Vectorman Contest (Cart Variations?) [Archive]

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NayusDante

04-20-2009, 11:15 PM

When I went to add my Vectorman cart to my RFGeneration profile, I noticed something rather interesting on the box scan they have. A contest!

http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-040/bb/U-040-S-06560-A.jpg

Apparently, you know if you won by COMPLETING THE GAME, at which point you are given a phone number to call, and instructions for mailing the game.

If these game carts are indeed unique, then there's a limited number of them possibly still out there. I'm curious if there's another way to check a cartridge than actually playing through, because I suck at Vectorman...

Vectorman0

04-21-2009, 12:02 AM

I was never able to find any information on anyone who won anything back when the contest ran. I also have not heard of anyone claiming to have a winning cart.

Because there are no known carts, there is no surefire way to check for a winning cart other than playing through. I guess one could use a game genie.

NayusDante

04-21-2009, 12:05 AM

I tried Game Genie, and played through the last level. I got a secret message alright...

"Now try the game without cheating!"

Bratwurst

04-21-2009, 12:22 AM

I expect the rom checksum would be different, it'd be a matter of getting a dumper with a cartridge port, because desoldering the chip from the board for each and every game you wanted to check would be tedious.

The bottom line is you should not care, that is Vectorman0's job and his alone.

A Black Falcon

04-21-2009, 12:33 AM

Is this the contest whose winner was recognized in Vectorman 2 (where Josh Krebs is recognized as the Vectorman Morph Contest Winner), or is that a different one?

djbeatmongrel

04-21-2009, 02:21 AM

This question has been asked before, once by me actually and nothing has turned up so far.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29907
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38578
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100783

MrSparkle

04-21-2009, 11:51 AM

If these game carts are indeed unique, then there's a limited number of them possibly still out there. I'm curious if there's another way to check a cartridge than actually playing through, because I suck at Vectorman...

my original cart was the contest variation i think it was traded in that one time i trade stuff in though :(. Ill have to check I think i still have the original box perhaps if nothing else. Sadly i never did beat vectorman without cheating.

TonyTheTiger

04-21-2009, 01:07 PM

ROFL

So the reason this mystery was never solved is because nobody can beat Vectorman without cheating?

ROFL

Or maybe it's fake. Like the Kano Morphs counter in Mortal Kombat II.

slapdash

04-22-2009, 09:55 PM

No, there was a winner, and I always meant to track him down, but never got around to doing it. Ugh. Now if I could only find my notes on who it was...

Gameguy

04-22-2009, 11:45 PM

My copy of Vectorman has the contest on the box as well, I also wondered if any winning carts turned up and if they were any more valuable than a regular cart. I haven't played through the game so I don't know if my copy is a winner.

No, there was a winner, and I always meant to track him down, but never got around to doing it. Ugh. Now if I could only find my notes on who it was...
Time to get out the ol' "Stalking Kit" and make some progress. ROFL

TonyTheTiger

04-22-2009, 11:52 PM

NayusDante

04-23-2009, 12:05 AM

Due to the nature of this variation, I'm going to conclude that it could never be worth a great deal, simply because it's such a pain to prove you have a winner.

If anybody does find a winner, I highly doubt that anyone would go to the trouble of making counterfeit "winner" carts. This is one of those things that just needs to be found, dumped, and posted on a wiki somewhere to document it.

Has anyone thought about contacting the original developers? Surely, someone knows the secret of identifying these carts, and it's been long enough that releasing that information shouldn't be a problem. I'm more concerned with the information and screenshots of the winning screen than cart value anyway.

TonyTheTiger

04-23-2009, 12:29 AM

I'm sure a legit winning cart will be of some value to people. But, yeah, you are absolutely right that it's a different breed of "rare." Even if I have a legit cart, let's say I walk up to somebody to discuss a sale. Their first question is "How do I know it's a winner?" My answer is "Here's a picture of me in front of the TV with the winning screen." His next question is "How do I know that isn't faked?" My only option at that point is to put the game in and prove it. And that isn't exactly easy to do. Hardcore collectors may be gung ho about the hobby but even they have lives and limited patience.

