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Post by andycole on Mar 11, 2010 11:42:44 GMT 2
On another thread, Aris said that he didn't think any collector would know all the model numbers and suggested that he probably knew about a third of them. I was surprised at this as I can call them all off from memory, and I said that I'd be very surprised if I was the only person who could do this. OK, so there are thousands of collectors worldwide and only a handful are active members here, but I thought I'd get an idea by doing a poll. It's completely anonymous so don't be shy! If you are not sure how many you know, try writing down as many as you think you know and then compare your answers to a master list. There's one here which contains the 59 games not including the special. I couldn't find a short page listing all the model numbers. No peeking until you've done your list from memory! Andy
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Mar 11, 2010 16:38:06 GMT 2
I'd say about 20 to 29 with certainty and about 10-15 more with a bit of effort. The numbers I always get wrong are the latest pocketsize games (squish, safebuster etc).
Michael
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Post by andycole on Mar 11, 2010 17:34:18 GMT 2
There are a couple which I have to think about to avoid getting muddled up (62 and 63 for example) but I can do the whole list without much trouble. I could probably tell you the release year of every model as well Andy
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Post by sinkbaek on Mar 11, 2010 21:07:34 GMT 2
For some reason the model number YM-105 is firmly imprinted in my memory But besides that I can only remember 2-3 model numbers...on a good day that is... I'm just not that good at remembering numbers....guess it's a right/left-brain thing, as I can remember all sorts of other useless trivia
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Post by Gawaleus on Mar 12, 2010 7:37:14 GMT 2
I could tell you all model numbers. Just like Andy, sometimes I must think about two or three of them, mostly the later ones from the Multi Screen series. Patrick
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Post by andycole on Mar 12, 2010 13:03:05 GMT 2
I could tell you all model numbers. Just like Andy, sometimes I must think about two or three of them, mostly the later ones from the Multi Screen series. Patrick Yes, it's strange how they came up with some of the letters, most followed the english names well but a few didn't, especially the late multi-screen games. We've discussed the naming conventions before, but I don't know if anyone knows WHY they were all given the letters they were. I think some of them must have been named after Japanese words. This site started off with names vs model numbers and then gave up! Andy.
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Mar 12, 2010 14:18:16 GMT 2
LOL ;D We did something like that before and we gave up after a while as well! You can find a few lists of model numbers in the web but my guess is that the explanations for the model number letters are probably assumptions rather than based on facts.
Michael
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Post by sinkbaek on Mar 12, 2010 17:04:58 GMT 2
I think Andy's on to something.... My guess is that the model numbers are reflecting the japanese names of the games. For instance my guess is that "Rain Shower" was called something like "Line Puller" in Japan - hence: LP-57 I couldn't find a list with translations of the japanese names of the games though.... So if anyone knows of such a list, it would be great if they could point me towards it - I'm pretty sure it would shed some light on the subject
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Post by sinkbaek on Mar 12, 2010 21:10:47 GMT 2
Finally found a list.... It turns out that someone already posted a link to a list on the forum.... So I think we can say - mystery solved! The model numbers reflect the japanese names. Sometimes the western names of the games were just translations of the japanese names - like Donkey Kong, Black Jack and so on. So in those cases the model numbers obviously makes sense for both japanes and non-japanese owners. But sometimes the games were given whole new names, when sold outside Japan. The reason to this is probably differences in culture and semantics between Japan and other countries. For example the title "Mario's Bomb's Away" sounds more appealing to a western consumer than the litteral translation of the japanese title "Throw Bombs" In short.... There is a logic to the model numbers after all.... "Rain Shower" was originally called "Laundry Panic" which gives us - LP-57. "Lifeboat" was called "Titanic", which gives us - TC-58. "Safe Buster"..."Junk Bomb" -> JB-63 .....and so on The list that can be used to give meaning to the model numbers can be found here: www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ua4s-njm/gw/gw.htmlP.S. Well.... "Line Puller" was a.....well....let's just say it was as good a guess as any
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Post by tuesdayschild on Mar 12, 2010 22:54:37 GMT 2
Wow that’s a great link Sinkbaek! Anyone notice TT66 on there yet? TT66 is Tetris Jr.! It does have "Not Sale" next to it. But I did try translating it in bablefish. Its kind of hard to understand it. Maybe some Japanese members can tell us if it was ever produced as a prototype? Maybe it was!
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Mar 12, 2010 23:28:54 GMT 2
Hmm.. I see that there are a few unexplained model numbers in this list so it's far from official..
