I know I said that I wouldn’t post updates to the Console Save Types list as threads this soon, but this one is far too interesting, and important, to leave as just an update in that thread. I have also added this information to the article itself, which again can be found here: https://blackfalcongames.net/?p=147 but here is the update.
4/30/2019: After reading a review of Accolade’s Genesis game Summer Challenge, I noticed that the reviewer didn’t mention that the game saves. I know it does though, so this made me interested in how: is it a battery, or an EEPROM chip? Now, the two Accolade games previously mentioned here as having EEPROM chips now are unconfirmed at best, as the update to my source removed those two games, Barkley: Shut Up and Jam 2 and Unnecessary Roughness ’95. Unfortunately I don’t have those games to check, though I might get them to be sure. I know some Accolade games do have batteries, though; the Genesis Hardball games that save have batteries onboard. However, to my moderate surprise, Summer Challenge and Winter Challenge do not! No, they have EEPROM chips. To be precise, the chip is a KM28C16, apparently a Samsung EEPROM chip by what I can find about it online. Summer Challenge has a KM28C16-15, and Winter Challenge a KM28C16-20. (I have two copies of Winter Challenge and they both have the same chip in them.) Doing some searching I see nowhere online that mentions that either of these games use an EEPROM, so this is very interesting stuff to learn! The games save your settings and best times or scores in the events. I actually quite like these games, unlike most people, and this is one more reason why they’re interesting. Oh, and I removed Populous from the list of Turbografx/PC Engine games with a battery, because it doesn’t have one, that is an old rumor. I didn’t realize that was still on the list or I would have removed it long ago.
So yeah, I found two new Genesis games that save to EEPROMs, hiding in plain sight in my collection! Accolade’s Genesis games requires a special security screwdriver bit to open, essentially a star bit with a pinhole in the center since there is a pin sticking out of the center of the screw, but i have one of those screwdrivers so I can open up the carts, and I finally did so recently. I had previously assumed that Summer and Winter Challenge both used battery save, like the rest of Accolade’s Genesis games that save, but nope, they have EEPROMs instead. That’s very cool! I like these games, and this makes me like them even more; these won’t have their batteries die like so many other classic cartridge games have. Once I manage to take a clear picture, I will update this post with a photo of the board. Unfortunately all the ones I’ve tried to take so far have been blurry.
Update (5/5/19): Sorry for the delay, but here’s a picture of the board for one of the two games, Winter Challenge. Hopefully it’s legible. The EEPROM chip is the one in the upper left.
As for other updates on this site, I’m sorry that my still-upcoming new Game Opinion Summaries list isn’t done yet. I really should be working on that a lot more to get it finished up…
