NES / Tengen / Pac Man question

[captain_nintendo]

I have included a photo of A NES , Tengen Pac man that I recieved today in this thread.

I have looked and looked and can not find evidence of a tengen cart looking like the box art   I can only assume that they change this box art which is from when the game was "not endorsed" by Nintendo.

They later came out with a gray cart version in a different box style as well.

Any help ?

[Speedy_NES]

That's awesome!! I never paid attention to box variants for Tengen games.  I just checked eBay, and I've already found four Tengen box variants for the Pac-Man game...yours is the only one with that box I've seen, though.  By the way, I'm quite sure the grey cart version of Pac-Man was released prior to the black cart version

Seriously nice find though!!  I'm gonna start looking out for more Tengen box variants

If I see another one like yours I'll let you know!

-Speedy

[captain_nintendo]

That's awesome!! I never paid attention to box variants for Tengen games.  I just checked eBay, and I've already found four Tengen box variants for the Pac-Man game...yours is the only one with that box I've seen, though.  By the way, I'm quite sure the grey cart version of Pac-Man was released prior to the black cart version

Seriously nice find though!!  I'm gonna start looking out for more Tengen box variants

If I see another one like yours I'll let you know!

-Speedy

I posted this at DP as well in the VG forum. I want to know if there was an actual cart and manual variant that goes along with the box ?

Thanks Speedy !

[Speedy_NES]

Well, I would assume that that manual is a variant that goes with the box, as the common Pac-Man manual is in color, and not black & white.  I did find another box variant on eBay with a black & white manual, though.  I assume that it went something like this:

Licensed Pac-Man:

http://i6.photobucket.com...Boxvariantlicensed1-2.jpg

Unlicensed Pac-Man w/old endorement msg bottom right:

http://i6.photobucket.com...xvariantunlicensed2-2.jpg

Unlicensed Pac-Man w/new endorsement msg bottom right & B&W manual (maybe to save costs):

http://i6.photobucket.com...Boxvariantunlicensed1.jpg

Unlicensed Pac-Man w/new endorsement msg, b&w manual, and new box (your copy):

http://i6.photobucket.com...Boxvariantunlicensed3.jpg

Again, this is more of a wild guess on the timeline, but who knows

The black and white & color manuals each have a different address, so if we can find out which address came first, we can know which box variant came first

-Speedy

[captain_nintendo]

Corrext me if I am wrong  , but wouldnt the Unlicensed cart / box come before the licensed versions ?

[Izret101]

Didn't they have a license originally then Nintendo pulled it because Namco owned Pac-Man?

Not sure just putting in my possibly incorrect $.02

[Speedy_NES]

I've always understood that Tengen initially had a license, and then for one reason or another lost their license or decided to evade the license fees and started producing unlicensed games...that's why only the first three Tengen games were licensed, Gauntlet, Pac-Man, and RBI Baseball.  If the license came afterwards, then shouldn't RBI Baseball 3 have a licensed version, and not RBI Baseball 1?  I'll try and find out where I got my info from.

-Speedy

[captain_nintendo]

By the way , there was some very good input on the variant of the Pac Man Tengen in my thread over there.

Glad I posted in both places to pick each members brains.  


Of course I would love to find out more about the licensed vs. unlicensed versions and the time frames  

[NMorgan]

Let me explain the deal with Tengen.  (This is my first post BTW)

Tengen originally had a license, but once they discovered how to circumvent the lockout chip located inside the NES console, they started to produce unlicensed titles.  This way they didn't have to pay Nintendo any dues, fees, or charges, all profits went to Tengen.  Nintendo sued Nintendo for supposidly "breaking their contract" but Tengen won the court battles and continued to release unlicensed games.  

[Izret101]

Thanks much for the info
I thought i was right just didn't know the specifics.

http://www.rfgeneration.c...on=display;num=1086703181
^^Introduce yourself^^

[captain_nintendo]

I knew it was something like that.

Thanks for contributing to the thread and welcome !