Nintendo didn't want this getting out...

[@JelloFluoride]

If this doesn't already have a rom dump somewhere, we totally need one.

[@bodhi1271]

It does, there are even multiple versions of it, it's not rare. The original carts are rare, but you can easily get the rom or bootleg carts of it.

[@rmcoutinho]

No worries it just a test

[@alessandromazzini7026]

@@bodhi1271 where do you find them?

[@Ishin69]

@@alessandromazzini7026 the internet?

[@GameDeath]

This is basically an official one by Nintendo. But I think theres already a better homebrew versions of this that modders been using.

[@LexYeen]

Those are some extra regular Game Boys you've got there.

[@devondetroit2529]

I thought I was going mad then, the blue one is extended also?

[@samquinn4095]

@@devondetroit2529 Yes long into the vids on his channel

[@samquinn4095]

*look

[@Zveebo]

Wait, your GameBoy doesn’t look like that???

[@OnlyEpicEmber]

Nah these are just rare versions

[@DanieleGiorgino]

The LCD test isn't random. You can tell it's testing the graphics chip by what its doing. Brightening and darkening backgrounds, rotating and translating sprites, applying effects to sprites.

[@PhirePhlame]

That ties into the name "aging" as it's basically to see how well the basic fuctions still work as a basic damage/wear tester.

[@joemck85]

Exactly. They didn't want to ship GBAs with defective chips that had weird glitches that only happened at some points in certain games.

[@LucasTheDrgn]

I think supper mario broth recently posted a screenshot of a similar tool for the SNES that had on-screen instructions, I'd believe if they had a list of expected outcomes and things to look out for that might be wrong with all of these tests

[@josephcronin2965]

I think he was just saying the pictures were random in location, etc.

[@davidswanson5669]

@@PhirePhlame yeah I think they’d probably subject a gameboy console to thousands of repeats of this 1-hour test in order to see how well the screens hold up to years of normal use. It’s possible that someone’s job was to press the start button every hour, or I guess a robot could.

[@alexisw4362]

NTR is the model name associated with the Nintendo DS-- so presumably this is a test cartridge from fairly late in the Game Boy Advance's lifespan, designed to be capable of testing the DS's GBA slot and processor in addition to the actual GBA and GBA SP (which it also has entries for under that "type" menu).

[@especiallythesoos1795]

Still can't believe that's the official model name for the Nintendo DS

[@Juanguar]

@@especiallythesoos1795 well it was short for nintendo revolution not the other ......... thing

[@Rulumi]

Yes, the latest version of this has an option for the Micro and I think the Game Boy Player.

[@Kitsuna_Gacha]

The year said 2002 tho. How long was the DS in development for?!

[@EJosey]

​@@Juanguarit's short for nitro

[@Chickenbreadlp]

Since your cartridge was configured with the device type "NTR" (which is the codename/shorthand for the Nintendo DS aka Nitro), I would assume then that the scuff marks on your cartridge come from the GBA slot on a DS Light. These marks end right were a GBA cartridge would stick out from a DS Light so the idea is not too far fetched imho Also, I just wanna add here, that the version you have seems to be very special. You got a Version 9.0 cartridge with a working menu, while the only other version 9.0 cartridge that seems to have been documented has it's menu disabled. Please dump your cartridge and put the dump online for preservation 🙏

[@johnglow7845]

Its been dumpef already not sure why he didn't share a link but it's out there.

[@Mainyehc]

@@johnglow7845 probably to avoid irking the extremely litigious Nintendo? 🤔

[@johnglow7845]

@@Mainyehc possible

[@drfsupercenter]

​@@johnglow7845link?

[@randomdeliveryguy]

Hmm... NTR...

[@Nintentoad125]

Love these rare random cartridges

[@Tazerboy_10]

Yeah!

[@DarkLatexKing]

Dkoldies Would Sell Them For A Million Dollars For This Thing

[@pinkpools]

@@DarkLatexKing they would think it’s a fake cart and destroy it on camera.

