How to Open up a Jap AES Cart to see if its a bootleg copy?

Hi guys

I need some help around a year ago i brought a Jap AES Verson of Ghost Pilots of ebay, from a seller in Japan, I can't remember the seller's name but yeah i am notice some sound issues along with Graphic glitches when it comes to the high score display? it show's xxxxxx instead of the actual score. I know this not normal as i remember years ago i played this game on winkwaks emulator and it the rom displayed the score correctly. Is the problem like this with the Jap version of Ghost Pilots? I know there was a Thread here around 2 years ago on how to open a AES Cart to check if its a bootleg or not, but i can't seem to find it.

Thanks Darkneo

The only thing JP about the cart is the label. US/Euro and JP all are the same cart with no label. Could be possible corrosion or a rom went bad.

Xian Xi said:

The only thing JP about the cart is the label. US/Euro and JP all are the same cart with no label. Could be possible corrosion or a rom went bad.

Click to expand...

Hey xian

I just found this link from you www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/tutorials.html?show=aescart while searching to get bloody case open. I let you know what i find inside. Thanks Mate ur the man :-)

The odds of a Ghost Pilots being a bootleg is very slim, if not nil.

If it makes you feel any better, my European Ghost Pilots also has some graphic glitches. Perhaps it's a bad batch or something. I haven't had the time to sit down and see if there are any cold joints.

As for opening an AES cart, it's a huge pain in the ass until you get good at it. Instead of screws there are plastic clips holding the cart shut. There's two on the bottom (adjacent to the edge connectors) and 3 on the left and right sides, so 8 clips in total. If you're not careful you'll break clips which isn't good. I'd only suggest opening your Ghost Pilots if you intend to troubleshoot a repair. Opening AES carts for fun or curiosity sucks.

It really helps if you have a plastic wedge to use for prying, that way it won't damage the cart shell like a screwdriver.

The clips on the side are 2. My suggestion is to always start from the 2 clips on the connectr side.
There should be other posts here on how to open a cart. I remember posting in one about a MS5 that fell from a shelf.

Anyway an old credit card can be perfect to use on the plastic clips. It won't scratch/mark the shell, and being light and small will stay in place when you move to the other clips.

I can tell from here that it's genuine. Nobody would make a JP AES boot of Ghost Pilots.