I just happened to look on ebay today and found this. I never see DD dev consoles or the blue carts. Wanted to share with you all. Sorry if this is the wrong area to post and or if we're not supposed to post links. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-64...320176?hash=item28182d65b0:g:CNgAAOSwKfVXJqT0
It could also be blank or corrupt. I think it was on Twitter, where LuigiBlood said that that ~5 disks with the "197-09-2401" serial number (the disk in the auction above has this serial number) ended up being empty. At the same time, these serial numbers are not always reliable, so there is a chance that there is some data on it. edit: changed "serials" to "serial numbers"
Um... feel free to correct my ignorance, but why would the serial number reflect the game contained on the disk? It looks more like just a part or manufacturing number for the disks themselves. Since they were presumably distributed to developers, it would be odd for the disks to be labeled at the factory with game-identifying information. Also, the fact that so few games were developed for the 64DD would probably make it likely that a large number of these blue disks were never used in the first place.
The 197-09-2401 serial number on blue 64DD disks was known for being blank according to LuigiBlood. However, since the serial numbers are not always reliable, there is still the chance that the disk above may not be blank. I was writing about whether or not the serial number shows if there is any data at all on the disk, not if it reflects the game contained on the disk.
Weren't these written to by the developers themselves as a way to test their software? Assuming that to be true, they'd all be blank following manufacture until a developer wrote data to them.
The thing about that sequence of serial numbers were those disks had a particular formatting flaw rendering them (mostly) unusable. There was a tool that could make them usable, but so far all the ones that have been found were not reformatted (including my own). There was a full development kit last year--dev drive, pack of five disks, partner64, PC card, cables, the works--sold off a different auction site for less than this. Might as well mention the proto disk here is a relisting: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-64...320023?hash=item3ac5c7f897:g:dk0AAOSwGIRXYYWX They purchased that off eBay for half the price and relisted.
Interesting, so I guess that serial number can help ID a flawed disk. Yup, just like many sellers on ebay seem to be these days, listing random prototype stuff for several hundred dollars when at open auction they'd be very lucky to clear $200 (or heck, some would be lucky to break $100).
