THE OFFICIAL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND CORRECTION COMPILATION ADDENDUM TO THE ORIGINAL 1997 NINTENDO NES MIKE ETLER LIST
REVISION 1.6 (work still in progress) Last Updated February 25, 2007
INTRODUCTION
The 1997 Mike Etler NES game list has become the main reference by which both gamers
and collectors adhere to when buying, selling, and trading NES cartridges. Granted,
the list is a very good reference and it does provide an accurate and complete listing
of NES cartridges. However, it lacks some very basic things and it contains several
errors. I have chosen to write this report both for myself as well as for the benefit
of the rest of the NES community.
EXPLANATION
The Mike Etler NES list contains a total of 779 entries. HOWEVER, this is the first
problem as the total number of North American NTSC NES game cartridges is not 779.
Worse then that is the fact that some of those entries are not even NES games anyhow.
Of the 779 entries, I have personally disqualified 14 of them. The place where I set
the bar for what IS and what is NOT a qualifying entry is of course SUBJECTIVE. For
the record, objectivity is rather difficult to achieve as there are so many debatable
details among those 14 controversial entries.
DISQUALIFIED ENTRIES
01 Arkanoid Controller - last time I checked a controller does not count as a cartridge!
02 Aladdin Deck Enhancer - last time I checked a system accessory is not an actual cartridge!
03 Galoob Game Genie - last time I checked a system accessory is not an actual cartridge!
04 Game Action Replay - last time I checked a system accessory is not an actual cartridge!
05 Asterix the Gaul -- this is a PAL game listed incorrectly!
06 Pyramids of Ra - PROTO - Protos ENHANCE game collections, they do not COMPLETE them!
07 Scarabeus - PROTO - (Dozens of other unreleased NES protos don't count so why should these?)
08-14 ___(the seven Aladdin mini carts - these require an accesory in order to function!)___
LABEL VARIATIONS or ALTERNATE GAME PROGRAMS can you decide?
01 Gauntlet - (Tengen Label Variation) - Licensed & Unlicensed by Nintendo
02 RBI Baseball - (Tengen Label Variation) - Licensed & Unlicensed by Nintendo
03 Pac-Man - (Tengen Label Variation) - Licensed & Unlicensed by Nintendo
04 Pac-Man - (NAMCO's version is identical to TENGEN's version)
05 Indiana Jones - (Temple of Doom by TENGEN & by MINDSCAPE)
06 Impossible Mission 2 - (released by AVE & SEI)
___(when game code is not SEVERELY altered, should it count as a separate entry?)___
COMPLETE COLLECTION STATISTICS
Maximum Number of Licensed NES Game Cartridges is 677
Maximum Number of UN-Licensed NES Game Cartridges is 88
GRAND TOTAL OF ALL USA NES CARTRIDGES IS 765
MY PERSONAL STATISTICS
My Number of Licensed NES Game Cartridges is 676 of 677
My Number of UN-Licensed NES Game Cartridges is 54 of 88
My TOTAL Number of NES Game Cartridges is 730 of 765
BS Industries STATISTICS
Licensed Releases BS is missing 00
UN-Licensed Releases BS is missing 30
TOTAL Releases BS is missing 30
Licensed Releases SP has but not BP 01
UN-Licensed Releases SP has but not BP 04
TOTAL Releases SP has but not BP 05