Is my Garou: Mark of the Wolves cart a bootleg?

Hey guys, first thread I've started in almost 2 years. Had to quit the video game hobby for awhile, but I've got a good job now so I can afford it again.

I just got a new board for my Neo Geo MVS cab, nice 4 slot, so now I don't got to deal with my flukey 1 slot that I had to prop up on cd cases to get to work right. I also bought a cart of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, but it looks suspiciously bootleg, wanted to get some member opinions. It seems supsiciously short of chips on the boards, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

Take a look at these images and let me know your opinions. Thanks!

 

That looks very boot due to the EPROM on the board. This is what all the ones I have seen look like.....

 

Can you at least open it up and take a picture of the PCB? EPROMs are a good indicator, but not perfect since many games are updated with new EPROMs. That said, I've never seen an legit board with that color soldermask before, or so many SOIC chips, but the silkscreen looks like it could be official.

The case/label doesn't look official to me, but I don't know when SNK started doing clear/colored cases. So many people swap their cases/labels for replacements that they're not a good indicator anyway.

 

Ill open the cart up tomorrow and post more pics. Thanks for the posts up till now, you've at this point confirmed my fears.

 

neo-geo.com has a section on their forums called something like "is it a boot or not?". You could post there too and ask their opinion; i'd imagine you can find more neo freaks there.

 

Opened the cart up and took a picture of the boards/chips. The lack of chips and the two windowed chips make me think its a bootleg. Let me know what you guys think, I'll also post over at neo-geo.com as per your advice.

 

Definitely a bootleg, but the 2 criteria you listed "lack of chips" and "windowed chips" are also present on original boards.

 

For future reference here are indicators of an original cart:

-SNK logo
-Green soldermask
-either entirely discrete TTL chips OR SNK ASIC, only certain (1998+) protected games may have a CPLD.
-Game must have some original Mask ROM (DIP chip, no windows)
-Game may never have FlashROM (so never any surface mount ROMs)

 

Well thanks for the info guys, just sucks that I got stuck with a bootleg. With bootlegs is there any functionality difference or do they usually play and work just like the real thing?

 

Usually they play exactly the same but it's always possible for the bootleg's ROMs to be copied and/or decrypted incorrectly.

 

Well at least I can play the game I guess. I haven't found any bugs in it so far, all the sprites and animations seem fine.

This whole thing made me curious so I started pouring through my Neo Geo collection. Whaddya know? I found another bootleg in there, my Waku Waku 7 cart. Doesn't really suprise me though, from what I've heard, Waku Waku 7 carts are almost always bootlegs for some reason. Oh well, I've never had a problem with it and I've had it for years.

 

Boot
Even the label is completly fake.

99% of Garou MotW boots are from the proto version which doesnt have any ending sequences.

 

Man, bootleg stuff just makes me cringe....just look at those pics! It always sucks to buy something and it turns out its fake.

 

As said before I've never seen Garou in anything apart from that greeny blue cartridge case, so I guessed it was a boot...

I normally buy MVS carts from G-Front in Akihabara as they are at reasonable prices, are originals and come with gubbins (sometimes originals).

 

I didn't really think anything of the label, I've made my own before to replace really beat up ones. I set the level to 1 on my board last night and beat the game, and amazingly I get the ending sequences.

I've bought from Southtown Homebrew before, http://southtown-homebrew.com. They seem to sell only 100% real carts at good prices, plus they include a shockbox with a really high quality insert with your purchase. They don't have a huge selection, but I'd definitely reccomend them.

I hear ya man, it really pisses me off when I get screwed like that. You fork over your hard earned cash only to get something that isn't what you expected. I guess I'm just trying to stay calm about it by saying to myself "At least I can play the game" but it still really sucks.

 

Yes it sucks but you're right, atleast the game plays correctly it seems. Hopefully you didn't pay too much for it. I've only ever bought 2 MVS carts, KoF99 and Metal Slug X. Both are authentic SNK carts. I wouldn't have bought them if they looked suspicious because of the fear of shitty quality. When you go to buy a game you might try looking around in general for pictures of the cartridges. Maybe it would help you determine what the real ones look like. In 1999 I don't think any MVS cartridges came in clear white cases. Black, transparent Blue, solid white, solid green (garou). Those are the colors I've seen that I know are real.

 

Damning MVS bootleggers is pretty stupid since it's really anyone's own fault for buying them. You can always ask a seller to open up the game, and if they won't, don't buy from them...

When you do buy a boot though, another reason to not bitch is because you just bought a game for probably a hell of a lot less than you're supposed to, and that should be a red flag. Lastly, the value of the EPROM/flash in bootlegs is often more than the purchase price!

 

Well, sometimes buying stuff online can lead to boots; I know the cheap price thing is a flag but sometimes you can find legit stuff that isn't boot. Asking the seller questions is the best defense. Where did you get this, lobster?

 

That's a good point, the whole saying if it's too good to be true it probably isn't. I once saw a CPS1 board on EBAY where they took SF2CE or SF2T and pulled all the chips and put EPROMs in it to convert it to Mega Man Power Battle. It was pretty obvious to me when the graphics and sound sample roms aren't mask roms that something is fishy.