Michael
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Post by sinkbaek on Mar 13, 2010 1:00:40 GMT 2
Anyone notice TT66 on there yet? TT66 is Tetris Jr.! It does have "Not Sale" next to it. But I did try translating it in bablefish. Its kind of hard to understand it. Maybe some Japanese members can tell us if it was ever produced as a prototype? Maybe it was! Yeah...I started salivating when I saw that one too ;D I'm guessing that they decided against putting it on the market because Tetris was a killer app for the GameBoy and they didn't want to mess with that fact What's left to find out is how far they got in production...if it's more than a rumour though.... But if it turns out they actually made some prototypes or even test productions of it, as the mentioning of the model number might suggest, then I'm thinking that there's a new holy grail for G&W collectors
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Post by sinkbaek on Mar 13, 2010 1:04:45 GMT 2
Hmm.. I see that there are a few unexplained model numbers in this list so it's far from official.. Michael Well....the list explains what? 95% or more of the letters in the model numbers? So suggesting that they just pulled the model numbers out their ass seems like a pretty bad explanation in comparison with the one the list points at
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Post by rensmits on Mar 13, 2010 15:04:30 GMT 2
Well that list doesn't explain anything. Could be made up by the guy himself, just like we've done in this forum. It isn't an official list, because if it was, all modelnumbers should have been explained. A lot of games are very easy to explain, like Flagman or Pinball but why isn't there an explanation for YM or the climber game? It is just guessing like we have done. Why give that name of the maker to Vermin? You should expect that it would have been given to the first game. That would be Ball and then it would be MT-01. Some other things: Ball could be ACrobat instead of ACtion. Vermin could be Mole Terminator. Tabletop DK jr: Colour Jr? ?? Nah, I don't buy it. About the tetris game. We know nintendo was planning to make a multiscreengame called Tetris. There is a flyer with an blankspot and an announcement for the new game. Noone knows if there was ever made a prototype. Chances are big that 1 or more were made, but they probably didn't produced it because of the big succes of the gameboy. René
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Post by Aris on Mar 13, 2010 16:45:10 GMT 2
On this topic of how Nintendo chose the letters of the model numbers, I can tell you what they are according to Flo's L'Histoire de Nintendo book:
Ball: AC-01 (ACrobat) Flagman: FL-02 (FLag) Vermin: MT-03 (Mogura Tataki) Fire: RC-04 (ResCue) Judge: IP-05 (ImPact)
Manhole: MH-06 (ManHole) Helmet: CN-07 (CoNstruction) Lion: LN-08 (LioN)
Parachute: PR-21 (PaRachute) Octopus: OC-22 (OCtopus) Popeye: PP-23 (PoPeye) Chef: FP-24 (Food Panic) Mickey Mouse: MC-25 (MiCkey) Egg: EG-26 (EGg) Fire: FR-27 (FiRe) Turtle Bridge: TL-28 (Turtle Line) Fire Attack: ID-29 (InDian) Snoopy Tennis: SP-30 (SnooPy)
Oil Panic: OP-51 (Oil Panic) Donkey Kong: DK-52 (Donkey Kong) Mickey & Donald: DM-53 (Donald Mickey) Green House: GH-54 (Green House) Donkey Kong 2: JR-55 (Junior Rescue) Mario Bros.: MW-56 (Mario Wine) Rain Shower: LP-57 (Laundry Panic) Life Boat: TC-58 (TitaniC) Pinball: PB-59 (PinBall) Black Jack: BJ-60 (Black Jack) Squish: MG-61 (Maze Game) Bomb Sweeper: BD-62 (Bomb Danger) Safe Buster: JB-63 (Jail Breaker) Gold Cliff: MV-64 (Mexican AdVenture) Zelda: ZL-65 (ZeLda)
Donkey Kong Jr. : CJ-71 (Colour Junior) Mario's Cement Factory: CM-72 (Concrete Mixer) Snoopy: SM-73 (Snoopy Music) Popeye: PG-74 (Punch Game)
Snoopy: SM-91 (Snoopy Music) Popeye: PG-92 (Punch Game) Donkey Kong Jr.: CJ-93 (Colour Junior) Mario's Bombs Away: TB-94 (Take Bomb) Mickey Mouse: DC-95 (Donkey Kong Circus) Donkey Kong Circus: MK-96 (MicKey Mouse)
Donkey Kong Junior: DJ-101 (Donkey Junior) Mario's Cement Factory: ML-102 (Mario's Lever) Manhole: NH-103 (New ManHole) Tropical Fish: TF-104 (Tropical Fish) Super Mario Bros.: YM-105 (Yellow Mario) Climber: DR-106 (Dangerous Rising) Balloon Fight: BF-107 (Balloon Fight) Mario The Juggler: MB-108 (Mario Balls)
Spitball Sparky: BU-201 (Block KUzushi) Crab Grab: UD-202 (Up Demon)
Boxing: BX-301 (BoXing) Donkey Kong 3: AK-302 (Action Kong) Donkey Kong Hockey: HK-303 (Hockey Kong)
Super Mario Bros.: YM-801 (Yellow Mario) Climber: DR-802 (Dangerous Rising) Balloon Fight: BF-803 (Balloon Fight)
OMG! This took FOREVER to do!!! Phew!!!
Anyway, there you have it. Some are definitely weird, but, you can see they like to use the word "Rescue" as well as the word "Panic" a lot, but, I find it weird that the Silver Fire was "ResCue", and Wide Screen Fire was "FiRe"
"Colour Junior" is also strange to me, though, yes, it was their first colour game.
And "Yellow Mario" is very strange! Why would they call it that? I mean, the yellow-cased SMBS came out after the NWS and CS versions, no???
AC
PS ImPact is odd too. And the one that made me laugh the most was Mario Balls! LOL!!!
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