Silver Box Carts

[Japan-Games.com]

Hey Guys

Anyone know of a comprehensive list of early Famicom silver box games?  Here's where I'm at so far...

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Popeye
Gomoku Narabe Renju
Mahjong
Mario Bros.
Baseball
Tennis
Golf

Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

[Xious]

I'll add this to my to-do list along with a metallic carts list. I'll have to go through Fami-Complete to be sure that I didn't miss any. 'Xevious' is one, as is 'F1-race', 'Donkey Kong Jr.Math' (I think), 'Donkey Kong 3' and several others, as I recall. I think 'Soccer' is a silver box too but I don't remember off the top of m'head.

Additionally, I'm going to add a section on my site of 'Things I Want Really Badly' with photos, descriptions, etc. and link you to that so that you can access the want-list for the stuff I mentioned quickly and easily at any time.

[Tjibynn]

Silver Series... like this ?

[Japan-Games.com]

What I'm looking for is the second release of the original pulse line cartridges, not the regular silver boxed games from 84-85.

It looks like I left a few off of the list:

Hogan's Alley
Duck Hunt
Wild Gunman

I didn't think those had been rereleased but it looks like they have.  I don't think the Asobi games were ever rereleased, nor was Pinball.

I'm actually trying to assemble a group of every game released by Nintendo specifically (not any other makers) from 1983 to 1995 in Japan.  I just need 2 more silver boxes to complete the set...Popeye and Donkey Kong Jr.

http://www.vgrebirth.com/games/search.asp?step=4&platforms=14&keywords=&identifiers=&players=&year=&price=&pricetype=%3C&currency=&list=0&lists=&notlists=&publishers=378&regions=3&x=34&y=8

[Xious]

I've flagged every silver-boxed game ever made, and I'll start going through them soon. I will be sure to break them into groups, where the main three will be:

Silver-Nintendo-Made (Pulseline and artwork carts).
Silver-Nichibutsu-Series
Silver-Namcot-Series
Silver-Other

As for Nintendo titles, you're also missing '4-Player Mahjong'. I don't recall if the Asobi (e.g. 'Popeye Teaches English', something I always though was amusingly absurd, considering Popeye's grasp of English in the old Max Fleischer shorts) games were silver boxed, but I will verify it with the others. The 'Gomokunarabe' and 'Devil World' carts are silver-boxed though, unless 'Gomokunarabe' is white, which I doubt. Gomokunarabe verified as silver.

'Family Block and 'Robot Gyro' are also silver-box games, with over-sized boxes and 'Family BASIC' may qualify as well, although it is both hardware and software in a big silver box. This type of thing depends on the perspective of the collector.

I would still consider the early Namcot and Nichibutsu games to be part of the silver-box series, especially Namcot, who switched to clamshell boxes, along with many controllers accessories (especially by Hori), but in the interest of proper classification I will segregate them into type-sets.

I also completed flagging all of the metallic games and I'll be making that list as well. In fact, considering how short it is, and thus the less time it requires of me to convert to either English or romanized game titles, it'll likely be first.

[Japan-Games.com]

I had the list of the silver carts for 1984 and on, just didn't know about the pulse.  I picked up Donkey Kong Jr. today.  Looks like I didn't have Wild Gunman...bummer.  Still need that and Popeye and the collection will be complete.

Pulse only:

Popeye Asobi
Donkey Kong Jr. Asobi
Pinball
Donkey Kong 3 (not 100% sure....?)

Pulse and Silver:

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Popeye
Gomoku Narabe Renju
Mahjong
Mario Bros.
Baseball
Tennis
Wild Gunman
Duck Hunt
Hogan's Alley
Golf

Silver Only:

Devil World
4-nin Uchi Mahjong
F1 Race
Urban Champion
Clu Clu Land
Excitebike (Gold)
Balloon Fight
Soccer

From 1986 and on there were no more silvers, just regular.  I have all of those.

I'm not including the Gyro, Robot, or Basic (and V3) carts.  It feels kind of tacky to include loose carts that were bundled with hardware.  I am including a gold Punch-Out!! tho.

