Original Post

Hello,
I’m sure this question has been asked before, but I couldn’t find an answer, simply anyways.
I cannot tell whether my VB is JAP or USA hardware, as I’d like to put it up in my collection on RF Generation: http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/collection.pl?name=wazzal&folder=Collection

I read somewhere that the wording under the console was different, but am at a loss of what the difference could be.

7 Replies

You can tell by the serial, does it start with “VN”? If so, it’s from North America. If it only starts with “V”, then it’s from Japan.

If the serial is missing, look for the repait service sticker on the front, under the eyeshade. English text and phone number? NA. Japanese text? Obvious. 🙂

If both stickers are missing, look for the PlayLink port. Is it labeled “PLAYLINK” (Japan) or simply “EXT.” (NA)?

Thanks! That confirms I have the USA VB.
And I’ve heard the JAP VB is harder to find, is that true? Or is it just like a “white saturn” and common in Japan but hard to find elsewhere?

The Japanese VBs are somewhat more rare depending on where you look. They are somewhat uncommon on eBay, but not really rare.

Also, I just thought I’d let you know that Jap is seen as a derogatory term. I realize you were using it for region names and had no ill intentions, but just so you know.

MasterOfPuppets wrote:
The Japanese VBs are somewhat more rare depending on where you look. They are somewhat uncommon on eBay, but not really rare.

Also, I just thought I’d let you know that Jap is seen as a derogatory term. I realize you were using it for region names and had no ill intentions, but just so you know.

Thumbs up for letting us know about the “Jap” thingie. I didn’t know it was derogatory and in fact I used it for region names as you say. From now onwards, I will use Japan to distinguish videogames coming from that side of the world 😎

The ISO 3 letter country code for Japan is JPN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-3

Very interesting, I once read about it being a bit offensive, but it seemed the norm as I would always see it along with ISO’s. From what I gather it’s in due to WWII.

Here’s a bit of history as to why for those compelled:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

edit:
Oh, and that’s good to know about the JPN VB as well, I was about to look into investing in one of them; now I won’t rush.

  • This reply was modified 14 years, 9 months ago by wazzal.

Right, “JPN” (or just “J”) should be used instead of Jap.

 

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