Despite the great interest in the subject, you could probably count the number of serious prototype collectors on two hands. It's my hope that this section will help shed some light on how to find and identify authentic NES prototypes so that more people can join in and find the confidence to buy a prototype of their own.

Visual approximations of three typical, serious Nintendo prototype buyers.

I should start off by saying outright that, from personal experience, when it comes to finding differences in prototypes of released games, more times than not they are real heart breakers—it's like playing the lotto every time you buy a prototype, except that the tickets cost at least a hundred bucks a piece. (Of course, you don't have this problem with a prototype of an unreleased game, but you'd then have to spend much more money to have that peace of mind.)

What I would recommend to newcomers interested in prototype collecting is if you have a certain video game in mind that you love enough that you'd feel comfortable spending the necessary funds to rescue it, I say, more power to you. If all you want is an historical record of your favorite game, seeing major differences is always nice, but you won't be too disappointed if you can't find any as you still have a unique copy of a title that you love. And isn't that what's really important in life: the loving?

With prototypes of released games, it's all about hedging your bets and having reasonable expectations. I wish there were surefire signs that would point you in the direction of a prototype containing changes, but nothing is a guarantee in the world of prototypes as you're about to see.

The first general rule for buying prototypes is, unless solid provenance is given and can be backed up, you should never bid on or purchase any prototype without first seeing the PCB inside of the cartridge to determine whether the prototype is, indeed, real. From a hardware standpoint, become acquainted with BootGod's extensive database of scans in order to compare the released and prototype PCBs.

Another general rule is to familiarize yourself with the release dates of the prototypes that you're interested in. Nintendo compiled a list of all officially licensed NES titles, complete with release dates, in this .pdf file. Many prototypes are dated either on the label or on the inside. The further away the date is on the prototype from the release, the better your chances are of finding differences. Prototypes dated a month or two before release are most likely review copies sent to gaming publications and will be close to (if not identical) to the released game (although there could be a debug menu, invincibility, or level select capabilities).

As for the online market pricing of released game prototypes, those for the NES usually cost more than any other system. For prototypes of terrible games (i.e. Total Recall terrible), you might be able score one for as low as $50. Prototypes of average, run-of-the-mill games generally go for between $75-$150. For prototypes of more popular or rarer games, you're looking at $150-$250+. Major first party Nintendo games can reach prices much higher. These price points are common knowledge in the collecting hobby, which means, if there's a prototype on an auction site that you really, really want, you should plan on waiting until the last minute to bid an amount considerably higher than these given estimates to ensure that you stomp out the competition.

The best way of helping you to identify authentic prototypes is by listing some examples that have come into my hands. That way I can tell you if any changes were found while you learn about the different kinds that are out there. Please note that this is not to say that all prototypes follow the guidelines of those listed below; I am simply sharing my own personal experience to help guide you when you're starting out.

A Boy And His Blob with standard prototype label.

This A Boy And His Blob prototype has a standard Nintendo prototype label on the front of the cartridge. You might be asking yourself, "What does the "NES-P-B5" at the top stand for?"

The next time you pick up an NES licensed game, look closely at the label on the cartridge. You should see a code similar to this one printed in a small font. Every licensed NES game is catalogued using a unique ID, with the last part of the code pertaining to the game's region. For example, the catalogue code for A Boy and His Blob released in America is NES-B5-USA.

On many prototypes with this kind of label, the region (i.e. "USA") is normally left out and replaced with the letter "P" in its place, and instead of appearing last, the "P" is usually in the middle of the code.

Here are a few more examples: a protoype of Kabuki Quantum Fighter has the code "NES-P-3K" (US game ID: NES-3K-USA); Little Nemo The Dream Master is marked "NES-P-LN" (US game ID: NES-LN-USA); and Nintendo World Cup has "NES-P-XZ" on its label (US game ID: NES-XZ-USA).

Official Nintendo TKEPROM Prototype Board: Check. Official Nintendo Prototype Stickers: Double Check.

Inside of all four of these examples are official Nintendo copyrighted NES-TKEPROM PCBs. Seeing an NES-TKEPROM board is very good confirmation of a prototype's authenticity as these type of boards are found only in prototypes. As I mentioned before, the majority of prototypes have one or two EPROMs (or sometimes more like, for example, one known prototype of The Legend of Zelda). These EPROMs require a special EPROM board for them to work. To go back to the CD analogy again, just as you can only copy files onto a CD-RW disc with a CD-RW burner (and not with a CD-R burner), you cannot use EPROMs on a regular production board (at least, not without additional modification that I'll talk more about shortly).

