Virtual boy items unreleased.

Why does everyone feel the need to keep bumping the thread with lectures and pointless writing that adds nothing to the topic? I copied the same 3 questions one time, I stress ONE TIME and only THREE QUESTIONS, and added lots of new information about the prototype cart in the same post, which PERTAINED to the topic, so that Kevin and everyone else could read all of the old and new information in one place, making it easier for everyone, instead of having to jump back and forth between posts. That is not simply "bumping the thread." Posting pointless lectures and comments that add nothing to the topic is bumping the thread.

If reading about this topic upsets you, there is one simple solution. Stop reading this thread.

Perhaps I should just get straight to the point with this:

Kevin, if you don't care too much about the Mansion of Insmouse prototype cart that you have in your possession, then I am wondering if you might want to sell it to one of the largest Virtual Boy collectors in the world, who will offer you more money for it than anyone else on the planet, I guarantee it. If you do treasure it and don't even want to discuss it, let alone sell it, then I will accept that.

If you are interested in selling it now for an amount that will very likely make you extremely happy, then please get back to me soon so that we can discuss the details about what you have. The reason why I need to know soon is because I already have a pending offer for another "Holy Grail" Virtual Boy item, and if I accept that offer in about a week, I won't be able to make you a nice offer for your item for about another year. But if your item interests me, then I may very well decline the pending offer and try to make you a nice one.

If you don't get back to me in time and I accept the other offer, know that I will still likely try get back in touch with you about the proto cart in about a year from now, unless you tell me that you don't want to sell it or share any details about it, though the first post on this thread made it seem that at one point in time, you were hoping to sell it. If you do want to sell it eventually, I would strongly recommend not selling it to anyone else, until you hear what I am willing to offer you for it.

Regards.

 

Hey Benjamin,

you are talking about another "Holy Grail"?
Well there is not much left after Bound high and Faceball are released now.
I can just think of Dragon Hopper and maybe Zero Racer or VB Mario.
Can you give any more infos?

Btw do you have an Virtual Boy controller with colored buttons instead of just red and gray?

 

In the software category, there are these "Holy Grails" for the Virtual Boy:

1. Dragon Hopper
2. USA Version of Mansion of Insmouse (Kevin has the only known prototype cart in existence)
3. Polygo Block (Japanese Version of the North American 3D Tetris)
4. Virtual Block
5. Virtual Bomberman
6. Virtual Double Yakuman
7. Virtual Jockey
8. Zero Racers

The reason why Dragon Hopper and Zero Racers stand out above the rest is because it is known that Dragon Hopper is 100% finished, while Zero Racers, if it is not completely finished, is most likely very close to being finished. It is not known how finished the other Holy Grails are, except by the people who have them in their possession.

You mentioned VB Mario. I don't know if it can be concluded that any prototype cart of that exists. As far as anyone knows, there was just a video demo of it made for display at a trade show. That video may not have even showed a playable version of the game. Goldeneye falls into the same category of VB Mario. There is no good evidence to show that any playable version of Goldeneye exists for the Virtual Boy.

It should also be mentioned that there are also Holy Grails for the Virtual Boy in the hardware category.

 

Actually I did not see any new information on your posts.

 

@Benjamin
Well i cant consider english translations like Insmouse or japanese translations like 3D Tetris as holy grails because they are basicly the same game just with different language.
It would be nice to have them but they are definitly no holy grail and definitly not worth the usual crazy sums.
Dragon Hopper or Zero Racer can be considered as holy grails but even then it is ridcules what people would ask for it or how some in the VB scene act.
Treat everything as big secret, and so on... well and you do the same because you just mention another holy grail but dont tell what game it is...
btw i doubt it is something big like Dragon Hopper or Zero Racers because you would prefer Insmouse whitch is also not worth that much
It is good that there are some people like the guy who made Space Pinball available or people like the one who came up with Bound High
and Faceball otherwise the VB scene would be very very boring!

