1943: The Battle of Midway (Prototype B)
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| Download 1943: The Battle of Midway (Prototype B) (info) |
A prototype of 1943: The Battle of Midway for the NES.
Notes
Analysis: Frank Cifaldi
Object Analysis
Object is an NES cartridge with no labels affixed.
The circuit board inside bares part number NES-UN-ROM-04, a part typically not used for prototyping but, rather, in the manufacturing of retail games. There is wiring present on the singular EPROM present, something that is typically required when using rewritable EPROMs on a retail NES board. A piece of painter's tape on the EPROM designates the game's title, though it is possible this was an alteration made by the item's submitter.
Data Analysis
(Hash info is for the combined headerless ROM)
CRC-32: 54F0319F
SHA-1: 94413120E5B83273C174F00CE569D03FE22C6053
SHA-256: 9E738EB12F607001AD6F3F80BEB9DE3C256C401F2A9488ED2755EFA2F04CF48D
MD-5: B6EB4C08E828C37CF5A2A240768F8DBD
The data differs from the retail version of the game, and is not a ROM known to the internet. An examination of the game's hex code reveals very few differences between this and the retail version of the game: the data at $DBD0 and $DBF0 is identical but shifted around, which is unlikely to affect gameplay. Besides this, only two bytes throughout the ROM differ (and each of those only differ by one byte), meaning for all practical purposes this is the final game.
Provenance Notes
According to the submitter, this item was purchased from the McLaren Auction Services "Vintage Nintendo Online-Only Auction," which ran from March 25 to April 1, 2022. McLaren claims that these items came from Steve McKay, former "General Manager of the Mexico Division" at Nintendo. Approximately 97 items from this auction were submitted to WATA at once. Given that the auction listings are not archived on McLaren's website, I was unable to verify each individual item as having come from the auction. However, I did view this auction when it was live, and can attest that the scope of this collection is in line with my memory of what was available.
Conclusion
Given the authentic parts used, the provenance, and the unique data available across the lot of items submitted, I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this item.
Origin