[@DarkLatexKing]

@@pinkpools yeah they are just too dumb to do some research before destroying a rare cartridge and im literally still angry about the rare ique gameboy they broke

[@STICKOMEDIA]

Same here, they are just so interesting

[@Xilefian]

A few things: NTR is the DS codename, and if you look at the positioning of those squares on the button test they line up with the DS' start and select (which is at the upper right of the console) If I were to guess, this cart was originally for the GBA SP (hence the AGS on the label, the codename for the SP [no it's not advanced game system]), but the cart was later reflashed to test the GBA compatibility of the DS But what the heck is GBS and AGM??? The Game Boy Player is DOL-017 (DOL because it is a Game Cube accessory) and the Game Boy Micro is OXY (Oxy was its code name, likely to mirror "Nitro" of the DS [Nitrogen without the gen, Oxygen without the gen])

[@ShaffySwitcher]

GBS is definitely the Game Boy Player, for AGM I've got no idea...

[@Xilefian]

@@ShaffySwitcher aha you're right, good spot

[@Chickenbreadlp]

AGM could be for the GameBoy Micro, no? Then again, the GameBoy Micro was the Oxy-001...

[@GoofiestGooberofAll]

Could AGM be the iQue version of the GBA? I don’t know if it’s different but that might be it.

[@javaguru7141]

It has a mask rom inside, so it wasn't reflashed. But it may have had the board swapped. That may be when it picked up the yellow back-shell as well (perhaps the original one was especially worn-out).

[@kndr2094]

Can you imagine the people who tested Gameboys all day and have that sequence and music forever burned deep into their brain? Maybe if they see it again, their souls can finally be free.

[@lemming9984]

😂

[@kanpaifighto]

oh man, that song it plays when the bananas show up is actually the song from the music engine demo they included with all the dev kits! There was a weird ROM included where Wario flies in on a plane with that song playing, and you trigger various SFX using the buttons (and they also included the MIDI of that song and the SFX for you to practice with) Wow, blast from the past.

[@dangreen6901]

Gotta do the hour long stress test video for April Fools

[@AnnoyingRains]

nah, april fools would be turning it off at 59:59

[@blubullie4850]

My guess is that this cartridge saw very heavy use and was one of the main testing cartridges for one of the repair people. They must have used it so much, they wore down the plastic on the front and back. They must have tried to repair it by replacing the back, but wasn't able to replace the front because of the label. Whoever originally got this away from the tester must have dug this out of the garbage, or snuck it out from the testing area in a pocket (they may have forgot about it, then gave it to someone else who thought it was neat.)

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

Whoever made that sequence had fun making it lol

[@bytesandbikes]

That 'damage' looks like the start or end of an injection molding run. Maybe it was put together out of QC reject parts?

[@ek8710]

Good theory!

[@EvilOttoJrProductions]

That was my thought as well. That would also explain the "bashed-together" colors. If this was never meant to be seen outside the company, might as well use up some of that otherwise scrap plastic instead of trying to make it look pretty; if it fits then it does what it needs to.

[@CoreysZ32]

@@EvilOttoJrProductions it's also easier to see for an operator on the line.. so it doesn't get accidentally left in a production console

[@bodhi1271]

The ROM has been online for a long time, and you can buy bootleg versions of the cartridge. I use it to calibrate screens after doing GBA mods.

[@DarkLatexKing]

same here too!

[@jakethreesixty]

Those assets it was cycling through are extremely rare 😮

[@whisperingwooper1763]

Indeed!

[@cgwworldministries83]

@@whisperingwooper1763 there’s a rom on websites

[@whisperingwooper1763]

@@cgwworldministries83 ah good to know! But still the original is definitely worth a lot I would assume

[@jakethreesixty]

@@cgwworldministries83 that's actually really cool, if you could flash it to a cart and it can be fully functional, it would be a great diagnostic tool for repairs.

[@STICKOMEDIA]

@@cgwworldministries83 neat

[@RurouniZel]

I imagine the purpose of this cartridge was for use when customers sent in their GBA/GBASP/DS etc. for repair. It's basically a hardware diagnostics test meant to try and isolate what the problem(s) are before resorting to cracking the thing open and having a look.

