Nintendo Mastering Code
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All GameCube, Wii, and Wii U games have a mastering code on the back of the disc. The format of the mastering code has been completely deciphered.
Example of mastering codes that we will use to explain the format in order:
GameCube: C02H0710 DOL-GAFE-0-00 USA S0 Wii: 308K0111 RVL-RKGP-0A-0 JPN S0 Wii U: G13J1101 WUP-P-ARDE-00 USA S0
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 3 | Paired with the mastering code. If this character is a number, the disc was made in Japan. If this character is a letter, it was made in the USA. Panasonic manufactured almost all North American discs in their USA plant, but closed it on April 30, 2015.[1] Thus, all Wii and Wii U discs manufactured after that were made in Japan.
1 - IFPI LQ11 (Japan) |
| 08 | Year the disc was manufactured. In this case, it was 2008. |
| K | Month the disc was manufactured. In this case, it was November. "A" would be January, "B" would be February, "C" would be March... |
| 01 | Day the disc was manufactured. The full date is therefore November 1st, 2008. |
| 11 | Disc batch per day |
| | |
| RVL | Platform. DOL for GameCube, RVL for Wii, and WUP for Wii U. |
| RKGP | Disc Serial |
| | |
| 0 | Disc Number. (Wii and GameCube only) Usually 0. |
| A | Layer type. (Wii only) A for single-layer, B for dual-layer, C for standard DVD-Video. |
| 0 (or 00) | Revision Number. Goes up to 9 for Wii, 10 for Wii U (binary-coded decimal). |
| | |
| JPN | The factory the disc was manufactured in. If this is JPN, it was made in Japan. If this is USA, it was made in USA. |
| | |
| S0 | Layer type. S0 for single-layer discs. For Wii, L0 and L1 for dual-layer discs made in Japan, 00 and 20 for dual-layer discs made in USA. The GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee (USA) (Rev 1) has this set to S1 for some reason. |
(Decoded by Hiccup, PPLToast and Larsenv, plus some of it from common knowledge)
