What do the numbers stamped on the back of NES carts mean?
I hadn't even noticed that NES carts had small numbers stamped onto the upper left corners of the back label until recently, but I got to wondering what they actually mean (if anything). I apparently was really bored last night and I tried to see if I could find any kind of pattern based on the publisher, date, etc., but from what I can tell they are totally random unless they actually do represent something.
Comments
Originally posted by: Lincoln
Nintendo produced the vast majority of carts even for 3rd party developers, so there's no surprise in the same number showing up on all those titles. Some 3rd parties did make their own carts, with Konami (or Ultra?) being the most prominent. Those carts have "24" printed on the back label rather than being stamped in.
I checked my Konami games and Castlevania and Life Force do have a white 24 printed on the back. Contra, Super C, Simon's Quest, Castlevania III, Gradius and Jackal all have a stamped back. The only Ultra game I have is Metal Gear and it has a stamp as well.
I could be wrong though.
Originally posted by: cradelit
These are the manufacturing facility number.
This.
You need to print an ID on the exact part, not on a back sticker to represent the whole product, since you may replace shells and swap PCBs, and that's what they did, they IDed each part with codes (front shell, back shell, PCB, stickers). PowerPlayers is closer to the truth, since the shell IDs are exactly that. Check all your NES, SNES, GB, N64 shells, they all have separate IDs for front/back shells. I have games in 10+ copies and the shell IDs can vary greatly, which means shells come from different places and different machines and are used "randomly" for the same game, it's not like the whole cartridge is made in a single place at the same time.
So I think the back sticker number is used for something else, maybe to ID the front+back sticker, or to indicate the publisher/company that owns the game software.
Also, the fact that the back sticker number is followed by letters when the game software is a revision (e.g. N64 games with XXA, XXB codes) points to the number being something unrelated to manufacturing facility.
I have yet to find solid proof of what the back sticker number really is. Im waitinf for an employee or ex employee to tell me clearly what that number is. so far it seems the manufacturing story has been put forward as a theory and then repeated ad nauseam so we're not really looking for the answer where it is - at nintendo.
If you look at Wii games, again, you will find a number printed at the back of the inlay, e.g. 41. Again, there is zero need for this to be the manufacturing facility of the whole product, since the inlay, the case, the manuals/leaflets and the disc may come from completely different places.
And since the disc has an IFPI number which identifies the manufacturing plant, that number does not identify the manufacturing facility. It is again most likely related to the inlay itself and/or the company responsible for the game -- or something else.
Originally posted by: austin532
I'd say the letter after the number definitely means the revision as it's been proven time and time again with the OoT carts. SNES and NES carts do this as well. If you have two of the same game one with and one without a letter, open it up and you will see that the one with the letter has a later production date board.
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=156320