[@warlockd]

Kind of interesting when you disassemble it. Its testing scaling agent sprites as well as its alpha blending, there are quite a few edge cases that normally don't go in games that go in this cart. The song is interesting too as it seems to try to stress the switching between different frequency's as fast as possible. However, out of the factory, the chips should be already tested. With them calling it an "Aging" cart I am wondering if its more for finding and proving copyrighted machines.

[@DougSalad]

The DK64 stuff was interesting to see since that was Rareware and not Nintendo, and the cart says 2002, which was right when Microsoft bought Rare.

[@LennyQUMFIF]

Nintendo still owns DK64, all of it. They released it way back on the Wii U's virtual console, Rare themselves said they dont own anything of DK64, they only got permission from Nintendo to develop DK games. Now something like Banjo Kazooie, THAT was owned by Rare. And about Banjo... there were some Banjo Kazooie games on GBA, and also one Viva Piñata game on DS (there was also a game of this series on the Xbox 360)

[@gidi3044]

the handheld games released by rare only released on nintendo hardware because microsoft didnt have their own handhelds

[@marcusbullock630]

i hate microsoft. they're the nestle of electronics

[@SoundToxin]

I use a version of this on a flashcart for testing buttons when repairing GBAs. The visual indicator is nice because you can see if a button is having trouble staying activated, like if you're holding it but it starts flashing instead of staying solid. A lot better than using a regular game.

[@EmaSideProject]

I actually have the ROM of this cartrige Fun Fact about it: It fails on emulators AND on flash carts too. It also has a funny soundtrack

[@miyakogfl]

@KZbin killed trusted flagging It passed when I tried it on my EZFlash Omega DE on my AGS 101, I dunno about other flash carts. (I tested using version 10)

[@EmaSideProject]

@KZbin killed trusted flagging It works, but it fails the memory test

[@eclapsed]

​@@EmaSideProject wheres the rom on?

[@micah0000]

Wait doesn't it fail on certain emulators and not all of them? I could have sworn I have saw someone use this thing to test the Switch's GBA emulator and it passed everything.

[@cgwworldministries83]

Depends on the emulator and settings.

[@_Turbocat777]

If this was used in the production line to qa and test random systems then that wear and tear on the front may be plausible cause you'd be slotting it into and out of multiple systems a day non stop.

[@twistedaxles9126]

The fact that the cartridge probably went through Nintendo's factory at one point, then went into a few different GBAs, then into a box full of random old hardware, then into a truck to be delivered, and ended up on Eliott's table, infront of a camera.

[@DaveMcGarry]

Then ended up on KZbin where we ended up watching it and then I ended up replying to your "fact"

[@APEXGuerilla]

Yes? Finish your sentence 😒

[@kennybacchus1488]

Nintendo didn’t want this. Getting out

[@Tazerboy_10]

Yup

[@Tyler-f00k1n]

K bye 👋

[@bachkingo]

🤨

[@namordespuesdelnamor]

Kek😂

[@LarnrothSDergan]

That grammar hit hard

[@HadjiCorpuz]

5:05 I’m most certain this frame is a photo of the Dole pineapple plantation on the north shore of O'ahu, Hawaii. Followed by a bottom up view of some palm trees. I wonder if the devs used some pics from their camera roll at the time lol

[@caodesignworks2407]

They probably came from a testing center where they'd likely be testing hundreds of GBAs a day, possible over the course of years. I can't imagine it just sat in a drawer and pulled out every few weeks

[@rexthesheep]

AGB is the product code prefix for the original GBA and is commonly thought to mean Advance(d) Game Boy. Or as another commenter points out, it probably even stands for Atlantis Game Boy. (for Project Atlantis) AGS is the product code prefix for Game Boy Advance SP. AGM is presumably Game Boy Micro, though another comment points out its product code prefix was actually OXY. (for codename Oxy, to go with Nitro. Oxygen and Nitrogen.) NTR = Nitro, which is Nintendo DS Could someone fill me in on what GBS is? Is that for the Game Boy Player? Maybe stating the obvious but: Considering the 2002 label and that it says AGS, and of course that it has what would have been the then in development AGM and NTR systems, this is no doubt from mid-way in the GBA's life.

[@SjoerdBeukers]

Have you ever tried to push some buttons with the original game boy button test cartridge? Maybe it has more options too.

