Limited Run Games says two of its recent NES releases could damage the console
Rugrats and Piopow may not be safe to use, and other titles are undergoing tests
Limited Run Games has told customers that it doesn’t recommend they play two of its most recent NES releases, in case the console or cartridge are damaged.
Last year the manufacturer released physical versions of Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland and Piopow, both of which arrive as an NES cartridge designed to be played on actual NES hardware.
However, customers who bought either game are now receiving emails from Limited Run informing them that the cartridges may not actually be safe to use.
As posted on BlueSky by retro enthusiast John Riggs (via Time Extension), Limited Run’s email warns that because the cartridges have an issue with voltage regulation, there’s a “small chance” that they could do damage over time.
“Upon learning about this issue from our community, we immediately began investigating and can confirm that due to an issue with voltage regulation, there is a small chance that prolonged use of these titles could result in damage to either the cartridge or the console hardware,” the email reads.
“We have identified that these titles were not manufactured by our regular partner who we have worked with across 30+ titles and who we trust implicitly thanks to their impeccable manufacturing track record.
“The manufacturer who produced Rugrats and PioPow has only worked on a very small handful of titles for Limited Run Games and right now, we are going through our back catalogue of NES titles manufactured by this supplier and testing for possible issues. While we conduct further testing, our immediate pledge is to rectify the potential issue with Rugrats and PioPow and ensure that this will not happen again.”
Because Limited Run only sells its games for a limited period, neither is available to buy, but the company says it’s still in the process of fulfilling its back orders, and has decided not to send out any orders that haven’t been shipped yet. Instead it will re-manufacturing the carts with its “trusted manufacturing partner”.
Players who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition of Rugrats will be asked if they want to receive the set with the NES cartridge removed (with a fixed version coming in the future), or – if they don’t want to unseal it – wait longer for a set with a fixed cartridge included.
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Customers who haven’t received their order and don’t want to wait for a new cartridge can contact Limited Run for a full refund. As for those who already received the cart, Limited Run says: “We do not recommend continuing using their game, however there is no need to return the game to us. We will automatically be sending out a revised version to each and every customer as soon as possible.”
“We will update all customers on expected delivery dates as soon as we have them and kindly ask for your patience as we work our way through this issue. We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience these issues have caused and moving forward, we will not be distributing any original cartridge sourced by this manufacturer.”
This isn’t the first time Limited Run has had to apologise for the quality of the games it’s been releasing for retro consoles. Last year the company apologised for using burnt CD-R discs instead of pressed discs for a re-release of 3DO horror game D.
