Pirated Stuff

[satoshi_matrix]

this is unusual. I've seen plenty of Famicom pirates around and I own quite a few, but I've never seen any pirates with dip switches.

For curiosity sake, could you list the games this cart has on it? I'm cerious as to exactly why there are dip switches. Could it be that this cart has support for multiple mappers?

[madtapes]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies and warm welcome! I'll try to take some better pictures of the cart and post them in the next day or two. I will also try to produce a complete list of the games on the cart. It may be a bit iffy though. It seems that the switches need to be cleaned (looks like I need to pick up some contact cleaner). Some times when I arrange the switches for a game it will default back to Super Mario Brothers. Sometimes if I keep trying the desired game will come through. But I will give it a shot and make as complete of a list as soon as possible.

[133MHz]

I believe the cart is mapperless, a list of the games on it would confirm my theory.

[UglyJoe]

All the games he listed are Mapper 0, so I'm assuming it's just Mapper 0 games.  The cart probably has all the prg-rom and chr-rom on those two chips, and the dipswitches are telling the cart which offset to load the game data from.  It's pretty much exactly what a regular mulit-cart does, but it's doing it with hardware instead of software.

[133MHz]

Yup, and those diodes and logic chips at the top right of the PCB look like some glue logic to me, to switch PRG and CHR ROM higher address lines in unison.

Hey madtapes - besides squirting some contact cleaner into the switches, check the soldering joints on the back, they may be brittle with all these years of (ab)use! Get some fresh solder to them too.

Also I remember from my childhood some pirate SNES carts without menu, where you switched games by resetting the system with the reset slider/button. Maybe something similar could be done for your homebrew multicarts (like mine ). Wire some 4017 binary counter to the higher address lines of your PRG & CHR chips and wire the clock input of the 4017 to some line that goes high when a system reset is applied (or to a debounced 'game select' button on the cart itself). It would be a fun project, wouldn't it?

[Switchstance]

I get a lot of pirates, I hope post them soon Some of them are really weird Famicom games, some of them I really don't know what they are or what they say cuz I don't speak japanese/chinese.

That's for sure. I've seen your massive collection but I wanted to ask you if you know anything about this cart.

I got it today. It's a Monsters in my pocket hack.

[FamicomFreak]

I get a lot of pirates, I hope post them soon Some of them are really weird Famicom games, some of them I really don't know what they are or what they say cuz I don't speak japanese/chinese.

That's for sure. I've seen your massive collection but I wanted to ask you if you know anything about this cart.

I got it today. It's a Monsters in my pocket hack.

Yes somebody made a review of it on youtube and they mention the original game.

[hehaji]

These are my pirated FDS Carts. I spend several years to find them. Now,I got 3 of konami remake FDS to Cart. (Akumajou Dracula, Moero Twinbee2, and Bio Miracle Upa) These 3 carts port from FDS not from NES cart or remake cart. Only Castlevania2 port from NES the other from FDS. You known FDS can save stage but in cart cannot save. By the way some cart can select stage such as Mario2, Bio miracle upa, Bubble Bubble. 



*** 3 Carts of Akumajou Dracula have different title screen ****
Yellow cart port from NES


Grey Cart port from FDS


Green Cart port from FDS by modified title screen by company


Mario Bros.2 Full title screen (Many pirate havenot name Super Mario Bros. 2)


Moero Twinbee2 Title screen year 1986 


Finally My special pirate!!!
Recca Summer Carnival'92


And Gimmick!


Hope you like them. 

[FamicomFreak]

I love your pirate game collection! You are my hero!!! AWESOME STUFF!

[keiffer01]

On the bottom left corner is that a Doki Doki Panic cart pirate!?

[featherplucknfilms]

That is an excellent collection man! Even for me, who doesn't take too much interest in pirates. Doki Doki Panic, Nazo no Murasamejou, and is that a Metroid I see???  Awesome, I like the single game carts.

[hehaji]

Yes,that is Doki Doki Panic, Nazo no Murasamejou, Metroid, Nicole,Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou: Monty on the Run, Green Beret,Zanac, Multi cart (Bubble Bubble,Falson 3D,Green Beret and Highway star).

[Jabra]

I have the same game in a 2 in 1 cart : ( It is for sale ! )

http://i11.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/ba/5c/f1c4_1.JPG

[Milky B]

My theory on who makes these pirate carts is, it's actually small businesses employing anywhere from one to a handful of people who make the carts by hand.  They probably only produce a limited run, something like 20-100 before they think up another game to make.  There are probably other larger operations but I think this business model explains why there is such a wide variety of carts.  You can make one of these carts without too much difficulty if you have some electronics experience.  Just order a bunch of cart enclosures from a manufacturer, get your self a sticker printer and solder up some circuit boards and your in business.

[133MHz]

In the cheapest pirate carts, no soldering is needed! A machine etches the ICs directly on the boards, then it covers them with a glob of hard epoxy, to protect them from the environment. This is what we call 'glop-top carts'



Fragile, a pain in the ass to dump, and VERY cheap.