NES PAL-A "Mattel PAL Version" or "NES Version" Nerdly Pleasures gives the following correspondence between lockout chip number and version.ĬIC 3193 or 3193A or 6113 or 6113A or 6113B1 Similarly, UK / Italy / Australia games stated "This game is only compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System". Rest-of-Europe games typically had text on the box stating "This game is not compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System". Since two types of lockout chip were used in Europe, European NES game boxes often had an "A" or "B" letter on the front, indicating whether the game is compatible with UK/Italian/Australian consoles (A), or the rest of Europe (B). Known regions are: USA/Canada (3193 lockout chip), most of Europe (3195), Asia (3196) and UK, Italy and Australia (3197). NES consoles sold in different regions had different lockout chips, so games marketed in one region would not work on consoles from another region. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES-101) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers.
![contra nes label contra nes label](https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/183656138916_/Bomberman-NES-cartridge-replacement-label-sticker-precut-Nintendo.jpg)
The following explanation from the Contra wiki lists several lockout regions including the US, the UK ('NES Version') and non-UK (not 'NES Version'): Notice how the UK Control Deck box photo incorrectly shows a NES system without 'NES Version' printed on its cover flap. Other versions include: no version name (for US), 'Mattel Version' (compatible with 'NES Version'), 'Hong Kong Version' (seen on both grey boxy NESes and Family Computers), 'Korean Version', 'Asian Version', 'European Version', 'Spanish Version' and 'Italian Version'. Image by The National Media Museum, Bradford. If you search online you will find non-English Control Deck boxes which also lack the UK's 'NES Version' branding.Īlso, 'NES Version' Nintendo systems have 'NES Version' printed on the cartridge cover flap:
![contra nes label contra nes label](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/C8UAAOSwM3hg9l-N/s-l300.png)
Notice how 'NES Version' appears on the UK Control Deck box, but not on the US one. Since European countries would mostly be compatible with the UK PAL system's output, it exists mostly to distinguish regions for hardware region lockout (like how DVDs/Blu-ray regions are numbered). The European (non-UK) version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, was not a 'NES Version'. The 'NES Version' was the branding of the revision of the Nintendo Entertainment System for the UK release.