I had been dying to see the insides of this prototype, but finally I had the balls to try and remove the label without damaging it so I could get to the screw underneath it. Really slow process, but after a solid 30 minutes of nervously shaking and reconsidering whether or not it was worth it, I finally did it....label was safely peeled back, screw immediately removed, and label back on and intact. At least now I will never have to do that again....

At any rate, here are some pics for those that might be interested. It was an exciting moment for me, very cool!

Cart label:



Board pics:

Thank you for sharing. That is sweeeet.

FAKE!

Just kidding. Crazy how you had to remove that sticker! Thanks for sharing

Very cool!

Haha, this is finally getting me to post! I'm so excited to have been a part of finally convincing you to get these pics I'm going to let ol' Tomato knoe now that the cat's of of the bag; I'm sure he'll love to make a post about it!

Glad you got my video earlier today on how to do it, this is Evan btw

Wow. So were they working on the game as late as 1994?

Nice man! I share your pain. I've had to open some tough protos before without damaging them. Anything japanese gives me nightmares >_>

What's the story behind your find?

Totally rad!

This is the first time I've seen a prototype that I actually said "wowwww"!! That thing is awesome man and thanks for sharing.

Don't ever sell 'er!!!!!!!!!

Very nice man and kudos on the courage to mess with the sticker!

I'm not even a huge fan but damn, if I ever ran into that one particular proto, I couldn't be bribed out of selling it because of how Nintendo cockteased this one so annoyingly in Nintendo Power to then pull the rug out, same with Final Fantasy 2, and definitely Sim City which SOMEONE NEEDS TO LEAK!

It's amazing to see that date given the SNES sequel came out so shortly after that fact.

I wonder if it's any different than the one dumped back in '98. Earth Bound has got to be one of the most interesting protos.

This is the one that was dumped in 98.

I'm curious, but good enough I guess to ask here as any.

There was the pure earthbound, and a hacked 'zero' because of copyright jargon. Now with the ROMS and bootleg makers out there with their reproductions making this game. What is absolute best version to ask for by name if you want a new cartridge made?

I had one awhile back, but it must have tripped the protection because it was hard, harder than I remember the ROM was some years earlier, and you couldn't restore your PP except back at your house making the game an unbearable pain in the ass so I got rid of it.

I know people sell this now on NEW boards and if I went to someone like that and wanted it made, is there a specific question I should be asking as I don't want to invest in damaged goods again.

How much did that run you?

 I actually remember you posting about this before and I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't I have a repro of the game as well but I can restore PP using PSI stones as well as going to a hotel. The game is still pretty grind heavy regardless. Not sure which version you had, but it sounds like you just got unlucky on that one!

Zero=Crap.
Blue zero=Fixed crap, still crap.


They only exist because emulators were totally shitty. And they are still used because most people are idiots and still use them for whatever dumb reason they have.

This was something that I purchased in 1998 off of eBay and later sold to a friend that lived down the street from me. He kept it at his parents house and it just sat there for many years until I got it back from him early this year. I don't want to disclose anything pricewise, but it was very, very reasonable

Defined fixed crap on blue zero. I know the lettering coloring indicates a broken original to I guess a fix or partial fix?

I'd just like to think if I got someone like Bishop Bros who uses new boards to make one I'd get the original untampered rom that would run as intended from the factory and not some jacked up crap that'll blow up in my face again like the last one.

Thanks for these great photos!

From what I know, the "zero" ones were "fixed" so they would work on the early NES emulators from 1998 (nesticle and such). No Idea what was fixed, but if its emulator specific than it wouldn't be good on real hardware. I've played both on my powerpak. I never encountered anti-piracy screens, but they freeze every now and then. Problem is I'm not sure if its the ROM, the powerpak, the cf card, or my NES....

            

Yep, my save game from 16 years ago is still there amazingly.