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CALTRON (NTDEC) & MYRIAD -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trying to identify all of the unlicensed games released in Asia and Europe by NTDEC (Nintendo Electronic Co.) of Taiwan, under all of its different subsidiary publishers, is fun and challenging to say the least. Despite its massive reach overseas, NTDEC only released one cartridge in the USA via its subsidiary Caltron: The infamous Caltron 6-In-1. This cart features six games that were all previously released in Asia and Europe under the Caltron and Mega Soft brands by NTDEC, and also by Gluk Video in Spain. 

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Apparently naming their company "Nintendo" was one thing, but crossing the line into the USA market was a step too far, and not long after the release of 6-in-1 NTDEC lost a multi-million-dollar lawsuit to the real Nintendo and went out of business. How and when Myriad Games of Texas got the remaining 6-In-1 inventory from NTDEC is unclear, but the result of that occurrence was the Myriad Six-In-One cart, the rarest unlicensed NES game released in the USA. Myriad repackaged the games with new individually-numbered labels and boxes. The labels were placed directly over the original Caltron labels, which coincidentally is exactly what Gluk Video did when they repackaged and sold Caltron games. The number of Myriad carts produced is unclear, but it is believed to be under 1000, as the highest-numbered cart found to date is 000888.

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Caltron 6-In-1

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Myriad Six-In-One

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Myriad Six-In-One

numbered box

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Caltron cartridges sold in the USA have a black back label and a selector switch to help with console compatibility. Copies of games sold outside of the USA have a blue back label and do not have the switch.

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Caltron black back label with switch

Copy of Caltron-6in1-Blue-Back-Label.jpg

Caltron blue back label without switch

NTDEC released a series of games in 60-pin and 72-pin formats, mostly in Asian markets, that are considered by some collectors to be the final frontier of NES cartridge collecting - even more than Brazil. They are referred to as the CN-Series games because of ID Codes found on the games' labels all starting with "CN", an abbreviation of Caltron.

 

All of NTDEC's brands can be found on the hardware and software of these games, which includes Caltron, Mega Soft, NTDEC, and Asder. A handful have been confirmed to exist in 72-pin format in the white Caltron cartridge. Others only in 60-pin Famicom carts, and others only as part of multicart releases. 11 of the CN-Series titles were also released in 72-pin Caltron carts by Gluk Video in Spain. Game number CN-01, Fighting Hero, is only known to exist as a 72-pin cartridge by CCE in Brazil. I will keep this page updated with whatever carts I can confirm. These games are so obscure that it is likely there are more of them out there that just haven't been publicly documented anywhere yet. 

CN-Series Caltron Games

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Adam & Eve

CN-09

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Skate Boy

CN-18

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Balloon Monster

CN-05

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Sea of Dreamland

CN-15

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Cosmos Cop

CN-09

Caltron-Super-Gun.jpg

Super Gun

CN-12

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Legend (ledge-end) noun: the part of a map explaining how to identify and understand the symbols used.

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