[Xious]

From 1986 and on there were no more silvers, just regular.  I have all of those.

I'm not including the Gyro, Robot, or Basic (and V3) carts.  It feels kind of tacky to include loose carts that were bundled with hardware.  I am including a gold Punch-Out!! tho.

As I said, every collector has their own views on what constitutes a set. I include the robot games with the silver games (but not the Robot itself, which belongs in the silver hardware category). The robot games are just that: games in silver boxes that also included the plastic buts required to play them. In the US/Canada, the games were packaged in black boxes (to match the other launch titles for the NES) and thus are part of the 'Black Box' set, so in my mind, it's proper to include them as part of the silver-box set for the Famicom, but everybody's different. 

I include the Namcot games, such as 'Xevious' , 'Mappy', 'Tower of Druaga', 'Dig Dug', 'Galaga' and 'Galaxian'  as well; many of which are arcade favourites and are part of the 1983-86 Famicom subset. Nichibutsu  games such as 'Crazy Climber' fit well into this category for me, as it is a silver-box and a classic arcade game, released in 1986 with the same style of graphics you see in many ports of arcade games (I love this style). I couldn't see the 'Gold Punch-ut. as part of this category in my collection, as it's (a) not silver, (b) not released prior to 1987, (c) doesn't use the early FC-style graphics. Some of the items in my personal 'sets' may not belong there either, but they are similar enough to fit the category for my own displays.

In fact you might want to add a boxed copy of the NES releases of 'Metroid', 'Kid Icarus' and 'Rad Racer' carts to your silver-box collection, if for no other reason than for contrast between the Famicom 'silver-box' series and the NES 'silver-box' series.

There's nothing wrong with including anything in a specialized subset of your own devising. That's all this is (a specialized sub-set) in collecting terms, and many people have them, whether it's by game title, style, artwork, box, or some other category (with 'Mario, "Zelda/Link' and 'Metroid' items being the top-most popular sub-sets, in that exact order.) My own silver-series+early-release set collection includes the games ( a sub-series) and hardware items, such as systems, accessories, and add-ons, which all all sub-series of their own. It never ends.

As a note: I didn't see 'Mach Rider'  on your list, and I have a sneaky feeling that it does have a silver-box release, although I can't say positively right now. It is part of the artwork games (post-pulse) series, and IIRC it is a red cart very much like 'Excitebike' (with a gold-ish label).

[UglyJoe]

As a note: I didn't see 'Mach Rider'  on your list, and I have a sneaky feeling that it does have a silver-box release, although I can't say positively right now. It is part of the artwork games (post-pulse) series, and IIRC it is a red cart very much like 'Excitebike' (with a gold-ish label).

The Mach Rider box shown in Family Computer 1983-1994 is blue.

[Xious]

That's why I can't verify my supposition: 'Family Computer 1983-1994' doesn't have photos of every variation, and I don't think that 'FamiComplete' does either. I have, as I said 'a sneaky feeling' that it has a silver box release as well, but I can't verify it at present; I'll double-check 'FamiComplete', as there is a special section about the silver-boxed games, but I believe that a title or two may not be on those pages.

I really need to get cracking on the FC section for Jerry's book, but I've been too busy working on stuff for my own catalogue and for customers, just trying to keep ahead after the huge investments I've made in both imports and development of certain things, that I haven't even had the time to sit down with him lately. The hard part is going to be verifying the rarity value of all the games.In four Famicom books from Japan, none of them have a rarity system (or scale) for collectors.

I did want to mention that the FC database here has the wrong name entry for 'Namcot' (it shows 'Namco', but the correct name has a 'T' on the end of it). 'Namco' is the main games company, but all FC titles were made by 'Namcot', their home-games division.

[UglyJoe]

I did want to mention that the FC database here has the wrong name entry for 'Namcot' (it shows 'Namco', but the correct name has a 'T' on the end of it). 'Namco' is the main games company, but all FC titles were made by 'Namcot', their home-games division.