[@fionaskittle]

I'd suspect this was used by Nintendo to QA samples from batches of produced consoles from the factory. Which is why it cycles through all available hardware functionality and runs for an extended period of time. Would allow you to catch bad batches long before they ever went to packaging. Would also be useful for testing/refurbishing returned customer units. Then again, Nintendo aren't usually up for fixing things, they would usually just send you a new one. However the fact that it appears to have DS support (as indicated by the NTR mode option) indicates that it was probably to test the GBA hardware built into DSs. I bet there's an equivalent cartridge for the DS itself.

[@HouseOfFunQM]

Random one, but I was pretty sure that "AGB" is actually "Atlantis Game Boy", based on the GBA codename? and "AGS" is "Atlantis Gameboy SP"

[@rexthesheep]

I can't believe I'd never thought of that before! I always assumed it was Advance(d) Game Boy, but that makes a lot of sense too.

[@bobbobby1624]

the damage is probably from where it was supposed to be destroyed, I seen a few NDS test carts once that had been "crushed" many were crushed to pieces, but a few had slipped through the cracks of their industrial crusher and had a few chunks torn out of them

[@Rinabow]

I used to work at a Nintendo repair center, and I remember using software like this one. I was most accustomed to the 3DS version of the aging software, which played the Mario 64 opening theme while running, and so now that tune is etched into my memory forever. We would very often use this to diagnose systems that had been sent in for issues like freezes or crashes. Obviously, we can't sit around playing games for half an hour until something goes wrong, so we run this to simulate normal use, and if the system either fails or doesn't make it to the end of the cycle, we know something is wrong. We had something that we called the "soak wall" where all the systems would just sit for hours running this software while we did other things. The sequence might look pretty random, but it's very clearly testing the console's ability to render a variety of things including resizing, rotating transparency, ect. The graphics can seem a bit crazy, but it's mostly because the assets are recycled from existing products, since there is no reason to create specific assets for a program that almost nobody will actually see. As far as the scuff marks, I do find it totally believable that those are from repeatedly being inserted into many many systems. From my personal experience, a lot of these test carts would be inserted into more consoles in a single day than most normal people will have ever seen in their lifetime. In fact, whenever a new system was produced, or a new motherboard were installed into a system, a pass on this and about a dozen other tests was a REQUIREMENT before the system could even install the firmware and be ready for normal use. It would literally refuse to install unless it had recorded a pass on these tests.

[@albertvillagracia1489]

it never failed to amaze me seeing such rare piece of tech that's been hidden to us.

[@videogameobsession]

This totally looks like a scene creation from back in the day. I used to make picture viewers for the SNES in the 90's that had just as radom and weird pics that would cycle through. :P

[@James_D.]

The Aging Cartridge is perfect to rickroll somebody like the Pokémon Emerald one. 😏

[@Numbnuts007]

I think it's legitimately hilarious that they basically made 2D asset versions of stuff from the N64 era to test the capability of the game boy advance, it makes sense cuz they probably had those assets readily available and on hand.

[@yeismeload]

I just ordered a grape Game Boy Color, a black Game Boy Pocket and a Game Boy Light from Sendico after having binge watched your channels over the last week or so. They're all in good-to-great condition (knock on wood), so I am pretty excited. Now the wait and fear of courier issues begins... I intend to hide under my bed covers and play Super Mario Land 2 and Final Fantasy Adventure with glorious electroluminescence. Imagine being able to actually see Game Boy games!

[@sojannedos]

I love the Yellow back of the cartridge.

[@MK-lk7nc]

i think the cartridge housing damage and it's mixmatched color is a side effect of being assembled out of factory defects. Good enough to be functional, not good enough to sell = internal use.

[@Jenisonc]

5:06 looks like Big Sur in California. Just south of Monterey California and a few hours from Silicon Valley. Beautiful coast and is a perfect spot to impress tourists. Opp..adhd got me. I'm back.

[@larryinc64]

3:10 does that logo say 'DONKEY KONG Advance"? I can see what looks like 'nce' behind DK and the spinning bananas.

[@mrsuperheatran2794]

I saw a thread on the AGS! Someone posted that the NSO GBA service passes with flying colors.

