In Hardware

Just wondering what the little switch on the Quattro games is for? I picked up two of these ugly things at a pawn shop for $5. Also found myself a Tengen Tetris!

Thanks.

its to allow it to play everywhere. if it doesnt work on a switch it to b and it should work granting that the cart is still good

A region switch, NTSC/PAL? Thats what I had thought it was.

It's to bypass the lockout chip.

Some revisions of the cart are lacking that switch, and just have a bare piece of PCB in the hole. Nintendo modified the NES to stop the methods used by unlicensed developers, but the Quattro games, as well as most other Codemasters carts have two methods which can be toggled using that switch. I believe it's the NES-CPU-11 boards that require the switch, as I had to disable the lockout chip to get my Micro Machines cart to boot on my console.

At a guess, it's to toggle between methods of disabling the lockout chip?

Or maybe to make it work on NES's without lockout chips, like the top-loader? I read that some unlicensed games actually NEED to have a lockout chip present to bypass before they can boot.

The irony of unlicensed game not booting without the chip meant to stop unlicensed software from being played is quite staggering.

Oddly enough, that's what I said in the post previous to yours.

Was just trying to clarify a little - the position of the lockout chip on YOUR cart disables the lockout chip in YOUR NES, but a different version of the NES might require it in the other position, because of the changes that Nintendo made to the lockout chip through it's lifespan. Though as I said, it did occur to me that maybe the other position is for NES systems that DON'T have a security chip.