It's available now! Please check your email address (the one you registered for these forums with) for the link, and if you didn't receive it contact the webmaster for help.

We're already working hard on content and BIG changes for issue #3...and we want your help!

Here are some ideas people have already posted for content to be included in future issues. Please add to and discuss these so that we can get some feedback to use and make your Zine even better!

Record of sales for big-ticket items: seller, buyer and price (eBay and personal)
Contest (possibly with free stuff from NGD!)
Tags indicating permanent staff writers and freelance contributors
Add NintendoAGE.com and issue/volume details to the footer/header of each page
Paid subscription for printed version
eBay scores of the month
What's "Hot" section
Now and Then, comparing price changes
More frequent publishing
Article on prototypes and/or test carts
eBay tips to get the most money out of your games
Interviews with NA members
Game tips/codes
Top-X lists
Identifying software revisions / notable revisions

Bravo gentlemen!!

Nice issue. Glad it came out!! Was worried for a while there but checked the computer at 330am and bam, there it was!!!

Some of the ideas I would endorse:

Printed subscriptions to the newsletter
eBay scores of the month
Interviews with NA members

Dig it!

Be well -

MLN

Great job guys. I love the ideas for future issues, especially contests for Jason's stuff. Also the Now and Then section could be very interesting.

Minor corrections and lots more info for BootGods CIC article!

Not all of the added 12 pins from 60->72 are used for the CIC. Only 4 are connected. 10 pins are used to connect the cart to the (useless) expansion slot at the bottom. But thats 14 pin, not 12! For some reason cart audio expansion was removed for the NES, which took out 2 pins.

The CIC inside the NES is called the lock, and the CIC inside the cart is called the key. Key goes into lock to open it. Lock can reset the NES, but key is just waiting for commands from the lock. When you cut pin 4, you are changing the NES CIC from a lock to a key. Both the NES and cart CICs are now keys, just waiting for commands from the lock that doesn't exist. The reset button on the console also goes through the CIC. When you cut pin 4 the chip is still running, so the reset button will work. When you stun/crash the chip, the reset button will not work!

The NES board revisions (NES-CPU-7, NES-CPU-9, NES-CPU-11) are almost entirely to add protection against the CIC stun attacks. Very few of the stun games will work on a NES-CPU-11, the last front loader revision. Variant collectors must get them all!

Tengen cracked the CIC in two separate ways. The first was reverse engineering it, which would have been completely legal. They likely looked at the outputs and opened up the chip, much like what was done

Unfortunately other Tengen employees also went to the Copyright Office (not Patent Office) and claimed they needed the CIC software for a nonexistent lawsuit. That is what they were sued for and eventually lost. Patent info is always public and free, but the CIC patent does not have enough info to build a replacement. We do not know if the Rabbit uses information from the stolen copyrighted code or not.

Just so everyone knows, I'm up for pretty much everything for my column. I'll be doing big stuff like this Scott Marshall interview from time to time, but other times I'll delve into various aspects of the NES' history from when I grew up with it and such since I was there for the heydey from the beginning. But, I'd be glad to use whatever ideas you'd like, so please keep me in mind if you want to see something. My column is going to be permanently titled Uber Elite Sehr Rariade with Stan, so essentially it will cover inside scoops on games, interviews and for basic articles pretty much anything. So if there's something you'd like to see, let me know!

I would like to know if Scott knows about current homebrew and would consider doing another NES game He can have creative control on Ghoul School Two design! (Ghoul School Tool?)

I go to the post office and come back to people giving my stuff away A contest does sound like a great idea and we will have to get the ball rolling with on that for sure.

Hopefully the ezine will get better each month, more great stuff to come.
~~NGD

I'm not sure if he does, I'll ask him to find out. It would be quite awesome, and I'm sure possible, to make the original as it was intended with a few corrections...

Stan you should get him to join here at NA and so he can see the NES still is alive and kicking. It would freaking ROCK to get a sequel to the game. Retrozone could help publish it as well
~~NGD

Thanks to all contributors of issue #2.
Just printed it now and I'll read it on the subway ride home.

