iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 7h

C&E also sent Bubble Bath Babes to AVE for review. Curiously, it credits Hacker International instead of Panesian, the only company that commercialised BBB. Hacker released the game as "Soap Panic".

Bubble Bath Babes title screen, with Hacker International copyright.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 7h

Another bomb from the AVE archives: a Xiao Ma Li evaluation sample crediting C&E, and from 1989! 🤯 Unsurprisingly, AVE rejected the game. Can't blame them for that.

Xiao Ma Li title screen with 1989 C&E copyright.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Latest hot debate at the BootlegGames Wiki! Did the beloved Hwang Shinwei develop Carmaze, a 1986 DOS port of Rally X?

Carmaze title screen. The credits read: "The Third Wave Publishing Corp. Author: Huang Hsin-Wei"

Carmaze gameplay. The game has rudimentary graphics.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The common hack of TXC's massively popular 棋王 (Qi Wang), commonly known as 中国象棋 (Chinese Chess), replaces the girl by a middle aged balding man on the main menu. The hacker also gave the baby's head a clean shave 👨🏻‍🦲 Had anyone noticed?

Original TXC Qi Wang difficulty selection menu.

Title screen of Chinese Chess, the Qi Wang hack.

Selection screen of Chinese Chess, the hack of Qi Wang. In that hack, the baby has no tuft of hair, and the girl is replaced by some balding middle aged man.

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Dave Flynn @daveflynn.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I've had these carts for years and never knew which console they were for

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

We often get the question: "how far back dates Famicom piracy in Taiwan"? Prior to hardware clones, households could only acquire Japanese Famicom units. However there were already commercial copies of games! The oldest we've seen were from 1985.

An unauthorized copy of Baseball for the Famicom from 1985.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Thanks to the unstoppable @frankcifaldi.bsky.social in his quest to preserve Video Game History, we get a unique glance at AVE's archives of Idea-Tek titles. A one of a kind opportunity to study development timelines, with the developer-publisher back and forth across continents!

F-15 City War very first prototype, with its placeholder title screen (re-used from Xiao Ma Li)

The very first 30-in-1 prototype ROM archived by AVE.

First Tennis prototype (prior to being renamed to Rad Racket Tennis II), from early 1991.

A photocopy of a fax sent by AVE to Idea-Tek. The fax has a photo of the playfield with surrounding remarks. One of them is to correct the typo on the billboard ("Dudes with ttitude"). Idea-Tek misintepreted AVE's request and inserted it in the game as "Shouldsay with Attitu".

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Akin to the NES, the light-gun was a must-have accessory to any Famiclone possessing households. Oddly enough, taiwanese companies produced few titles at first: Crime Busters (1989) and Hit Marmot (1991) are pretty much alone.

Front of the box of the TXC/Taejan (Micro Genius) first light gun from mid-1987, the TLG-401, strongly inspired from Nintendo official Famicom light gun.

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AtariSpot // rob @atarispot.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

If you missed it… hey, I’m alive! I’ve got a new site going so that I can put things somewhere that isn’t social media. The first truly new post is about a heretofore undocumented 2600 clone console manufactured in a state-owned factory in China. Much more to come! theatari.spot/blog/2026-07...

theatari.spot

Shanghai's Dazzling 2600 Clone: Apollo-8 TV GAME

The 新建 (Xinjian) XJ 8811 -- a beautiful Atari clone console from a Chinese state-owned factory.

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I'm still really proud of the premise of this exhibit, which was "the NES never actually stopped." This photo is from the part of the timeline where it served as the basis of cloned plug & play systems with new games, and when Nintendo started emulating the system in Animal Crossing.

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

This is a picture from our "Staying With Power" museum exhibit from 2018, about the longevity of the NES! We are the only organization that gives Zdog, history's greatest console, the respect and reverence it deserves.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The ZDog was released roughly 20 years ago! It is the last NES-based release by Hummer Technology, in collaboration with Zechess! bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/ZDog

The dumped ZDog unit on exhibition at PRGE 2018. Photo courtesy of The Video Game History Foundation.

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G.M.M. @geeemmemm.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I'll see if I can get a scan of it broken down at some point. Inside is blank and the sides are repeated, here's the top and bottom too. The cube itself is a standard Skewb, no unique colors or extra branding. The images on the wiki page look to be from the listing I got this from.

