A Hong Kong original game is a video game, especially one for a game console, that has original program code but uses another publisher's copyrighted characters or trademarks without permission. Many of these will take the form of ports of 16- or 32-bit systems' games to the Famicom console. The quality of the games varies widely, with generally competent graphics but sub-par play control. Many games, especially for the Famicom, use hardware on the cartridge that isn't well supported in emulators.

Hong Kong original games, or "HK originals" for short, do not have to originate within Hong Kong, but many do. All HK originals are unlicensed, but not all unlicensed games are HK originals. A game that uses the engine of a "legitimate" game, usually with graphic modifications (e.g. replace the main character of some game with Mario to make "Mario 14"), is a "pirate" game, not an HK original.

The good

The bad

Additional Resources

  • Pirate software/hardware (http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/pirate/index.html)
