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Upon opening a copy of Shinobi I found, I discovered the board was short and the chip had a glob top.

Are short boards games old-school pirates or are they later revisions to cut cost?

This isn't the first Game Gear game I opened where I found the board was shorter than normal. These boards don't have Sega stamped on the chip or the board itself.

Below are pics of two copies of Shinobi. The one on the right is the short board.

They each came with a manual. The manuals are different as well. The manual for the short board has a lighter tone cover.

Also the address information is different on the back. The epilepsy warning is missing as well.

The back of both carts don't have any of the Sega patents stamped. This isn't the first time I've seen this. This isn't the first time I've seen Sega published games without the patent info. Do all legit GG carts have the patent info?

The code stamped on the inner surface of each cart is the same.

1.jpg (1.76 MB)

Attachment fairy

2.jpg (1.6 MB)

3.jpg (1.66 MB)

4.jpg (1.23 MB)

5.jpg (1.53 MB)

6.jpg (1.19 MB)

While we don't have much evidence to go on (not many people have opened the carts and documented anything), my feeling is that it is legitimate. The markings on the PCB are consistent with Sega. Can you photograph the other side of the PCB, in case there are more markings on that side?

I suspect the glop may actually be an earlier run, I think the epilepsy warning was a later addition. Manual printing changes are quite common.

All my GG games have globtops in them and they're 100% original. It is done as a cost cutting measure.

Maxim wrote

Can you photograph the other side of the PCB, in case there are more markings on that side?

Because you requested and for the sake of completeness, here is a picture of the back side of the boards. I now see there is Sega printed on the back of the short PCB.

TmEE wrote

All my GG games have globtops in them and they're 100% original. It is done as a cost cutting measure.

I trust you. My thoughts on what pirate carts were like back in the day was dramatically changed after watching a Ni****do press conference from the first E3 in 1995. Someone uploaded a vid on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/Op5EkC7GbxQ?t=1h17m14s

I don't believe I ever saw pirates back then as I purchased games from big stores, but I really doubt the clerks then were savy and opened up each cart they received for trade-in. So when I started seeing these Game Gear carts with no patent info stamped on the back or ones that had the short PCB with no Sega branding, it made me wonder whether these were typical of well-done pirate carts of the day.

Thank you for clarifying this.

PS: The preview window shows the word Nin-tendo (non-hypenated) is censored. Really? Does the mere utterance of their name incite a riot on this board? Don't you think censorship is arcane, born ought of fear and a way to control an ignorant population?

I grew up with Sega and feel like a large percentage of gamers don't appreciate old-school Sega, having never really been exposed to their libraries. I feel this so much that I will step into a conversation to defend their works. I feel this censorship of their rival-now-affiliate ignores a significant portion of game history. It's willful neglect and might sour an easily impressionable person's opinion of big red.

7.jpg (1.4 MB)

Attachment fairy

The board branding with model numbers helps to reinforce the officialness. We can also see that the larger board is single sided whereas the shorter one is double sided, possibly a necessary step to shrink the size.

I had some pirate stuff on GB and the general rule was glop tops and slightly shoddy quality control, so the alignment would be off and the edges not perfectly straight, leading to unreliability. Silver contacts are also more common.

We censor Ni****do as a joke, to remind us of the old petty rivalry. While this is a moderated board, we only do so to keep things civil and relevant, which is hard to automate so we don't.

This was my first experience with this sort of PCB as well, and I emailed the seller about it, before finding this thread. Quite a surprise. Oopsie.

ninja-gaiden-short-pcb.jpg (163.69 KB)

Ninja Gaiden short PCB

gFox wrote

PS: The preview window shows the word Nin-tendo (non-hypenated) is censored. Really? Does the mere utterance of their name incite a riot on this board? Don't you think censorship is arcane, born ought of fear and a way to control an ignorant population?

I grew up with Sega and feel like a large percentage of gamers don't appreciate old-school Sega, having never really been exposed to their libraries. I feel this so much that I will step into a conversation to defend their works. I feel this censorship of their rival-now-affiliate ignores a significant portion of game history. It's willful neglect and might sour an easily impressionable person's opinion of big red.

Haha I believe it's a light hearted attempt at humour.

*Cough But if you feel that this joke has encroached on your civil liberties I can arrange for the site notary to take your complaint.

I remember in the days when Dreamcast was still alive, people "blamed" Sony for killing Sega's console business.
If anything, any sort of childish "blaming" could be at Microsoft. After licensing Windows to be used to some extent in the DC, they announced the Xbox. Simply for being another competitor. If that had been a four-console war, it probably wouldn't have ended well for someone. And it seemed like Sega was struggling the most, after the Saturn, which reportedly resulted in some kind of Japanese developer backlash against the DC when it was announced so soon? I wonder if that was why they decided to go third-party.

(I mean, I know people were making the "Ni****do is going to die soon" predictions for over a decade, but they had their portable domination going for them at least at the time.)

