Know your Famiclone carts: Nanjing

So I’ve released photos of what the Final Fantasy VII cart looks like and its dimensions, but what about other Made-in-China Famicom games?

While I have yet to track down any Mars Technology games or C&E games new in box, I have obtained games from Waixing Science & Technology and Nanjing Technology, a major player in the Famicom scene of the 1990s and the current top company.

Read on for samples and full details of carts and packaging, lots of photos and measurements for any spiring pirates eager to reproduce false packaging for fun and profit on eBay.

I have far more Nanjing Technology cartridges than I do Waixing cartridges. I can firmly say that Nanjing’s cartridges are much better produced and show touches of tender loving care. The final page of most Nanjing games is a note from the company telling about why it made the game and some final impressions for the customer, similar to the messages found in the former Working Designs’ game manuals.

Our sample game will be Sword of Mana, a cartridge still not dumped.

ZOMG I am a l33t hoarder!

The game is an early Nanjing release and is based on the Game Boy Advance version of the game, not the original Game Boy release of Final Fantasy Adventure. The graphics in the game are lifted from the Game Boy Advance and down sampled to four colors within the Famicom’s palette. Its action elements have also been replaced with a turn-based system.

Despite the very Chinese box art, if you look at the screen shots within the manual, you can see it is definitely Sword of Mana. There is even an in-game overworld map based on the GBA’s cannon transfer map.

Nanjing Technology

Box Dimensions
Total: 28×18 centimeters
Faces: 13×18 centimeters
Spine: 2×18 centimeters

Cartridge Dimensions
Total: 10.8×7.1×1.5 centimeters
Branding: 南晶

Manual Dimensions
Total: 15.5×11 centimeters
Affixed: A single half-inch staple

Like Waixing, the front of a Nanjing box contains the game title and company name. The note that the game is in Chinese-language has been moved to the reverse cover. The spine has a color band that clearly shows the game ID number, as well as — get this — its copyright number! Yes, somehow Nanjing managed to copyright games which used graphics jacked from other places. Crazy China … This game’s copyright filing number is 2004SR05928. Some games show a blank line when no formal copyright filing was made, for example, Final Fantasy VII.

Note to netizens: not filing for a copyright does not mean something does not have a copyright. Do not mistakenly think this makes it legal to circulate the ROM image of Nanjing’s cartridge.

Nanjing’s cartridges are made of a slightly different shade of plastic than Waixing’s, and the branding is moved to the top right instead of the bottom edge. The cartridge contains the same security stickers.

The game is packed with a full-color manual measuring a very similar size to Nintendo’s Super Famicom manuals. Each page is a high-density, glossy print with a decent layout. Even in this early cartridge, the company prints the Tree of Mana back story on page one, and includes several pages detailing game play elements with character artwork. Its final page is a short message about the game titled “To our friends” and signed by “Xin Lang,” or “New Wolf” if I am reading the calligraphy correctly.

The reverse of the manual includes a company introduction for people unfamiliar with Shenzhen Nanjing Technology, as well as company contacts. Its address is:

Bu Xin Lou
Floor 8
No. 129 Xin An Wu Lu
Bao An 50 District
Fuzhou, Fujian District
518101

It lists a store hotline contact “Miss Wang” as 27922299 and a FAX number 27930272.