Hmm...The box and title screen for Famista '94 both say Namcot, so I think you're right.  I could have swore we had Namcot for some and Namco for others, but they're definitely all set to Namco now.  I'll change them when I get a chance.

[Japan-Games.com]

What I'm actually trying to do is make a collection of all games published by Nintendo during the Famicom's life, i.e. no other company.  I asked about the pulse silver boxes because it's hard to find information on them since technically they were rereleases.  I wasn't trying to collect only silver boxes, I was trying to collect all of the games and I needed some information about the silver box releases to complete the collection.

In the end you have to pick one set of guidelines and stick to it, and to each his own.  If you really want to get technical you could try to include the FamicomBox and FamicomStation games, both the black and gray releases.  But I wanted something I could assemble in less than 6 months, not 10 years...heh.

A few years ago I made a set of the first 16 pulse carts and threw in the Lode Runner and Nuts & Milk semi-pulse releases to make it an 18 game set of the first games ever released for the Famicom.  This time around I considered adding the first 4 Namcot releases and the Donkey Kong Jr. Sansuu cart to say that the collection had all of the releases from 83-84.  But at the end of the day it seemed a bit random to have 50+ Nintendo games and a handful of other publishers.  I wanted to make it pure Nintendo.

I'm not including the Gyro, Robot, Basic, etc. carts because it just doesn't fit well with the collection.  All of the other games are boxed with instructions and adding those loose carts just doesn't seem appropriate.  All of the other games can be bought and played out of the box, those carts can only be bought and looked at unless you have the hardware.  That goes against the spirit of the collection in my opinion.  But like I said, to each his own.

Mach Rider has a light blue color that sometimes comes across as silver in pictures, but it's light blue.

Just a few more to go and I'm finished...!

[Xious]

Alright.

The main thing is the database entry for the manufacturer.. Some titles may say 'Namco *', such as 'Namco(t) Classic', but I don't have a copy handy to check; yet, they're still made and released by Namcot, despite their title. I don't remember what the Tsu stood for in the 'Namcot' acronym, but it pertained only to their computer and console games in Japan. I feel as if i should know, but I certainly don't remember anymore.

This is how I've seen it, un-romanized: ナムコッ --{If anybody has any facts about the meaning behind the name, feel free to make us all aware...'Nakamura Machine Company T??'; maybe Telegames.  They did license all the Atari rights, after all.}--

Additionally, some suggestions for the database of games, for when you have the time:

It would be cool to allow the user to search by manufacturer (or just include the manufacturer database flag in the search query); There is also a bug, where after searching for something, the sort bar only applies to the search results. The easy way to fix this is to display the main sorting bar (#, A, B, C, etc.) elsewhere on the page, and have the sorting bar for the search results indicated as such. Essentially, there's no fast way to get back to the full games list. I guess a 'all games' button would also work, but it means an extra hop.

I can knock out some code for you to fix+improve this, if you want. I'll also have to print it out sometime and see if I can fill in the missing information for you (e.g. product codes). I don't know how you set it up in the database, but if you add fields for box , cart and manual images, I and others could start contributing photos for easy identification. Adding an extra field for 'Rarity' would be handy for when we can start establishing this.

Additionally, a field for type of release is important. For example, disk-system games, cartridge games, and other oddball items are all mixed. There's no way to segregate between them, or even to identify one from another, except by release date or product code, which many people don't know. I think a field for 'released on' or something like that would solve this nicely. The release types I suggest are:

Cassette/Cartridge
Famicom Disk System
Family BASIC Tape (there are a couple commercially released BASIC games and programmes, notably some by Hudson).
Promotional/Prize

Game category would be nice, and I could help a lot filling in this field. it would be things like 'Action/Adventure', 'Puzzle', 'Platformer', 'Arcade', 'H-Shooter'. 'V-Shooter', ' RPG', etc. and would allow people to search for a game by its style of play, even if they don't kow the title, or to find games that they'd enjoy based on their style of play. I plan to do this with my catalogue, and I further plan to add entries (descriptions) for all of the games, as best I can, when I have the time myself. Yeah, I know that feeling. I wouldn't mind setting up a trade-system for an assistant with my catalogue either. Somebody to add game names, descriptions and search tags in exchange for merchandise and/or merchandise and pay.

