117 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
117 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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Guerilla Video Gaming
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By Craig E. Engler
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(Author's Note: The following information was provided in a large part from a source within the video game industry who
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chooses to remain anonymous. None of the information has been verified, and I myself have never seen one of these
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systems and do not know anyone who has obtained one. The legality of these "back up" systems is also a gray area.
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Neither I nor the publisher of Zapp! are trying to promote these systems in any way. This article is simply meant to
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provide a closer look at some "underground" technology that is a source of constant rumors in video game circles
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everywhere.)
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Anyone who owns a video game system has heard the rumors: There's a 100 in one gamepak available in Taiwan...
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There's a console that's a SNES, Genny and Turbo all in one, over in Europe... In Japan there's a device that will allow
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you to alter your
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gamepaks... In the U.S., the kid next door has a system that will let you copy your carts...
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All of this technology has always flourished in the video game underground, and some of it has even slipped
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across the line from illegal rumors to legal hardware. For instance, three years ago people were smuggling Game
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Genies for the NES across the border from Canada because Galoob wasn't able to sell their product in the U.S.
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Nintendo had a court order prohibiting the sale of Game Genies because they claimed the device impinged on their
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rights. Recently Galoob won the court battle and now Game Genies are available throughout the country. That decision
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paved the way for other systems such as the Game Action Replay for the Sega Genesis, and now similar devices are
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available at the local Toys R Us or Software, Etc.
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However, other technology remains underground, available only through overseas vendors or on the gray market.
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One of the systems that has been causing a lot of rumors lately is the Super Magicom, a device that will let you copy
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game carts onto regular computer disks. Using the system you can play the games from just the disk, so it's possible
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to "pirate" carts even though the code is literally etched in plastic. The advantages of such a system are obvious. You
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can copy games you rent or borrow from friends, and although that is clearly illegal, with carts costing anywhere from
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a $20 Genny special to a 250 Neo Geo game, the idea is certainly tempting to some. Also, though pirates it's possible
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to get a hold of games before they're released (and at a substantially reduced price), or to get the
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Japanese version long before it's ported over to U.S. systems.
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The big disadvantage with game copiers is that if their use becomes widespread, it will certainly drive cart prices
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up to phenomenal heights as companies seek to recoup losses suffered through piracy. Copiers could easily destroy
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the industry itself if pirating gets out of hand, because even though companies are gouging consumers now with game
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prices, they will have to up costs to continue profit margins if their games can be handed from player to player with no
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money being paid out.
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Whether these copying systems are legal (or even ethical), the fact remains that they exist. It's even getting
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easier to purchase game copiers. Within the span of one or two weeks it was possible to obtain the number of four
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vendors that claimed to carry one or more copying machines, and that with only casual inquiries. Unfortunately, all the
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vendors were from outside of the U.S. and it was never confirmed if they were able to produce the systems in question.
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There was a great deal of variety in the offerings though, and it turns out the Super Magicom is only one of many game
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copiers in existence.
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The Super Magicom itself is designed solely for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. For about $300 you
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can reportedly get the base unit which will copy games up to eight megs, excluding gamepaks with battery back ups.
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For $400 the Super Magicom comes in a configuration which will allow you to copy 16 meg carts. The second
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system is the Super Magic Drive, which is a Super Magicom designed for the Genesis. Again, the two models available
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are the $300 version which will copy carts up to eight megs, and the $400 which will copy 16 meg carts.
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The third system is the most interesting, versatile and, of course, expensive. It's the Multi Game Doctor II which
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has a base price of $200. For the money you'll get a drive and a cartridge slot. The back up unit costs an additional
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$100. What you'll end up with is a system that reportedly looks like a box with ports for each type of cartridge. There's
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also an attachment that will let you hook up the unit to a personal computer and allow you to change parameters such
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as extra lives, energy, etc. How this supposedly works is you load up one or two Ramcards (the former for eight meg
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carts and the latter for 16 meg games) with the game from the disks, then you place the Ramcards in an adapter for
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whichever system you want to use it on.
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Each adapter is sold separately, and they range in price from $30 to $100. With a full system you should be
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able to copy games for the SNES, Genny, PC Engine (Turobgrafx), GameBoy or Game Gear. The total cost would end
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up somewhere around $1,000 plus the mark up from your retailer/pirate. The manufacturer is also rumored to be
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releasing an adapter for the Neo Geo system. The Multi Game Doctor II can be easily customized for your game system
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or systems, and once the main components are bought the add ons won't hurt your budget so much.
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A fourth system which has also been rumored is the Game Hunter. This system has been offered for about
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$500 and supposedly will copy games for both the SNES and the Genny, handling carts up to 16 megs. It has a
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built-in operating system for formatting disks along with an on-screen menu system.
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The list doesn't stop there, and rumor has it that there are several more game copiers available for almost every
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video game system. With little searching it seems
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it's easy to turn up someone or some company willing to sell these devices, although whether or not they can produce
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what they're offering is a different story. For now, the game copiers are more rumor than fact in most places, and if they
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do come into widespread use it's fairly easy for companies to protect their carts from piracy. Chances are you won't
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be in a position to pick a copier up anytime soon, but it does make gaming a little more interesting knowing.
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Craig E. Engler
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