checked ebay periodically so when I checked this time i thought they had always been the prices that they are now for a few years. Apparently the release of the classic minis has reduced NES and SNES values (i thought it would do the opposite by giving them "legitimacy" as historic systems but apparently it is really true that the classic minis have the power to draw some of the original NES and SNES buyers (I thought those people would just be the kind that would use an emulator)) which in turn has made N64 values rise somehow or something like that.

Edited August 19, 2020 by No One You Know

[0078265317]

nice

[No One You Know]

Hello again. Thought i'd add the rest of the photos. Sorry for the poor quality.

Edited August 24, 2020 by No One You Know