Multi-National Compatibility of Controller Pak Data
Multi-national data exchange is on the horizon. Given one and the same game,
the Read and Write functions must be standardized for Japan, the U.S., and
Europe. To maintain multi-national Controller Pak data compatibility,
consider the following points.
- Create a uniform Controller Pak game code for all countries. This can be
based upon the Game Pak game code assigned by Nintendo.
- Only English and the symbols 0Fh~41h can be used for note names. Do not
use Katakana.
- Use the English version libnos.a for the Controller Pak menu utility
when creating games for release outside the Japanese market. Use libnos_jpn.a
for Japanese versions, but observe note 2., above.
For data in the U.S. whose game files include katakana for note names, if
data compatibility is preserved, the Katakana will be displayed as "-"
without character corruption.
If LIBNOS.A is not being used to display Controller Pak fonts, the developer
will have to work through a case where Katakana characters are stored in a
Controller Pak. When encountering illegal mode values, NOA recommends
displaying "-" or "*", but " " (space) is also acceptable.
Our goal is to guarantee data compatibility for all versions of the same game.
© 1999 Nintendo of America Inc.