On top of there being official Nintendo prototype boards, these examples have their CHR and PRG EPROMs covered by Nintendo-branded stickers in a festive red and blue ensemble. Shy of Shigeru Miyamoto signing his name with his telephone number on the front of the cart, you would be hard pressed to find any more proof of legitimacy than with an official Nintendo prototype label on a cartridge holding an official Nintendo prototype board with official Nintendo prototype EPROM stickers inside.

Having said that, if you're out looking for changes, all four games previously mentioned were found to be completely identical to their respective final, released games.

Another common standard prototype label you might see is one that's white (or discolored yellow by age) and reads "*USA VERSION* (FINAL/NTSC)" on the front label. I have not personally bought any of these type of prototypes for the NES, but I do have a Super Nintendo prototype of Super Mario All-Stars that features the same label and wording, and that turned out to be identical to the final game, as well.

DuckTales: Woo Hoo!

NES-TKEPROM boards are not the only official Nintendo prototype PCBs. This DuckTales prototype demonstrates another example: an NES-UNEPROM PCB. This is another board found only in prototypes and is also a good way of authenticating a prototype. DuckTales, by the way, was found to be the same as the released game.

Parodius PAL prototype on NES-TKEPROM PCB.

Prototypes in the NTSC format (North American region) are most sought after, while those in the PAL format (European region) generally do not go for as much money. Why is that? For one, most prototype collectors are located in the US. Two, NES games were sometimes released in North America months (or even years) in advance of the European release, thereby making differences in PAL format prototypes from the final games harder to come by.

How can you tell if a prototype is in the PAL format? If it's not stated on the label or on the EPROM stickers, another indication is if a European country is mentioned anywhere inside or outside the prototype. The prototype pictured above is labeled "SAMPLE [ PARODIUS ] Germany," making it quite clear that the prototype is PAL formatted. Parodius, by the way, was found to be different from the released game.

Aliens 3 prototype on NES-TKEPROM PCB with socketed EPROMs and cutout cartridge.

Other prototypes won't be as cosmetically neat as the previous examples. Some might even have their cartridges cut out so you can see the PCBs inside. This was done mostly for EPROMs that were socketed because the use of sockets can raise them up, making it difficult to close the cartridge. (Also, the cutting away of plastic allowed developers easy access to the EPROMs inside instead of having to unscrew the cart every time from the back.)

Whenever I see a prototype with sections of its cart's plastic drilled away—essentially, if the thing looks like it's been through a trash compactor or took a few bullets in its day—I get excited. My philosophy is the worse a prototype looks, the better off your chances are of finding differences. However, nothing is a guarantee, as some prototypes with soldered EPROMs in clean carts have yielded some amazing changes, too (as well as completely unreleased games).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game prototype on TLROM-02 PCB.

Not all prototypes use special prototype boards like NES-TKEPROM or NES-UNEPROM. In the example shown above of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, you will see that the CHR and PRG EPROMs are on a PCB marked TLROM-02. Notice the word "ROM" instead of "EPROM". This PCB is a regular, old MROM-based PCB! That's right, some prototypes are on production PCBs (meaning, PCBs you would find inside of any normal cart).

You might be asking yourself, "But, wait! How is that possible? You said that erasable EPROMs don't work on regular PCBs meant for permanent storage of data, just as you can't burn CD-RWs in a CD-R drive! How can EPROMs operate in a non-prototype PCB?"

This TMNT II ROM board was meant to take only MROMs, but has been modified with solder and wires to allow EPROMs.

In the case of this TMNT II, the answer can found on the back of the PCB. With extensive soldering and wiring, this PCB has been turned from an otherwise normal production board into one modified to accept EPROMs. (TMNT II was found to be different from the released version.)

I will go more into why you should be careful of prototypes with non-prototype PCBs (i.e. regular MROM production PCBs like this one) in a later section on prototype scams, but make a mental note for now that NES reproductions use a similar process of converting regular PCBs to handle EPROMs. Be extra cautious and inquire about the provenance when in doubt about a prototype using a non-prototype board.

