Video game players often crave the ability to play a game on an actual console; just playing the game file on a computer seldom is satisfactory enough for most hardcore gamers. Even though some of the rarer games may not be the best quality, it gives the collectors a sense of completion for the people who may have been only missing a few games to complete their full set of games. Some games are hacks, or remakes, of another game and are so well done the fans want them on a cartridge. This also goes for games that were released in Japan only, or English translations of these games. Reproductions are often confused with unlicensed games", which are games made by third party companies for the NES. Unlike reproductions these were made in much larger quantities and most of the time featured original material made by the company. When an unreleased game makes it's way to the Internet, people often desire a reproduction of these uncovered gems so they can play them on actual hardware.
Anyone reading this would wonder how these reproductions are made if NES products are no longer in production. Extremely common and invaluable NES games are used as "donor carts"" to be the case and circuit board of the new game that is about to be made. They are often produced by, "A variety of companies, individual gamers, and anyone who wants a reproduction and has the equipment/ability to make them," "according to Rukstalis. However, not everyone has the ability to make them. Company owner Joe Thomas states that a reproduction can be made by, "anyone who knows how to desolder a donor board, program eproms, and rewire a board," which is all very common lingo to him. Running a small business and being the manufacturer of your own product go hand in hand; they both take a good amount of brainpower to achieve. Despite this, many just make reproductions for personal use. Gamer Phil Bracey states that, "my personal involvement with reproductions actually started just because I needed an affordable rainy day project and knew I was handy with a soldering iron.
