Where do you guys get your Betas / Prototypes?

Ive been collecting betas / protos for years now and i cant help but ask: Where do YOU guys get them?
Before you post i must say, i dont want any funny business here ok? Give detailed information, not stuff like "Druggies, Ex developers and old people hue hue hue".
State the location, the names, the story of how you met them in the first place and maybe some places where others can find these because lets face it: everybody wants to know.
Stuff that benefits people, not makes them feel like shit. Go!

 

Ebay
Private sales
Cool connections
Dumpster diving

Not to say I do all these but thats generally what most people do

Nice woody

 

eBay, Yahoo, Gumtree, various strange auction sites, random searches, very rarely connections.

 

Gumtree with prototypes? It's full of crack heads though.

The grammar I've received from my car listing is just mind boggling.

 

Exactly, that's why it's great. They're all so fucked that they don't know what they've got.

 

For me its been ebay, assembler forum, local collector (originally met through ebay) and a couple of former devs.

 

50% from ebay, a good tip is to use the advanced search function with proper keywords as it makes a whole world of difference.
30% from collectors forum. Here and a couple of other "known" forums.
20% from former industry insiders (devs, testers, artists...). Usually the more interesting items but also the more pricey.

The truth is that most of the "good stuff" is never on ebay or on forums, it is dealt privately from collectors to collectors.

 

Besides auctions it's just dealing with collectors. I've met some devs, but have yet to find anyone that's held on to anything. Consider me jealous. I don't know how some of you luck out.

OP wants names and specifics so everyone can share in the wealth, so to speak, but that's just not how it's done. It's really every man for himself when it comes to dealing with protos, no one's going to suddenly give away all intimate deals to some of their best contacts.

To satisfy OPs request though, here's a few that I'll mention some detail for because it's really not a secret.

I got a mid-development Toejam and Earl 2 proto for Genesis (which I've dumped and is now online) from DreamTR since he knew I wanted it and eventually found it after it was misplaced for a coupe years or more. Same for a Garfield Caught in the Act proto. Everyone knows Dream, so no problem sharing that.

I got a very early tech demo of Croc for PSX, in addition to another mid development version, from a Croc forum that was given the protos by a guy that received them in the mail from a dev he contacted. This guy disappeared, then some other guy that was given them made himself the owner of the forum and started making up rules for distribution, claiming they're illegal to share outside the forum, etc. All the while suddenly also uploading ISOs of the retail games. Everything was pretty backwards, so I just posted those protos here. They were giving them away to anyone that signed onto the forum anyway, only issue was the forum was so obscure no one would have known they existed. Guy got pissed at me and ranted here after he found out, but really nothing he was doing made sense and was all arbitrary.

I got an early alpha of Castlevania Bloodlines on Yahoo Japan Auctions. Was the same proto that had appeared a year prior on eBay and ended up being bought by a JP collector. Looks like he needed some cash. Snatched it up and put myself into some bad debt before anyone else pulled the trigger (it was a BIN auction).

Someone found me on IRC and gave me the source code and BINs for a prototype of a Fire Emblem game on GBA that was taken from Nintendo's FTP once. I think those are public now? Same person also gave me Gauntlet for DS, which I was given permission to share.

I have other stuff I'll probably share someday. Some of it only if the person who gave it gives permission, since you don't want to double cross people. The Croc situation was unique since it was just someone that liked having power on a forum.

Anyone else got detailed stories?

 

Most of the betas / protos ive got are from contacts (In example this guy me and my friend know, he is an Ex-developer and worked for the dutch PlayStation magazine), lucky finds in "rommelmarkten" and Ebay or marktplaats (marktplaats basically being a dutch Ebay / Craigslist type thing).
There was this one woman on marktplaats who had a rare beta demo of Rayman 3 for the PC. Nobody knows the exact origin of these but people theorize that they were supposedly given out with later big boxed copies of Rayman M. The woman sold it to me for 75 cents and free shipping because it was a light package. (A cardboard sleeve and a disc)
I also got some review copies and late betas from the PlayStation magazine guy but the most intriguing ones so far from him are Sonic Heroes and Worms 3D for the OG Xbox. Why does he have Xbox games? You may ask. I have no clue but i dont really care.
EDIT: Kinda off-topic but ive also received tons of promo stuff from people like Dead or Alive beach volleyball xbox themed playing cards, review copies, a LBP PSP poster (seems to be one of like 1000), an xbox 360 lanyard, a pes 2011 beer opener, a god of war 3 standee which was poor condition and i sadly had to throw away ;(, boxed gameboy colour and gba games and the list goes on.

 

Generally just auctions and forum postings. Sometimes of course those overlap with former developers and the like, though it might not always be clear (and on one recent occasion some post-sale discussion revealed that the seller was a significant part of a well-known game company back in the day).

 

I accidentally messed up the quote but im too lazy to fix it.
I must say, if you do not physically own the croc beta (or any beta for that matter), it doesnt count. Simple as that.

 

Um... OK? I was just sharing a story, no need to be a prick about it. Be lucky anyone says anything at all.

 

Mainly eBay and forums such as this. Really wish I had a legitimate contact network

 

How was i being a prick? I was stating a fact.

 

There are nicer ways to say it though, don't you think? saying "Simple as that." just makes it sound like what I posted wasn't even appreciated at all. Yes, out of all the small stories I described, the Croc ones weren't something I physically owned, but I just thought it an interesting story to tell. Adding the pic as well just makes it seems like you took some sort of offense that I dare desecrate this whole topic you had planned out.

I think you're just a little ticked because you msgd me asking me to sell the physical discs when if you even thoroughly read what I wrote, you'd have seen in the original story that I never physically owned them to begin with. Simple as that.

 

I appreciate the anecdotes Bramsworth, found it a good read. I might have a great story to share myself soon, but as it is currently unfolding I have yet to know if it is a success or not

 

Cool, cant wait to hear it!

Im most certainly not ticked off myself, i added the picture to lighten the mood to PREVENT my post from sounding mean.
I mean... Who the hell doesnt like kiwis?!

 

why is this a kiwi thread?

 

It aint