BootlegGames Wiki

Official twitter of the "unofficial" games!

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

@bootleg_bandit Remembered it, it's Shooting Range by Bandai.

And yes, avoid that seller like the plague.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

@bootleg_bandit It's some licensed Famicom game, a bad one at that.

A reseller has been listing it on and off at insane price in the last few years. If it's the person I'm thinking off I would not buy anything from them.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Exciting news for every NES buffs:
Thanks to Richard Frick and Frank Cifaldi, we get a new view of Sharedata's unreleased Crossbow NES port!

This 2nd prototype has a single playable level, but the graphics had a more than impressive upgrade!

< Arcade, 1st NES prototype, 2nd >

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Based on loose evidence, we conjectured that the 12-in-1 had this label, and went on a quest to find it!

We're never too old to educate ourselves, give it a shot at:
https://t.co/hPy76XwX0T

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Taiwan's Atlon Technology, the likely public-facing name for the Ex-Sachen developers, was quite prolific.

They set-up their studio after parting way with Sachen around 1994-95, did both backports and original titles, and were instrumental to the UM6578 existence.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

The game is rather unelaborated, and shares some similarities with Chu Da D. Greater care went into The Dragon.

After that collaboration, Atlon unleashed their full potential as a contractor for Ka Sheng (卡聖) and UMC.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Read more on the Ex-Sachen devs (a.k.a. Atlon) https://t.co/VkQ00kgy0c

[Dendy Forever @Dendy_Forever]

ОК, разбираем эту обложку сборника!
Парень слева - с промо или мануала Turok 2, ноги дорисованы.
Танк справа - с постера Mass Destruction, но заменен ствол.
Деревья на фоне - стандартный вектор-арт эвкалиптов, встречается на многих сайтах.
Не установлен солдат "на танке" пока.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

@Dendy_Forever This is not a reliable mean to date cartridges. Covers and PCB were shipped independently from the shell. The local distributor could have assembled this one copy much later.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

@mopimi これは、その後の版に対応しています。
https://t.co/ibaa7oQ71P

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

C&E also sent Bubble Bath Babes to AVE for review.

Curiously, it credits Hacker International instead of Panesian, the only company that commercialised BBB.
Hacker released the game as "Soap Panic".

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

"Why is it named Xiao Ma Li?" You may ask. 小瑪琍 (Small Mario) was a popular gambling machine in Taiwan. Its front panel featured Mario... and that's about it! None of these machines were endorsed by Nintendo, of couse.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Another bomb from the AVE archives: a Xiao Ma Li evaluation sample crediting C&E, and from 1989! 🤯

Unsurprisingly, AVE rejected the game. Can't blame them for that.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

It is clear C&E had kept the assets of the cover, and re-composed them for their release.

Can't say as much for TXC's Bingo, with is clearly a cropped photocopy of Idea-Tek's cover.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Xiao Ma Li was initially released by Idea-Tek. Some copies credited an otherwise unknown company: "Nei-Hu Electronics".

C&E did release it again in 1991 alongside Tiles of Fate. Possibly when TXC took over idea-Tek. C&E had no reason to release it, unless they had been involved.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Latest hot debate at the BootlegGames Wiki! Did the beloved Hwang Shinwei develop Carmaze, a 1986 DOS port of Rally X?

Hwang Shinwei's Mi Hun Che (迷魂車) from 1988 uses the exact same romanization!

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Erratum: these did support normal MSX cartridges as well.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

We often get the question: "how far back dates Famicom piracy in Taiwan"?

Prior to hardware clones, households could only acquire Japanese Famicom units. However there were already commercial copies of games! The oldest we've seen were from 1985.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Interestingly, there exist (a lot more!) "Space Shuttle"-branded cartridges that are actually for a unique MSX clone supporting only Famicom-shaped cartridges.

[BootlegGames Wiki @BootlegGames]

Here's Gomoku Narabe Renju from the same series, even features a modified title screen with a 1985 copyright!