Proto Minnasano Okagesamadesu AES Cart

[rcantor77]

So this really cool looking prototype AES cart just finished on Yahoo Auctions today...

http://page17.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v473645010

Did anyone on here manage to get this as my highest bid was not enough..? From recent threads I am pretty sure this was bought from a member here...

Not sure if the numbering on the label is the release date or just a build number, but if it is a date then this is a very early alpha version of the game and will be really interesting to see what the game looked like.

 

[Gyrian]

Earlier discussion around these carts described them as rentals, not prototypes.
It's entirely possible that these might contain an early, mostly unseen version of a game, but what a gamble...

 

[rcantor77]

These are not rental carts...

Firstly, the description in the listing translates as "contents of the game is not the same as the retail version."
Secondly, the label has the Alpha symbol on it which would suggest this was a very early version.
Thirdly, the game name on the label is a shortened version of the games final name.
And lastly, Rental carts would not have the labels written in pen.

I maybe wrong, but too many things suggest this is a proto.

 

[Gyrian]

I don't know this definitively, but I have seen these referred to as rental carts in more than one place. Green and white are certainly the rental colors for Japan. And consider that you are still essentially taking the seller's word for it, both on the listing description and the cart picture. Notice the second line on the label is not even written with the same marker. Could have been added afterwards by an unscrupulous scammer.

 

[Razoola]

Brian was asking about information on this game the other day. I would not be surprised if he was bidding on this.

 

[rcantor77]

I don't know this definitively, but I have seen these referred to as rental carts in more than one place. Green and white are certainly the rental colors for Japan. And consider that you are still essentially taking the seller's word for it, both on the listing description and the cart picture. Notice the second line on the label is not even written with the same marker. Could have been added afterwards by an unscrupulous scammer.

Yeah all good points, but I still think Rental carts would have had a printed label. SNK were selling a premium product and at the time at a very high price... they then wouldn't have had an admin manually writing the names on the labels.

 

[Gyrian]

Worth noting that none of NeoTurfMasta's prototype carts have this kind of label:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showt...oto-releases&p=3265903&viewfull=1#post3265903

Only one appears matches in design, but is colored blue instead.
And despite SNK's premium standing, stranger things have happened. Being a much smaller shop allowed for all kind of oddities, especially in the earliest days.

 

[NeoTurfMasta]

I haven't bought any of that sellers "proto" "loaner" "test" whatever carts they are. I don't know 100% if those are actual prototypes or not. They definitely are weird and it's the first time I have seen a SNK serial number on any proto I have come across. I do have a prototype of Viewpoint that has a similar label, so its very possible these are protos.

Someone has deep pockets. I would never spend this kind of cash for these kind of carts. The seller has pulled in more than 4k USD on selling these.

 

[Shito]

Those may as well be demo/test carts typically sent to Japanese magazine editors as pre-production samples. Or, pre-release carts use in the finale quality test / debug / Q&A stage of final development of a game. When I worked @Square-Enix Japan just on the localization of a game, we had a numbered EPROMS cart just each morning, with all the text debug work from the day before fully implemented in the updated code on EPROMS..

 

[Fakk2]

I haven't bought any of that sellers "proto" "loaner" "test" whatever carts they are. I don't know 100% if those are actual prototypes or not. They definitely are weird and it's the first time I have seen a SNK serial number on any proto I have come across. I do have a prototype of Viewpoint that has a similar label, so its very possible these are protos.

Someone has deep pockets. I would never spend this kind of cash for these kind of carts. The seller has pulled in more than 4k USD on selling these.

Hey, just out of curiosity, do you plan to ever dump all of the proto AES/MVS carts that you have bought so we can share the roms and see them on our own systems or PCs one day?

 

[oliverclaude]

I do have a prototype of Viewpoint...

Nice! Any notable differences to the final version? Does the nazo bug work?

 

[NeoTurfMasta]

Hey, just out of curiosity, do you plan to ever dump all of the proto AES/MVS carts that you have bought so we can share the roms and see them on our own systems or PCs one day?

The remaining protos I have don't show any noticeable differences. I haven't taken the time to dump them because I just have been lazy and focusing on other projects. I have already dumped and released the games that were significantly different. I'll get to these at some point. I doubt you'll prefer to play them over then original though.

Nice! Any notable differences to the final version? Does the nazo bug work?

I haven't noticed any differences honestly and I'm not an expert on the Nazo bugs. The code is 2 months earlier than the release date and it does crash somewhere in level 5. I can load level 6 with a memory card through. This is the next one I need to dump, I need to get some better equipment before I do this.

 

[oliverclaude]

I haven't noticed any differences honestly and I'm not an expert on the Nazo bugs. The code is 2 months earlier than the release date and it does crash somewhere in level 5. I can load level 6 with a memory card through. This is the next one I need to dump, I need to get some better equipment before I do this.

Thanks for your reply. If you want to try getting a nazo bonus, here's a video of an easier one done by player suricate1981: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJG8dtLlZRo

You have to take the same position as suricate and shoot with charge shots till two explosions are visible at the top of the screen. After the second explosion you trigger the green bomb. It's a matter of strict timing though, but you may as well succeed.