I think I've found a Neverhood proto. Thoughts?

[mrmark0673]

Couldn't find much info on this CD I just purchased, I've never been much of a PC guy:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00942.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00943.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00944.jpg

The seller claimed:

"Super rare Golden Release on Microsoft Company CD-R. This was an original company copy prior to sale to public and was not for resale. It was given to me by a former Microsoft employee, who was one of the first few hundred in the door and was a multi-millionaire when she retired. She gamve this to me to try out before it ever went out."

Anyone have any more info on this sort of pressing? Again, I just don't know enough about PC stuff to determine the origin.

I normally shy away from this stuff, but The Neverhood is amazing and I just had to gamble on this one.

Thanks!

[Bojay1997]

Couldn't find much info on this CD I just purchased, I've never been much of a PC guy:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00942.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00943.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/Protos/DSC00944.jpg

The seller claimed:

"Super rare Golden Release on Microsoft Company CD-R. This was an original company copy prior to sale to public and was not for resale. It was given to me by a former Microsoft employee, who was one of the first few hundred in the door and was a multi-millionaire when she retired. She gamve this to me to try out before it ever went out."

Anyone have any more info on this sort of pressing? Again, I just don't know enough about PC stuff to determine the origin.

I normally shy away from this stuff, but The Neverhood is amazing and I just had to gamble on this one.

Thanks!


Well, at least the disc itself seems consistent with the fact that release copies of the box for the Neverhood have Microsoft authenticity hologram stickers on them. Having said that, Microsoft was only the distributor in the US, not the publisher which was Dreamworks. In any event, unless it has different content which a golden copy probably would not, I can't imagine it going for significant money. I have tons of similar discs for lots of 90s PC games and I'm not aware of much of a collector's market for them. Companies tended to press tons of these for everything from testing to press distribution to OEM partner sales pitches. This one might draw some interest because the game has a cult following and goes for good money mint and sealed, but again part of the attraction is the game box and disc artwork and this is just a CD-R with a printed sticker attached.

[mrmark0673]

I have tons of similar discs for lots of 90s PC games and I'm not aware of much of a collector's market for them. Companies tended to press tons of these for everything from testing to press distribution to OEM partner sales pitches.

Didn't know they were produced in such large numbers. Considering they were made so numerously, I can't seem to find a picture of a single example online of other similar burns. I'd love to see other pre-production discs released by Microsoft, any chance you could snap a picture of some of the many that you own?

Thanks for the info as well, nice to know that it does indeed appear to be a pre-production copy of The Neverhood.

[Kitsune Sniper]

"Golden"?

It's probably a final version sent out to testers. Hence the "golden" thing, games are called "gold" when they're about to go to print.

I suggest making an iso and comparing the files on it to the normal release. It shouldn't be that hard to compare the files. IF there's any differences between this disc and the retail version (as unlikely as that seems) it might be worth a lot to a collector. Unfortunately, eBay AND Microsoft will take this down as soon as they see the "Not for resale" thing...

[mrmark0673]

"Golden"?

It's probably a final version sent out to testers. Hence the "golden" thing, games are called "gold" when they're about to go to print.

Yeah, the whole Golden label threw me for a loop a bit. Trying to dig up pics of other Microsoft "golden" CD-r's has left me empty handed.

I'll see if I can dig up a retail copy on the cheap, I haven't owned a copy for close to a decade. Not too concerned about the EBay thing, I'm not looking to sell this one. Besides, the only prototype auctions that seem to ever get pulled are mine and Dream's, so I tend to deal privately when I sell :)

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yeah, the whole Golden label threw me for a loop a bit. Trying to dig up pics of other Microsoft "golden" CD-r's has left me empty handed.

I'll see if I can dig up a retail copy on the cheap, I haven't owned a copy for close to a decade. Not too concerned about the EBay thing, I'm not looking to sell this one. Besides, the only prototype auctions that seem to ever get pulled are mine and Dream's, so I tend to deal privately when I sell :)

Be evil... find an ISO rip. It isn't that difficult. :P

[skaar]

I'm assuming "Golden" just means it's the a copy of the gold master, therefore identical to the release.

[mrmark0673]

I'm assuming "Golden" just means it's the a copy of the gold master, therefore identical to the release.

Sounds reasonable, but again, I don't know SHIT about PC stuff.

Could this be "the" gold master? Are there usually multiple masters made? What media are they usually created on?

I'm just looking for as much raw info as possible on this thing so I can confidently say what it is.

[skaar]

If it was "the" gold master it would be dated. This is not.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'm assuming "Golden" just means it's the a copy of the gold master, therefore identical to the release.

Which is why I told him to double check. Yes, that's what "gold" means, I know it, you know it, but what if it has something different? Better safe than sorry. :P

[mrmark0673]

If it was "the" gold master it would be dated. This is not.

Any pics of similar dated gold presses that I could compare this to? I mean, you guys know that I'm not new to protos in general, and I've certainly found things that appear to "break the rules" of what a proto should/shouldn't do. Again, I'd love to see a similar Confidential Microsoft CD-r that is dated to see how this would differ from a master.

[Bojay1997]

Sounds reasonable, but again, I don't know SHIT about PC stuff.

Could this be "the" gold master? Are there usually multiple masters made? What media are they usually created on?

I'm just looking for as much raw info as possible on this thing so I can confidently say what it is.

Uh, no. Generally, replication facilities use glass masters (usually one per production line with several in reserve if the master becomes damaged) for commercial releases, so anything on a CD-R is typically for internal use, testing or distribution to press, company employees, etc...I went through my inventory and I have 7 Microsoft labeled pre-release CD-Rs for PC games and dozens more from other companies like Interplay, Activision, EA, etc.... A couple blue, one red, several black and one yellow on the Microsoft ones. They are currently in storage, but my recollection is that they looked identical to what you have pictured there with the difference being the printed sticker was in different places and contained version numbers or the name of who it was pressed for and the part that's blue was one of the other colors listed. Not sure if Microsoft had some kind of color scheme for what color the label on the CD-R would be or if it was just random. In any event, I just don't know many people that collect them. All of mine came from the days when I was writing PC game reviews in the 90s or buying lots of PC games from developers.

[mrmark0673]

Very, very cool info Bojay. Exactly the type of info I was looking for. If you ever dig them out of storage, I'd love to see a pic.

I'm just happy to know that it was a legit internal item as I love both protos and The Neverhood. Thanks for all the help guys!

[LaughingMAN.S9]

I'm assuming "Golden" just means it's the a copy of the gold master, therefore identical to the release.



pretty much what i came in to say

[Diatribal Deity]

Very, very cool info Bojay. Exactly the type of info I was looking for. If you ever dig them out of storage, I'd love to see a pic.

I'm just happy to know that it was a legit internal item as I love both protos and The Neverhood. Thanks for all the help guys!

I have some of these lying around somewhere:

From what I remember some of the titles I have are Starlancer, Pandora's Box, Age of Empires and maybe a few others. I will attempt to locate them over the next couple of days and post a pic for you.