ON MVS cart, what are those serial number for?

Hi, can someone tell me on MVS cart what are the serial numbers for??
And many of MVS game's serial number got taken off by the seller? (ebay or other seller)

thanks.

I assume the serial numbers are used just to identify when a cart was produced. I don't think there's anything special about them.

But it is a good question as to why they're scratched off on so many games. Many of my MVS carts are like that too. I'm not sure why it would be a big deal to make sure someone doesn't know the serial number on a game.

Conspiracy theories, anyone?

Originally posted by Eclipse:
I assume the serial numbers are used just to identify when a cart was produced. I don't think there's anything special about them.

But it is a good question as to why they're scratched off on so many games. Many of my MVS carts are like that too. I'm not sure why it would be a big deal to make sure someone doesn't know the serial number on a game.

Conspiracy theories, anyone?

Click to expand...

Well just common sense could mean they are stolen carts, I have heard storys of arcades getting raided by the FBI and stuff because they use bootlegged or boards with serial numbers burned off ect.

I don't see the point of someone taking the serial number off anything unless they don't want anyone to know where it came from or who it got stolen from ect.

Capcom accually has a service where you can report stolen A and B boards ect. to them, And they send list's out to their dealers so if they ever come accross the board they would know it's stolen.

Half the time they scratch off the serial numbers on the carts little do they know it's plastered all over the inside of the board on rom chips ect.

Yeah, thinking that games with the serial numbers scratched off are stolen does make sense in a way, and is something that I've thought of myself.

BUT, the majority of my MVS carts have the serial numbers scratched off, and I've gotten them from various sources, so I'm hoping that not all of them were stolen at some point. That would either mean that I have bad luck in this kind of thing or that there are a LOT of stolen MVS carts out there.

Originally posted by Eclipse:
Yeah, thinking that games with the serial numbers scratched off are stolen does make sense in a way, and is something that I've thought of myself.

BUT, the majority of my MVS carts have the serial numbers scratched off, and I've gotten them from various sources, so I'm hoping that not all of them were stolen at some point. That would either mean that I have bad luck in this kind of thing or that there are a LOT of stolen MVS carts out there.

Click to expand...

Don't feel alone, Eclipse. My MVS collection suffers from the same problem. It looks like the serial numbers on some of my carts were scrapped off or scratched off with a pen/pencil tip.

Another thought comes to mind: they could be copies that use cases from different games (which would explain why the serial numbers are scratched off; maybe they don't want people to know that their Captain Tomaday cart was actually a SS4 cart at some point).

I was wondering the exact same thing... Well it is very possible that the bulk of games come from arcades that are not supposed to be selling the carts. I use to buy carts from Alladins Castle in my local mall. Their deal, get this... $25 a cart regardless of what it was. I got KOF 98 there a few months after it was released for $25.... Anyway, new managment came into that store and they told me to go away when I came looking for carts the next time. They said that all carts were now sent back to the main office and sold. Well, maybe some people on recieving found out that some of these carts might be valuable... and sold them to local arcade dealers in the area instead of sending where they needed to go. I don't think that the carts are being stolen by arcade thieves, but it is very possible that internal parties at the arcades are selling the games and trying to keep them a secret. As for the note on the games being reborn, it is a good thought, but the serials are cut out of the labels.. which would mean that a new label would be printed for the game and that could exclude the serial in the first place (like a few I have). Well, maybe one day we will all have to return our carts to the arcades they were stolen from hehe, who knows...

-Nick