I have a couple of SNES/SFC prototypes and I'd like to dump the roms to preserve them. Would someone know the best way/equipment for doing so ? Thanks for your help
Perhaps some of the more obscure copiers have issues, but most of the mainstream ones will work just fine.
I recommend the Retrode. It is easy to use (it mounts the game ROM as a mass storage device), and should work with any game, provided it doesn't have something like the SA-1 chip on it.
The retrode looks awesome !! I think this is exactely what I was looking for. I looked into post 1993 copiers in the past (and I used to own one during the 16bit era) but people have been questioning their reliability... also, it looks like I can buy adapters for the retrode that'd read other system cartridges (I have prototypes for a bunch of different systems) so this device would probably do all of them at once ! Sweet !
No one that has ever used a Copier will tell you something like that. If you buy a good copier (ex: Game Doctor SF6, SF7, or Super Wild Card) it will work just fine. They can't dump "inaccurately". Either it dumps it correctly (which they will if it's a standard cartridge) or it won't. There is no iffy gray zone unless the cartridge is dirty or something which all devices would suffer from. The Retrode is a neat device. But you could get something that doubles as letting you play back the games you dump for less or the same amount of money.
The issues people have with headers and SNES copiers usually have to do with their improper conversions from one format to another, or the complete lack of converting and then wondering why it doesn't work. Copiers like the Super Wild Card DX, Game Doctor SF6 & 7, Pro Fighter, etc will copy your standard games just fine. The only games that problems may arise with are things like SA-1 which I've heard can be dumped with the SWC DX (maybe DX2) if you know what you are doing. But 99% of games don't have any such issues. And again the big plus with a Copier over the Retrode is playback on the real console. And obviously you'll be interested in playing back the set of 1000+ games you "backed up" with the help of the internet I'm sure.
ucon64 can convert all the files anyway, I've dumped over 50 of my carts using my doctor sf3, no issues, all verified ok.
The benefit of the Retrode is that it runs off a USB, and it is actively manufactured and supported. Plus it does both Genesis and SNES, plus other systems with adapters. It is a solid piece of hardware. If you want something to play games as well, I recommend the Mash Mods flash cart/programmer combo. The Mash-Mods programmer works just as well as the Retrode to dump snes games, but only works in Windows/Mac. If you just get the programmer, it is a bit cheaper than the Retrode, but considering that lkermel is in Europe, shipping charges will likely erase that advantage.
I actually live in California, but the Retrode looks like the best alternative for me (despite the shipping cost), especially with the N64/GB/GBC/GBA/A2600 adapter. This way I'll be able to dump a lot of my protos using the same device (shame that they don't have a NES/FC adapter as well, that'd be ace !). I'm personnaly not really interested to play "backed up" roms on the real hardware anyway, I have enough real games to keep me busy for a while...