[@WC3fanatic997]

Aside from the added coolness by sheer rarity, this is also incredibly useful for someone like you to have, considering you repair and diagnose all sorts of these handheld systems all the time.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

It really heats me up when I hear of mortals destroying artifacts. Awesome that you managed to save this one from a dumpster!

[@joemck85]

I've used a ROM of the DS aging cartridge for the flicker adjust test. It just displays alternating horizontal lines of varying shades of gray so that you can adjust the little potentiometers in the battery compartment to make the screen look its best. It's important for systems that have had a screen replaced. Otherwise you get weird flickering horizontal lines that are most visible in vertical scrolling content. Before I had a flashcart and aging ROMs, I used the GBA Pokemon games for this and just walked up and down while adjusting. Those games move the screen exactly 1 pixel per frame at normal walking speed, which makes the horizontal lines very visible. Also I bet those cartridges were put in and out of a LOT of Gameboys all the time. They had to test and flicker adjust each unit before it left the factory, as well as ones sent back for repairs.

[@02337755]

That Random Slingshot was the "Fairy Slingshot" from OOT.

[@Shmorpicle]

A lot of the random photos come from stock photo CD's and are preserved by the render 96 team

[@FennecTECH]

its whats called a burn in test that is meant to excersize nearly every componet on the chipset and make sure its 100 percent functional

[@liamboulton2187]

It is something that would be used to test many different Gameboys. So it would in and out them a lot, causing the damage idk why you thought that wasn't the case at 7:18 . It was probably just used a hell of a lot.

[@esmith13]

I wonder if these test PCBs were put into "imperfect" shell halves that couldn't be used for retail games. Basically like they used the rejects for test carts so they didn't go straight to a landfill. Could also explain when each half is a different color. Did any of the other handful of these carts know to exist have the same or different colored shell halves?

[@thenonexistinghero]

Sunlight & humidity level can actually damage and deform plastic overtime. So it may have been some combination of it. 20 years is a logn time.

[@gautrstafr]

The shell could be damaged and mixed matched colors if they somehow were using rejected shells from the production line to assemble test units.

[@liamthoralexanderspencer4684]

Hold on! Ive seen a similar video than at 2:56! It was on a video from the channel called hard 4 games! It was a video on a prototype of the GameCube game boy player at around three minutes and ten seconds into there video!

[@kbhasi]

I think the people who were tasked with coding the factory stress test decided to just grab images from various Nintendo 64 assets and game source code trees they could find, hence the Nintendo 64 logos and various game assets being used. Seems that they needed to stress test both the display and video RAM.

[@zacharyschmidt5560]

stock photos, mario head from mario 64 prerendered, zelda title screens, and lots of dk64 assets. the only part that really surprises me would be the last part, seeing as how that was a rare game and nintendo sold rare in 2002. seeing the other comments about this likely being for DS, it makes it fascinating to see how it all comes together. very cool.

[@goodasdead4303]

In terms of old microcomputers like Atari's or Commodores, cartridges like this would be used to test all sorts of functions right on the card-edge bus. The gameboy is Nintendo's gas to the floor on recycling that old microcomputer design standard, and so similar testing takes place. The wear on your cartridge, I'm guessing, is from use on a factory floor testing thousands of units per day before they are done with QA Finalization and ship out to the packaging hub.

[@jiahilmi]

The test program is basically Plumbers Don't Wear Ties for Gameboy 😄

[@Sparkette]

Why did Nintendo feel a need to take pains to prevent this from getting out? I know it wasn't made to be publicly released, but I'm curious what compelling business interest they'd have in going out of their way to prevent it from happening, to the point where they have to destroy cartridges.

[@AncientArchitects]

Just found this channel - love it! Subscribed 👍

[@Kazooples]

Love the long gameboys being used without context, I hope this is most people’s first video here

[@seanrobstrikesback]

Wow, I haven't seen one of these since 2007. These carts were used on any devices that went through remanufacturing and refurbishing. We would use them once the refurbed unit was put together and test to make sure everything was working fine before sending the console out to another department. The cart looks like that due to how many times during the day it was used. One manufacturing line could produce 120 to 180 consoles a day and this cart would be used on each console to test various things. One of the main tests was to see if there was any dead pixels. We had a limit of 3 pixels total because we would have to replace the screen. The various images helps point out where they could be. In QC, they used these carts to do a burn in test. Basically grab a random console from the line and test it for an hour to see if any failures occured. In repairs, basically same thing as QC. They used these to stress test and see if they can repo a failure. Really cool to see one of these again. The screen test brought back memories. Never really know how much something will have an impact on you until it's gone.