How good is your VB collection btw? Any specials like a Spaceworld Proto VB in it?

 

I do not enjoy keeping secrets about games either, especially about Virtual Boy games and items. I love talking about anything and everything related to the Virtual Boy, but you have to understand that not everybody feels the same way. Because I have such a large interest in the Virtual Boy, I spend a lot of time trying to seek out people and learning about largely unknown things. There are many times when I am told by those people to keep certain information secret, and since I never break promises that I give to people, I just have to keep that information secret because they told me to and I respect them. I would love to share a lot of the information that I have with everyone, but unfortunately, because I have given my word not to share many things, I just can't post certain information in the forums or even share certain things in private messages. All I can tell you about this is that if you really try to find such people on your own time and spend a lot of time building up their confidence in you that you will keep the information they give you a secret, you can find out a lot of interesting information on the unreleased and largely unknown stuff, too. Just don't ever break your word. If you do that, you can expect not to learn anything interesting about this stuff ever again. Everyone to whom I have ever given my word should be able to read all of my posts in internet forums and realize that I have never shared any "secret" information about anything. The only things I can post or share are things that already are public knowledge or which are allowed to become new public knowledge by those who first find out such things.

If it wasn't for me, Eric would have never been able to acquire VB Faceball and then publicly release the ROM online.

I have my entire Virtual Boy collection posted at the website of Planet Virtual Boy under my profile, if you would like to check it out sometime. I don't try to hide who I am, so my screen name over there is "Benjamin Stevens," much like it is here, but here it is without the space. ;-)

 

@Goemon
Under normal circumstances with ordinary systems localizations of released games would be neat and curious, but as you said it wouldn't be a major find. The VB is no ordinary system. It's library is stunningly small, and several of those releases are rare. Any commercial game is a major find, and any complete and playable one even more important.

Tally it up:
# US releases: 14 games
# Japanese releases: 19 games
# total unique games: 22 games

That means there's more announced, unreleased commercial titles than released ones. That also means there's more homebrew for it than officially released games o.0

So yes, a unique title of any kind in any playable state would be a major find. Any complete or near complete title, even if only a localization, would be a major find. These are holy grails simply because they're the only things anyone knows for certain exist in usable state.
People also collect for more than just monetary value.

 

I can understand where Ben is coming from, about all the secret stuff. Unfortunately that is just how the VB scene has been for many, many years. All these latest releases have been around for over 10 years, dumped and just sitting there. It takes someone finding either the original owner wanting to sell up, a different proto of the same game being found or a dodgy dealer who broke this so called "secret code" of VB. Usually it's the latter, that is how Space Pinball and Bound High were released, still working out Faceball but I have a feeling it is the same. Official Nintendo VB Eprom boards anyone?

While I think it's great these titles are out there now, I feel bad about the amount of money people pay to get these released when I know the majority are forged/stolen.

 

It's nice to see someone else who views Virtual Boy games and items similarly to how I view them, which I've found doesn't seem to be the case too often among Virtual Boy collectors. Whenever I view a prototype cartridge for the Virtual Boy, I see it in two parts:

1. On the one hand, it is a physical item that cannot be reproduced at all. Making a copy of a prototype cartridge does not give you another prototype cartridge. It gives you a forgery or a fake or simply a copy, depending on how one tries to sell it off, if one tries to sell it off at all.
2. On the other hand, it contains a virtual item that very well can be reproduced.

