Interesting question. I was wondering a similar thing with N64 games. As you know there are a couple, such as Mario 64 and Oot that had legit Taiwan version releases in different boxes and with unique Taiwan codes. Then you've got a release like F-Zero X, where the box is the same, but they just put a big white sticker on the back which has the japanese code and another separate code NUS-ROC (see below). I haven't checked if the game on the inside has the new code or not, I'll look later when I get home. Then you have even more games which were imported independently and never had a legit Taiwanese release.
My feelings, I guess, are if it has a new code, either on the box or the cart, then it counts as a separate release. If it doesn't, and just has an import sticker placed on it by an importer (not the manufacturer) then it should be considered the same as the original version.
As far as I'm aware, I haven't seen anymore stickers like that, but most of the boxed games I've got so far are 3rd party. This looks like an official Nintendo procedure, so I would expect it mainly on 1st party titles. I will do some more rooting around at home and see if I can see anything on any of my other boxes!
Very possible there were two channels of games into the country, officially sanctioned and independently imported (as well as unofficially reproduced, of course!). I would say it is definitely worth trying to keep track of the former, not necessarily the latter.
Only problem is that there may be some games with absolutely tiny numbers of official imports, if it was just a sticker on a box... They could just slap a sticker on 50 copies and send them over and we'd never find them... Still, a fun hunt at least!
Here is some follow up on the F zero X: I opened the box and inspected the cart, and as I expected there is nothing unique about it to set it apart from the Japanese release. No codes, no stickers, and the back sticker is the normal Japanese one (unlike the other Taiwanese releases with Chinese backs, like Mario 64).
However, inside the box there was a leaflet in Chinese with the ROC code on it! It seems to be the usual safety precautions etc. but the inclusion of this pretty much confirms that this is an official import by Nintendo, and not some 3rd party importer!
I also found a sticker in Chinese on the outside of the box on the front cover... I am unaware if this was from the manufacturer, or put on there by the shop, but it might be something!
Anyway, I will continue my research and report back with any new findings!
Quick update on the white sticker games: checked through every single listing on Taiwan Yahoo for CIB N64 games, and did not see another white sticker at all! All of them were standard Japan boxes, I even saw another F-Zero without the sticker!
I remember talking to a member on here who knew about the white sticker releases... I'll PM them and see if they can shed any more light on this mystery.
No mystery; it says it right there on the round gold sticker on the front of the box: Imported by Nintendo of Taiwan (Phuten), main agent BoYou. Actually it says the opposite, but I think it's obvious that Nintendo was the importer and not the agent.
Same thing on the "proper" Taiwan releases (this time correctly listed, with Nintendo as the importer), with the bonus information that Nintendo was also the distributor:
The precautions booklet you found in your F-Zero X is the same that was included in the proper Taiwan releases.
A lot of Japanese N64 games, 1st and 3rd party, were imported this way (Phuten+BoYou), although most of them have nothing at all, except the small round sticker on the front (and sometimes a larger rectangular silver sticker with some more info), no additional manual, no Chinese precautions booklet, nothing.
No mystery; it says it right there on the round gold sticker on the front of the box: Imported by Nintendo of Taiwan (Phuten), main agent BoYou. Actually it says the opposite, but I think it's obvious that Nintendo was the importer and not the agent.
Same thing on the "proper" Taiwan releases (this time correctly listed, with Nintendo as the importer), with the bonus information that Nintendo was also the distributor:
The precautions booklet you found in your F-Zero X is the same that was included in the proper Taiwan releases.
A lot of Japanese N64 games, 1st and 3rd party, were imported this way (Phuten+BoYou), although most of them have nothing at all, except the small round sticker on the front (and sometimes a larger rectangular silver sticker with some more info), no additional manual, no Chinese precautions booklet, nothing.
OK cool, so you are saying that the gold sticker IS a legit Nintendo thing then! I did see a couple more of these stickers on a few games during my internet search, and I also saw a few of these blue stickers with pikachu on them as well. Maybe those stickers are another version of the gold one.
Still, begs the question, why did I not see any more big white back sticker examples? Did they just stop bothering with that, and not even bother with the precautions either? And I also saw the vast majority without even the gold stickers too... Probably importing directly from Nintendo was more expensive than dealing with a Japanese or other distributor, so many Taiwanese stores just went their own way with it, I guess.
The Pikachu sticker says "Original import (from Japan), distributed by Nintendo Phuten", so it seems to be at a later time when BoYou was not involved anymore. Some checking on which games it is found will help to confirm that it came after the gold sticker. There's also a silver variant of the gold sticker, with different text colour, but the text itself is exactly the same.
Not sure why only F-Zero X has a white sticker with precautions booklet. I guess it was after the proper releases, at the early stages of the sticker-variants, so it got an additional sticker that had little additional value over the round one. Since it says basically the same thing, it was quickly dropped. Small round sticker also cheaper, and more visible on the front, although smaller.
Thanks for your input Tyree! I remember now it was you I was talking to before about these releases! I am totally gonna be on the hunt for the big white sticker games from now on, such a cool little window on Taiwan/Nintendo history.
(P.s. Still got that HK space adventure, you still got first refusal buddy!)
I think the "Distributed exclusively by Nintendo" on the Taiwan releases is wrong, since it contradicts the Chinese markings just next to it. It is probably a leftover from the US boxes they are based on.
After going through several press releases and articles about Nintendo of Taiwan and BoYou:
-Nintendo of Taiwan (Nintendo Phuten) was Nintendo of Japan's local branch in Taiwan. It imported the stuff.
