Raisins Prototype is for sale.

[brandver3]

Priorities changed, I need some money. The original is up for sale. ALready have a few offers on the table. PM me with offers, highest offers gets it.

Thanks

[liquidmetal]

wow. your gonna be a few thousnad dollars richer :)

[Buyatari]

wow. your gonna be a few thousnad dollars richer

I don't see it. I guess this is where we put the "dumping doesn't reduce the value" to the test. At this point I'd pay $250.00 or so but I think it will end up in the $300.00-$500.00 range.

Had it not been dumped I'd say I've have paid atleast 1k and possibly 2k. I know there were others willing to pay that much or more for the game undumped..

Adam

[nesworld]

I'm quite sure it'll go a lot higher, maybe not 1K, but $800-900. Raisins is a lot more hyped than what you seem to think it is...

dumping a proto doesnt devalue it, there's something about owning the actual proto. I'd love to own it, and even pay $800 if I had that kind of money right now.

Well okay, maybe I wouldn't pay that much considering no NES proto has ever sold for that kind of money, and I'm not crazy enough to pay that much, which is why I'll never own an over-hyped NWC cartridge either ;)

[TheRedEye]

Here, these might help:

http://pictures.theredeye.net/scans/raisins-front-thumb.jpg (http://pictures.theredeye.net/scans/raisins-front.jpg)

http://pictures.theredeye.net/scans/raisins-board-thumb.jpg (http://pictures.theredeye.net/scans/raisins-board.jpg)

They're clickable thumbnails.

[bobdrywalls]

i wish i had some cash

[adaml]

wow. your gonna be a few thousnad dollars richer

I don't see it. I guess this is where we put the "dumping doesn't reduce the value" to the test. At this point I'd pay $250.00 or so but I think it will end up in the $300.00-$500.00 range.

Had it not been dumped I'd say I've have paid atleast 1k and possibly 2k. I know there were others willing to pay that much or more for the game undumped..

Adam

Dumped or not, this game will fetch some good money. It's a Capcom proto of an unreleased game. I don't have any cash at the present time, but I would dig up AT LEAST $500 to get this thing in my grubby little paws. Just to own the proto that is the holy grail of a lot of NES collecters would make me shell out the bucks for it. I'd thumb out some good money to buy it, then dump it for posterity.

[portnoyd]

I got that, adaml. ;)

dave

[Buyatari]

Well it WAS the holy grail of Nintendo prototypes before it was dumped and passed around.

I might pay a couple hundred for it now as well but for the undumped no-one-has-it only-copy-known-on-earth prototype it once was..I'd have paid at least 1k (and so would a couple other guys I know) and if two like-minded guys went head to head it could have easily fetched 2k.

Adam

[adaml]

Well it WAS the holy grail of Nintendo prototypes before it was dumped and passed around.

I might pay a couple hundred for it now as well but for the undumped no-one-has-it only-copy-known-on-earth prototype it once was..I'd have paid at least 1k (and so would a couple other guys I know) and if two like-minded guys went head to head it could have easily fetched 2k.

Adam

You simply cannot prove this. It's a purely opinion-based statement from a collector. If I were the seller I would throw that pig on eBay and let the fur fly.

[udisi]

except with ebay's new policy you can't sell protos on ebay :D

[Buyatari]

I can't prove that it would have sold for 2k ,but I can prove that it would have sold for AT LEAST 1k. Thats the least I would have paid. Depending on the situation I might have paid much more.

I wish him the best of luck selling his proto I hope he gets as much as possible.

Adam

[ubersaurus]

I can't prove that it would have sold for 2k ,but I can prove that it would have sold for AT LEAST 1k. Thats the least I would have paid. Depending on the situation I might have paid much more.

I wish him the best of luck selling his proto I hope he gets as much as possible.

Adam

If he gets above a grand you'll be eating your words of "undumped protos sell for less" ;p

[Buyatari]

If it gets over 1k I will be VERY suprized but still that one sale wouldn't prove its worth 1k. Unless the second high bidder was very close to that 1k and then you might argue it was worth 1k.

Still we wouldn't know how much it would have sold for had it not been released.

This actually works out quite well for me from an argumentitve point of view. Under the right conditions I can prove that I am right on this one at least in this case. But no matter what happens I can't be proven wrong because we wouldn't know the maximum ammount it would sell for.