Besides, that calls into question resale value, too. Let's say I, in some way, know for a fact that person X is selling me a legit winning cart. I pay...oh...$500 for it. Now what if I suck ass at Vectorman? How the hell am I supposed to sell the thing to somebody else if I can't beat the game to prove it's a winner? Do I now have to request a video record of person X putting the cart in the Genesis, turning the cart on, playing through the game, showing off the win screen, and then zooming in on the cart's serial number just so I can carry that video around whenever a potential buyer might be interested?

Vectorman0

04-23-2009, 12:33 AM

The bottom line is you should not care, that is Vectorman0's job and his alone.

:D

No, there was a winner, and I always meant to track him down, but never got around to doing it. Ugh. Now if I could only find my notes on who it was...

Please do!

My copy of Vectorman has the contest on the box as well, I also wondered if any winning carts turned up and if they were any more valuable than a regular cart. I haven't played through the game so I don't know if my copy is a winner.

I believe all original Vectorman carts that weren't bundled with systems were sold in the same "Contest Branded" packaging. The only other variation is the Mega Hits re-release.

Due to the nature of this variation, I'm going to conclude that it could never be worth a great deal, simply because it's such a pain to prove you have a winner.

If anybody does find a winner, I highly doubt that anyone would go to the trouble of making counterfeit "winner" carts. This is one of those things that just needs to be found, dumped, and posted on a wiki somewhere to document it.

Has anyone thought about contacting the original developers? Surely, someone knows the secret of identifying these carts, and it's been long enough that releasing that information shouldn't be a problem. I'm more concerned with the information and screenshots of the winning screen than cart value anyway.

It would be worth a bit to me.

I would say the ease in reproducing or faking something doesn't have any impact on the value of it, at least in the video game collecting world. There are plenty of examples.

I highly doubt there is any secret to identifying one of these carts, other than dumping it or playing through it. You can rule out the mega-hits carts, but that is pretty much it. I would guess that the winning cartridges were slipped into normal cases with normal labels, using normal circuit boards with only a different ROM.

Considering the size and cost of the promotion, I'm going to assume Sega footed the bill for a small run of 100 "contest winning" masked ROM's, as opposed to using EPROMS. If that were true, anyone with basic technical knowledge would be able to verify a winning cart.

Gameguy

04-23-2009, 12:33 AM

Presumably they would be more valuable but determining which is actually a winning cart might be trouble. For example, imagine if the only difference really is just something in the software. I can envision a situation where now you have people rewriting the "winning" ROM onto a normal Vectorman cart. How would you tell the difference without procuring some master list of all the winning carts' serial numbers?
How can you edit a ROM? Wouldn't you have to replace the ROM chip with another one(or a rewritable one)?

Has anyone thought about contacting the original developers? Surely, someone knows the secret of identifying these carts, and it's been long enough that releasing that information shouldn't be a problem. I'm more concerned with the information and screenshots of the winning screen than cart value anyway.
I guess there would be a way to check the carts quickly, if you won you were supposed to mail in the cart and I doubt they would play through the entire game to verify it. Maybe there's a cheat code out there.

NayusDante

04-23-2009, 12:58 AM

I managed to get my cartrige open. The ROM chip says "MPR-18330-U."

Back of the PCB says "171-5978B-8/16."

Front half of the plastic says "253-6317 </line> 5-4."

Back half of the plastic says "253-6318 </line> 5-3."

If anybody manages to get theirs open, check your numbers against mine.

JSoup

04-23-2009, 04:30 AM

I've been curious about this for a number of years myself. I've beaten Vectorman a number of times, both with and without codes, although I've never bothered to sit through the entire ending. I've been told (when I was a kid.....) that copies that aren't contest winners would have a 'Sorry, thanks for playing' type message pop up.

PentiumMMX

04-23-2009, 04:49 PM

scaryice

02-10-2010, 05:29 AM

1/12/1996 (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/12-year-old+gamer+wins+$25,000+cash+grand+prize+in+Sega%27 s+videogame...-a017793447)

Keolamanaokalahuinui "Keola" Kaula of Albuquerque captured the $25,000 grand prize as part of Sega's "Play To Win" promotion in the hit Genesis game "VectorMan."

