You thought FF7 was a hoax?

Despite my article being reported on by Kotaku, Joystiq.com, insertcredit and a slew of other credible media, some people still insist Final Fantasy VII is a hoax. Some people honestly believe that the ROM does not exist, I fakes over 100 screen shots of the game in action and wrote several thousand words about nothing.

Well, guess what: you’re wrong, and here is proof.

Behold, readers, I present you with complete box shots and shots of the manual. Why not scans? Well, someone would certainly point out that I know my way around QuarkXpress and could have easily faked them, and also because I am poor and cannot afford a scanner.

(Text continues after the photos)

The front of the box once again says “Advent Children,” though the game is based on the original Final Fantasy VII. At the bottom is the text “Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Corporation. All rights reserved.” While I’m not sure it reserves the rights to those images of Cloud and Sephiroth, it at least claims to.

The spine, not included in photos, contains a branding saying this is a “Chinese-language RPG” and the serial number NJ063, as well as vertical lettering saying “Final Fantasy VII” (最终幻想7).

The reverse of the cover is a glossy print listing other Nanjing games. At the bottom is contact info for ordering from Nanjing directly. If you live in Shenzhen, you can call a listed “Miss Wang” at 27862111 or FAX 27889433. Nanjing asks in yellow text at the bottom that you read the instructions completely before attempting to play the game.

The plastic clam shell case measures 28×18 centimeters with a storage hook on the top of the reverse side. Each face measures 13×18 centimeters, with a spine width of a little over 2 centimeters.

The inside of the box contains a cartridge mount to keep it clipped in place and notches to support the instruction manual. The cartridge is made of a matte maze-color plastic with the characters for Nanjing molded into the upper left with a diamond in the middle, appropriate, since the second character in its name means “crystal.” The label is topped with a glossy layer that gives a starburst effect to the text when hit by direct light.

The reverse side of the cartridge contains the following text molded into it:

• Avoid exposing cartridge to extreme temperatures
• Be careful no to immerse cartridge in water.
• For protection, when cartridge is not in use, place cartridge inside protective plastic case.

Cartridge connoisseurs may be surprised to know that Waixing Science & Technology’s uses the same shell for its later games, and even the same plastic. I would not be beyond suggesting that Waixing is producing Nanjing’s carts for it. Waixing is known to produce Subor’s cartridges, as well as its new machines, so it would hardly be a shock that it produces cartridges for Nanjing since its own software sector has virtually collapsed. The cartridge measures 10.8×7.1 centimeters.

The manual is 12 pages with cover and back, and is printed at a very high resolution on glossy paper. Its front page is identical to the cover of the box, and the reverse side shows a scene from Advent Children and the text “RPG 2005.” It is very likely this game was released in 2005, which would explain its Advent Children branding.

The first page of the manual explains the controls. Pages two and three explain the menu and materia systems. Page four explains combat, and pages five through 12 are profiles of each character. The profiles are essentially the same as the original character profiles for Final Fantasy VII, and the artwork is taken directly from that game. The manual itself measures 15.5×11 centimeters and is folded in the middle and joined with a single half-inch staple in the center.

If you look closely at the edge shots of the cartridge, you will see paper stickers from LCG Electronics. These are protection stickers and signal the cartridge has not been opened. They are made of a very delicate paper and cannot be peeled off — trust me, I tried.

These stickers are why I do not have a photo of the internal board. To remove the stickers would destroy this cartridges resale value with collectors, and I am not prepared to do that. If you want to see the guts, then pay me some of what I will lose in resale value. I am terribly hesitant to wreck perfectly good product.

I also suspect that this plastic is very weak, and it appears extremely likely that it will scar when I force it open. This too would destroy the resale value of the cartridge. If I obtain another one on the cheap, I might consider it.

Hopefully this will put to rest once and for all the rumors of Final Fantasy VII being a ROM hack or a fake.