I have posted a topic in the "WTB" category of the forums, but I'm not sure if my approach is the correct one. I'm curious how the more seasoned collectors go about finding the prototypes they're looking for, or if there is anything more to it than blind luck. For example, I'm trying to find someone with a pre-release build of GoldenEye Rogue Agent. I'm not particularly concerned about which build exactly, but I do have some preferences. I don't know if it's too likely for a massive publisher/developer to let its unfinished products slip under the radar so easily, but I imagine most of the time these builds end up in the hands of people who worked for the company, and it was just swept under the rug and forgotten about. As far as I can gather, the most likely candidates to sell such products would be ex-employees, or "a friend of a friend" that got a hold of something from an inside source. Obviously, people that work for the developer wouldn't want to risk their jobs by selling something that doesn't belong to them... is that right? Anyway, I'd just like some opinions on how to further and refine my search for pre-release builds of this particular game, or any game for that matter. It wasn't a particularly loved title, and as such, I'm guessing there aren't many people who would really be interested in seeing a developmental build of the game. Would this be a factor to affect the price? From what I've seen on this forum, prototypes of lesser-known, old games still reach at least a $100-200 mark. I'd certainly be willing to pay that, but I want to know if I should be expecting to part with more or less. I realize people have been willing to exchange their homes and families for titles like Resident Evil 1.5, but let's face it... Resident Evil 2 has a massive following, and that prototype build had achieved God-like status years before being leaked.
There isn't an easy answer unfortunately. Some games are easier to acquire, in that early builds get sent to the press to preview for. Assuming the builds survive, which many don't, a lot of them end up for sale at some point. This is where a large portion of games come from. Getting developers to cooperate is a different thing. For me, its required years, and sometimes no matter how good my reputation is, it isn't worth it. At that point, I say thank you, move on, and potentially revisit it years down the line. And even should they cooperate, it could be information, it could be builds, it could be any number of things, but it depends on what your goal is. Mine is true, honest preservation, ultimately, which means that Im interested in lots of stuff. But for many people, their goal is to simply play the game (which is where someone will chime in and say the internet is a good preservation source with the sideeffect of people playing it, but Id argue otherwise). Inside sources can either be extremely easy or extremely difficult, depending on the person and where they are in their career. Price all comes down to what people will pay. Take into consideration the developer, the build itself (debug menus, early versions), the game series, development history, any number of things.
Thank you for the response, and I understand what you're saying. It's an interesting issue to consider what exactly a buyer intends to do with the game after buying it. Preservation really is the most commendable approach to collecting prototypes, but it's hard for me to say that I wouldn't be extremely interested in playing early builds of the games that I love. It's very unfortunate indeed to think that so much developmental software is lost. Surely there are companies that are much more adamant about backing up their builds, though? I would imagine a conglomerate like EA Games would be one of those companies, but once the product is released, I suppose the fate of those previous builds is of little concern to anyone. Do companies ever archive their game builds after release, or are the hard drives mostly wiped for future developers? Surely nobody would wipe their final code, at the very least... right? It's incredible how data can be completely abolished at the click of a button.
And that's fine to say you just want to play the build, I hear from people like that all the time, many of whom don't like me hah. But I do have the benefit of dipping my toes into some academically backed research opportunities, which lets more people talk to me. Old stuff is more likely to be gone than new. Space is at much less of a premium nowadays, and things are getting much better as developers start to realize the value that their older materials hold. I can only speak about some parts of EA, it's a huge company after all, but I know some games have brilliant backup systems where they could choose a date and time, hit a button, and out comes a build. That isn't the case all the time though. But you're ignoring an issue that also can't be forgotten, what happens when a company goes belly up? Things scatter, and really that is where a lot of other materials have come from in the community in terms of hardware and the software left on them. But there is no central resource that is focused on situations like this. Another issue is that of access. All the backups in the world mean nothing if you can't get to them reliably. Look at the Acclaim software tapes here, no one can get to them, but even still, if we do get to them then what? What if it requires hardware that doesn't exist, software that cannot be found? It's not easy, that's for sure
Yeah, I really do like the idea of preserving, which is why during my search for potential leads to early builds of GoldenEye Rogue Agent, I've been archiving all the pre-release footage and screenshots for the game that I've been able to uncover. If material like that is all that's left of the early versions, then I think it's equally as important to keep a record of it. I'm just saying, I definitely would like to play those early builds, as well as to keep them archived. The creator of the website http://www.goldeneyeforever.com (Graham Douglas?) has an article about an EA Community Day event he attended for GoldenEye Rogue Agent. This was during the time that the game was in alpha stages, and about ten people were allowed to test play their current build (on PS2). From the photographs on his webpage, it's pretty clear that they were playing from an actual disc on a real PS2. Obviously, these builds (assuming there was more than one) probably would not have ever left the studio. http://www.goldeneyeforever.com/goldeneye_rogue_agent_page5.php At least he gives a pretty detailed analysis of what the game was like at the time, but it would be a shame to think that these builds are gone forever. I guess EA is a big enough company that is goes "belly up" in segments. Didn't the SKATE franchise stop altogether because EA Black Box went under?
Quite a bit from EA Chicago got out, so I wouldnt be surprised. One can only hope that builds walked out the door at some point. The issue is that CD-r/DVD-r aren't immune from bitrot, I know I have one disk that is nearly completely useless now due to bit rot.
Yeah, that is a disturbing thought. I suppose a build of the Xbox version might also exist on a development console somewhere. I believe the game was being developed mainly on the PS2 and Xbox from the outset, with the Gamecube version being a bit of a lazy port. As such, I doubt a Gamecube build in alpha stages even exists. That brings me to another question, though... if a game was being developed for multiple consoles from the beginning, but one of the consoles is the lead platform, then how long would the development team actually wait to compile builds for the other consoles? Surely they couldn't have waited until the bitter end to port the finished game to Gamecube? What if they encountered unexpected problems?
Depends on the developer. Some games can be months behind the lead platform, others can be almost at the same point. And no, I doubt they would wait until the end, it just becomes less of a priority.
I appreciate all your responses, Borman. Do you think my best bet in hunting down an early build of this game would be to wait for sales on this website?
Just keep putting your name out there, really. Ive spent years tracking down some games, but if you keep it known that you're interested, who knows. Every game requires a bit of luck to be honest hah
Good education going on in here. I've had an itch about starting to collect games again, this is a nice lil primer.
you can find a lot of infos on internet, which is cool. but finding a proto is just luck. since there are so much people on earth then yes , they had to stumble on people's hands, but in my opinion, i dont think a company would keep their old stuffs of development if the game has been released. they probably ( most of all ) got resend to the hardware furnisher, who could have recycle them or idk. well good luck !