Too often, I have read comments from people where they seem to view it all as one item. So long as they have a prototype cartridge with an unreleased game on it, it is a holy grail, but as soon as the ROM gets released online, they feel that the whole item becomes worthless and that they are out their money and/or investment. I definitely can't understand such reasoning. When the virtual item gets released online, yes, the virtual item is no longer a holy grail and people won't be willing to pay much money for it, if any at all. However, if you still have a true, original prototype cartridge from which the ROM came, that physical item is still a holy grail. And if others aren't willing to pay a lot of money just for the physical holy grail, well, I still am. ;-)

But yes, as for the Virtual Boy, anything new is of high worth to me, even if it is just a localization. The thing is, sometimes localizations have more to them than simply translated text, like Virtual League Baseball, which has completely different sprites for the baseball players in the Japanese version than the North American one. That's why finding out about the differences in a localization can be very interesting.

 

I can't agree more. It's odd what a disposable mentality has done to game collecting. Then again, I've been hearing more and more people question why they should buy an original piece of art when they can copy it or print it out o.0 Can't help but feel it's part of the same problem.

It's not just that it's the prototype and the source of the code but also the entire history of the cart and its ownership, how it found its way to the studio into your hands. Even when the cart isn't a custom piece of hardware they're nifty and rare in their own right, and it's hard not to impress when you pull out an old PCB and start barking out history before firing it up ;*) (or at least show off a dump; some are a little rougher than others)
For that matter, people really underestimate prototypes of released games. They tell a story of design choices, trial and effort, failed tests, deadlines and big dreams. Even unplayable, code is a fun thing to poke through, and when you really start digging through code it's amazing what you find.

That's another thing a lot of people don't understand. Localization means much more than translation; it means converting something to be understood or accepted by a particular culture. That extends well beyond language into clothing, holidays, stories, food, places, important and immediately recognised historical events, physical appearance, stereotypes, etc.

 

It just comes down to how much value you put on material things when you can get practically the same enjoyment from just having something in digital form. Of course, there are some instances where it's like buying an eBook as opposed to the real thing; something's missing, plus it somewhat cheapens the experience.

In the case of protos, its origins I can't imagine interest too many people. What's on there is what you want, I can't really consider spending tons of money on a "final" proto for example just because it was in the hands of someone in the game credits. My financial situation says if I want to spend money on something, it better be able to do more for me than just make me feel good saying I have the physical thing. I need to be able to get some sort of unique entertainment out of it as opposed to buying an infinitely cheaper retail version with nice artwork and all, you know?

I wouldn't call anyone saying they can get a digital pic rather than spending hundreds on an original as being part of any problem. If anything, they're practical and probably more sane examples to live up to than your fellow pack rat collectors whose collection just sit in their rooms only to be admired by themselves.

 

It’s funny what you mentioned about people’s thoughts on purchasing copies of art instead of original art pieces, because whenever I was writing earlier about how a physical prototype cartridge cannot be reproduced at all, I specifically thought about art pieces and thought to myself that no true art collector would be satisfied with having a copy of an artist’s painting instead of the actual painting that came directly from the artist’s brush. Perhaps the art collector could only afford a copy of the painting and not the/an original painting itself, but if the art collector’s appreciation for the piece is very high, he will not be satisfied with a mere copy. I can only conclude that people who would be completely satisfied with copies of art pieces are people whose appreciation for said art pieces just aren’t that high.

In the case of VB prototype carts, it is very similar to the artist’s painting. The “original” work would be the ROM that was directly flashed to the EPROM at the place of development, and anything else would be a mere copy. The problem with these things, though, is that they are so easy to fake. If someone gets their hands on a ROM and original EPROM chips and boards, how easy it is to flash the ROM to that and pass it off as original. Basically the only good sources for such things would be carts that came directly from one of the people who worked on the game, who could tell you firmly that they have one of the carts that came from their office in their possession, or carts that came straight from a bankruptcy sale or closing of an office, which could definitely be traced back to that office as the source. Once it gets into the hands of someone else, though, who then later tries to pass “the original” on, you just never know what could have happened in the meantime.

