The Biohazard 4 chainsaw controller that cheated death !

Using my store contact to purchase controllers at killer prices in the last days of Nubytech I also asked about and purchased quite a few prototypes. Unreleased prototype controllers of Frogger, Yu-Gi-Oh! ,Megaman controllers, early clay molds of an unreleased Transformers controller.

Even these awesome Street Fighter wireless controllers.



These things were great but what I really wanted was a retail Biohazard 4 controller. I already had original artwork and prototypes from every stage of development. There was even an unreleased ToysRus exclusive edition that never happened. Still above all this I wanted the Biohazard 4 controller that was the full retail version and not a prototype because they were ordered to be destroyed.

We have all heard rumors of leaked retail versions that occur every time a famous title is axed. These days you can find a few copies of NBA Elite on eBay every now and then but I can't think of any other ones that escaped. I've tried before and come close but I was never able to track one of these items. I wanted to get my hands on a final retail product of an unreleased item that somehow escaped ordered destruction.

Full page ads were released and the controllers were done and ready to go. The licensing in Japan was not and the controllers were to be destroyed. So using my store account I placed an order with Nubytech USA with a couple added things....

I got on the phone and worked a deal with the USA Nubytech. I argued that while they were not allowed to sell these controllers in Japan I saw no reason for them to transfer a few units to the USA for quality control or testing purposes or whatever it needed to be. I then purposed that Nubytech USA sell them to me here in the USA after said testing or evualtion. I paid the full Japanese retail price ($100 or so at the time) and purchased more than one to make it worth it to everyone involved.

The controller is complete in every way and is serialized just as the USA version was. Some other early prototypes of this model will have all zeros or nines for a serial number and none of the packaging. Everywhere from manual to case and controller all refer to Biohazard 4 not Resident Evil 4 and most of the text is Japanese.

I've sold a few and even gave one away for a good cause but as long as I am collecting I'll always keep one as the controller that cheated death !






http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd273/random185/biohazzard19/MVC-005S.jpg

 

Awesome. Any pics of the Mega Man protos?

 

nice biohazard chainsaw proto

 

This one was worth it for the story alone.

I'm always surprised when I hear of retail game stock being trashed. If it's retail stock and potentially ready to be sold then it's obviously undergone all the usual checks/certification etc, so unless there's some kind of legal impediment you'd think they'd find a way to give it away to fans, or as competition prizes or something. I guess sometimes you've just got to get rid of stuff fast.

 

what exactly happened with this controller? it wasn't authorized but the US version was??

 

Im very interested in the Mega Man controllers. Do you happen to have any pics of them or good stories?

 

Unsellable because they don't work or because they're just a piece of shit?

 

Well I didn't buy them to have a 12 player chainsaw game party as awesome as that may sound. lol

The Capcom name and the Biohazzard license was strong even if the controller was horrible. Then when you add the history well I think it stands well enough alone as a collectable on any one of those aspects.

You do have to admit that it was at the very least a great concept for a 3rd party controller. Why something hasn't been done like this for the Wii I have no idea.

Introducing - Splatterhouse Wii version with chainsaw controller (red silly spray not included) Instead we get Deer Hunter and Crossbow Training.

and yeah not just one. There were 10 or 12 of them in the shipment so it wasn't cheap. However, I will say that I had no trouble getting my money back.

I want to say that Capcom signed off on this but Sony did not? In America that wasn't an issue but it was in Japan. There were delays and contracts expired.

The Megaman controllers were an after thought in the deals. I never paid them much attention. I don't remember much about them at all. There are 3-6 of them and when I dig them out I'll post some pictures. Those controllers came in dome style containers with a plastic tray inside.

Did Nubytech release any Megaman controllers?

I was recently at a discount store (Marc's big in NE Ohio) and they had a supply of lettuce storage cases and these cases were exactly the same shape and size as the Megaman controller domes.

 

Great story, never even knew the chainsaw thingie wasn't released in Japan. I always thought of it more as a collectible that's impossible to actually use.
But...unreleased Transformers controller? Now I'm intrigued, got any pictures of that?

 

nice work mate, that biohazard controller is awesome

 

That's an incredible bit of blagging you performed there, nice one :clap: So are the 12 you purchased the only ones that escaped destruction (as far as you're aware)?

I'd also like to see pictures of the other controllers too please.

 

12 out of a run of what 10,000?

The company was in bad shape by this point.

They would not have paid to ship these to the USA because by this time the USA retail controllers were being blown out super cheap. They had thousands of USA controllers and they were not selling fast enough to bail them out.

I think Funco or Gamestop may have bought the last bit.

Even if they would have considered selling the Japanese controllers in the USA. The cost to ship them to the USA was too much. So yes 12 were all that were saved unless a Japanese employee took one home without anyone knowing. However, I'm not sure that I got all 12. The president of the company may have kept 1 or 2. So this is why I say 10-12.

As for the other items. I'll dig a bit and see what else I can turn up for pictures. Here are some pics on my hard drive so I don't know if I still have these. Prototype 360 faceplates including one for Pirates of the Caribbean which for sure was unreleased.





Another old picture here is a picture of some of the concept art used in the chainsaw controller design. I'm not sure if I have this anymore either.

 

What's the one on top of the 1st picture supposed to depict? Sequoia National Park 360 Edition?

 

Here are some molds for the transformers controller. They wanted to market a controller that worked as toy transformer which actually transformed into a working controller.

 

Also here are 3 Yu-Gi-Oh controllers.

These I just found and I didn't know I had them. Now I know somewhere these is another Yu-Gi-Oh controller in an oversized yellow triangle box. I don't remember if these controllers are more or less the same design as that one. They may have been included in the deal with the triangle boxed controller.

 

I'd be more interested in seeing the SF controllers...

 

It looks like I sold or gave #19 away.

Here are #s 22 and 33 which may be the only 2 I have left. I should have kept better track of the serial numbers.

#22






#33