Wing Commander SNES Prototype Salvaged (January 13, 2017)

[KrisV]

A while back, LOAF managed to snag a prototype of Wing Commander for the Super Nintendo off eBay. This general purpose game pak originated at MindScape, who were responsible for porting both Wing Commander and Secret Missions to the Nintendo console. It has room for two EPROMs that contain game code and some SRAM memory that could potentially serve various purposes, notably keeping savegames alive when paired with a battery. The CIC chip prevents piracy and facilitates region lockouts.





Wing Commander for the SNES doesn't have a true save feature. Instead, the game generates codes for keeping track of your progress, obviating the need for SRAM and battery. The circuit board used in production copies is a lot smaller: it only has one EPROM chip (sufficient to hold the program code) and a CIC chip for security.

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Original update published on January 13, 2017

 

[wcnut]

Dang it, I mean good that this was found, but the way you put the headline, I thought you were talking about the long lost wc2 cart. But then I guess that would be in ALL CAPPS!

 

[Worf]

Better cover up those EPROM windows with dark tape ASAP. While you usually use an eraser to erase them in 20 minutes, normal sunlight will erase them over a span of a day or so. And unless the cover was on them who knows how long they've been exposed - even uncovered they may have slowly erased themselves over a period of years.

Hopefully there's something recoverable..

 

[ChrisReid]

I believe that's the original eBay listing photo, so at the time the cartridge was pictured, exposing the memory was out of his hands.

 

[Worf]

Well, get those chips covered ASAP, and maybe there's still something that can be read out...