Dreamcast JAP "Sample" Games

Hi,

I'm new to the message board and not sure if i'm posting in the right place but i wanted to get some input on something i just got my hands on:

It is a sealed Japanese Shenmue game with a "Sample tag" on the box (it comes with no spine card)



Are these some kind of pre-release editions given out to magazines/stores (similar to the European "white label" discs)?

Thanks for your answers!

 

afaik all sample games in Japan are identical to the regular release besides the missing spinecard. they were given out to magazines (review purpose) and stores (store display use). great collectibles.

 

As long as they are sealed, otherwise it's nothing else but an incomplete common game :110:

 

It's still a promo - no matter if it's sealed or not.

 

And how can they be detected without the sticker? Different serial?

 

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the "sticker" is actually printed and part of the cover design iirc

otherwise (and beside that fact that they are lacking the spine card) they are the 100% identical to the retail versions down to the item number (not sure about the barcode, which should be different but i never had the chance to x-check)

 

I think that the word sample is printed on the discs too.

A list of the japanese sample games would be nice.

 

Thanks all for your answers!

And yes "sample" is written on the disc as you can see on another piece i own (was unsealed i didn't open it just for you don't worry ):

 

I've got loads loads of saturn and Dreamcast Sample discs but to be honest the saturn ones are the only ones of interest. many of them are early versions of the final game as DruidIi said. X-Men for instance is in it's beta stages with loads of stuff listed direct from the arcade ROMS!! It's glitchy as hell, low animation, different sprites and lower sound samples. I'll be adding a feature of it to my site this weekend if you want to check it out.

Yakumo

 

Sure! That will be very interesting!

Cheers!

 

you're talking about different things. the japanese dc games with the sample sticker are FULL GAMES. IDENTICAL to the regular release - development 100% finished. what you mean are typcial promo or demo discs!

the titles Elrian wants to know about have only minor differences to the retail versions: no spinecard, sample sticker on front, sample imprint on disc!

maybe you can call it promo nonetheless, since it is a "notforsale" item. but the game contents itself is always 100% the retail version.

 

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well, i know that this is common with a lot of older systems. you have some sample media and it can be anything from a demo to the full game. but with dc, ps2, psp ... it follows a uniform fashion.

there are demo discs and other promo items for dc too. but regarding the sample versions these are all consistent. i am talking about the copies shown here, with samples sticker on box/manual. maybe there are some other titles with a sample imprint on disc which differ from the retail versions. but these were never given out like the sample versions talked about here (box, manual...). propeller arena and deedee planet have been produced as sample version too which makes those interesting. someone told me that there was also MSR in sample edition, but i never saw it. i wonder if it exists..

interesting to know that the dxhird sample is 100% same as the retail version (content). i own a sealed copy, but didnt know that. thanks for sharing the information.

 

Quite a lot of Saturn Sample discs are identical to the retail version just like ALL Dreamcast games with Sample printed on them in that blue oval. The thing is that there are many special Saturn sample discs that are in fact pretty much beta builds. Capcom's X-Men and Marvel Super Heroes are both beta builds as is the NiGHTS sampler disc and many others. Then you get the likes of that D-Xird sample or the Hang On one which are identical to the final game.

The Japanese samples of Tomb Raider and Theme Park are quite interesting since they both keep elements from the British versions that were later removed from the Japanese final release. This is why I find Japanese Saturn sample discs interesting and Dreamcast ones not so.

 

interesting stuff. thanks for letting me know.

are there useful resources on the net which focus on these differences? if not, any chance you could point out some more interesting cases in which saturn samples differ from the final retail version? ;-)

 

But I get confused because everybody seems to calls things samples. But I think is it not better to refer to them as what the disc/discs were labeled? Because there can be a sample and a trial/demo version of a game.

 

There probably are places on the net but I don't know of any. This weekend I'll be doing an update on my site that will feature the differences between X-Men Children of the Atom "Sample" and Final release. Others games I have planned for a difference feature are Marvel Super Heroes, House of the Dead, NiGHTS and a few others. I've also got a few Dreamcast ones in the works such as D2. The problem is just finding time and inspiration to do them all.

This is a problem because in Japan they also (for Saturn at least, I'm not sure about other systems) use different names for what are essentially the same thing. I'll use the English translations - Level demos or rolling demos or even early builds that are playable for either a timed session or a few levels are either called Trial, Not For Sale or Sample. Then we have full games identical to the final release. These are called Sample and have the word printed on the inner ring of the disc. I own only two full game sample discs which are Side Pocket 3 and Vatlava. Both are identical to the retail games with all stages, sound, moves etc. Only the disc print is different.

Yakumo

 

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do you also have tatami in HK?