ORDER am29f032b-TSOP -> SNES-ROM36-DIP..

[lordloss]

So when I go to burn a file to the TSOP, from what i've read is that I leave the header. Do I also just change the file from .smc to .bin? Or is there anything special I need to do?

[tepples]

You leave the internal header (which is 32 KiB or 64 KiB into the ROM), but you have to take off the 512-byte copier header at the start.

[Near]

Here's the end result of discussion threads like this:

People are selling fake Earthbound carts with boards like this now, claiming they are authentic.



Anyone here want to take credit for this one?

[rkrenicki]

Not I, but that looks to be a slightly different layout for the TSOP board as the pads are much smaller than the ones I have seen. It would also appear to be a Laen board as it looks purple to me.

[lordloss]

Couldn't you tell it was fake by the label?

[rkrenicki]

That looks like it is an intel flash chip? Or perhaps its just a flux smudge that looks like a big "i".. If it is an intel chip, I guess that would explain the different carrier design. Perhaps a 28F320?

[MottZilla]

Here's the end result of discussion threads like this:

People are selling fake Earthbound carts with boards like this now, claiming they are authentic.

*image*

Anyone here want to take credit for this one?

This is very sad. But I think most of us knew this is what was going to happen.

lordloss, it is not that challenging to reproduce a cartridge label that is indistinguishable from the original. Plus if sold in an online auction, photos may not be detailed enough to notice this difference. Plus without the original side by side to compare it can be harder to tell.

It's really unfortunate that this sort of authenticity issue is now beyond the NeoGeo MVS world where it has been common for quite some time when selling a cartridge to want to see the actual PCBs to be able to verify that it is not a bootleg.

Ofcourse the high prices in the collectors market help create this problem too.

[lordloss]

Where did this cart come from?

[dext3r]

Here's the end result of discussion threads like this:

People are selling fake Earthbound carts with boards like this now, claiming they are authentic.

Anyone here want to take credit for this one?

I beg to differ...the end result of threads like this is that people are able to run whatever code they want on the SNES hardware.

If people take that liberty and abuse it by creating counterfeit merch, that isn't the fault of threads like these. That is the fault of the counterfeiter's lack of morals.

Do not blame the information.

[tepples]

Do not blame the information.

Except since the mid to late 1990s, the trend in worldwide legislation has been to blame the information.

[Near]

If nuclear or biological weapons became so easy to make that anyone in a high school chemistry class could do it, would you want that information to be public for all? There are some things that the public should not know, because there are too many psychopaths in this world.

In this specific case, I don't really care. At the rate Earthbound prices are going (and already at), even sticking a programmable flash cart inside another clamshell with a fake sticker would be massively profitable.

The only thing that is going to fix this issue is people coming to their senses. Earthbound is not a rare game at all. Fun 'n' Games is the rarest game sold at retail, and you can get that for $25, because it sucks.

If more people would just refuse to pay $300 for EB and instead go the flashcart route (you're not costing Nintendo any money since they aren't selling it, experience is 100% identical), the prices would drop.

[MottZilla]

To be fair, the people paying those outrageous prices are collectors. No normal player is going to pay that insane amount of money. These same people would probably buy a quality bootleg willingly. So I guess it doesn't matter too much, a collector would be pissed off if they bought what they thought was legit and found it was not, but I am not someone that would pay $300 for a game. Plus I think Earthbound isn't worth more than maybe $30. I don't see why people think it is so great.

[rkrenicki]

If nuclear or biological weapons became so easy to make that anyone in a high school chemistry class could do it, would you want that information to be public for all? There are some things that the public should not know, because there are too many psychopaths in this world.

That is an extremely unfair comparison. Reproduction carts, even fraudulently sold ones, are in no way physically dangerous.

Should we also stifle talk about paints and brushes and artistic techniques in making pieces of art because someone could use that information to fraudulently make a reproduction of a famous painting and try to sell it as such?

[3gengames]

To be fair, the people paying those outrageous prices are collectors. No normal player is going to pay that insane amount of money. These same people would probably buy a quality bootleg willingly. So I guess it doesn't matter too much, a collector would be pissed off if they bought what they thought was legit and found it was not, but I am not someone that would pay $300 for a game. Plus I think Earthbound isn't worth more than maybe $30. I don't see why people think it is so great.

I'm a collector and I know 2 people who are gamers and play these old games to play them and because they enjoy them. They both have an earthbound, from ebay, and I do not. EB is actually not that hard to find, just expensive because of the people wanting it, not the collectors.

[MottZilla]

But the problem is it is "perceived" as rare.