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Custom Game Cases Vol. 5

Posted by Sega Dude on May 31, 2017

Posted in: Community, Restoration. Tagged: case, clamshell, CustomGameCases.com, hanging tab, reproduction, Restoration, Sega Genesis. 2 Comments

I recently received another order from CustomGameCases.com for 25 aftermarket Sega Genesis game cases. If you’ve been keeping track I’ve done a bunch of posts about these cases and I’m pretty sure it’s because I really do like them.

These cases are almost identical to the original hard plastic clam-shell cases that Sega use to make for Sega Genesis games. Click here for my more detailed impression of these cases.

Of 25 cases 19 arrived in condition that I was happy with.

Several cases had hanging tabs that were so loose that with a few wiggles they would fall right off. This was a bit upsetting because I was planning on using these new cases to replace authentic Sega Genesis cases that are themselves in OK condition except for the fact that they are missing their hanging tabs. It’s not easy to see in the picture below but the hanging tabs on these new cases are so loose that most flop back and forth as you handle them.

All of the cases came packaged very well and I believe they were not damaged in transit. I suspect that this relatively new product has just not fully matured yet.

I emailed customgamecases.com and explained that I would like them to ship me good quality replacements. And they did not hesitate. I have already received perfect cases to replace the ones pictured above. Customer service has been excellent. Thank you guys!

I took games from my collection that had cases with missing hanging tabs and various nicks and scratches and put the cover art, manual and cartridge for each into new CostumGameCases and now they really do look like new.

Is anyone wondering why Gargoyles is in a hard plastic clam-shell case? Anyone? Yes, the original case for Gargoyles only comes in Sega’s cardboard box style.

The previous owner wanted all of his Sega Genesis games in clam-shell cases so he cut up the cardboard box and made it fit as in insert into the more common plastic cases. I wouldn’t do this myself but I also wouldn’t pass up a good game at a good price because this had been done.

Below is a closer look at a few of the games in their new cases.

MW IV (Monster World IV) is a reproduction of the Japanese version with an English translation. It’s so well done that it’s worthy of a new nice hanging tab.

Of course I would prefer authentic Sega Genesis cases but it’s very hard to find them whole and in great condition and not already housing another game. On rare occasion I’ll upgrade games in my collection and have the chance to put better cases into the collection while removing lesser ones. But since that’s not a reliable option CustomGameCases.com has got my back.

Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes Vol. 2

Posted by Sega Dude on March 20, 2016

Posted in: Hardware, Modifications, NES, Nintendo, Restoration, SNES. Tagged: bitbox, case, cover, NES, nintendo, snes, stone age gamer. 4 Comments

After previously sampling a few Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes for five of my favorite SNES carts I’ve decide it’s time to dive in.

For anyone not familiar with BitBoxes they are aftermarket cases for your Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game cartridges or for your Super Nintendo (SNES) game cartridges. If you’re not able to find or afford to collect your NES and SNES games in their original cardboard boxes then the BitBox might be for you.

When adding this second order of new BitBoxes to the previous 5 my collection of NES and SNES game cartridges have started to look pretty impressive.

Below you’ll see my new game cases are for Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Breathe of Fire, Super Mario World, Top Gear and Street Fighter II Turbo.

My Final Fantasy III game cart I bought from a forum member at neo-geo.com for $55 USD including shipping which is about $75-$80 CAD. This is by far the most I’ve spent on any SNES game but we’re talking about Final Fantasy III so I don’t have to say it but I will, ‘totally worth it’.
Chrono Triger I traded for at Retro Game Brothers. It had a $130 CAD price tag and I had to trade in a lot of stuff for it: 2 boxed Neo Geo Pocket games, 3 Genesis games (2 were boxed), 4 NES carts, 1 SNES cart and about 5 complete PS2 games. The only rare items of the lot would be the two NGPC games and maybe Two Crude Dudes for the Genesis. The rest of the SNES games below were given to me by a good friend a year or so back.

Of the Star Wars trilogy games I only ever played Super Star Wars back in the day but I wanted all three for the collection and to try out. I’ve read that Super Empire Strikes Back is very good. I forget what they cost me but they were not expensive games. All of Star Fox, Cybernator and F-Zero were given to me by the same friend that I mentioned above. In my eyes he’s a very wonderful human being 🙂

Even though my main focus has always been the Sega Genesis, Japanese Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Master System over the years I have been picking up loose SNES and NES carts. I haven’t been as diligent about recording what I’ve paid for my Nintendo games. I think I paid about $30-40 CAD for Mega Man X which was the most expensive of the 6 below. (I’m also noticing that Super Street Fighter II Turbo managed to sneak into the photo shoot a 2nd time… oops.)

