Version/Revision schemes

[NGEfreak]

Nintendo:

Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom:
- ROM header in newer games: BCD value???
- PRG version???
- CHR version???

Famicom Disk System:
- ROM header???
- Revision???

Super Nintendo Entertainment System / Super Famicom:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- ROM version: printed on ROM chip(s); suffix to ROM serial
matches ROM header value (except if v2.0???)
- Revision: stamp at the back of the cartridge
Revision is not related to ROM version; can also increment when other hardware changes (like coprocessor)
ex. ## => initial version, ##A => Rev A, ## => Rev B, etc; ## == manufacturer code

Virtual Boy:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- Cartridge Revision???

Nintendo 64:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- Cartridge Revision???

Nintendo 64DD:
- ROM header???
- Cartridge Revision???

Game Boy:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- ROM version: printed on ROM chip(s); suffix to ROM serial
matches ROM header value (except if v2.0???)
- Revision: stamp at the back of the cartridge
Revision is not related to ROM version; can also increment when other hardware changes (like coprocessor)
ex. ## => initial version, ##A => Rev A, ## => Rev B, etc; ## == manufacturer code

Game Boy Color:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- ROM version: printed on ROM chip(s); suffix to ROM serial
matches ROM header value (except if v2.0???)
- Revision: stamp at the back of the cartridge
Revision is not related to ROM version; can also increment when other hardware changes (like coprocessor)
ex. ## => initial version, ##A => Rev A, ## => Rev B, etc; ## == manufacturer code

Game Boy Advance:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- ROM version: printed on ROM chip(s); suffix to ROM serial
matches ROM header value (except if v2.0???)
- Revision: stamp at the back of the cartridge
Revision is not related to ROM version; can also increment when other hardware changes (like coprocessor)
ex. ## => initial version, ##A => Rev A, ## => Rev B, etc; ## == manufacturer code

Nintendo DS:
- ROM header: BCD value
ex. 0x00 => v1.0, 0x01 => v1.1, 0x10 => v2.0, etc
- ROM version???
- Cartridge Revision???

----------------------------------------------------

Sega:

SG-1000:
- ???

Master System / SG-1000 Mark III:
- Header???
- Custom headers (Codemasters, etc)???

Mega Drive / Genesis:
- Header???
- Custom headers (Codemasters, etc)???

32X:
- ???

Game Gear:
- ???

----------------------------------------------------

Atari:

Atari 2600:
- ???

Atari 5200:
- ???

Atari 2800:
- ???

Atari 7800:
- ???

Atari Jaguar:
- ???

Lynx:
- ???

----------------------------------------------------

NEC:

TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine:
- ???

SuperGrafx:
- ???

----------------------------------------------------

Bandai:

WonderSwan:
- header???

WonderSwan Color:
- header???

----------------------------------------------------

SNK:

Neo Geo Pocket:
- ???

Neo Geo Pocket Color:
- ???

----------------------------------------------------

Other:

Coleco ColecoVision:
- ???

Emerson Arcadia 2001:
- ???

Entex Adventure Vision:
- ???

Fairchild Channel F:
- ???

GamePark GP32:
- ???

GCE Vectrex:
- ???

Magnavox Odyssey2:
- ???

MSX:
- ???

MSX 2:
- ???

Nokia N-Gage:
- ???

Philips Videopac+:
- ???

RCA Studio II:
- ???

Tiger Game.Com:
- ???

Tiger Gizmondo:
- ???

VTech CreatiVision:
- ???

Watara Supervision:
- ???

[NGEfreak]

I would like to create an overview of game version and revision schemes of all relevant consoles and handhelds, so we can better implement this information in dat-o-matic and the like.

I've already added some stuff to the systems I maintain, but I don’t know much about non-Nintendo related systems. So, any help is greatly appreciated.

[ElBarto]

Already said but : For SEGA system, ALL of them, the only relevant information is the chip serial.

The serial start with MPR- for a Mask ROM and with EPR for an EPROM.
Then there is a five digits number, assigned by SEGA.
Optionaly there is a revision letter, starting with A.

For exemple Street Of Rage (World) :
MPR-14125 => Original revision
MPR-14125A => Bug fixes etc ...

Header are not relevent because they are not checked by the game console.

Non-exaustive list of game maker who didn't use MPR code on MegaDrive :
- Namco(t) (but use a unique game number too, printed on pcb and generally rom are gluechip)
- CodeMaster (use a unique serial with letter and number (based on game name) printed on each rom, I don't have different version of a game so I don't know more)
- EA (Same than CodeMaster)



For VirtualBoy, I have scans of my carts (~6/7 carts), somewhere on one of my computer, will try to find them.

[Devis0r]

For N64, you can use the info on this site.

I'm working on an N64 database, so if you want any info, let me know

Just noticed that site doesn't have the version, so you here go:

Versions:
Doctor V64 0x3E
Mr Backup Z64 0x3F

V64 format roms are byte-swapped.

[NGEfreak]

Already said but : For SEGA system, ALL of them, the only relevant information is the chip serial.

The serial start with MPR- for a Mask ROM and with EPR for an EPROM.
Then there is a five digits number, assigned by SEGA.
Optionaly there is a revision letter, starting with A.

For exemple Street Of Rage (World) :
MPR-14125 => Original revision
MPR-14125A => Bug fixes etc ...

I assume this value only increments if the ROM content has been changed, right? Are there any known inconsistencies?

Header are not relevent because they are not checked by the game console.

The same could be said to practically all systems. Still, I think that headers are relevant and should be documented.

Anyway, what kind of format is used in the header? Which games have obviously incorrect values?

For N64, you can use the info on this site.

I'm working on an N64 database, so if you want any info, let me know

Just noticed that site doesn't have the version, so you here go:

Versions:
Doctor V64 0x3E
Mr Backup Z64 0x3F

V64 format roms are byte-swapped.

I guess it’s a BCD value, too?

[ElBarto]

Already said but : For SEGA system, ALL of them, the only relevant information is the chip serial.

The serial start with MPR- for a Mask ROM and with EPR for an EPROM.
Then there is a five digits number, assigned by SEGA.
Optionaly there is a revision letter, starting with A.

For exemple Street Of Rage (World) :
MPR-14125 => Original revision
MPR-14125A => Bug fixes etc ...

I assume this value only increments if the ROM content has been changed, right? Are there any known inconsistencies?

There is no known inconsistencies.
Even different version of game (like Soleil) have different MPR base code.
This is really for versioning.

Header are not relevent because they are not checked by the game console.

The same could be said to practically all systems. Still, I think that headers are relevant and should be documented.

Anyway, what kind of format is used in the header? Which games have obviously incorrect values?

I wrote a document last year : http://www.megadrive.org/~elbarto/md/md ... ummies.txt