Jaws prototype on regular PCB without EPROMs. Click here for the non-prototype, released PCB.

If seeing EPROMs on MROM board wasn't confusing enough, believe it or not, prototypes can also come on regular PCBs without any modifications and without any EPROMs (this includes prototypes of both released and unreleased games). This kind is the most problematic to try to authenticate because, frankly, when you compare, say, the prototype PCB of this Jaws prototype with a copy of the released PCB game, there's really no visual difference between the two.

A number of LJN Sample Game Paks (Gotcha!, The Karate Kid, etc.) have been found in Canada, including this one of Jaws. All have the same kind of label and use MROMs.

Note that this Jaws prototype was found to be identical to the released version.

My personal recommendation is to avoid any game advertised as a prototype that does not have at least one EPROM in it unless solid provenance is given. If it's an LJN prototype with a label like this— it's legit—but just know that chances are it will not have any differences and it's most likely the same as the final game. If you're looking to get your hands on a prototype of an LJN game that has a better chance of containing differences, look for a white label that says "This is a Preproduction Sample and must be returned to LJN as soon as possible" on the front of the cartridge.

Since we're on the subject of prototypes with company-specific labels, here is a list of some examples to be on the look out for:

This unlicensed AVE prototype of Puzzle uses AVE's patented NINA adapter.

Up to this point I have only discussed licensed game prototypes. For all of you unstamped seal of quality game enthusiasts, rest assured that there are plenty of unlicensed prototypes out there, too. As you can see pictured above, this Puzzle prototype is unlike any other prototype we have seen so far. Of course, since it's an unlicensed game, there's no official Nintendo PCB. What makes this prototype strange is it's actually a Famicom PCB attached to a 60-pin Famicom to 72-pin NES adapter. AVE had a shorter name for this device: a NINA adapter. (With all of this going on, closing the cartridge is next to impossible!)

Other than this one AVE example, to be quite honest, I'm not going to be much help when it comes to unlicensed game prototypes. (I guess I've never been too much a fan of unlicensed games in the first place.) When in doubt, you can consult BootGod's database of carts to compare the PCBs of the prototype and released versions. Just remember that unlicensed game companies used EPROMs on their regular games, so seeing EPROMs on a PCB does not necessarily make the unlicensed game a prototype.

Prototype of the unreleased game Drac's Night Out featuring the Reebok Pump.

A programming note: You're going to see a lot of gross watermarks on these unreleased prototypes. That's because many of the owners only granted me permission to post these photos if I plastered the site's URL all over them to prevent potential scammers from taking the photos and tricking people with bogus sales and auctions.

A prototype of an unreleased title is a whole other animal from a released game. I would venture to guess that the average game player has little interest in knowing that a DuckTales prototype has cheeseburger power-ups instead of vanilla ice cream cone power-ups. But a game never released for public play? Suddenly everyone's interest is piqued. When a prototype of an unreleased game materializes on an auction site like eBay, quickly grab an umbrella, because money is about to start raining down hard.

The term "unreleased" has been debated in some cases. For example, would you consider an NTSC region coded prototype of a PAL-only game like Gimmick! an unreleased game? It's the same game as the wide European release, except now it can be played in a North American NES system. Does that warrant the "unreleased" moniker? According to collecting circles, it does, thereby making such a game significantly costlier than your average prototype.

When you're dealing with undumped prototypes (meaning, there's no ROM image available to download on the Internet and play on an emulator) of NES games that have never been released in any region of the world, you are looking at a price tag in the thousands of dollars. It wasn't always this way, but the prices have steadily gone up over the years.

Here's a short list of some legitimate prototypes of unreleased NES games:

If you're feeling really lucky, there have been stories from time to time of very fortunate people stumbling upon prototypes at flea markets or yard sales. Get to better know your surrounding area and its history. Many prototypes originate from companies sending copies of their games off to publications that previewed or reviewed them. Are there/were there any such publications in your area? Perhaps you might even live near one of the areas where NES games were once developed. Consult the Nintendo Licensee Address Book to see if any game developers were (or still are) in your neck of the woods.

