- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Posts
- 1,081
Dynamite Slugger, Faselei, and The Last Blade were allegedy ready to ship when Aruze abruptly pulled the plug on everything SNK was doing outside of Japan. The three games had been advertised at E3 2000 and SNK USA had promotional material and advertisements showcasing their US box art. In 2003, US cartridges of Faselei and Last Blade showed up in large quantities. Original boxes for each of the three games turned up several years ago on Ebay.
Even after the box for it turned up, I never thought carts for Dynamite Slugger were produced since they likely would have been seen with up with the flood of other recalled games in 2003. But when this cart showed up on Ebay, I started to think I might be wrong. The picture was blurry, but the templating from the era was spot-on. Because this is a low profile game on a niche system (even here the NGPC gets little attention), I thought it was unlikely someone was attempting to fake it. Add the fact the cart was coming from LA, and I figured making an offer was a small gamble worth taking.
I have no doubt that this is authentic. The label manufacture style matches the other late-US-release NGPC games. They have a unique texture where the ink has a gel-like sheen and physically rests above the surface of the paper label. The only question I have is, how is this the first one to turn up? Factories are in the business of producing thousands and this matches the other mass-produced games.
It is reasonable to assume SNK wasn't in the practice of trashing games for a write-off since it seems like the other recalled/unsold games eventually surfaced a few years later. Was this one of a few test/proofs sent to SNK Entertainment prior to mass production? Are the rest of the Dynamite Slugger carts still lost in a warehouse? To my knowledge, this is the first one of these to turn up. It's safe to assume more of these were made, but only time will tell how many others survived.
Even after the box for it turned up, I never thought carts for Dynamite Slugger were produced since they likely would have been seen with up with the flood of other recalled games in 2003. But when this cart showed up on Ebay, I started to think I might be wrong. The picture was blurry, but the templating from the era was spot-on. Because this is a low profile game on a niche system (even here the NGPC gets little attention), I thought it was unlikely someone was attempting to fake it. Add the fact the cart was coming from LA, and I figured making an offer was a small gamble worth taking.
I have no doubt that this is authentic. The label manufacture style matches the other late-US-release NGPC games. They have a unique texture where the ink has a gel-like sheen and physically rests above the surface of the paper label. The only question I have is, how is this the first one to turn up? Factories are in the business of producing thousands and this matches the other mass-produced games.
It is reasonable to assume SNK wasn't in the practice of trashing games for a write-off since it seems like the other recalled/unsold games eventually surfaced a few years later. Was this one of a few test/proofs sent to SNK Entertainment prior to mass production? Are the rest of the Dynamite Slugger carts still lost in a warehouse? To my knowledge, this is the first one of these to turn up. It's safe to assume more of these were made, but only time will tell how many others survived.
