Friday

American Video Entertainment

You thought it only was the americans who had the guts to release NES carts without an official Nintendo license? Well you were wrong then. Home Entertaintment Suppliers (HES) is,since they still exist, an Australian software distributor, which probably is most known fortheir massive list of Atari2600 multicarts and rereleases.

Home Entertainment Suppliers, did not program any of their NES games themselves, they basicly just acted as a distributor. Just like their Atari releases, they bought their games from others. Their NES games mostly came from the unlicensed American companies, Tengen, American Video Entertainment and American Game carts Inc. But they also had connections to a few asian game developers, Bit Corp (Also known for their Famicom clones), Sachen and Joyvan (who also sold a few games to Color Dreams as well as American Video Entertainment, however the games sold to AVE never were released in the US, Twin Eagle and Sidewinder).


The HES logo or name aint shown anywhere in the game, titlescreen etc, only on the box and cartridge, I guess they got the games cheaper by doing so, as no extra coding had to be done for their releases.

I dont have a complete list of HES carts, but they released quite a few. The following list is both confirmed and unconfirmed titles. The list also includes the maker and/or who released the title in the US, or who produced it.

As many as 3 different cartridges exist, one is a normal cart shaped as a Color Dreams/American Video Entertainment cart, another it called "piggy back" and has an adaptor built into the cartridge and the original NES cart it attached to the top back of the HES cart. The third one is quite weird. It has something called a "dongle" attached. I do not yet own one of these carts myself, so I cant say 100% what it is. But my guess is that it works kinds like the Magic Key converter. You plug a normal NES cart into the "dongle" if the screen flickers.

Most of the HES carts I've seen sofar all have EPROMS inside. I guess this was a cheap way to make the carts, although EPROMs dont last long, around 20 years and they erase themselves. The box, which the HES carts are packed in, looks like a VHS rental-cover, the cartridge itself is much similar to Color Dreams/American Video Entertainment carts.

The following text is taken from the back of each HES box.SILENT ASSAULTA Sinister alien power has taken control of the Earth's military forces. Chosen by mere fate, you are the only person that the galactic creatures are unable to possess. Engage in battle with enemy infantry as you gather aditional ammunition.

Infiltrate a besieged city to secure the heavily guarded ammunition warehouse and nuclear reactor. Beware of bizzare creatures that suddenly appear from the scorching desert or the dark forest. It's a race against time and only your disciplinary skills can take you through. Attack and take no prisoners.


Click here to check out a couple of screenshots.OTHELLO The original challenging board-game of "OTHELLO", you can now play on your Nintendo system. It's a game of strategy like star wars galaxy heroes hack and concentration to ultimately "outflank" your opponent. The object of the game is to flip your opponents discs to your colour, ending up with a majority of discs on the board bearing your colour.

To "outflank" means to trap one or more of your opponents discs in the middle of two of yours. Three skill levels against the computer or a friend.

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