KOF 2003 AES JAP real or not?

TLKrauser · Apr 15, 2020

Helle everybody, need help with this KOF 2003 AES game.
What do you think about it? real one?

i have a doubt because of hair on left upper corner at the back insert. in this one you can see a little strand of hair that we do not see on the copies currently on sale on ebay.
Thank you for your help.

https://ibb.co/m07Q41j
https://ibb.co/zsGjfVQ
https://ibb.co/2n0pHGc
https://ibb.co/nzqXVwS
https://ibb.co/ZfhwVzy
https://ibb.co/LpFxPt1
https://ibb.co/1JmM9k5

AND SEE ON EBAY, without strand of hair:

https://ibb.co/QCGfbX2
https://ibb.co/Y2TPSqx

awbacon · Apr 15, 2020

The only way you'll know for certain is opening it up

With that said, SNK was just garbage at uniformly cutting / sticking down stickers. I have inexpensive AES carts that look like an 8 year old tried to line up the cart sticker. Even my Hyper carts have stickers put on them with little to no care.

Is it possible they cut this insert with the extra hair differently? sure. So yeah....just gotta open the cart and check and see. But you have to remember art usually as an overrun on the margins. Extra content that is cut so you aren't either a) precisely cutting or b) leaving white unprinted area visible

Here's a photo of mine. Strand of hair semi visible. I've opened the cart up...stock AF

awbacon · Apr 15, 2020

The white is just a piece of computer paper added in so the insert doesn't fall into the case holes.

I got this from a reputable seller, with board photos, and opened it upon arrival to confirm it was all stock, no hand soldering, etc etc etc

My guess is you are fine, but really you have to inspect the boards

Which is funny because I got pandemic bored and just shot a "how to detect fake AES games" video

awbacon · Apr 15, 2020

For fun...since what else is there to do during a pandemic...I just looked at ten different AES copies of 2003 on ebay.

7 of them had a hair exposed, three didnt.

Trust me...it's a cutting issue. Not saying your cart isn't a boot, but don't worry about the visible hair...you are literally "splitting hairs" :tickled:

TLKrauser · Apr 16, 2020

thanks for your help, actually the cutting was not their best quality at SNK.

yagamikun · Apr 16, 2020

This might also be a quick way to spot check.

Some SNKP PCBs from that era have SNK and Playmore etched on the lower board, on the back side, by the connectors. The MVS Scans of the KOF2K3 have this feature, so I would assume the AES version also has this. (I had a copy of the game WAY back when it first came out). The pictures below are from my AES copy of SVC Chaos which released in that time frame.

Weight is also a good way to spot check - EPROM conversions are typically a little heavier than an authentic cart in my experience, while a reproduction will be noticeably lighter due to hardly any chips being used.

I agree with awbacon, though. I think you're good to go.

wyo · Apr 16, 2020

It's probably real but if you buy it and try to resell in the future, people will assume it's fake. Once an expensive game enters France, it's like the opposite of provenance.

evil wasabi · Apr 16, 2020

wyo said:
It's probably real but if you buy it and try to resell in the future, people will assume it's fake. Once an expensive game enters France, it's like the opposite of provenance.

Pro-tip: don't sell it!

NexusX · Apr 16, 2020

awbacon said:
The only way you'll know for certain is opening it up.

That is about it.

RAZO · Apr 16, 2020

wyo said:
It's probably real but if you buy it and try to resell in the future, people will assume it's fake. Once an expensive game enters France, it's like the opposite of provenance.

Word.

RAZO · Apr 16, 2020

To be honest I never opened up any of my Aes carts. Real Aes games have a particular scent.

wyo · Apr 16, 2020

RAZO said:
To be honest I never opened up any of my Aes carts. Real Aes games have a particular scent.

A true connoisseur!

awbacon · Apr 16, 2020

RAZO said:
To be honest I never opened up any of my Aes carts. Real Aes games have a particular scent.

Right? It’s like some sort of offgassing plastic smell mixed with old 80’s vinyl car seats on a hot summer day.

I have two not legit AES carts. Neo Bomberman conversion and a repro Pulstar I picked up recently knowing full well it’s not real. Both smell totally different than a real cart

awbacon · Apr 16, 2020

yagamikun said:
This might also be a quick way to spot check.

Some SNKP PCBs from that era have SNK and Playmore etched on the lower board, on the back side, by the connectors. The MVS Scans of the KOF2K3 have this feature, so I would assume the AES version also has this. (I had a copy of the game WAY back when it first came out). The pictures below are from my AES copy of SVC Chaos which released in that time frame.

Weight is also a good way to spot check - EPROM conversions are typically a little heavier than an authentic cart in my experience, while a reproduction will be noticeably lighter due to hardly any chips being used.

I agree with awbacon, though. I think you're good to go.

View attachment 56323

View attachment 56324

Yes the AES version has these as well

TheJiggler · Apr 17, 2020

awbacon said:
Right? It’s like some sort of offgassing plastic smell mixed with old 80’s vinyl car seats on a hot summer day.

I have two not legit AES carts. Neo Bomberman conversion and a repro Pulstar I picked up recently knowing full well it’s not real. Both smell totally different than a real cart

Don't forget the slight whiff of aged cigarette smoke residue. I could sniff that all day.

Late · Apr 17, 2020

People convert KoF's (apart from the English 2000 that is)?

wyo · Apr 17, 2020

Late said:
People convert KoF's (apart from the English 2000 that is)?

Unlikely, especially 2003 due to encryption. The others are probably not worth it either since they are relatively cheap. 2003 would likely need to contain newly manufactured PCBs.

awbacon · Apr 17, 2020

lachlan said:
Don't forget the slight whiff of aged cigarette smoke residue. I could sniff that all day.

It smells like “cancer” if cancer had a scent.

wyo · Apr 17, 2020

awbacon said:
It smells like “cancer” if cancer had a scent.

The scent of cancer is the slight whiff of aged cigarette smoke residue. Were you not paying attention to lachlan's evocative imagery?

awbacon · Apr 18, 2020

wyo said:
The scent of cancer is the slight whiff of aged cigarette smoke residue. Were you not paying attention to lachlan's evocative imagery?

I read it lol. But it’s the combined bouquet of stale butts, some “known to the state of California to cause cancer” plastic chemicals, and Pontiac brand Corinthian leather.

wyo · Apr 18, 2020

awbacon said:
I read it lol. But it’s the combined bouquet of stale butts, some “known to the state of California to cause cancer” plastic chemicals, and Pontiac brand Corinthian leather.

Now we're talking!

awbacon · Apr 20, 2020

wyo said:
Now we're talking!

but seriously how weird is it you can smell authenticity on an AES cart? I mean what other platform has that? You can literally take a big snoot of an AES cart and say "nah doesn't smell right"

Bennett · Apr 22, 2020

Well . . . are the contents offset printed or not, start there. Take your loupe and compare an official AES game to a NGDEV AES game. You can easily tell which is which. Digital vs Offset.

yagamikun · Apr 24, 2020

It's so true. My partner thinks I'm weird doing the "smell test."

poulet · May 2, 2020

I think it s a matter of smell.

KOF 2003 AES JAP real or not?

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