Speaking of art, I think we video game collectors are lucky that video games are not largely regarded as being on the same level as art, even though we ourselves place them on the same level or higher, since we see them as more than just static art pieces but actually interactive art pieces. Just recently, a holy grail item sold on Ebay for $55,000.00, and so many people thought that it was just so ridiculous that “just one video game” would sell for so high. And yet, that video game and cartridge was one of a kind, in fact the only one of its kind in the whole world. Imagine if that only one of its kind item was an art piece or artifact. It would have had millions of dollars thrown at it by those who highly appreciate such things. In comparison, the person who purchased the game and cartridge, who likely has the appreciation for it that art collectors have for art, got it for a steal.

 

Ben, an item is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. If a lot of people are prepared to pay a lot of money, you may get a bidding war, sure. And yes, there are people who may pay a lot for something regardless. Being the original prototype still adds value. However, answer me this:

Say I have a prototype of an unreleased game. I want $5,000 for it. You, and others, are interested.

I then decide to dump the game and give it to the community. Everyone downloads it and is happy. I'm sure you'd download it, too.

Most people would lose interest in paying for the game now they can download it for free. Some, however, would like to own the physical cartridge still. There will be some that are still interested, but not as many.

Now that the demand has gone down and everyone has the game to play, can you honestly say you'd still give me $5,000 for the original prototype? I'm sure most people would now regard it as a nice item, but one that's been dumped - and as such, it's worth whatever a prototype cart of a released game is worth. Maybe a few hundred dollars? I don't know.

As for your collection, why not make a thread here in our collections forum? C'mon, we like it when people whip out their preciouses!

 

Well, I usually place more value on Virtual Boy items than anyone else on the planet, so this question is pretty easy. Let's use Virtual Boy Faceball as an example, since the ROM of the game just got released online for everyone to play. If you had the original prototype cartridge of VB Faceball, whose ROM is now available at Planet Virtual Boy, and you offered it to me for $5,000.00, I would definitely accept the offer and buy it from you right now for $5,000.00, even though the ROM of it is readily available.

As for my collection, I've already posted how it can be found at Planet Virtual Boy on this thread. I don't think it is necessary to post it on multiple sites.

 

Well, that's your choice. You'll find, though, that most people wouldn't pay as much still. You'll also find that it WOULD affect the resale value were you to buy it at $5,000. If you're never ever going to sell it, then no problem... but don't be so naive as to think it wouldn't affect the market value of an item just because YOU would still pay a ridiculous price for it. And yeah, I know it's probably not a ridiculous price to you.... just like there are most likely people out there who would pay money for Michael Jackson's last ever turd.

I know you said you posted your collection over there - I was inviting you to post it here, too. The reason you post it here, too, is to get a conversation going about it. That way, you'll get your post count up and be seen more as part of the community, rather than someone who has just come over here to pester Kev into selling something.

You didn't even post a link to your profile over there, you just assumed people know the site. To be frank with you, I really can't be arsed to Google Planet Virtual Boy, then work out how to find the members list, then search for you, then click through to your profile. It's possible I might even have to sign up to the site in order to see the member list. No offence, but I'm not going to do that just to see your collection, no matter how awesome it may be.

 

Here is some interesting information about an unreleased racing game for the Virtual Boy. It is a translation of a Famitsu Magazine article that appeared on page 97 of February 24, 1995's Issue Number 323. Thanks to djandy76 for the translation:



Based on the information contained in the article, it very well could be that the author of the article had actually seen parts of this game in action on an actual Virtual Boy. Thus, there could possibly be a prototype cart of this game floating around somewhere.

 

How did they take screenshots for the magazine? Would they do it themselves, or were there standard screenshots (or renders) that were sent to press?

 

I know for sure that Nintendo Power used the Video Boy created by Intelligent Systems to play Virtual Boy games on a t.v., and then they could create their own screen captures as they did with games for the console systems to get the very high quality images that appear in the magazines. The Virtual Boy images in the Famitsu magazines are also of the same high quality, so this, along with the fact that the writers for Famitsu created their own reviews for Virtual Boy games, causes me to conclude that they also had their own Video Boy which they used to create their own very nice screen captures. If there is additional information about this in the Famitsu magazines themselves, I currently don't know about it, and it would take me a very long time to find it since I myself can't read Japanese and can only translate it somewhat after converting it into digital format with an OCR program and then using translation software programs and other online sources to try to figure it out.