Below are Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Super Punch Out, Super Mario World and Super R-Type.

The last two SNES BitBox cases I got for some of my SNES carts are Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Super Mario All Stars.

As good as BitBoxes are they’re not cheap considering how many you’re likely to buy if you start at all. As a result I’ve actually sold many of my NES carts because they were not games that I was really interested in and for every game cartridge I sold that would be one less BitBox I had to buy. I know, I know… I’m crazy. What am I collecting? Cool old retro video games or boxes? The up side of my new philosophy is that it really forces me to consider how much I really want a particular game. It’s because of this that I feel like I’m going to end up with a quality collection of games that are either really good or are games that I have a lot of nostalgia for.

The next collecting trap that BitBoxes landed me in is offering a convenient place to store manuals. Just great… so yeah, now I’m looking for game manuals too.

BitBox case are not identical for SNES and NES cartridges. Each are built specifically for SNES or NES and they are not interchangeable. The NES BitBoxes aren’t as deep (marginally) and are skinnier than the SNES BitBoxes (both are identical in height). Other wise the quality and function is the same. The SNES BitBoxes can also accommodate a Super Famicom cart instead of a SNES cart if you collect for both systems.

This was my first order for NES BitBoxes and I’m enjoying them just as much at the SNES BitBoxes.

Below we have Kung Fu, Metroid, Excite Bike, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Castlevania, Rygar, Journey to Silius and Punchout.

Next up are Ghost ‘n Goblins, Super C, Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.

Pretty awesome right?! Here’s what they cost me. Each BitBox cost $4 USD plus 50 cents if you want a document strap. A document strap is a sleeve/band of clear plastic with one adhesive side. You open the BitBox and stick the document strap to the inside of the left side of the case, as close to the bottom as you can. (See Super Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts below) Once installed you can slide a game manual into this clear plastic sleeve and it will be snugly held in place. At the moment I don’t have any document straps for my NES BitBoxes but I am going to get some.

I can’t really argue with Stone Age Gamers prices on these cases. They have created a really good product and if you’re looking for a nice case for your carts I really do highly recommend BitBoxes. Personally, I do like them more than UGC’s (Universal Game Cases). That being said UGC’s are still a great option because they also look good and they cost a lot less. My good friend Nintendo Joe has managed to buy UGC’s for about $1 each CAD when buying in bulk. You can also get a small price break when buying BitBoxes in bulk but they still cost significantly more money.

My only real problem with BitBoxes is I’m spending Canadian dollars on a product only available in the US and I have to deal with very expensive shipping costs (and I run the risk of duty and broker fees which can add up to another 80-90% more money). By the time my BitBoxes arrived at my door I’ll have spent about $6.50 CAD each. Then I go to my local print shop and get my covers printed for about another $3.25 each (includes printing and cutting). So BitBox cases will cost me about $9.75 each. Which circles back to my plan of trimming down the collection and other creative hobbyist tactics like removing my wife from this blog to help ensure a continued and healthy gaming budget.

If the cost alone didn’t hit hard enough some of my BitBoxes arrived damaged (despite being packaged well) and this was pretty upsetting. I took some pictures of the damage and emailed Stone Age Gamer and they did not question or hesitate. Right away they mailed me replacement cases. This initially bad experience transformed into a huge amount of trust and faith in Stone Age Gamer. Yes, you’re paying a premium compared to a similar product (UGC) but in my experience you will be taken care of.

Below are all of my current SNES carts that I have BitBoxes for. All lined up like good little soldiers supported by the very few boxed SNES games that I have.

Of the boxed SNES games all but Magic Sword were given to me by a good friend who had them kicking around in his basement for many years.

Below you can see the size difference between a Stone Age Gamer BitBox and an original Super Nintendo cardboard case. The BitBoxes are a little bit larger.

Below is my smaller contingent of NES games in their BitBoxes. I’m loving how these boxes dress up the collection and I already have another order placed with Stone Age Gamer.

