So I was out shopping at a local retro gaming store and ended up chatting with the manager for a while. The topic of NES prototypes and test carts was brought up and he said to watch out for zeld test carts as he knew of none that could be authenticated as being genuine. He said PCB's (printed circuit boards) from zelda test carts he's seen are identical to normal zeldas. He also made the case that anyone could make one by buying a regular yellow NES test cart, swapping the board with a zelda board and then slaping a replacement zelda label on it.

So my question is: Did Nintendo actually create a zelda test cart to use in their service centers back in the day or are all these just fakes? And if there are any geniune ones that exist how would one going about determining if they were real? IE slightly different label, different board, or altered gameplay....

I would love to own one if they are actually real. But I don't wanna shell out a ton of cash for something that's fake or possibly never existed in the first place.

I could have sworn somebody was going to write an article for the e-zine making the case that Zelda test carts were legit. Did that ever come to fruition?

My question would be, why would someone take a normal test cart (worth money) and destroy it for the sake of making a Zelda test cart?

^ for more money

I own one (save the PM's - it's not for sale) and believe it's real because I got it at a thrift store years before the whole ebay/collecting craze created a market for fakes. I've never opened it up but I think the label & gameplay are identical to a standard Zelda.

Yes, this has been confirmed. Otto (Limbofunk), our resident NA test equipment expert reviewed something like a test cart worker's manual and the Zelda one was listed. I know that sounds really convincing but I don't remember all the details, only that he has posted in test cart threads and spoken specifically to this Zelda question. Search some threads and it can likely be found.

first off its not just a normal 'yellow shell'
the person making fakes would have to print the nintendo info on the bottom back of the cart too



i don't see someone making a yellow shell with print to make a test cart
also auctions don't really pop up all the time on these, so it would take some good cash to invest in fakin' this out.
And why take so much time on 1 cart to fake when you can fake others (that are actually done) flintstones, ducktales2....etc. (you would make more money on those by quantity )

Thanks i'll check out that thread