(Which would be the correct forum page to post an advert like that?)

A last field suggestion would be 'type-set', which fits nicely on topic for a change Good examples here are:
Pulseline
Silver Series
Gun Games
Robot Games
Family Fitness Series
Early Third-Party Games

I guess it's not really essential, but it'd be a nifty extra option or annotation.

Anyhow, feel free to do what you will with this post: it probably belongs in the suggestions & feedback section, but it's a reply to your posts in this thread, so I put it here.

But like I said, to each his own.

I concur. I was never counseling you on how to set-up your collection or displays. 'Twas just an insight into my own specialized sets and perhaps ideas for others. I certainly see what you're trying to do and I think it's brilliant.

As a curiosity: Where (what city) are you located in at present?

[Japan-Games.com]

My guess is that Namcot was just a way for them to brand their video games and not much else.  I found this on a message board quoting a wikipedia entry that no longer exists:

"When Nintendo began producing its Famicom home console unit, Namco started the development of game titles for it, beginning with Galaxian, which had first been introduced to arcades in 1979. Video games for this console were released in Japan under the moniker Namcot (with the letter t at the end)."

Large companies often use a different brand name than their actual company name, especially when they are involved in different business industries.  That might have been their way of labeling that specific part of their business. 

You also have the unique issue of Japan having different writing styles, plus the need to sometimes use English in foreign markets.  That sometimes creates a Frankenstein effect with the name/logo/image.  For Mitsubishi you might see the name in English, kanji, or katakana.   It might say Mitsubishi in English on the front of the product but then use the kanji on the back panel.  If you're doing a search for Mitsubishi my guess is that 90% of Japanese people will search using the kanji for products but the products will have the logo in English.  Just about all of their electronics use English but the Mitsubishi factory near my house uses kanji on their sign.  Or you might just see the 3 diamond logo (that's that Mitsubishi means....3 diamonds).  Sony does the same....they use their standard English logo on their electronics but for their financial services division they use katakana.  It's just a way to brand their different businesses in a different way.  More modern companies will use English or Katakana to make their products seem more exciting, even if there's perfectly good kanji for it.  That works for electronics, but anything that's related to Japanese culture, like a sake shop, would most likely use kanji to have a more historical or cultural feel.

The point is that there may not be a very interesting story behind the T.  It might have just been something they added on a whim to say that it's related to video games.  When you have so many different options for name presentation you can think of just about anything.  Also, the correct katakana is "ナムコッツ", not "ナムコツ".　　The "ツ" is a way to say you don't add the vowel after the T, so it's pronounced Namcot and not Namcoto. 

I'm located down in Fukuoka, Japan, the southernmost island.

[UglyJoe]

Also, the correct katakana is "ナムコッツ", not "ナムコツ".　　The "ツ" is a way to say you don't add the vowel after the T, so it's pronounced Namcot and not Namcoto.

I don't disagree with your assessment, but he actually said that it ends with a little tsu.  And, while I know this isn't a definitive test, his spelling is the only one that comes back with the Namcot logo if you do a google image search using it.  Your spelling actually returns no images at all.  While his suggested spelling does seem odd (to me, at least), there does appear to be some credibility behind it.

edit:

Actually, ナムコット seems to be working the best for me.  It's even spelled that way on the Japanese Wikipedia page for Bandai-Namco.

[L___E___T]

Devil World has a Pulse line version - just to mention (in case nobody already did)

Xious - like you say, each collection is subjective but it's worth remembering that a silver box does not equal a 'silver line' production run in the case of the Robot games etc.  All of those silver line pulse line reprints share the same formatting and branding, the robot games don't and the NES games and other publishers' games certainly do not.

Like I said, this is subjective collecting but for the pruposes of databases or auction promotional text, it doesn't make great sense to describe them as the same family I would say.