All of the custom covers for BitBoxes can be found for free for anyone at the following to links:

NES Covers:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/07vlzgyficoohw0/AACa7UzwyI16MocIjCTDC5sda

SNES Covers:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aqbad5j2xz5gger/AABXqs5NRanbDVIdP-vzGhW7a?dl=0

What do you do with your carts? Are you content with loose carts? Do you only buy complete and in the original box games? What aftermarket Retro Video Gaming stuff are you enjoying?

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PIKO Interactive Sega Genesis Cases

Posted by Sega Dude on December 17, 2015

Posted in: Community, Genesis (North America), Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese), Restoration. Tagged: case, clamshell, CustomGameCases.com, genesis, mega drive, piko interactive. 7 Comments

**For Maximum Impact press play**

BEHOLD!!!

UPDATE: When originally writing this post I though PIKO Interactive were the manufactures of these cases. It’s in fact CustomGameCases.com who is producing them.

PIKO Interactive has very recently started reselling high quality cases for Sega Genesis games. This is not the first time after-market cases have been made but in my opinion these particular cases are the first time we’ve seen cases that are near perfect when compared to the original cases that Sega use to produce when the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive were current.

Finally, our wait is over. If you have a few games in your collection with beat-up cases or loose carts with no cases at all now at last we have a great option.

I first discovered these new cases when PIKO Interactive sent out an offer to ship a free replacement case for anyone who had purchased their newly released Genesis game Water Margin. The previous cases included with Water Margin did the job but they were soft, warped in places and the outer clear plastic sleeve was cheap; too shinny, crinkly and could peal off too easily. They were also a bit skinnier than an original Genesis case. In short; they fell short of being a good product.

How do these new cases stack up? They come really very close to being perfect.

Here’s what was done right:
1) The case dimensions appear to be spot on perfect.
2) The black plastic is just as thick and ridged as an original Sega Genesis case; with equal flexibility.
3) The outer clear plastic which holds the cover art looks and feels just like the original Sega Genesis case. And it seems to be securely attached.
4) The hanging tab; it has a hanging tab!!
5) Inside the case it holds both the cart and manual with the same designs as an original Sega Genesis case.
6) The case clicks closed easily and and stays securely closed.

Here’s what gives it away as an after market case:
1) The black plastic appears to have two tones. Parts are matt black and look just like an original and other areas like the hanging tab and the inside of the spine are shinny.
2) If you look closely at an original Genesis case in many different places you’ll be able to see small circles etched into the black plastic. Sometimes you’ll see these on the hanging tab and/or inside the case. Usually you be able to find many of them. I believe they are a bi-product of the manufacturing process. On the PIKO Interactive case I was only able to see one. I feel this is an improvement, albeit a small one, but a difference for sure.
3) The PIKO cases appear to be a little bit darker black. Maybe this is just because they are new.
4) The PIKO cases are sooo new and pristine your original Sega Genesis case just can’t look like this anymore.

They are not spot on duplicates but they are fantastic. To do better Humanity would have to put aside all differences and assemble a ‘think tank’ the likes of which we have never before seen.
I don’t think that is going to happen so I have ordered a 10 pack of these PIKO Interactive cases and I’m very eager to inch my collection closer to 100% hanging tab completion!

*For anyone wondering what a hanging tab is; it’s the bit of plastic at the top of the case. It’s purpose is to allow retailers to hang the game on a wall for display purposes and as a convenient way to store inventory. These hanging tabs were often cut off by gamers as they weren’t needed and they made it harder to stack/store the games. Now that the games are old collectors often want them in perfect condition. I use to cut off the hanging tabs from my Sega Master System cases for which I now shoulder a very sizable amount of shame. The Japanese Mega Drive games did not have hanging tabs until some of their very late releases.

Case Front

Case Back

Case Open

PIKO Genesis Case 04
Lined up with Original Cases

Close up with Originals.

Lined up with Originals

CustomGameCase.com Case with original art sleeve. Front.

CustomGameCase.com Case with original art sleeve. Back.

Looking back at these pictures I’ve taken I can tell it’s hard to see some of the distinctions I’ve described but know that you will be able to tell them apart from an original if you’re paying attention. Also, know they are really well done and I feel they are a very worth while purchase for any collector.

**Click here for my Updated Impressions after receiving an order of 10 cases.**