[@SeanSolomon11287]

Those logos for Ocarina abs Majoras Mask. When the Game Boy Advance came out. There was rumors of OOT and MM to be remade on the game boy advance. The rumors at the time says the GBA couldn’t handle N64 size games. So Nintendo debated making a 32 bit version a kin to Minish Cap with similar graphics and a peripheral would’ve been used for the C-buttons similar to that of guitar hero.

[@extrameatsammich]

The damage may explained by the cart being used in a service center and not during production. They could have been testing returned and repaired devices.

[@MisterSouji]

The cartridge is likely messed up and two tones because its used from scrap/defective parts.

[@yawg691]

If I had to guess, having worked in a plastic factory for a few years, it's probably made of loose imperfect parts so they didn't have to make parts specifically for a test cart that the public would never see.

[@andrewdowell6474]

I have one of these test carts for the Virtual Boy. It flashes bright red into your eyes till they bleed.

[@ninjawithnobalance]

That was actually really well resolution for the bus picture. Everything is so pixel on the GBA that, that surprised me. I wonder how the AGS got out if that's was from the actual development in jp

[@serv3534]

the extra long gameboy and extra wide gameboy advance really caught me off,i didnt expect that at all

[@ThePaintitwhite]

Seems you're doing better after addressing your soap addiction. You're an inspiration!

[@PowerhouseAudioProductions]

I love how you didn't notice it said NTR standing for Nitro aka the DS development name proving that the Nintendo DS was intended as a follow-up to the Gameboy Advance.

[@spokehedz]

This is 100% something used on the 'testing line' where it would have been plugged/unplugged thousands of times. The shiny smooth plastic is a dead giveaway, for me.

[@henryhughes2433]

By the looks of it one of the graphics used in the test was for Donkey Kong Racing which never even got released!!

[@jd6898]

I think the case damage may have been rejects from factory that would work well enough for the test cartridges but not for sale with games.

[@5hrekLover420]

glad you got over your soap addiction and are back to making gameboy videos

[@TronixGuy93]

I remember seeing a box of them, probably a hundred AGS's for the advanced, at a test facility when I was there installing a hughes satt system once. Didn't realise they'd be worth so much packaged in boxes of a hundred.

[@relo999]

NTR is the DS product code, so memory fail isn't weird seeing as it tests the DS RAM. And the analogue pocket doesn't have the same RAM address' as the DS I suspect. GBS -SP (Gameboy SP) AGM - Gameboy Micro (Advanced Gameboy Micro) AGB - Normal Gameboy Advance (Advanced Gameboy) NTR - DS (Nitro)

[@rexthesheep]

Mostly correct! AGS is the Game Boy Advance SP though (not "Gaméboy SP", only GB Micro dropped the Advance name), you can see it in the product code for those systems - AGS-001 is the frontlit model and AGS-101 is the backlit model. I think GBS is supposed to be the Game Boy Player but I'm not sure. The actual product uses a DOL (Dolphin) number since it's a GameCube peripheral. In a similar breath, the GB Micro's product code is actually OXY, but i'm pretty certain that's still the GB Micro setting.

[@relo999]

@@rexthesheep I meant what's in the video. Which doesn't really hold that well to product codes on the systems but can be reasonably be assumed. GBS could be the Gameboy player, but looking at the others I'd think its the SP. And I'd expect the Gameboy player using the AGB RAM. As the Gameboy player is basically a Gameboy attached to the GameCube, including having separate RAM. So I reckon you'd get an all good if you'd use the AGB setting

[@short_yeti2058]

For the carts wierd wear and colors I'd guess bad batches of early production carts they upcycled into test cart shells. Cool stuff

[@stevemcleod8607]

Love how you're just casually showing the long boy and the wide boy advance, like no biggy, heres my gameboys....