-BoYou was a separate company, set up in 1987, and acted as the sole agent/distributor of the stuff. It also helped crack down on piracy, and additionally was also exporting stuff to South America (maybe in an effort to counter pirated stuff that was being sent from Taiwan to South America... or maybe just the opposite, they were selling pirate stuff themselves under the table while cracking down on pirate stuff more publicly).
The general manager of Phuten and BoYou was the same person (the woman that "Of games" mentions in this thread). She had been selling Nintendo stuff in Taiwan with Nintendo's knowledge and permission since 1981, so in 1987 BoYou was created to take care of official distribution in Taiwan. The woman handling BoYou was also made general manager of Phuten, but according to her own words, Phuten was a "paper company" doing nothing, and it was all handled by BoYou.
Comments
My feelings, I guess, are if it has a new code, either on the box or the cart, then it counts as a separate release. If it doesn't, and just has an import sticker placed on it by an importer (not the manufacturer) then it should be considered the same as the original version.
Very possible there were two channels of games into the country, officially sanctioned and independently imported (as well as unofficially reproduced, of course!). I would say it is definitely worth trying to keep track of the former, not necessarily the latter.
Only problem is that there may be some games with absolutely tiny numbers of official imports, if it was just a sticker on a box... They could just slap a sticker on 50 copies and send them over and we'd never find them... Still, a fun hunt at least!
However, inside the box there was a leaflet in Chinese with the ROC code on it! It seems to be the usual safety precautions etc. but the inclusion of this pretty much confirms that this is an official import by Nintendo, and not some 3rd party importer!
I also found a sticker in Chinese on the outside of the box on the front cover... I am unaware if this was from the manufacturer, or put on there by the shop, but it might be something!
Anyway, I will continue my research and report back with any new findings!
Now that I think about it, it was a single woman doing it? I don't know, it doesn't really matter, I just wanted to know if Mani was involved.
I do need to send some info over to you though since Mani refuses to speak to me, probably because I'm a foreigner; maybe you'll have more luck.
I remember talking to a member on here who knew about the white sticker releases... I'll PM them and see if they can shed any more light on this mystery.
Same thing on the "proper" Taiwan releases (this time correctly listed, with Nintendo as the importer), with the bonus information that Nintendo was also the distributor:
The precautions booklet you found in your F-Zero X is the same that was included in the proper Taiwan releases.
A lot of Japanese N64 games, 1st and 3rd party, were imported this way (Phuten+BoYou), although most of them have nothing at all, except the small round sticker on the front (and sometimes a larger rectangular silver sticker with some more info), no additional manual, no Chinese precautions booklet, nothing.
No mystery; it says it right there on the round gold sticker on the front of the box: Imported by Nintendo of Taiwan (Phuten), main agent BoYou. Actually it says the opposite, but I think it's obvious that Nintendo was the importer and not the agent.
Same thing on the "proper" Taiwan releases (this time correctly listed, with Nintendo as the importer), with the bonus information that Nintendo was also the distributor:
The precautions booklet you found in your F-Zero X is the same that was included in the proper Taiwan releases.
A lot of Japanese N64 games, 1st and 3rd party, were imported this way (Phuten+BoYou), although most of them have nothing at all, except the small round sticker on the front (and sometimes a larger rectangular silver sticker with some more info), no additional manual, no Chinese precautions booklet, nothing.
OK cool, so you are saying that the gold sticker IS a legit Nintendo thing then! I did see a couple more of these stickers on a few games during my internet search, and I also saw a few of these blue stickers with pikachu on them as well. Maybe those stickers are another version of the gold one.
Still, begs the question, why did I not see any more big white back sticker examples? Did they just stop bothering with that, and not even bother with the precautions either? And I also saw the vast majority without even the gold stickers too... Probably importing directly from Nintendo was more expensive than dealing with a Japanese or other distributor, so many Taiwanese stores just went their own way with it, I guess.
Not sure why only F-Zero X has a white sticker with precautions booklet. I guess it was after the proper releases, at the early stages of the sticker-variants, so it got an additional sticker that had little additional value over the round one. Since it says basically the same thing, it was quickly dropped. Small round sticker also cheaper, and more visible on the front, although smaller.
(P.s. Still got that HK space adventure, you still got first refusal buddy!)
After going through several press releases and articles about Nintendo of Taiwan and BoYou:
-Nintendo of Taiwan (Nintendo Phuten) was Nintendo of Japan's local branch in Taiwan. It imported the stuff.
-BoYou was a separate company, set up in 1987, and acted as the sole agent/distributor of the stuff. It also helped crack down on piracy, and additionally was also exporting stuff to South America (maybe in an effort to counter pirated stuff that was being sent from Taiwan to South America... or maybe just the opposite, they were selling pirate stuff themselves under the table while cracking down on pirate stuff more publicly).
The general manager of Phuten and BoYou was the same person (the woman that "Of games" mentions in this thread). She had been selling Nintendo stuff in Taiwan with Nintendo's knowledge and permission since 1981, so in 1987 BoYou was created to take care of official distribution in Taiwan. The woman handling BoYou was also made general manager of Phuten, but according to her own words, Phuten was a "paper company" doing nothing, and it was all handled by BoYou.
interview of BoYou's general manager
http://www.taiwanpage.com.tw/column_view.cfm?id=75
South African version NES games are just Hong Kong version games with stickers placed on top.
There were South African NES games?!