Bob

Demons of Asteborg Genesis Cartridge Unboxing

Posted on by Bob

 

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UPDATE 08/16:  If your cart doesn’t have both edges, contact the DoA team for a replacement.  Here is an example of a cart with only one side beveled (click for full-sized):

I just received a copy of the new “metroidvania-style” Sega Genesis game, Demons of Asteborg.  It’s aesthetically beautiful, but there are sadly some potential build issues with the cartridge.  If your intent was to use the ROM on a ROM cart, but purchase the cartridge as something nice to display, it’s a 100% win:  The case looks great and it comes with some really nice swag and a fully detailed instruction manual.  In my opinion, this is exactly what collectors are looking for.

The cartridge PCB itself is unfortunately questionable:  Only one side of the edge that plugs into your cartridge slot is beveled, which means this cart will wear your console out much faster than standard Genesis cartridges (and ROM carts).  There’s also a potential voltage translation issue that may discourage people from using it.

People who purchase on Steam can get the ROM for free, however at the time of writing this post, they’re not offering the ROM to people who purchased the cart.  Hopefully they’ll consider changing, as while I’m still really excited to play the game, I’m not inserting this into my well-worn, 30+ year old console:  https://www.demonsofasteborg.com/

UPDATE 08/14:  The creators of Demons of Asteborg responded to questions of PCB quality with insults, most likely referring to this post and Voultar’s proper analysis of the chips and voltage translation.  They also didn’t address the bevel and insist ENIG is a better material for cartridge pads than hard gold.  I’m starting to really regret supporting this project.

UPDATE 08/16:  They’ve finally addressed the bevel issue.  Tweet below.

Also, here’s the music I used in the post:

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