I bought a TMNT machine a few years ago. It has already been established that it was a pre-production model. Tucked away in the machine was this note. I tried to decipher this back then but didn't resolve it. Anyone know who Al Ovida is and/or anything else about the machine? Turns out there is one other pinsider that has a prototype and is working on preserving the original ROM codes. Mine are corrupted so thank goodness for the charity of you guys on these boards!
Note was:
Made in Data East Factory in Early 1990.
Game was used as a prototype game in production for the AMOA Show in April of that year.
This game has a different header with animation, along with special software and different bonus features.
The game was then approved by the studio and put in production with changes in both header system and software. This was basically done to cut cost in production.
This prototype game was also given to Al Ovida as a thank you [for] his help in this game production also.