Now when he first found this prototype he was emailed with all kinds of offers. I'd like to hear what those offers were now and see if anyone of them is still willing to sepnd that much.

Adam

[liquidmetal]

brand how much have u been offered?

[nesman85]

on aim, the night that he had posted the original thread, he said he had been offered "a few thousand" for it, but at the time he had no desire to sell it. i could only see this going over 1k if it was only dumped for backup only and not planned for release, but i'm guessing this isn't the case.

[adaml]

Does anyone here actually eat raisins? Maybe in cereal or cookies, but just straight raisins??

[Sothy]

i dont think a game is gonna go for less because people can play it.

Thats like a painting being wirth less because people have seen it.

Game collectors are similar to art collectors in some ways and i think the fact that people have been allowed to experience the game and know about it its that much more likely to have people interested in the original.

Paying those sums of money for a game you have no interest in playing or letting others play is kinda of the antithesis of what the hobby is about, it is the difference between a gamer and just some weird guy that payed out the nose for a piece of plastic to gain the envy of others.

Personally I wouldnt spend 1000$ on a game regardless if its a prototype or dumped or whatever.

But you crazy collectors have fun doin yer own thing.

[nesworld]

You can't compare this to anything else really. The ego of mankind, wether you like it or not, makes it more valuable if you're the only one in the world to be able to play a game, some people are prepared to pay more if they can feed their ego with such a game.

Fortunately not all people has an ego that hungry and would pay the same load of money anyway....

Does an unreleased proto devalue if it's been played by the masses? Well yeah and no, yeah because you're now not the only one able to play it, no because the one prototype still exist even when it's dumped, and to be honest, how many fake NES protos have you seen floating around?, if you don't count Earthbound which wasn't a real proto anyway...

[brandver3]

Honestly the best offer i got was 600, but he was willing to pay more if the bid was higher.

I dunno if he paid me yet, if you wanna take a shot at it go for it.

[brandver3]

Nevermind, sold and sold.

[Nespit]

someone wanna shout: I bought it??

i am curious..

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Does anyone here actually eat raisins? Maybe in cereal or cookies, but just straight raisins??

Yep. But they taste better in oatmeal cookies.

[Ballz]

except with ebay's new policy you can't sell protos on ebay :D

I believe this would have a bigger factor in the game not going for such a high price than it would if dumped. If it could've gone on eBay, it would have been given greater exposure, and more opportunities for people to bid on it.

[Buyatari]

There are only a handfull of people willing to spend $500 or more on an NES prototype and believe me they all knew about it.

Adam

[Li Wang]

I think not being able to put it on ebay will definitely take away some exposure to potential buyers. For all we know some California Raisins collector might have payed thousands.

[Buyatari]

Well you can list a prototype on ebay as long as you don't call it prototype.

Simply

NES California Raisins RARE Nintendo game

would have passed.

Either that or list it on Yahoo.

Still I think you will find that with these "cross over" collectables the guys willing to pay the most are video game collectors.

When Atari Star Wars prototypes are listed they always end up in Atari collectors hands. I don't think a single Star Wars collector owns a prototype cart or prototype box of any of the prototype Atari Star Wars games.

I guess we shall see what a California Raisins gets on ebay. As soon as certain people get ahold of it there will be copies sold on eBay for sure.

Adam

[Nespit]

ehm.. true. but what about a Nintendo collector with a Complete vintage starwars collection in his pocket who so now and then stumbles upon starwars game prototypes for different systems Like me?

I know i am prolly the only one in the world but i just wanna brag..:-)

but who bought it then? Anyone we know?

[Buyatari]

Well I bought one of the prototype boxes for Atari 2600 one for INtv

There are several prototype items which have gome up for sale. Every one I've even seen sell on ebay went to Atari or Intv collectors.

I guess what I should say is "STAR WARS only" collectors. If you collect both star wars and video games then yes you wouldn't count.

We were talking about California Raisins. Now there is a chance no matter how slim that a Califorin Raisins collector wouldn't know about this cart and would want it so bad they would pay more than a video game collector BUT I doubt it.