So basically, the writer of the Race article revealed that he could compare the 3D effect of the racing game to the 3D effects of the other games, whereupon he concluded that it had the best 3D effects out of all of them. The question is, how could he do this as well as provide high quality images for the magazine? The thing that makes the most sense to me is that he could put the cartridge in a Virtual Boy to see the 3D effects, and then he could put the cartridge in the Video Boy to create the screen captures for the magazine.

 

Thank you very much, Goemon, for the extremely rare Virtual Boy prototype controller, which arrived safely to me in the mail today. Here she is, in all her glory:





For those of you who are unfamiliar with this controller, this was the type of controller that was used in the prototype Virtual Boy systems that were set up at early trade shows where the Virtual Boy had an appearance, namely at the Shoshinkai Software Exhibition of 1994 and at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show of 1995. It is not known exactly how many of these controllers and/or systems ever made it out into the wild, certainly no more than a few. It was definitely never intended that these systems and controllers be released to the public, especially since the design of the cartridge slot of the system was so changed before mass production of the Virtual Boy that prototype systems cannot even play any commercially released games without first being modified, making this a true "Holy Grail" in the unreleased hardware department of the Virtual Boy.


If anybody else happens to have a very rare Virtual Boy item(s) that I don't currently have, and you'd rather have a lot of money than the item, please feel free to send me a PM. I'll just say right now that I'm very good at making offers that people can't refuse.


Here's a list of very rare Virtual Boy stuff that I'd still like for my collection, and even if you don't want to sell one of these items to me, I would greatly appreciate it if you would post a scan(s) or photo(s) of one or more of these extremely rare and very hard to find Virtual Boy items and perhaps even share how you managed to acquire it/them, if you have one or some, in this thread. Please don't be dissuaded from posting one of the below items on this thread, due to the likelihood that I may try to send you my best offer for it. Basically, I may send you my best offer, and if you send me a firm refusal, then we can simply leave it at that, and I won't make you another offer for it again:


*Anything Virtual Boy-related or containing Virtual Boy stuff on it from one of the trade shows where the Virtual Boy had an appearance (press kit, flyer, etc.)
[The prototype controller, 3D specs, Hudson Soft VB button, Virtual Boy 3D Button, Virtual Boy Special Value Button, and baseball caps other than the ones listed below are the "trade show-only" Virtual Boy items that I have already successfully added to my collection]


*The Shoshinkai 1994 Prototype Virtual Boy system


*Any of the pre-production model Virtual Boy systems


*One of these Virtual Boy store displays:
- The large floor model (it would have to have both original inserts for me to want it)
- The counter version (also needs both original inserts to interest me)


*Virtual Boy 3D light-up sign


*Any or all of these Japanese demo games complete in box with the original orange and white "sample for demo machine" sticker on the front of the box:
- Mario's Tennis
- Red Alarm
- Teleroboxer


*Virtual Boy jacket with the Virtual Boy logo inside the purple box on the back (truly a "Holy Grail" merchandise item)


*One or both of the following Virtual Boy baseball caps:
- black cap with standard Nintendo Logo above "VIRTUAL BOY" on the front
- black cap with purple lip and standard boxed-in Virtual Boy logo on the front


*One or both of the following Virtual Boy shirts:
- The jeans shirt with Virtual Boy unit on the back (like the one Bomberhead owns)
- The white t-shirt with large "VB" and "VIRTUAL BOY" logos on the front


*V-Tetris button (preferably unopened)


