Would you buy this....?

The other day I was walking home and saw a arcade Neo cabinet in a laundry shop. I went in and they had KOF2002, so I dropped a couple of quarters in and played. Anyway after playing I was checking out the cabinet and it had this number for the Arcade dealer. So yesterday I called and spoke to someone there about getting old neo fighting mvs carts. The guy I spoke to said he had plenty in storage, so I told him some names and he said I have most if not all of those just laying on a shelf in my basement and they are in good condition. He mentioned he had them in ziplock bags. I asked if I could go check some out, he said... Well we can work this out two ways you can get them from the store here for a ton of money or we can meet somewhere (he lives in the next town over) and I bring what you want and you pay me anywhere from 10-15 each for them. I was like great!! He took my cell number and said he would call me this weekend and let me know what he has. He also asked if I was interested in KOF2002 or Metal Slug 4. I told him they were too expensive for me, he said "Don't worry about it".

This is the list I read him off of stuff I wanted:

3 Count Bout
Agressor's of Dark Kombat
Breakers Revenge
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury 2
Fatal Fury 3
Kabuki Klash
KOF 99
KOF 2000
KOF 2001
Kizuna Encounter
Ninja Masters
Real Bout
Real Bout Special
Samurai Shodown 1
Samurai Shodown 2
Savage Reign
World Heroes
World Heroes 2
World Heroes 2 Jet

In case you didn't figure it out yet I am a fighting game fanatic! The other fighters not listed I have already.

Anyways my questions to you is:

Would you do this?
Meet a total stranger and purchase stuff from him in person without testing it?
Is it me or does it sound like he is stealing them and selling them on the side from the arcade company?
How can I tell if they are bootlegs or originals?

Thanks!

i would give him $15.00 for kof2002
and if it works maybe more ..i wouldnt just get a whole bunch like that i guessing they are boots

what are EPROMS? and what do they look like? Are they not present in originals?

I seriously doubt I could get KOF2002 for that cheap but I'd be willing to pay $125 for a new original.

Take a chance, it seems all legit to me from what I have read wink

EPROMS 'Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory' are chips from which bootleg carts are made , as opposed to ROMS.

Where can I see a pic of them? So I know what to look for.

Here you have a picture. Try a google search to see more.

<a href="http://www.atmel.com/products/EPROM/" target="_blank">http://www.atmel.com/products/EPROM/</a>

Bring a gun, and make sure your trouser belt is fastened tight. lol

Sounds like he is stealing them from the old employer..... and pocketing the cash.

Sounds like he is stealing them from the old employer..... and pocketing the cash.

Click to expand...

If thats what he's doing it's all good go for it. You'll be the one getting the good deal.

I'd just be scared they didnt work or were bootlegs like you said.

You ass monkey (And I mean that in a good way)
Thats fucking awsome get it. Last time I had a chance simular to that I passed it up and am kicking my self in the head for not doing it.

Ok this helped me out a ton!!!

Normally, bootleg Neo Geo games come in one of two flavors. There is the flat out Hong Kong bootleg that uses printed circuit boards and chips (these are usually harder to spot and are much higher quality) and there is the conversion bootleg. The conversion bootleg seems to be more popular and as you can probably guess, it is made by converting a cheaper or more common game into a more expensive and or rare game. It is odd to see anything like Sengoku 2 or such older games, especially games that were not popular as bootlegs, but they still exists thanks to the resurgence of Neo Geo collectors over the past few years.

So, to better give you an idea of what to look for, it is best to describe how these carts are made. Since conversion boots are more common, I will go through that process. The most highly bootlegged game is Puzzle Bobble/Bust a Move. A person who wanted to make a cheap bust a move could take a Fatal Fury 2 cart (roughly $5) and then desoldier all the program roms. After this work was done, the bootlegger takes an EPROM burner and burns the Puzzle Bobble program roms on EPROM chips (these are the chips with the shiny metal window in the center). Next he or she could then soldier the EPROM's to the board. (This is one good tip off of a boot, check for hand soldiered chips.) In many cases this will complete the job, however sometimes extra lead wire or soldier is needed to short out certain pins on the board, and this is the same as moving a jumper pin on a computer motherboard. So occasionally you will see wires running to and fro (this is most prevalent in games that used non-perfect matching sac MVS cart for the boards).

Now the Hong Kong rips usually do not use EPROM's, and instead use lower quality solid ROM chips. Usually, but not always, these are on NON-SNK boards, but some bootleggers have been known to mix sac carts and fake rom chips. Also, if you will notice, all real SNK games use Toshiba chips, and there is usually no writing on the chips besides a part number.

So why say no to bootlegs? Well, from a collector standpoint it is obvious; the collector wants real SNK merchandise for his collection. There is more to worry about, however. EPROM's, though good for many applications, tend to lose data over time (and can be erased with UV light, like the sun). This is most noticeable with sound roms and the first thing to go on most bootlegs is the sound. Also, the hand soldiering job may not always be professional, leaving much to be desired... and could lead to a lot of problems down the road with soldier breaking away or the board shorting out. And finally, there is a major fire hazard with some wired carts. I have seen a bootleg Pop N Bounce cart smoke and catch a Neo Geo MVS board on fire... Not only will that kill your MVS board or possibly other games in a multi-slot... that also could kill you or your family, or at best burn down your business or residence... Not a happy thought if you ask me, and I will never leave a bootleg game in a cab that is running for extended periods of time, especially unsupervised.

The best way to find a bootleg game is to open up your MVS carts. It can be done very simply and without damaging the cart sticker. I normally do this for cleaning anyway, as most games corrode and get grimy over the years. Typically I use an art gum and contact cleaner on the boards to clean them when I first get a new game. This open cleaning also allows me to fully inspect the boards and make sure they are original and quality products.

So, that was probably a lot of info to digest at once, but here is a great article where you can see one of the newest bootlegs, King of Fighters 2001 bootleg, and get an idea of what a more (albeit messy) looking bootleg looks like.

<a href="http://www.neogeousa.com/kof2k1/kof.html" target="_blank">http://www.neogeousa.com/kof2k1/kof.html</a>

This cart is big, and as such needed extra boards to take the extended memory, notice how the bootlegger in these pictures tried to black out the silver EPROM window to make them look real... ok he didn't try that hard

-Nick

[ May 20, 2002: Message edited by: nruva ]