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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Episode 31 - White label SNES carts. Are they real? Who made them? Do they taste like candy canes? In this episode, I answer the first two question giving the history of the seldom discussed white label no frills SNES games.
Follow me on twitter to keep up to date on the latest happenings concerning this channel. Also for those post containing the occasional farm animal. / jenovi
-Jenovi
Retro Impressions
Original hardware is always used when capturing console footage.
::::: Hardware Breakdown ::::
The following hardware was used to capture footage for this episode
Super Nintendo
Video was Captured using:
Scart via the Framemeister though the Elgato HD 60
Retro Impressions
-Jenovi
Footage of Pixelvault
/ watchv=xgisl0pkm1w
A quick note. My list of Majesco released games is by no means complete. It also contains an error listing Castlevania 4 twice and under Capcom instead of the correct Konami.
That was intentional.
Had no idea white label variants existed. Love learning new things like this! Great video, man. Keep it up!
Thanks Candi, glad to hear you enjoyed this one.
Whoah! I owned a Majesco re-release of Castlevania IV, though I didn't know it at the time. Though the "production value" of the packaging & manual did make me raise an eyebrow. :D
Learned something new about the SNES today
Nintendo and Sega moved their manufacturing to Mexico as a result of NAFTA. Rather than build their own manufacturing plants, they partnered with Majesco. Majesco was a silent partner producing on contract for both major players. This is why they were already tooled up when they got the rights to publish and re-release games. Some of this is reading between the lines, but you know it’s true. :)
It's an interesting take and partially accurate. Nintendo already had a plant in Mexico that manufactured games meant for distribution in Central and South America. Nintendo did indeed move additional manufacturing to Mexico from the United States due to Nafta, and it could be interpreted that their move of Super Nintendo production to Mexico from Japan was part of this reaction. In my view it's most likely they moved production to Mexico in order to retool their factories in Japan for the pending Ultra 64 release.
Jenovi The thing is, Sega also already had games being produced in Mexico. It makes more sense that they both partnered with the same established but silent electronics manufacturer, just like Foxcon, Quanta, Compal, etc used to be. It wasn’t much different to many Tose-developed games for the big first parties not having any mention of Tose and being released as 1st party titles.
Manufacturing already existed in Central and South America thanks to protectionism. For example, Brazil does not allow the import of used electronics and requires foreign companies to have them locally produced if they want to sell in Brazil... often sold from a Brazilian company, much like South Korea’s trade protectionism at the time (“Com Boy”). Often that just means locally assembled/packaged rather than actual chip and PCB production, but that moved too thanks to the rise of manufacturers like Majesco. As for Nintendo moving SNES production to tool up for N64: N64 labels and boxes were made in Mexico too. North American Game Boy game labels lost their plastic-costing at the same time SNES did (Killer Instinct SNES may have been the first) and North American N64 never had it all while Japan continued with plastic coated labels. Around 2003 or whenever Fire Emblem GBA launched, we finally started getting Japanese plastic-coated labels for North American games again, so none of the N64 and GBC labels were plastic coated for North America.
You make some excellent points. I've been working to arrange an interview with the founders of Majesco for my History of Sega series. If they accept, I will be sure to get clarification on this.
Wow! I had no idea these cartridges even existed. This whole video was a fun learning experience. That's what I love about your channel keep those videos coming.
Thank you for such a kind comment. Really happy to hear you enjoyed this one.
Finally a retro channel who explains well with images & examples instead of talking in front of the camera making it boring
Thanks! Glad you enjoy what I'm doing.
Add me to the list of people who learned something new today! So in regards to the candy-cane label games, were they sold in the same style SNES box? If so, I got to say if my 15 year old self bought what looked like a brand new SNES game and got home to find that white label, I would be a little upset.
They were only sold loose in clear factory bags. The Earthworm Jim 2 I showed is still new in the original bag. In fact, Armando has a Contra 3 in bag at his store. These would have been sold via discount stores, swap meets, and those game dealers who advertised cheap games in the back of game magazines. Interesting enough, there is Atari Jag games floating around that were never finished. They come new in a clear plastic bag but the cart is the same as the ones that came boxed.
Wow man...good video. How do you come up with these topics?! I never thought I'd be learning about variations in cartridge manufacturing. Good stuff.
Thanks Vince. I just try to talk about things I find interesting that other people haven't covered or in a light different than what others are doing. I appreciate you stopping by.
I thought my copy of scooby doo mystery was a replaced label for years and I almost threw it out before having a friend do some research and us finding out about these white label carts. Its very interesting and I hope people think twice before throwing these out for preserving or selling
I think that's the most common reaction. People thinking these are Avery labels from Staples that someone printed out.
Jenovi mhm, I hope these cartdriges get more recognition one day and some more information comes to light
Awesome video! Morris started the whole company by selling close out batteries and lightbulbs.
Thanks. Happy you enjoyed it.
Great video! I never seen cartridges with that labels, is interesting how the SNES games was distributed in the late 90s
My friend who owns the store I got these from just messaged me yesterday that he got a Contra III in NIB with the white label. There were so few of these that they hit the market and were gone fast.
Great video, had no idea about these labels! It reminds me of the generic brands like Western Family or Always Save with the word BEER printed on the cans
Man, I haven't seen Western Family in years. Talk about reaching for those memories.
¡Jesú Cristo! México!? The manufacturing of Majesco carts was done in Mexico? I did not see that coming!