Author	Message
gFox Joined: 14 Jun 2016 Posts: 10	Game Gear games with short PCB Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:55 am
gFox Joined: 14 Jun 2016 Posts: 10	Upon opening a copy of Shinobi I found, I discovered the board was short and the chip had a glob top. Are short boards games old-school pirates or are they later revisions to cut cost? This isn't the first Game Gear game I opened where I found the board was shorter than normal. These boards don't have Sega stamped on the chip or the board itself. Below are pics of two copies of Shinobi. The one on the right is the short board. They each came with a manual. The manuals are different as well. The manual for the short board has a lighter tone cover. Also the address information is different on the back. The epilepsy warning is missing as well. The back of both carts don't have any of the Sega patents stamped. This isn't the first time I've seen this. This isn't the first time I've seen Sega published games without the patent info. Do all legit GG carts have the patent info? The code stamped on the inner surface of each cart is the same. 1.jpg (1.76 MB) Attachment fairy 2.jpg (1.6 MB) 3.jpg (1.66 MB) 4.jpg (1.23 MB) 5.jpg (1.53 MB) 6.jpg (1.19 MB)

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:22 am
	While we don't have much evidence to go on (not many people have opened the carts and documented anything), my feeling is that it is legitimate. The markings on the PCB are consistent with Sega. Can you photograph the other side of the PCB, in case there are more markings on that side? I suspect the glop may actually be an earlier run, I think the epilepsy warning was a later addition. Manual printing changes are quite common.

TmEE Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 853 Location: Estonia, Rapla city	Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:06 am
	All my GG games have globtops in them and they're 100% original. It is done as a cost cutting measure.

gFox Joined: 14 Jun 2016 Posts: 10	Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 3:37 am
gFox Joined: 14 Jun 2016 Posts: 10	Maxim wrote Can you photograph the other side of the PCB, in case there are more markings on that side? Because you requested and for the sake of completeness, here is a picture of the back side of the boards. I now see there is Sega printed on the back of the short PCB. TmEE wrote All my GG games have globtops in them and they're 100% original. It is done as a cost cutting measure. I trust you. My thoughts on what pirate carts were like back in the day was dramatically changed after watching a Ni****do press conference from the first E3 in 1995. Someone uploaded a vid on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Op5EkC7GbxQ?t=1h17m14s I don't believe I ever saw pirates back then as I purchased games from big stores, but I really doubt the clerks then were savy and opened up each cart they received for trade-in. So when I started seeing these Game Gear carts with no patent info stamped on the back or ones that had the short PCB with no Sega branding, it made me wonder whether these were typical of well-done pirate carts of the day. Thank you for clarifying this. PS: The preview window shows the word Nin-tendo (non-hypenated) is censored. Really? Does the mere utterance of their name incite a riot on this board? Don't you think censorship is arcane, born ought of fear and a way to control an ignorant population? I grew up with Sega and feel like a large percentage of gamers don't appreciate old-school Sega, having never really been exposed to their libraries. I feel this so much that I will step into a conversation to defend their works. I feel this censorship of their rival-now-affiliate ignores a significant portion of game history. It's willful neglect and might sour an easily impressionable person's opinion of big red. 7.jpg (1.4 MB) Attachment fairy

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:08 am
	The board branding with model numbers helps to reinforce the officialness. We can also see that the larger board is single sided whereas the shorter one is double sided, possibly a necessary step to shrink the size. I had some pirate stuff on GB and the general rule was glop tops and slightly shoddy quality control, so the alignment would be off and the edges not perfectly straight, leading to unreliability. Silver contacts are also more common. We censor Ni****do as a joke, to remind us of the old petty rivalry. While this is a moderated board, we only do so to keep things civil and relevant, which is hard to automate so we don't.

hadessuk Joined: 26 Jun 2017 Posts: 7	Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:47 am
hadessuk Joined: 26 Jun 2017 Posts: 7	This was my first experience with this sort of PCB as well, and I emailed the seller about it, before finding this thread. Quite a surprise. Oopsie. ninja-gaiden-short-pcb.jpg (163.69 KB) Ninja Gaiden short PCB

asynchronous Joined: 14 Aug 2000 Posts: 742 Location: Adelaide, Australia	Game Gear games with short PCB Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:48 am
	gFox wrote PS: The preview window shows the word Nin-tendo (non-hypenated) is censored. Really? Does the mere utterance of their name incite a riot on this board? Don't you think censorship is arcane, born ought of fear and a way to control an ignorant population? I grew up with Sega and feel like a large percentage of gamers don't appreciate old-school Sega, having never really been exposed to their libraries. I feel this so much that I will step into a conversation to defend their works. I feel this censorship of their rival-now-affiliate ignores a significant portion of game history. It's willful neglect and might sour an easily impressionable person's opinion of big red. Haha I believe it's a light hearted attempt at humour. *Cough But if you feel that this joke has encroached on your civil liberties I can arrange for the site notary to take your complaint.

KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 512	Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:00 pm
KingMike Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Posts: 512	I remember in the days when Dreamcast was still alive, people "blamed" Sony for killing Sega's console business. If anything, any sort of childish "blaming" could be at Microsoft. After licensing Windows to be used to some extent in the DC, they announced the Xbox. Simply for being another competitor. If that had been a four-console war, it probably wouldn't have ended well for someone. And it seemed like Sega was struggling the most, after the Saturn, which reportedly resulted in some kind of Japanese developer backlash against the DC when it was announced so soon? I wonder if that was why they decided to go third-party. (I mean, I know people were making the "Ni****do is going to die soon" predictions for over a decade, but they had their portable domination going for them at least at the time.)

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