Well done guys.  I read the whole thing and really enjoyed it. 

And I have 3 of those "rare" 3 vs 5 screw variants. (Star Force, Super Pitfall, and Volleyball).  Woot.  I was hoping Dain would reveal that Mega Man didnt exist cause I still need that one...

Al

Good articles.

Good extra info bunnyboy! I shoulda sent a preview to you beforehand I recall hearing that extra bit of the Tengen saga, but couldn't remember the source so I left it out. I also have a correction of my own to make, regarding the Camerica switch, should be in position 'A' (not 'B' like stated) where using in a top-loader!

Regarding how to identify ROM revisions, I was planning on working that into a future article. I've got a couple others I'll probably do first though!

Just finished reading it myself, another fine issue! I really liked Stan's article on Ghoul School, I would love to see more of those in the future! It even has me jonesing to give the game a second chance, as it only got the ol' 2-minute try before.

Couple questions:

It is mentioned that the Asian regions (ASI,HKG,KOR) are NTSC, I swear they are PAL, but I don't have any of those carts to check
In the 3v5 article, it says LJN made it's own cases? What evidence is there of this!?

I want to see a pic of that 5-screw Mega Man too

Great work everyone!

IMPORTANT

I was a little miffed, but oh well, that all of my pictures weren't included, especially with commentative captions, so if you want to see the rushed version of the mag that was going to be released if this one didn't get out, here it is:

http://download.yousendit.com/1E7453A37DDCDAA9

It includes ALL of Scott's pictures and info concerning them, so check it out. Too bad my name is misspelled...

Oh wow, my version found the light of day.



Sorry I misspelled your name. Must have wrote it down wrong. At least it's consistently misspelled, right?



::runs to hide in shame::

By Top-X lists do you mean top rare games running list? The one Nick started for the NES was great and I was thinking that one for the SNES could also, someday, be added. Also a "buyer beware" section should be added on sellers who try to rip others off.

Those are great questions. I've always assumed the Asian games were NTSC because they work on a normal NES.

Mega Man 5 screw does exist, I'll dig out the picture of it. I didn't believe it until i saw it either, kinda like Karnov (notice it didn't make the list? I don't give two shits -- until I see it, I'm a non-believer! lol).

-Dain

Well if i'm not mistaken, a good chunk of the games released in those regions were "black box" and the like, which were never even re-programmed for PAL regions, in which case they would run fine on NTSC systems and a little too fast on PAL systems. Most ROMs that were created for PAL regions have the "PAL-" prefix on at least the PRG ROM, that would be a dead give away.

I did notice Karnov was not on the list, I was never a believer in that one Mega Man is a little more feasible though. You know what, I swear someone showed me a pic of a 5-screw Stadium Events once, supposedly a promo / preview copy that should have been returned.

mewithoutYou: I just checked out your version of the e-zine, very nicely done, especially considering the time-frame you had to make it! I don't know the specifics of how this mishap with the issues came about, but it's a shame for your work to go unnoticed! I'm glad that was posted and I hope everyone takes a look at that one too! Especially since it includes a couple articles that weren't in the "official" version!

HUmn... so my article did get published just not in the issue that was sent out to everyone... damnit... now I am confused....

me too Erik We shall be better organized next month though....
~~NGD

Wow, I was very impressed with Issue #2.   Answered several questions I had.  Can't wait until #3.

Wow, one left out Erik's article, the other left out mine. Although mine was an extremely late addition...stupid modem crashing I do like the alternate layout a bit better...but then I like the cover page from the emailed version...Dan and Kevin need to put their heads together on issue 3. And I need to be a better writer

As Jason said, we're going to try and be a bit more organized next month. We're still working out some kinks in our process, and hopefully we'll have an on-time issue #3. As to why there are two issues is entirely my fault, and my apologies to Kevin (mewithoutyou52) and the guys who's articles did not make it in (Erik and Brian).

-Dain