Re-releases of Mega Man: Wily Wars and Toaplan shmups by Retro-Bit Gaming

[SEGA-Jorge]

Speaking of board thickness, I ran into a copy of Jungle Strike this weekend that was so damn thick that I was not comfortable putting it my my Genesis model 1. Got me thinking if somehow it may had swollen, or otherwise became defective. It worked, but it was just way, way out of spec. I have another copy now, which is fine, but some of those EA boards were questionable. Had me thinking about the possibility/potential for pcb's in these carts swelling or otherwise becoming non-functioning due to time/elements. I've certainly never heard of a pcb just becoming thicker.

[Gryson]

PCB thickness should never really be an issue for reproduction Genesis carts because Sega used standard off-the-shelf 1.57mm PCBs. These are still the norm. It just shows how little effort are put into those $5 Chinese bootlegs that have different thicknesses. SNES carts, on the other hand, use some custom PCB size and so care has to be taken with reproductions.

SEGA-Jorge: Are you sure the thickness was actually different, and it didn't instead have a poorly cut taper (or no taper)? I don't thick a board can "swell" but who knows.

[Sik]

Wait, 1.57mm or 1.60mm (0.063")? Though that's essentially margin error (below 2%), so I guess it doesn't matter. But yeah, it's a standard size.

The cartridge slot itself seems to be a standard part too that's easy to obtain… the problem is more replacing it. The board isn't helping, at least in some revisions from what I recall (and if you care about superclones, those are sometimes problematic about it too).

[Gryson]

Wait, 1.57mm or 1.60mm (0.063")? Though that's essentially margin error (below 2%), so I guess it doesn't matter. But yeah, it's a standard size.

I've read that Genesis PCBs are 1.6mm. I always assumed that was rounding up from the standard 1.57mm. I don't think I've read anyone claiming 1.60mm. But yeah, small difference.

[Sik]

Well, the value I've seen is 0.063" (which is 1.6002mm, so about 1.60mm indeed), and when I was looking up about PCBs the companies were explicitly saying 0.063" (not mm), so I'm going to guess it's indeed at least one standard. Although now I look up and literally I'm seeing several people say "1.57mm or 0.063 inches" which isn't helping the case…

Mind, it wouldn't be the first time slightly different deviations happen. There were DIP chips with both 0.1" (2.54mm) and and 2.5mm spacing, depending who was the manufacturer. This wasn't a big issue with small chips as you could just force the pins in with little effort, but it became a serious problem when larger ones started appearing and the total difference accumulated well beyond tolerance.

At least in this case it won't deviate that badly :​P

[SEGA-Jorge]

Well, all EA boards have a weird taper on them. There is always a really rough edge on them. They just look like they are a different quality material. It would make sense, EA was kinda doing their own thing at the time. I'll provide images later this evening.

[chilled]

the part that first makes contact with the cart slot is slimmer on original carts and NOT on most repro carts and that's key to the bending/forcing the slot problem. That''s why most people sacrifice a game genie, megakey, etc. though you cannot save on some games via the GG. IIRC that's why there is an on off switch on it.

[SEGA-Jorge]

the part that first makes contact with the cart slot is slimmer on original carts and NOT on most repro carts and that's key to the bending/forcing the slot problem. That''s why most people sacrifice a game genie, megakey, etc. though you cannot save on some games via the GG. IIRC that's why there is an on off switch on it.

Right, but my incident was on an official EA game. I found it on multiple EA games, and I think it's an issue later in the lifespan of the console. I don't own all the EA games on the genesis, but I have nearly 50, and they all range in pcb quality. Earlier boards are more consistent, with the later boards having this issue more prominently.

[Azathoth]

It would make sense, EA was kinda doing their own thing at the time.

EA did manufacturer their own carts, so I'd expect some variance (and cost cutting) compared to every other Sega manufactured cart.

[chilled]

relevant link:
https://www.retrorgb.com/determining...cartridge.html

[Syndicate]

...I'm not really sure how to feel about these. I would really like to get my hands on Hellfire and Truxton (in a reasonably cost effective manner of course), but original copies seem like the way to go do to possible quality issues w/the re-releases.