They don't even know what a prototype is. To them it looks like a scam like a homemade cart. They would pay more for a homemade copy with a cheap label slapped on it. Lets see how long it takes for homemade copies to turn up on eBay.

Adam

[Bratwurst]

Compared to Star Wars the California Raisens franchise has to have a pretty small following to boot.

[TheRedEye]

I dont predict many, if any, Raisins carts on eBay.

Anyway. If you're interested in Raisins, check out Lost Levels (http://www.lostlevels.org).

[Nespit]

a raisins collector will never pay soo much. It also depends on the amount of money ur willing to spend on ur collection. I am used to pay large sums of money for new items, cause my Starwars collection and current Nintendo collection experience.. Buying a friggin starwars figure mint on card for 2000 USD and buying prototypes and stuff like that each month. it is a lot of money but when ur used to it, u don't give a rats ass for a few hundred more or less. But a raisins collector.... He usually spends 5-10 dollars on new items. he will never spend soo much on such an item. for sure.

Same with Collecting stamps.. The most expensive stamp here in the netherlands is around 500euro. If i would start collecting stamps, i would complete the collection in no time. Just cause i am used to spending lots of money on items i want bad!

or mebbe i am wrong and the Raisins collecting stuff is on a high priced level as well..:-)

[Li Wang]

I'm not saying releasing games dosen't devalue them in the eyes of hoarders. But it only takes 2 people who see something on ebay and say "I want that!" to raise the price. I guess what I'm saying isn't really for this specific case, but for anything. When you have something like ebay, there's so much more exposure to the general public you can't really guess what it would have gone for. There are so many potential scenarios it would be pointless to even try to explain.

[Buyatari]

Yes yes

There is always the could bes and the whats ifs and you can't know for 100% but people don't live that way.

You don't stay locked in the house worried that a car might jump the curb and run you down or worried that you might be struck by lightning should the first drop of rain hit your shoulder.

You live you life based on probabilites. No we don't know for certain but its 99.9% probable that a prototype will sell for more money if its not dumped. Its also 99.9% probable that if California Raisins was sold on ebay a Video Game guy would have bought it.

I'd also venture to say its more than likely that if the ROM is available someone will try to find to make money with it. Earthbound as an example, if California Raisins is released to everyone SOMEONE will put it up for sale. Why wouldn't they try if they tried with Earthbound?

Are you going to "watermark" the code so DO NOT SELL shows up on the title screen? Where money is involved someone will still find a way.

Adam

[Sardius]

If California Raisins is released to everyone SOMEONE will put it up for sale. Why wouldn't they try if they tried with Earthbound?
Because Earthbound is part of a long-running game series that has an immense cult following around the world. California Raisins is a game about a obscure bit of 90's pop culture that everyone's forgotten about by now.

The only fake carts that ever seem to show up on ebay with any regularity are Earthbound and the Final Fantasies. All are translated versions of extremely popular games that are otherwise unavailable in English on their original format. RPG nuts may be stupid enough to buy fake carts, but I seriously doubt there's any money to be made in pirating mediocre platformers.


Are you going to "watermark" the code so DO NOT SELL shows up on the title screen? Where money is involved someone will still find a way.
Nah, we're going to hack the rom to make it so some guy's big bulbous head is covering the screen at all times. Disgust is the best deterrent, see.

[Buyatari]

Nah, we're going to hack the rom to make it so some guy's big bulbous head is covering the screen at all times. Disgust is the best deterrent, see.

Hey hey

Now THAT would do it.

Adam

[Ballz]

The only fake carts that ever seem to show up on ebay with any regularity are Earthbound and the Final Fantasies. All are translated versions of extremely popular games that are otherwise unavailable in English on their original format. RPG nuts may be stupid enough to buy fake carts, but I seriously doubt there's any money to be made in pirating mediocre platformers.

This argument seems to come up every few months. I remember most recently there were several freakouts over Escape from Atlantis meeting such a fate after Martin released it.

Well, I haven't seen a trace of it anywhere, eBay or elsewhere. Fortunately, it costs a decent amount of money to burn NES carts (I dunno what Atari is like for comparison), so I'm holding out the hope that NES cart piracy is never realized. I know there are a few goobers out there who are doing it, but I still believe that most of these games will be overlooked.

If California Raisins pops up on eBay, it'll be part of some rom CD or something.

