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Whirlwind Manu was a company and brand label (?) that distributed unauthorized copies of Nintendo games throughout the late 80s and early 90s. They are notable for organizing their catalog under one line of product bearing "Lx00" IDs. Notably, several conversions of Famicom Disk System games were released on cartridge by Whirlwind Manu, as well as at least one pirate original (Mi Hun Che) and a hack of Galaxian titled Night Arrow.

Cartridges under Whirlwind Manu's labels and IDs were produced and sold by multiple companies; the most prolific being Co Tung Enterprise, NTDEC, and Kaiser. As such, it is believed that Whirlwind Manu - through unclear means - would "license" their pirated game catalogue to other manufacturers. Some companies' variants would differ in ROM code, often relating to altering copyright notices.[1]

ID system[]

Whirlwind Manu titles were attributed a unique numerical ID in a given branch that was chosen depending of the total memory they required. The identifiers are as follows:

  • "LA[xx]" indicates an NROM game with 16k PRG and 8k CHR (e.g. LA01, Mario Bros.)
  • "LB[xx]" indicates an NROM game with 32k PRG and 8k CHR (e.g. LB01, Onyanko Town).
  • "LC[xx]" indicates a CNROM game with 32k PRG and 16k CHR (e.g. LC01, The Goonies).
  • "LD[xx]" appears to be used for multiple, larger cartridge mappers. It is most commonly used for CNROM games with 32k PRG and 32k CHR (e.g. LD01, Gradius), though is also used for 128k UxROM games (e.g. LD22, Spelunker 2) and a few MMC1 games (e.g. LD38, A Week of Garfield).
  • "LE[xx]" is also used for multiple formats, though was mainly used for Namcot-118/"mapper 206" games (e.g. LE01, Super Chinese) and Disk System ports (e.g. LE10, Super Mario Bros. 2).
  • "LF[xx]" is used for games with 128k PRG (with no CHR), seemingly across multiple mappers (e.g. LF01, Ghosts’n Goblins).
  • "LG[xx]" appears to be used for games with 128k PRG and 32k CHR, seemingly across multiple mappers (e.g. LG03, Doraemon).
  • "LH[xx]" games do not seem to have any clear order; being a wide mixture of different formats. The "LH" ID appears to have been used for all releases from approximately 1987 to 1990.

Few, if any, Whirlwind Manu IDs appear to feature MMC3 (or "mapper 4") games. It appears that Whirlwind Manu-affiliated MMC3 games were produced (such as Super Mario Bros. 2 bootlegs), though such releases were not given a proper ID.

The digits following the "L[x]" code reflect Whirlwind Manu's release order, though otherwise have no relevance to the game's PCB/mapper.

Gallery[]

References[]

External links[]

Companies

Aackosoft · Aaronix · ABAB Soft · Accolade · Active Enterprises Ltd · Advance Bright Limited · American Video Entertainment · Anbernic · Aproman · AtGames · AV artisan · Bao Bao Long · BBD · BBK Electronics · Bit Corp. · Bobmark International · Brazil International Corporation · Bung Enterprises Ltd · Camerica · CCE · Cheertech · Chengdu Tai Jing Da Dong Computer Co · Chuanpu Technology · Clover · Co Tung Enterprise · Codemasters · Coleco (River West Brands) · Color Dreams · Computer & Entertainment · Cony Soft · Cube Technology · Daou Infosys · Dar Yar Electronics · Digital Media Cartridge · Dongguan Changping Shengyuan Electronics Factory · Dragon Co. · DreamGEAR · DVS Electronic Co. · Dynacom · EduBank Corporation · EJ Corporation · Fargus · Fiver Firm ("Namco Corporation") · Fortune Power · Funtime · Fuzhou Waixing Computer Science & Technology Co.,LTD · Game Line · Gamtec · Glorysun · Gluk Video · Golden Gard · Gowin · GRA.DI. S.r.l. · Gradiente · Guangzhou Li Cheng Industry & Trade Co · Hacker International · Haitai Electronics · Happy Software, Ltd. · Hengmao Electronics · Hitek · Home Entertainment Suppliers · Hosenkan Electronics · Hummer Software · Hummer Team · Idea-Tek · Innovation Technology · Intec, Inc. · Inventor · J.Y. Company · Joy Van · Jujing Electronics · JungleTac · Juro · Ka Sheng · Kaiser · Karateco · Kingway Electronics · Kudos · Kuk Je Academy · Lite Star · Macro Winners Electronics Ltd. · Mars Production · Micro Genius · New Game · "New Game Color Advance" (Name Unknown) · Nice Code Software · Nichibutsu · Nintendo de Venezuela  · NTDEC · Odyssey Software · Open Corp. · Philko · Playmark · PlayPower · PowKiddy · Promexus Software · Qi Sheng Long · Ramar International · RCM Group · Realtec · Rex Soft · Ruanxin · Sachen · Samsung Electronics · Santok Group · Senchi Technology · Shenzhen Jncota Technology Co., Ltd. · Shenzhen Multi-Content Software Co., Ltd · Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co., Ltd. · Shenzhen Niutai Technology Development Co., Ltd · Shenzhen Ren Shun Technology Co., Ltd. · Shenzhen Senca Technology Co., Ltd · Sinango · Sintax · SKOB · Songtly · Sperry Corporation · Spica · Steepler Ltd. · Subor · Sun Mixing Co., Ltd · Super Fighter Team · Super Game · Supertone Electronics · Synco Tech Company Limited · Syntek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. · Tauro Video · Teamforce Co., Ltd. · Techline · Tecnobits · Tengen · Timetop · Touch Game Player · Tritoni Enterprises Ltd. · Trump Grand Manufacturing Co. · UMC · Unite Lucky Technology · Unknown JungleTac-affiliated development company · V-Tac · V.R. Technology · Vast Fame · VTG Interactive Inc. · Wellminds · Wen-BC · Whirlwind Manu · Wii Ben · Wisdom Tree · Xianfeng Cartoon · Yanshan Software · Yenisey-Group · Yobo Gameware Co. · Young Toys · Yun Sung · Zechess · Zellers · Zemina