- Joined
- Feb 27, 2004
- Posts
- 3,250
Hi everybody (hi Dr. Nick!)
I was always wondering about the japanese MVS kit labels format (and possible connection with the AES ones) ,finally had a little time to focus on it, and I would share some thought.
In a previous thread http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182071 member Kiel posted a pic of his AES Samurai Spirits, which seemed to many, just a AES with a MVS box label, instead of the regular sticker.
At that time I thought that too, as the two labels indeed where so similar in shape, and at the beginning when the AES-MVS shells were created (1990) the rental market was planned at the same time of the arcade one, so nothing strange in a similar format for the two labels.
Anyway, thanks to Kiel who sent me some more pics of his game, I made a comparison with some of the japanese MVS kit i have:
a regular AES one, and of course Kiel one.
I decided (finally) to rise my ironbutt, and then check the measures, with a little surprise:
a full MVS label is taller than an AES one (OK, we knew and scissors are welcome), but the black area is shorter (!).
the width is also different, as the AES one is larger by ~3mm.
So, I do not think Kiel (or other memeber who claim to have games like riding hero, labeled this way) owns a fake labeled game, as it doesn't make sense to me, but more an obscure *third* labeling format.
Here you can see that the black area cover exactly the sticker spot, instead of being short, but more, it has also copyright informations on bottom-left:
while MVS labels brings that kind of info *usually* on the white stripe:
and nothing on the black area's corners
I say usually, as 3dParty labels used that corner for copyright indeed or other codes, but I'm trying to understand SNK format...
.... but this is probably random, period-related.
Using my (few) japanese SNK-non3d parties- MVS stuff to make this comparison (in this case Kof98 and RealBoutSP) is of course quite speculative, so if anybody wants to contribute posting pictures of japanese *box* labels it's sure welcome, especially the Samurai Spirits one, or the very first games like NAM!
In the end:
- I think that MVS japanese box stickers where not made with an AES cart in mind from the beginning, even in earlier rental period, while extremely similar (*similar* width but different high).
Any arrangement needed a cut of the sticker, leading anyway to a sort of mismatch once applied on an AES: too much white part with "half text", or too much plastic uncovered.
No straight swapping then.
-Maybe thinking to some sort of prototype is too much IMO (why just the sticker…with complete definitive artset!?) maybe Kiel cart was some of promo like suggested by someone, honestly dunno, but as it seems to be not the only one, for games really cheap afterall, maybe it's a third type sticker for promo-like purpouses, but the NGM-045 code is definitively a MVS code, in an AES shell, with regular insert and manual.
-A fact is that the white part of the MVS box sticker report the *foreign* title of the game. Except for the MVS games unreleased outside Japan (ie NeoBomberman), this is quite a rule, with exceptions, making extremely difficult to catalog titles (and NGM-serials*), only some massive picture gathering could lead to a rule:
*Ie this FHD label, (DEM-003=Data_East_Mvs n.3, right after Miracle Adventure and FlyingPowDisc) with a white part still reporting japanese/romaji "FHD" title:
but with clearly visible under, a first sticker (common relabeling procedure already seen in AES/MVS stocks) but with "Karnow Revenge" (!) title…
-That kind of boxes/labels are *really* rare, places like G-Front or y-auctions can just confirm how japaneses trashed all *unnecessary* things due space-saving policy…. a catalog project could at least preserve a part of neo history from the void and push the whole NGM/NGH mapping thing a step forward.
I was always wondering about the japanese MVS kit labels format (and possible connection with the AES ones) ,finally had a little time to focus on it, and I would share some thought.
In a previous thread http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182071 member Kiel posted a pic of his AES Samurai Spirits, which seemed to many, just a AES with a MVS box label, instead of the regular sticker.
At that time I thought that too, as the two labels indeed where so similar in shape, and at the beginning when the AES-MVS shells were created (1990) the rental market was planned at the same time of the arcade one, so nothing strange in a similar format for the two labels.
Anyway, thanks to Kiel who sent me some more pics of his game, I made a comparison with some of the japanese MVS kit i have:
a regular AES one, and of course Kiel one.
I decided (finally) to rise my ironbutt, and then check the measures, with a little surprise:
a full MVS label is taller than an AES one (OK, we knew and scissors are welcome), but the black area is shorter (!).
the width is also different, as the AES one is larger by ~3mm.
So, I do not think Kiel (or other memeber who claim to have games like riding hero, labeled this way) owns a fake labeled game, as it doesn't make sense to me, but more an obscure *third* labeling format.
Here you can see that the black area cover exactly the sticker spot, instead of being short, but more, it has also copyright informations on bottom-left:
while MVS labels brings that kind of info *usually* on the white stripe:
and nothing on the black area's corners
I say usually, as 3dParty labels used that corner for copyright indeed or other codes, but I'm trying to understand SNK format...
.... but this is probably random, period-related.
Using my (few) japanese SNK-non3d parties- MVS stuff to make this comparison (in this case Kof98 and RealBoutSP) is of course quite speculative, so if anybody wants to contribute posting pictures of japanese *box* labels it's sure welcome, especially the Samurai Spirits one, or the very first games like NAM!
In the end:
- I think that MVS japanese box stickers where not made with an AES cart in mind from the beginning, even in earlier rental period, while extremely similar (*similar* width but different high).
Any arrangement needed a cut of the sticker, leading anyway to a sort of mismatch once applied on an AES: too much white part with "half text", or too much plastic uncovered.
No straight swapping then.
-Maybe thinking to some sort of prototype is too much IMO (why just the sticker…with complete definitive artset!?) maybe Kiel cart was some of promo like suggested by someone, honestly dunno, but as it seems to be not the only one, for games really cheap afterall, maybe it's a third type sticker for promo-like purpouses, but the NGM-045 code is definitively a MVS code, in an AES shell, with regular insert and manual.
-A fact is that the white part of the MVS box sticker report the *foreign* title of the game. Except for the MVS games unreleased outside Japan (ie NeoBomberman), this is quite a rule, with exceptions, making extremely difficult to catalog titles (and NGM-serials*), only some massive picture gathering could lead to a rule:
*Ie this FHD label, (DEM-003=Data_East_Mvs n.3, right after Miracle Adventure and FlyingPowDisc) with a white part still reporting japanese/romaji "FHD" title:
but with clearly visible under, a first sticker (common relabeling procedure already seen in AES/MVS stocks) but with "Karnow Revenge" (!) title…
-That kind of boxes/labels are *really* rare, places like G-Front or y-auctions can just confirm how japaneses trashed all *unnecessary* things due space-saving policy…. a catalog project could at least preserve a part of neo history from the void and push the whole NGM/NGH mapping thing a step forward.
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