SNES System Revisions

Discussion of hardware and software development for Super NES and Super Famicom. See the SNESdev wiki for more information.

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Jagasian
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SNES System Revisions

Post by Jagasian »

How many revisions of the USA SNES were there? There were at least 3 versions:

1. original SNES, separate audio board inside, power switch moves a brace to secure the cart into place, eject label is painted on eject button, almost all plastic parts yellow

2. on the outside it mostly looks like the first revision, but it has the audio board built into the main motherboard, power switch has no brace for cart, eject label is molded into plastic, few plastic parts yellow, much lighter weight than the first version

3. the mini SNES aka SNES2, lacks S-video and RGB video, lacks eject button, lacks LED, very small, very light weight

So are there any more revisions? I have two of the first revision, which have serial numbers: UN13136561 and UN13812172. I only have one second revision SNES, which has serial number: UN304302770.
gannon
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Post by gannon »

There are 4 US revisions that I know of:
1. External APU and removable cart slot (~1990)
2. Internal APU and removable cart slot (~1991-1994)
3. Internal APU and non-removable cart slot. (~1995)
4. Mini SNES, Internal APU and non-removable cart slot. (~1995)
Jagasian
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Post by Jagasian »

The Game Genie apparently doesn't work with later versions, though I have only confirmed this with the mini SNES. What changed to make the Game Genie incompatible?

Version 4 is easy to spot from the external appearance. What is the best way to tell the difference between versions 1, 2, and 3 from external inspection? When does the external appearance change, with version 2 or version 3?
tepples
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Post by tepples »

The Game Genie at least relied on the shape of the old carts, which had the indentation to lock on. The newer carts (Mario Is Missing! and later) had a different shaped indentation that the Game Genie couldn't lock to.
gannon
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Post by gannon »

For figuring out which version the snes is I normally look at the date on the bottom of the case. I open most of my SNES' up anyways, so I never paid too much attention to the differences in the case.
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