A few questions about prototypes.

[Balloon Fight]

It has finally happened... i have the desire to collect prototypes. It really hit home when i was trying to get some on ebay a couple days ago and lost.

Anyway here are my questions about protos, since im a newb at them.

1. What are EProms, and tkEproms (did i get that right)
2. Are lab loaners just the games given to magazines to review?
3. How do you dump a rom.
4. How do distinguish a real prototype from a fake? Pictures would be appreciated.

Anything else added would be great that i would need to know. Thanks!

[DogP]

It has finally happened... i have the desire to collect prototypes. It really hit home when i was trying to get some on ebay a couple days ago and lost.

Anyway here are my questions about protos, since im a newb at them.

1. What are EProms, and tkEproms (did i get that right)
2. Are lab loaners just the games given to magazines to review?
3. How do you dump a rom.
4. How do distinguish a real prototype from a fake? Pictures would be appreciated.

Anything else added would be great that i would need to know. Thanks!

EPROMs are just programmable chips that are used in protos many times because they can be used like a normal mask ROM, but they are erasable and reprogrammable with fairly cheap equipment, and fairly easily, so it's great for testing out unfinished versions on real hardware. TKEPROM's are completely different, that's the name of a board for NES that uses EPROMs.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that lab loaners are just like you said... final to near final version to give out to people to look over for revew.

Dumping a ROM can be done a couple different ways... the one way, and IMO the easiest way, is to just pull the EPROMs, stick them in an EPROM programmer, and just read the chips like they were meant to be, just as data on a chip.

The other way to dump a ROM, and the harder/more complex way, is to read the chips through the edge, like the system would read them... the problem with that is that in most carts, the chips aren't connected directly to the edge, so you need something that will drive the MMC chips (allows larger chips than what is natively available on the system), and read that to a file... then you also need to make a connector that will allow you to plug the cart into it.

The reason you'd dump through the edge instead of pulling chips would be if the chips are inside the cartridge and you don't want to open the cart up (because you'd break a sticker or something), if the chips were soldered in, or for some reason if you didn't feel comfortable pulling a chip out of it's socket.

Oh... and how to spot a fake... just look for the normal boards that were commonly used in prototypes... if it's on a Mario Bros board, with an EPROM hand soldered where there used to be a mask ROM, and some pins are bent out with wires manually soldered to the pins... odds are it's a fake. Also, you should ask around for as much info on the proto you plan on buying, for details on what a real one should have, and what it shouldn't (specific to that cart). Also, you should know if it's a non-dumped proto, odds are better that it's real than if the ROM is floating around on the internet somehwhere and anyone has access to make a fake. And of course, check the credibility of the seller... if it's someone that has had ties with video game developers in the past, sold a few protos, lots of happy customers, they're probably more credible than some guy on ebay that said he found it at a garage sale.

There's a lot more info than that, but I hope that helped you a little .

DogP

[Balloon Fight]

Thanks DogP that did help, i just have one more request. If anyone has any pictures on a fake NES or any Atari Proto compared to a real one that would be great.