[@welcometoGARYVILLE]

If it’s headered in the software menu as NTR - this will be designed for use with a DS / DS lite specifically which is interesting. So this was made in the DS era, despite being AGS labelled on the front. That’s a nice part of the story I think, especially when you still see all the N64 logos in the test images.

[@welcometoGARYVILLE]

And also the 2002 date on the cart label helps to date it lol

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

arging cart is a burnin cart

[@TheDeadTheories]

When you held it up and I read the Japanese, I was like, "Aging cartridge? Man, Nintendo was getting really meta in the early 00's!" Lol. Then you said it was a stress test cartridge and it made more sense. XP Also, maybe sense it's a test cartridge, they also inserted and removed it a bunch from a handheld to see if the cartridge slot would get damaged/wear out?

[@TheDendran]

My guess for the yellow/darkgrey colours would be them being maintenance colours like roadworkers in japan have them (mainly yellow)

[@JonathanHolt1988]

I love you just nonchalantly putting these in your frankenboys lol

[@DSGuyJay]

You’ve GOT to have inside connections. Nintendo probably doesn’t even have this kind of stuff man. Im so impressed and honestly extremely jealous. Jolly good show!

[@DSGuyJay]

Wow!! Watching this further this was probably used to QA test systems as well as battery usage/life and or screen burn with continuous use (i know it mostly happens to oled screens) it also has Extreme potential as a diagnostic tool. Love how its a mix of JP/US cart faces. Amazing. Big piece of history thank you so much for this video. Wow!

[@mariowario5945]

Ags means advanced gameboy sp, gbas serial is agb, sp is ags

[@WriterAndBanker]

The wear could be heat damage from a failed unit? It was used for stress testing after all.

[@andromedarider4284]

Started my GB collection again cause of u bro!

[@kpcenti]

0:55 How do you not know how you got the cartridge in your hands??

[@pallsmortion4750]

I can't get enough of videos about Sega boy box stations,

[@aayaan1935]

Your house is the best Nintendo museum in the world 😂

[@davidlloyd1526]

I'd say that it looks like a standard hardware test cart to check returns and warranty repairs. It's a little weird it has music and the images that it has - it looks a somewhat unprofessional. The software (and screenshot images) are in English not Japanese so it must have been produced in sufficient quantities to warrant localisation.

[@andre_af]

"Aging cartridge" well yeah it is

[@akaJughead]

Wearing of that level almost makes me think that this cartridge was used to test GBA units on the assembly line. Someone could have run a quick test on each unit before sending it down the line for packaging.

[@vinnidilmurat2774]

If you watch the video carefully, you will find that this Cartridge is already version 9.0. I don't know if it is the 9.0 version of GBA, or it has been iterative since GB.

[@MegaManNeo]

I'm almost certain my GBA SP could make use of that test cartridge because I sometimes have the issue that games would randomly crash on it, mostly when trying to save.

[@frostech3149]

That may just be an issue with the cartridges themselves. GBA game saves are stored on memory that's being powered by a battery inside of the cartridge. When that battery dies, the save disappears when the system is powered off. You can replace these batteries, however you will need soldering experience.

[@rexthesheep]

@@frostech3149 Not a whole lot of GBA games actually use SRAM as flash memory was much cheaper by the '00s. The number isn't zero, but more games over the system's life tended to use non-volatile forms of save memory. Even (non-bootleg) copies of Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire and Emerald have a battery but only use it for running the RTC, not for save memory.

[@comedyreliefguy5112]

@@rexthesheep RTC?

[@slateportraichu5416]

Thank you for showing us such a unique cartridge=3

[@royallblood]

This reminds me of those videos you can play on the ipod classic to fix dead pixels

[@gameoverwehaveeverypixelco1258]

This is probably to test the burn in on LCD screen. See if LCD lasts long and works properly.

[@thedopplereffect00]

I imagine this cartridge could have been inserted into tens of thousands of Gameboy Advances to test before being shipped out. That would explain the wear.

[@DeviRSilva]

Makho used to use a rom with that software to test his custom gameboy.

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

The random pictures are for testing sprite manipulation and transparency, I believe.