Difference between revisions of "Neo geo bootlegs"
(Created page with "The popularity of the Neo Geo-AES and Neo Geo-MVS have created a rather large market of fake carts. Shady ebay sellers will sometimes try to pass off bootleg carts as...") |
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| − | The popularity of the [[Neo Geo | + | The popularity of the [[Neo-Geo AES]] and [[Neo-Geo MVS]] have created a rather large market of fake carts. Shady ebay sellers will sometimes try to pass off bootleg carts as the real deal. Since MVS and AES carts can fetch a rather high price, it is important to know how to identify a bootleg Neo Geo cart. |
==Cart color== | ==Cart color== | ||
Latest revision as of 22:17, 10 June 2012
The popularity of the Neo-Geo AES and Neo-Geo MVS have created a rather large market of fake carts. Shady ebay sellers will sometimes try to pass off bootleg carts as the real deal. Since MVS and AES carts can fetch a rather high price, it is important to know how to identify a bootleg Neo Geo cart.
Cart color
This is almost never an identifier for bootleg carts. Throughout the years SNK used many different cart colors, and during that period some owners have swaped board into other carts of higher quality.
The Sticker
While easy to replicate, bootleggers often never go through the trouble. The site MVS Scans has high resolution scans of almost all Neo Geo carts and stickers. Double checking with these can help ease the mind.
The insides
This is where true bootleg identification lies.
The board itself
Neo Geo boards are almost always Green with the SNK logo printed on the board.
The ROM chips
If the ROM chips on the board have a little window as the pictures below show, it is a sign of a bootleg cart. These chips are called eeproms (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). However, official SNK repairs and some carts have eeprom chips. SNK repaired carts usually mark the eeprom with colored pencils as the picture shows below.
If the board contains MX flash chips anywhere on it, it is the sign of a bootleg as these chips are commonly used in boots and never official carts.
Finally, when looking at the chips, you should see the Neo Geo NGH. Comparing this number to the Master List should show you if those ROM chips belong on your board. Bootlegs commonly never use the same NGH number.
Useful Links
Neo Geo Master List: Contains a list of every known Neo Geo game and their NGH number.
MVS Scans: Scans of MVS carts. If your board looks wildly different from the ones pictured, you have a boot. If it is slightly different you may have a minor variation.
Neo-Geo.com's Boot or No Boot forum: A place for getting help identifying if your game is a boot.