*Any of these official flyers for unreleased Virtual Boy games:
- Polygo Block
- Virtual Jockey
- Virtual Bomberman
- Virtual Block
- NikoChan Battle (aka Faceball)


*Must See 3D Sweepstakes brochure


Also, if anybody happens to have a Vidpro card of any North American Virtual Boy game other than Vertical Force, first of all, who did you kill to get it? ;-) Secondly, I would very, very much like to see a picture of it, primarily so that I can actually see that they do, in fact, exist as they all should in theory. Yes, I'd offer you a lot of money for one or several of them, but even if you don't want to sell one or some, I'd greatly appreciate it if I could see a photo or scan of an actual Vidpro card for a Virtual Boy game. I must say that these are hands down the most impossible Virtual Boy-related items to find.

 

Thank you very much, person who shall remain anonymous, for both nearly-impossible-to-find Mario's Tennis and Red Alarm Japanese sample-for-demonstration games, each complete in box with the original orange and white sticker on the front, which reads この商品は実演用サンプルとしてご使用ください, which translates to "This product should be used as a sample for demonstration."

Thus, these two can now be crossed off my list found in post #59, and that leaves just Teleroboxer as the last sample-for-demonstration game that I need to complete my Japanese VB demo game collection, unless there happens to be a Japanese VB demo game out there that has been completely unaccounted for up to now by enthusiasts like myself, who try their best to account for all such things.

Now, some might wonder: what is such the big deal about these demo games? Aren't they just the regular Japanese Virtual Boy games with stickers stuck on the front of the game boxes? Well, from a certain perspective, yes, that is what they are, but to a collector like me, they are much more than that. As far as I know, it was the original manufacturers of these games who selected these specific copies of the games to be used solely for the in-store demo Virtual Boy systems, and so, these games should have been sent to stores in Japan with the "sample for demonstration" stickers already on them and with specific instructions for the store owners, stating that these games were not to be sold to customers (so I imagine all of the stores originally received these games at rather nice, discounted prices since they were not supposed to resell the games ever; maybe they even received them for free as part of a marketing plan to try to boost Virtual Boy sales, I'm not sure). I am convinced that this is how it worked, but nevertheless, I have gotten into discussions with people who think that another possibility is that retailers simply received a set of the orange and white sample for demo stickers, which they could then place on any game that they had in stock and make it become a demo game. There are a couple reasons why I don't believe this, and one is that every single Japanese demo game that I have ever seen for the Virtual Boy has the "sample for demonstration" sticker placed extremely nicely on the front of the box, such as all of the ones in my current collection:



To me, this is solid evidence that the stickers were placed on the box by the manufacturer, and not simply by store owners or employees who may have simply received stickers separately to place on any commercial game boxes that they felt like placing them on, and therefore, that would make these all the more limited in number and all the more special, because quite frankly, it would indeed be pretty disappointing to me if I saw good evidence that indicates that retailers at the time were simply able to order any amount of stickers they chose and place them on any commercial boxes themselves, but it wouldn't make much sense as to why any seller would ever want to do that since they could then never rightfully sell the game after that, but perhaps there still could be a good reason why it may have been done that way nonetheless.

Anyway, if anybody happens to have a Japanese Virtual Boy demo game, whose sticker is NOT positioned on the front of the box exceptionally well, I would very much like to see picture proof of that, which will help me in understanding the history behind these games. Of course, there is always the possibility that a sticker could have been taken off and put back on the game box in a messy manner by someone, but I would think that there would be evidence on the box itself that would indicate that such happened, since these stickers definitely do not come off very easily. I'd imagine either the sticker and/or the front of the box itself would be damaged to some extent if something like that were attempted. But if anybody does happen to have a box that strongly shows that the sticker was originally put on in a messy manner and not removed at all from the time it was originally stuck on the box, then I would very much like to learn of this, though I might conclude anyway that it was simply a manufacturer's error instead of some store employee poorly placing a sticker on a random commercial game box him- or herself.