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What are the most interesting NES prototypes ?

 
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Christuserloeser



Joined: 17 Sep 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 5:40 pm    Post subject: What are the most interesting NES prototypes ? Reply with quote

Someone asked me this question and I thought I'd pass it on to you guys. What are the most interesting NES prototypes discovered so far and why ?

- From those featured on the main site I'd say these got to be mentioned: Earthbound, Sunman, Bio Force Ape, but I'd like to hear about some other games you think are noteworthy for one reason or another.
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Skrybe
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some suggestions:

California Raisins: This was one of the most visible unreleased NES games, due to it being based on a big franchise, and getting a lengthy review in Game Player's plus some full-page magazine ads before finally getting cancelled. Also, it was an incredible fluke that the copy that was eventually dumped didn't end up lost forever.

Final Fantasy 2: Noteworthy simply for being a Final Fantasy game.

Hit the Ice: This one's amazing on the grounds that someone actually attempted to make a hockey RPG.

Sunman: There's the Superman angle, of course, and the fact that this is a very good game that went completely unreleased anywhere.
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TheRedEye
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sunman is notable for being a Kenji Eno game. Eno was a really interesting designer with a really notable body of work who lived hard and died young.
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Kid Fenris



Joined: 17 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Secret Ties struck me as an interesting case: a decent enough side-scroller based on a Japanese comic, slated for North America with altered names and everything, but ultimately not released anywhere.

I imagine there's a good story behind that. I assume Vic Tokai was banking on their success with Golgo 13 and nabbed a lesser-known license from the same creator. Perhaps they even commissioned the game specifically for America, despite its manga origins.
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Johnny Undaunted



Joined: 08 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't remember if it was ever covered by this site, but Time Diver: Eon Man was interesting for the sole fact that it got a full walkthrough published on Nintendo Power.
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kap
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Skrybe, you managed to list the four games that immediately popped into my head.
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KingMike



Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Skrybe wrote:
Some suggestions:

California Raisins: This was one of the most visible unreleased NES games, due to it being based on a big franchise, and getting a lengthy review in Game Player's plus some full-page magazine ads before finally getting cancelled. Also, it was an incredible fluke that the copy that was eventually dumped didn't end up lost forever.

Final Fantasy 2: Noteworthy simply for being a Final Fantasy game.

Hit the Ice: This one's amazing on the grounds that someone actually attempted to make a hockey RPG.

Sunman: There's the Superman angle, of course, and the fact that this is a very good game that went completely unreleased anywhere.


I don't know if I'd say California Raisins was a big franchise as much as it was simply the Capcom name (which might ultimately be the reason it was canceled, it just wasn't in the same league as Capcom's internally developed games).

Time Diver was also the only released game to turn up on a pirate cart years before a genuine proto was found.
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TheRedEye
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not convinced Time Diver Avenger is a "pirate" cart. The only other game that Nitra published was another Taito game with a different title, they might have been official.
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shawnphase



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PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

id have to agree with time diver eon man. it had a bunch of replay value too, i think ive went back and played it several times. sunman too. and of course, bio force ape. lets just consider any fully or close to fully built games that either came out eventually or we have heard of as fair game, i would have to say all of them are fairly interesting in their own ways.
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billscat-socks



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PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a boxed Timer Diver on Ruten auctions:

http://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?21311250382468

Sunfaded like hell, but it definitely has a more official look to it than most pirate boxes. I still have a hard time believing Taito struck up a deal for an exclusive Taiwan release, though. Maybe a former Taito employee did a backdoor deal with some pirating outfit and Nitra was born?
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BMF54123
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The game wasn't even developed by Taito in the first place, they were just the publisher. It's entirely possible that the original developer (A.I) sold the game to Nitra after Taito backed out.
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Skrybe
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sardius really needs to get that copy of Time Diver Avenger he bought ages ago dumped.
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KingMike



Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Then how about the other game they published, Insector X (with a different name)?
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etabeta



Joined: 21 May 2007
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KingMike wrote:
Then how about the other game they published, Insector X (with a different name)?


for the record, the different name was "Queen Bee V"
and I'd love to hear the real story behind Nitra too Smile
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mrdomino



Joined: 16 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

all I could ever dig up about Nitra is that they certainly existed at some point, their Chinese name is 九統半導體股份有限公司 & this page has some (presumably long outdated) contact details:
http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/MAIN/CompanySch.do?method=getCompanyDetail&isShowCRM=1&invnum=84951448
they also registered a trademark of their logo around 1996.
..and that's it. mysterious.
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DarkTetsuya



Joined: 05 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know its not NES but how about that Ninja Gaiden proto for the Megadrive?

As for strictly NES...only ones I have that aren't already listed are Bio Force Ape and the 'Virus' proto (that as I recall wasn't that from Gamemaster Howard Lincoln's archives of Nintendo stuff??) though I don't know how much they'd qualify as 'interesting'...
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Skrybe
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Howard does have a copy of Virus, but the versions that have been dumped didn't come from him.
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DarkTetsuya



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

oh my bad! I just seem to recall him having one.
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KingMike



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PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Three Virus protos are dumped from carts once bought from a collector who won at least two of them from ebay, and the fourth is a PC10 proto from a PC10 machine someone here bought on ebay (which also contained the unreleased PC10 version of Bases Loaded, though that doesn't get mentioned much because it's not as popular a game).
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Pemdawg



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

KingMike wrote:
and the fourth is a PC10 proto from a PC10 machine someone here bought on ebay (which also contained the unreleased PC10 version of Bases Loaded, though that doesn't get mentioned much because it's not as popular a game).


I helped get those PC10 protos out Smile Lucky that I had just gotten into PC10 at the time, and was scouring ebay for bits and parts when I found the cabinet with those in. A friend online bought the cabinet and dumped the ROMs. Very proud to have been involved in that.
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