Fake Nintendo 64 games

[LightyKD]

My first batch of repros came in over the past few days! I received the following games.

* Banjo Kazooie
* Conker's Bad Fur Day
* Kirby: The Crystal Shards
* Mario Kart 64
* Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
* Sin and Punishment

Of the six, only Banjo Kazooie needs to be replaced. Banjo will not hold onto its save file after you turn off the system (I tested this on two consoles). So far, less then a week in and the other five seem to be working as needed. For those of you with repros, are your Game Paks still in working order? I would love to talk to other repro owners to get their take on things!

 

[zfreeman]

Banjo Kazooie uses EEPROM to save. Maybe the chip is shot and needs replaced. Unless they somehow patched it to use SRAM. That would require having a battery.

 

[LightyKD]

Banjo Kazooie uses EEPROM to save. Maybe the chip is shot and needs replaced. Unless they somehow patched it to use SRAM. That would require having a battery.

I posted pics of the board on the Reddit N64 page

No CR-2032 here. You can clearly see the spot for one on the back of the board. The seller thought there was a battery inside but I explained to that person that Banjo Kazooie does not use a battery save. I'm still waiting for a reply to my last message. Also my dispute is still open. I hate having one open, especially since the other items are perfectly fine.

 

[zfreeman]

You could try reflowing the solder on that M28C64C-20K6. It might just be a pin not making contact.

 

[LightyKD]

You could try reflowing the solder on that M28C64C-20K6. It might just be a pin not making contact.

LOL my soldering skills are shit. At some point I plan to work on that.

 

[pinbi7]

Metal Jesus Rocks on the subject

 

[LightyKD]

So, here's something funny. I purchased another copy of Banjo Kazooie (also a repro). This new copy wont even initiate the save. I'm waiting on eBay to send my refund but I have a feeling I'll be stuck with two copies of this game. Anyone interested in fumbling with the boards? If anything these repro copies would be good for a speed runner.

I'll be happy to mail to anyone in the US. I'm also thinking $10 for just a board or $10 + a (very) cheap steam key, for the whole cart (gotta recoup the shipping cost lol). Now if you're the soldering type and can figure out how to get these things saving, talk to me lol. I just want a working game. From now on, I think that I'll limit my repros to games that require the Controller Pak. Judging from my repro copy of Mystical Ninja, that should be safe.

I really don't want to judge all repros based on two failed copies of Banjo Kazooie. I have 5 others that are currently working just fine. I also have a copy of DK64 that should be arriving this week and a copy of Wonder Project J2 arriving within the month. I wonder what's so different about Banjo Kazooie. Are these things being made in a rush or is the program they are using to dump the ROM, corrupted in some way?

 

[zfreeman]

They probably rushed it. In this case, it sounds like it doesn't have the correct jumper configuration for saving; two points on the board are not bridged (e.g. 4k EEPROM). The PCBs are one-size-fits-all, so they programmed the games all at once, ignoring differing save types.

You could use a metal marker to bridge the points, but if it's already bridged for the wrong configuration, you would need a soldering iron to unbridge it.

 

[LightyKD]

They probably rushed it. In this case, it sounds like it doesn't have the correct jumper configuration for saving; two points on the board are not bridged (e.g. 4k EEPROM). The PCBs are one-size-fits-all, so they programmed the games all at once, ignoring differing save types.

You could use a metal marker to bridge the points, but if it's already bridged for the wrong configuration, you would need a soldering iron to unbridge it.

I will post a picture of the 2nd board after I get past this eBay dispute issue. Should be within a day or two.

 

[hippy dave]

You could use a metal marker to bridge the points, but if it's already bridged for the wrong configuration, you would need a soldering iron to unbridge it.

Could always go primitive and scrape it with a knife

 

[LightyKD]

As promised, updated pictures of my N64 repro adventure. Both boards are Banjo Kazooie (defective).

AliExpress (Left) / eBay (Right)

And more below...

Spoiler

On another happy note, I received my copy of Donkey Kong 64 today. Also a repro and it came in a grey shell. Luckily I had a yellow shell purchased just for this occasion. With a little hot knife help I was able to get everything looking pretty and my my wife and kid are playing. It also looks as if the seller took the time to test the board's ability to save. There were two files already on the cart when it arrived. After my kid is done playing I'll do a quick check to see if both of our saves are on the cartridge.