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G.M.M. @geeemmemm.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Everything around this game has made it stay on my mind. I recently got a branded cube for it from a saved search.

A boxed copy of Creatom next to a boxed Skewb puzzle with the Creatom branding.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Creatom is a NES title developed by TXC in collaboration with puzzle inventor Uwe Mèffert. Nowadays it has been vastly forgotten due to its sheer difficulty. But did you know it retailed with a hefty instructions manual and suppoting puzzle pieces?

Photo of Creatom puzzle pieces, cartridge and manual.

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power player viira @pirategamething.com · 26/12/2025

The Padvent Calendar 2025 compilation is live! Whether you missed a day, hate holding your device vertically, or just want to give the whole thing a rewatch, now it's all in one place! www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzGf...

youtube.com

The Padvent Calendar 2025: 25 More Days of Assorted Famiclone Filler

YouTube video by PirateGameThing

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

We did our accounting: the current number is six different builds, and we strongly suspect a seventh exists. Do you love Rad Racket Deluxe Tennis II as much as we do?

One release of Rad Racket Deluxe Tennis II by TXC.

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Cassette, game paks, Cartridge, electronic game... but had you seen that one?

Back cover of an unlicensed Famicom game reading "VIDEO GAME TAPE".

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power player viira @pirategamething.com · 01/12/2025

It's back! Starting tomorrow morning, I'll be releasing daily Shorts on my YouTube channel featuring a randomly selected game from Project Plug & Play as a part of The Padvent Calendar 2025!

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Gaming Alexandria @gamingalexandria.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Hard to believe it's already been ten years that Gaming Alexandria has been around. Here's a (late) article about our history, as well as special thanks and small blurbs from others of what Gaming Alexandria has meant to them. Here's to another ten years! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/11/g...

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Waixing throughput was massive in 1996: the chinese copyright office lists more than 50 titles released by Waixing that year! Churning out that many games possibly came with disorganization. It was just faster to implement the splash screen everytime than align and design a reusable template.

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Dave Flynn @daveflynn.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Taiwanese bootlegs in the 80s and 90s often came with translated manuals or instructional inserts like this one for Shiten Myooh/Shadow Blasters/四天明王 on the Mega Drive: #Taiwan #Sega #MegaDrive #bootlegs

Shiten Myooh Chinese (Taiwan) instructional insert outer cover

Shiten Myooh Chinese (Taiwan) instructional insert inner

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taizou @taizou.12bit.club · 15/10/2025

It's cute the things people are saying. Mediocre but functional video games and even well regarded ones that just weren't for them. Me I finished Pokémon Jade (Special Pikachu Edition). A game where you have to use a cheat code to stop it crashing at the end of the first level

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Brave Wave @bravewave.net · 08/09/2025

影山雅司永眠のお知らせ We are deeply saddened to share that Gimmick! composer Masashi Kageyama has passed away.

Masashi Kageyama in Asakusa, Tokyo. January 2020

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

After King Fishing, the Hummer Team dumping commando just dropped a new bomb.

"Os Cavaleiros Do Zodiaco" title screen. A Saint Seiya themed fighting game by Hummer Team.

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Smed is Two 🕹️🐑 @smedis2.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Waixing's "Boat Race", a hack of Eliminator Boat Duel, is probably the closest we'll ever get to seeing an "actual" VT03 game that utilizes the hardware properly and that's mainly only because it's based on a pre-existing impressive game lmao

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Can you believe there are at least five documented revisions of Rad Racket II: Deluxe Tennis? We got various beta and nearly final builds due to hiccups from Both TXC and AVE!

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BootlegGames Wiki @bootleggameswiki.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Breaking news! 🔴 The MaxiVision 30-in-1 had a prior iteration, without AVE involvement! In mid 1991, MaxiVision International Inc. had contracted NTDEC to produce a compilation with NTDEC and Color Dreams titles! AVE took over the project within a year and released the 15-in-1.

A photo of the MaxiVision 30-in-1 prototype produced by NTDEC for MaxiVision International Inc.

Photo of the back of the same prototype cartridge. The back side has a game list sticker.

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Frank Cifaldi @frankcifaldi.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I came here to be excited that I found NES game design docs from Taiwan in storage but I guess that thing is happening and you're all watching it

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