MVS and AES Serial Number Quirks

[TheSegaDude]

So I did a search on the forums for 'MVS Serial numbers'.

I started looking because I was curious why some serial numbers on MVS carts were neatly cut out of the label. I read that back in the day some buyers/vendors had a license agreement with SNK not to resell the MVS carts. So that made sense and it was a cool bit of info too.
Is there any other reason why this might have happened?

Is there a way to retrieve the original serial number from a cart? Does anyone know if the serial number is stored on a chip or something? Does something like the UniBIOS have to ability to look up this info (if it exists)?

AES carts don't seem to have any serial numbers on the carts. Do they have serial numbers at all?

I have a few MVS carts with wrecked labels. I was thinking about creating reproductions labels and it would be nice if I could recover the original serial numbers.


I recently purchased a copy of Aero Fighters 2 and it has two different serial numbers.

The cart label has the serial number 03195. In addition to this there are three other stickers on the cart showing the serial number 011381.
These stickers cover the seam of the cart on both the left and right side and the third is on the front of the cart between the vents.
What happened here?

 

[mehguy]

Unless you have the original kit box with the serials still on it, then no, I don't believe there is a way to get back the serials.

 

[Pope Sazae]

First: mehguy change your fucking signature

Second: who cares if the serial number is gone, it means nothing to the game. Just make up whatever number you want and slap it on a repo label

 

[TheSegaDude]

Second: who cares if the serial number is gone, it means nothing to the game. Just make up whatever number you want and slap it on a repo label

Yeah, you're right it doesn't mean anything to the game. But I was just curious to know if the info was still there somewhere.

 

[aha2940]

Yeah, you're right it doesn't mean anything to the game. But I was just curious to know if the info was still there somewhere.

Nope, the serial is nowhere to be found on a cart if you peel it from the label. All carts of a given game have the same exact chips and boards inside, that rules out recovering the serial from the cart itself. Only exception I know to this rule is Knight's Chance (not an official game anyway), which has the serial displayed on the top right corner when you play (very nice touch IMHO).

Regards.

 

[xsq]

I recently purchased a copy of Aero Fighters 2 and it has two different serial numbers.

The cart label has the serial number 03195. In addition to this there are three other stickers on the cart showing the serial number 011381.
These stickers cover the seam of the cart on both the left and right side and the third is on the front of the cart between the vents.
What happened here?

With time bootlegs got better and SNK put some extra effort into tryin to make sure you could tell the originals apart from them. Some games only have one "side sticker" and no serial on the label, some have multiple stickers/serials... it's not consistent, as many things weren't with SNK's releases.

 

[Mercuttio]

I don't think Japanese copies of MVS games even HAVE serials, do they?

 

[xsq]

I don't think Japanese copies of MVS games even HAVE serials, do they?

some do have the "side sticker" I think.

 

[TheSegaDude]

With time bootlegs got better and SNK put some extra effort into tryin to make sure you could tell the originals apart from them. Some games only have one "side sticker" and no serial on the label, some have multiple stickers/serials... it's not consistent, as many things weren't with SNK's releases.

This is OK. I think SNK's inconsistencies could be a positive thing. With all these differences it's easy to let go and just enjoy getting a new cart instead of stressing over details.

 

[TheSegaDude]

Nope, the serial is nowhere to be found on a cart if you peel it from the label. All carts of a given game have the same exact chips and boards inside, that rules out recovering the serial from the cart itself. Only exception I know to this rule is Knight's Chance (not an official game anyway), which has the serial displayed on the top right corner when you play (very nice touch IMHO).

Regards.

You guys are great at sharing the details. Thanks for the replies. I do search before posting but there is a lot of content on this forum! I usually get lost reading about some other interesting thing found in my search that unrelated to my initial thought.

I remember seeing several copies of Knight's Chance going up for sale here recently. I'm still shocked by some Neo Geo prices... I'm must still be acclimatizing to this new hobby.