Crazy... right?
Never heard of the white label stuff before. Wow.
Objectorbit, I have never seen or heard of those white label variants either.
🤯 I did not know these ever existed!!!!!! 😧
Happy to shine a light on something new.
this vid is really great! i previously didn't know about these, so i learned something new. subbed!
That's awesome! I'm delighted to know you enjoyed the video and learned something new. Thanks for the sub.
I have a few carts with the molded text on the back. I always wondered why that was.
I had no idea about these! Very cool. Great video
Thanks Brian!
Great informative content.
I learned something new today!
Yay!
I have a strong suspicion that Nintendo contracted with Majesco on the "made-in-Mexico" first party games too. The switch to Mexico was almost certainly because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). If Majesco's operation was already present there, it would make sense for Nintendo to partner with them. As a partner, Nintendo would surely require higher quality standards (color manuals and such), but still we started getting non-glossy paper labels with the first-party games.
It's funny you should mention NAFTA. The reality was that Nintendo was moving jobs and manufacturing from America to Mexico due to NAFTA. In fact, as early as 1994 they had moved as much as 10% of their jobs to Mexico. The reality however is they were already manufacturing in Mexico on a smaller scale for the South American Market. While I'm sure NAFTA was part of the reason they moved all production to Mexico in the SNES's waning years, I think a larger contributor was the retooling of the factories in Japan for the Ultra 64.
Dope video. Loved the background music, where was it from?
Flashback and Earthworm Jim 2. Both ripped from the Genesis versions.
Nice, thanks!
Very informative. Well done!
Thanks Golan, I appreciate the complement.
Is there any knowledge available on the quality of the chips used in these Majesco carts? I know the Genesis 3 wasn't exactly high quality, for example, but no clue on the quality of chips involved. Mega Man X seems to use a proprietary Majesco chip, while Contra Hard Corps seems to use one of Konami's branded chips.
Based US SNES with super famicom controller plugged in
Nice one!
Your Channel is awesome, you dont copy and paste content, like is common in TH-cam.
Thanks Fabio, it means a ton to me hearing from people who enjoy what I do.
Lovely Puerto Rico
Is there a part 4 planned for your History of Sega series?
Hey Derek, glad to hear from someone who is looking forward to the next part of that series. I have a couple of big projects ongoing along with this series causing a slight delay in the next episode.
I don't know if this is what I'll do, but tentatively here is the plan.
The next part is the story of Accolade and their legal battle vs Sega. I've already started on it.
From there 1-2 more covering the Genesis years.
1 stand-alone episode for the Sega 32X. (I've kind of jumped the gun and started research for this one.)
Possibly 1 stand-alone episode of the Sega CD
Final at lease one episode covering 1996-1998 and the final episode covering the remaining years.
I'm so relieved to hear that you're continuing the series. I was afraid you had abandoned or forgotten about it. The first 3 parts were sooo good, it's like watching the first 3 episodes of Breaking Bad and then finding out the show is on hiatus, I'm so hungry for the rest. I don't want to put pressure on you to finish it because the work is so complex and deep that I don't even know how you do it. As a fellow TH-camr I just stand in awe of your documentaries, and that's what I would classify them as, they're legit documentaries. They're not just videos, the work you put into them as well as the execution.. it's astonishing. I can only imagine what sort of background you must have in AV or media or something, this stuff is so clean, it's more professional than the angry video game nerd content. I mean, AVGN has it's specialty in indie film production from James' background and his work ethic really shines. However, your presentation of narrative and fact are beyond that level. It's some serious research and presentation that just goes beyond what most top tier TH-cam channels produce. It's crazy man. So.. yeah no pressure :)
Wow, I really appreciate that. That is by far the kindest thing anyone has ever said about what I do. I'm not sure I'm worthy of the praise, but it made my day. Those videos really do take an extremely long time to research, script, and edit. They end up coming out less frequent then I would like because I'm in this cycle of "Oh man, this is nowhere close to being done" meaning I need to shift to something else, so my channel doesn't go dormant for months on end. Anyways, I appreciate the praise and hope you enjoy the next couple video I'm working on.
awesome video, love the snes!
I loved playing on the SNES with my brother as a kid. As an adult, I have a deeper appreciation for the single player experience it offers. Great controller too.
Jenovi that library will last a life time too. Yes I think having a brother is what made me fall in love with it too.
So 14 people bought a brand new snes in 2001?
Well, I assume more than 14 people. 14 units are what were reported shipped in 2001. www.netinst.org/Clements_Ohashi.pdf
You, uh, not only listed Castlevania 4 twice, but you also listed it under two slightly different names *and* under Capcom.
Thanks! I had a rather extensive list of games I was trying to verify. It looks like I screwed up somehow when transferring the list to photoshop. I appreciate the heads up, I'll be sure to pin a notice on the mistake.
Do you have a street fighter white label?
Holy shit. Those look like bootlegs!
Is zombies ate my neighbors variant box a majeso release ?
I'm not quite sure as the variant still listed Konami of America's address on the back of the box and the cartridge & manual themselves was unchanged from the standard 1993 release with a regular rear paper label & color manual.
Didn’t the same thing happen to activision games on the atari 2600
I'm very unaware of 2600 history. A 5200 fan, but never for into the 2600 or went back to it after the NES released.
What?
No Barbie Super Model?
Respect G unit family siccooper sent me 🤙🤙💰💰cool as FAck
Oh? Did he mention this in a video?