~ Debunking the Asian Bootleg theory
I
originally bought an Asian CIB copy of
Sunsoft's Batman for the Sega
Mega
Drive
in
the late 90's to replace my original
copy which I imported back in August
1990. I know this date is correct
because I still have the
receipt
(click)
I owned the US copy of Batman and had
little reason to play this one so I had
set it up on my shelf with my other Mega
Drive games and there it stayed for
several years. It wasn't until I was
snapping and sharing a picture of it on
Facebook that I noticed it didn't match
the other copy of Batman (Mega Drive)
and seeing the familiar blocky style
Sunsoft cartridge casing.
I thought it may have been a Chinese
knock-off, but I had my doubts since
I've seen many Chinese bootlegs over the
years and none of them came with perfect
manuals, boxes (especially a custom made
Sunsoft "mini" clam shell style box),
and even a Sunsoft/BATMAN specific
warranty card.
Click for larger resolution
Here
is my Asian Batman cartridge which was
purchased as brand new with the case,
insert, instructions,
warranty card, all identical to the
Japanese version,
but with a much different looking
cartridge shell and label.
If you've browsed my
website
you will realize that I always try
to scan either the cover or insert of
each and every game I own.
I have well over 4,000 scans on my site
so a fake insert or reprint would be
instantly obvious to me.
Even the best Chinese bootleg insert is
going to look slightly worse than the
original in which it was copied from,
but this as you will see, is 100%
identical to the Japanese MD version.
But as you can see from these 400dpi
scans they are exactly the same quality!
(Asian MD insert)
VS
(Japanese MD
insert)
The owner of Retro Megabit
(https://retromegabit.com/tag/sunsoft/)
showed off his
identical Asian copy which he also
thought was a bootleg copy as well.
Click for larger resolution image ~
Image courtesy of
Retromegabit.com
I've actually seen multiple copies like
this which are identical to mine. He has
this to say about his Asian Batman:
"At
first I thought it might be a knock-off
but someone told me there were many
localized version of games for Asian
markets
(like Hong Kong) that were in English
and came in the standard cartridge
case."
"For a time I wondered if this one was a
knock-off. But I’ve seen been told that
it was common for some releases to
receive changes for a particular region.
This particular Batman is likely
regionalized for Asia market and has a
different plastic cartridge compared to
the Japanese release"
Some other testimonials to support to my
theory that this is in fact an
alternative version made specifically
for the Asian market and NOT a bootleg:
J.V.
"Back
in the 90s I picked up quite a few MD
boots in Asia, they almost never came
with any kind of manual just the case
and cart. I believe Batman pirates just
came in a normal sized snaplock case."
Me...
Here is an example of a common Batman
Mega Drive Chinese bootleg. It's
in a normal sized Mega Drive case and
with no manual.
For the Asian Batman MD cart that I had
bought to not only come in the exact
same snapcase, as well as a perfect
manual and warranty card would be
unrealistic to believe a Chinese
bootlegger would, or even could
replicate these things so perfectly!
Click for larger resolution image ~
Image courtesy of eBay
R.C.
"In
the 90's there were bootlegs for popular
games made by the Chinese. I remember
the Slam Dunk tv animation game was one
of them. My friend even gave me one as a
gift, and it came with manual and box
everything. The only way to tell the
difference is the paper that they used
for the manuals. It was slightly
thicker."
Me...
So here is the mini manual to Batman
from the Asian MD release. It may be
hard to tell from a picture, but the
paper is the exact same semi-gloss
quality paper and matches the other
Japanese version of Batman 1:1. There is
no doubt in my mind that it is 100%
authentic and not a bootleg.
Click for larger resolution image
Also, when is the last time you've seen
an Asian Mega Drive bootleg come with a
warranty card? Never.. that's when!
T.D.
"With
that white/green board, def. not
genuine. If look inside you will find
no chips just a black spot inside. (
a quick weight check might prove it ). "
Me...
While it is true that a majority of
Japanese Mega Drive chip boards are
brown, it's not that cut & dry. I've
seen some which are white (Such as with
Rainbow Islands
Extra) so to see one
which is green is not really throwing
off any flags IMO.
Here is the chip board found inside of
the Asian Batman cartridge.
Click for larger resolution image
Here
is the "Black spot" which T.D. was
talking about, but as you can see by the
picture above that it's definitely not
that.
It's nearly identical to the 1st Party
Sega chip on the right.
Click for larger resolution image
Then
you have the weight. I not only weighed
the cartridge, but also, the case,
insert, and manual, and it checks out.
Both the Japanese as well as the Asian
Mini snapcases + inserts weight exactly
2.6oz
/ Case + manual =
2.9oz
/ Case + manual + cart =
4.7oz
Picture proof aside, common sense always
tells the truth. So here are some
reasons why this is not a bootleg.
1.
Batman - Mega Drive in the 90's was dirt
cheap. Many copies could be purchased
for under $10.
2.
Asian knock offs don't have any reason
to make a 1:1 perfect copy of anything.
There was no copyright law in the 90's,
and I'm not even sure there are any now,
or at least I don't think they take them
serious.
3.
To think they would take the trouble to
match the same paper grade and weight on
both the insert as well as the manual is
absurd.
4.
To include a perfect Sunsoft / Batman
warranty, to design perfect "Sunsoft
Mini Snapcases" just to make perfect
bootleg copies for the few Sunsoft games
that utilize them is silly.
Au... (Long time eBay seller [17+ years]
with 100% positive feedback,
specializing in import video games).
"[I've]
never come across the Asian variant you
have and I'd likely have guessed it to
be a bootleg too, though nobody would
ever go through the effort of making
such good replica cases, manual and
warranty card so don't think that's the
case either. Repros are always easy
to pick out because they never match up
quality wise.
In Taiwan, for the SFC, from time to
time you'll come across what looks like
bootleg Rockman X3 games. The box,
manual, and case are all definitely
reproductions but the actual inner PCB
is the proper North American Mega Man X3
board. Likely they couldn't meet demand
or some odd reason they did it. Also,
there is a Taiwan variant SFC system
that everything looks identical other
than being in Chinese but if you
actually open up the system, there's no
Nintendo branding on the inner boards
and chips like the Batman cartridge you
have, so clearly Nintendo and Sega at
time did make odd variants."
Below you will find more pictures
comparing both the Japanese and Asian
Mega Drive versions of Batman.
-Matt