...

...discovered he had a winning cartridge when "You Win!" flashed on his television screen at the end of the game. A special hot-line phone number instructed him to call in and register as a winner.

Also found these articles:

http://www.koat.com/news/19122109/detail.html
http://www.indianasmostwanted.com/warrant/02.589137

:eek 2:

tubeway

02-10-2010, 05:42 AM

Hardcore collectors may be gung ho about the hobby but even they have lives and limited patience.

Lulz. Optimism.

Vectorman0

02-10-2010, 08:55 AM

1/12/1996 (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/12-year-old+gamer+wins+$25,000+cash+grand+prize+in+Sega%27 s+videogame...-a017793447)

Also found these articles:

http://www.koat.com/news/19122109/detail.html
http://www.indianasmostwanted.com/warrant/02.589137:eek 2:
Thank you very much for sharing.

I am confident that one of these will turn up some day. About 1/5000 of the original carts should be a winner. The odds aren't too bad. At least one would have surfaced by now if there is an easier way to check, I'm sure of it. And if this was an Atari 2600, NES or SNES game, people would be searching high and low. I don't think using a Game Genie (or the built in cheat codes) is a viable way to fast track to the end, since the game has some built in protection against that. So seriously everyone, play through your Vectormen.

Baloo

02-10-2010, 09:34 AM

Play through Vectorman? Shit Micky, I can't even get past the first stage...

Orion Pimpdaddy

02-10-2010, 09:41 AM

Sega must have some records of how many winning cartridges were redeemed (in addition to the one we know about). Maybe we should all try emailing them, or setting up a thread on their message boards.

So, is this game hard to beat?

Gameguy

02-10-2010, 06:06 PM

I haven't played it much, so far I haven't got past the first stage. I kind of lost interest in playing it which is why I haven't tried that hard.

JSoup

02-10-2010, 06:44 PM

So, is this game hard to beat?

No, not in the lease, I used to be able to speed run it in 20 minutes. It just takes some getting used to.

jb143

02-10-2010, 06:51 PM

It would probally be a somewhat trivial matter to build a device to check for winning carts. The problem though, is that you'd a winning one on hand to know what to look for. A checksum test might do it. Another option would be to compare it bit by bit to a known non-winning cart.

megasdkirby

02-10-2010, 06:52 PM

I haven't played it much, so far I haven't got past the first stage. I kind of lost interest in playing it which is why I haven't tried that hard.

Same here.

SOmething about the game grates on my nerves. Can't pinpoint what it is, though.

So now, every time I come across a cheap Vectorman, I will try to beat it to see what I come up with. :)

tubeway

02-10-2010, 08:50 PM

It was mentioned that the winning carts might have used a different type of ROM. Is it possible one could use an extremely sensitive digital scale to measure the weight difference of the cart? This is assuming that there is a weight difference between the ROM used for the regular carts and the winning carts.

NayusDante

02-10-2010, 09:13 PM

I don't think that weight would be a good way to measure. Solder weighs something, so that would throw off any measurements.

There has to be a way to access the winner screen with a Game Genie, but the lack of a sample makes it rather difficult...

Sosage

02-24-2010, 06:05 PM

...or narrow it down to original owners that now have adult criminal records. I sense a curse. :P

Shadow Kisuragi

02-24-2010, 07:52 PM

I've been planning on playing through my Vectorman cartridges. When I eventually do, would anyone be interested in sending me their cartridges so see if they have a winner? I'm more interested in documenting a winning cartridge than getting anything out of it.

thom_m

02-25-2010, 01:33 AM

Also found these articles:

http://www.koat.com/news/19122109/detail.html
http://www.indianasmostwanted.com/warrant/02.589137

:eek 2:

I know it's a little off-topic, but I can't help to notice what an interesting turn of events we see here. From lucky gamer who wanted to help his family kid to a probably dangerous inmate...what could have happened? And we all get to know this story because of a question involving a game cartridge.