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CIB is an acronym for "Complete in Box." 

Usually people say CIB when a video game has an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) case, artwork, manual, and game disc/cartridge. However, many games have additional inserts and many newer generation games did not include a manual or insert at all.

For example GTA San Andreas included a poster and a manual, if either are missing is it CIB? In my opinion, no it is only partially complete. Many games (especially retro games) had a registration card or a Nintendo Power insert which a lot of collectors go gaga for. Many collectors are perfectly content if a game is missing these inserts though, similar to some people who only collect black label or others who collect black label, platinum hits, greatest hits, and player's choice. There are some games with several inserts, in these situations I just tend to call it a "Complete Complete Copy." 

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Enjoy watching the first 5 minutes or so of Shadow Man on Nintendo 64. It's a great introduction, albeit a...

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  • Promotional Copy in the USA

 *A note about Box Flap Codes: Game codes seem to have been introduced to the box flaps of games sometime in the year 1987. Box flaps often feature a numeric code on them that seems to correspond to the date of production. Example: “81021” would translate to October 21, 1988. The first number indicates the year digit, which is followed by the month, then day. Please note that the earliest variations of black box games do not feature a code on the box flaps.

Dating the PCB Chips: Clues Inside the Cartridge

Say you don’t have a box to work with and you’re wondering when your game might have been produced. Or say you would like to confirm that the PCB inside your game is authentic and a likely match to the box that came with your game. Well, good news! You can peek at the game’s printed circuit board and find a date on its chips, most of the time.

The date format can vary by game.

Some chips use a YMW format, indicating the year, then month, then week of the month. For example, 5K2 corresponds to week 2 of October 1985. How did we get October? K is the 10th letter of the alphabet, and October is the 10th month of the year.

Other chips use a YW format, indicating the year then the week of the year. For example, 8549 would indicate the 49th week of 1985, approximatel

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