It goes without saying that if by any chance you are ever blessed enough to come across a prototype in the wild, you should do your best Mario impression and jump on it (not literally, I mean, buy it!). To confirm that it is a prototype, purchase a 3.88 MM screwbit to take apart the cartridge from the back. You should also buy a few small flathead and Phillips screwdrivers to keep handy just in case you're faced with another kind of screw.

My favorite prototype find story of them all is Brandon Murphy's. Brandon walked into a game store in Orlando to find an unsuspecting mother about to sell a box full of video game prototypes to a greedy clerk. Brandon spoke up and told the woman about the value of her games, and recommended that she not sell them to the store. For this, Brandon was thrown out by the employee. The woman followed Brandon outside shortly thereafter with her box of prototypes still full and rewarded him for his honesty by allowing him to choose one of the games for himself. This was how California Raisins was finally found (read the whole story as told by Brandon, himself).

If you are like me and live in a congested area of the country, and so have never had any luck in finding rare games, your best bet is to keep a close eye on auction sites like eBay. Search terms for finding prototypes include: "dev," "sample," "proto," "prototype," and "demo," etc. Keep these searches bookmarked so that you can check regularly.

The downside of relying on auction sites?

This is a classic example of some of the ridiculous pricing that you are bound to run into when searching for prototypes online. Here is an eBay seller attempting to sell a Swamp Thing NES prototype for $800. This person is clearly insane.

No matter how rare prototypes are said to be, no one reasonable is ever going to spend that much money on a prototype of a released T*HQ game. (Recall that these are the same bastards that gave us games like Where's Waldo? and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.) Besides, on the rarity: More and more prototypes come out of hiding every year, and the ones that are already known to exist have a tendency to change hands quite frequently. Who can say for sure if that one-of-a-kind proto is really many-of-a-kind or currently up for sale right now?

Now is as good a time as any to talk about the importance of a prototype's provenance. To find the provenance of a prototype such as this Swamp Thing, there are a number of resources you can search. NES World features a large listing of prototypes. The Warp Zone does, too. There's even a smaller directory of prototypes on this very site you're on right now. I consider both webmasters of NES World and The Warp Zone prototype experts, so I trust that the protos they have listed are legitimate, but you should always do your own evaluation, too. As far as the prototypes listed on this site are concerned, they all have provenances that range from established prototype collectors to even a former Spanish Nintendo gaming magazine. If you still can't find a proto's lineage, proceed with caution and ask the seller for more details. Post on forums that have proto-specific sections, like Digitpress.com, for a second opinion.

In the case of the Swamp Thing here, The Warp Zone yields a photo of the very same prototype as the one pictured in the auction, even mentioning that it had previously sold on eBay before for $120 (link).

Sellers who put random phrases like "not factory sealed" in the title of a prototype auction are generally not expecting anyone to take their auction seriously and pay such an exorbitant price for the item. Listing a rare game like this serves as a way to advertise the rest of the seller's auctions by getting you to click. In the case of this seller, he or she wanted you to see the wide array of sealed NES games also for sale (as well as apparently this "hooters chicken wing tray ceramic owl"—absolutely no returns accepted on the Hooters ceramic owl, by the way).

Clearly, clearly insane.

A helpful resource to track prototype auctions is GameSniped.com. Nicola and the staff there post several auctions of rare games every day. Know that with more media exposure comes higher prices, as popular gaming blogs like Kotaku often link to auctions spotlighted on GameSniped (such as the above mock-up cover of the unreleased New Kids On the Block, which came out of the offices of Electronic Gaming Monthly).

Another way to find prototypes is by keeping a close eye on video game messageboards that have prototype-specific boards. Digitpress.com and ASSemblerGames.com are two well-known examples. Keep a close eye on marketplace threads to see what's selling.

Yahoo! Japan Auctions is a secret playground where Famicom and Famicom Disk System prototypes come to play. This is where the elusive (and unreleased) Bio Force Ape was found and purchased. You can regularly find at least one Famicom prototype up for auction at any given time. Because Yahoo Japan does not allow international bidders, it is necessary to sign up with a Japanese deputy service like Rinkya or Shopping Mall Japan to bid on auctions there (and to get the auction descriptions translated into English). Although prototypes on Yahoo tend to go for much less than American auction sites like eBay, do not forget to factor in all of the deputy service fees and the extra shipping costs.

No matter how you find that prototype you've always wanted, before you make the purchase, consult the next section to avoid some common scams.