[databoy]

you are
a) very naive or
b) not willing to face reality

tell me what exactly is expensive in assembling nes pirate carts.
all you need is an old nes cart ($5) some 32k-512k eprom(s) (around $3-$5 each)
and an eprom burner,(heres one for $35 www.batronix.com)
get over it already ;)
sure,every serious collector can distinguish a retail pcb from a proto pcb,but
i guess therell always be newbies who fall for these fakes -_-
but thats another question ;)

[TRM]

One also needs some soldering skill and time. Everyone I know which make homemade nes carts tell me that it is a very slow, time consuming, tedious process.

[Ballz]

you are
a) very naive or
b) not willing to face reality

tell me what exactly is expensive in assembling nes pirate carts.
all you need is an old nes cart ($5) some 32k-512k eprom(s) (around $3-$5 each)
and an eprom burner,(heres one for $35 www.batronix.com)
get over it already ;)
sure,every serious collector can distinguish a retail pcb from a proto pcb,but
i guess therell always be newbies who fall for these fakes -_-
but thats another question ;)

You can't just grab any $2 NES cart and burn any game to it. Different games require different boards. Of course, if you can find an easy, cost-effective way of burning NES Earthbound onto a Mario/Duck Hunt combo cart, more power to ya.

I don't like to be patronized.

[databoy]

sure you need a cart that has the same mapper and the same sram size.
still,theres no difference to me in paying $2 or $10 for a cart.
you know im not into nes but rather snes.
watch this page:
http://snesdev.romhack.de
it explains how to build snes pirate cart step-by-step.
you might argue that this is for retail games and not for protos but basically its the same,really.
my records so far are 50 minutes for a starfox 2 cart and 130 minutes for a tales of phantasia cart :D

[databoy]

oh and i didnt mean to patronize you,no hard feelings ;)

[brandver3]

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents about the price issue.

I know I could have had alot more money if I had sold it undumped. I knew that when I got it and when I dumped it. But honestly, there are a lot more things then money. Yeah, money is nice, but I'm a gamer first. Once I saw how many people wanted to play it, what kind of ass hole would I be if I saw to it that no one ever got to play it.

I don't regret my desision at all. The thanks I have gotten from people about being a decent human being and letting everyone get a chance to play it, the thank you's more then make up for the monitary loss.

If you want to play it, head over to www.Lostlevels.org . The rom is there for everyone.

[Nespit]

but still.. WHO BOUGHT IT??

[TRM]

I think we know ;)

[TheRedEye]

We do?

I mean, *I* do, but do "we?"

[adaml]

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents about the price issue.

I know I could have had alot more money if I had sold it undumped. I knew that when I got it and when I dumped it. But honestly, there are a lot more things then money. Yeah, money is nice, but I'm a gamer first. Once I saw how many people wanted to play it, what kind of ass hole would I be if I saw to it that no one ever got to play it.

I don't regret my desision at all. The thanks I have gotten from people about being a decent human being and letting everyone get a chance to play it, the thank you's more then make up for the monitary loss.

If you want to play it, head over to www.Lostlevels.org . The rom is there for everyone.

I never did directly thank you Brandon, so...THANK YOU!! You probably still don't know the magnitude of your great deed where it concerns the die hard NES player, but after seeing our appreciation and the inaugural article of Lost Levels, you probably know well enough by now.

If I ever write a game guide for Raisins, I will dedicate it to you :)

-AdamL

[TRM]

We do?

I mean, *I* do, but do "we?"

Yep, we do. Well I know who the buyer is too, though I don't know if everyone here knows.

[nesworld]

Whats with all the secrecy? Wilson bought it?

[Skrybe]

I never did directly thank you Brandon, so...THANK YOU!!

Ditto from me. That was so awesome of you, not to mention selfless. When I first heard that you went and got the game dumped, no strings attached, well, I was just giddy. I'd been waiting 12 years to play this game, it's really the reason I've put so much effort into digging up info on unreleased stuff. I can't thank you enough for sharing it with all of us.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

I also must thank you for getting California Raisins and willingly share it with the public. For a very long time I wondered if I would ever get to play this, and thanks to you I can, as well as countless other Nes fans.

[liquidmetal]

whats with the cant sell protos on ebay anymore crapola? :roll: