Space Fantasy Zone

[GaijinPunch]

http://page3.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/c42208721

This is apparantly an original... at least an original prototype. Still factory-sealed. He's got a close-up of the sealing, which is hard to fake, as it's not standard shrink-wrap.

Just thought you guys might like a look at it.

[deadtech]

Well, I may be mistaken, but here are a few problems I have with that:

1. As far as i know the game never had an official cover made for it. IIRC that image on the cover was concept art done for the game, and printed in a Japanese PC Engine gaming magazine.

2. I am not a prototype expert, but I would be very surprised if most protos were ever shrinkwrapped with one of those pull tabs. Demo discs, promo discs yeah sure. But I doubt an unreleased proto would be packaged as if it were a full store-ready game.

3. Forgot this one, but also: Where is the "Super Rom^2" logo on the cover? ;)

So, I may be completely wrong, but I have suspicions about that particular auction. He is most likely selling a CDR he made at his house from the game image that has circulated on the 'net. And (like other folks I have heard of) made the cover with a copy (or scan) of the old magazine and a little Photoshoppery. :) Click the "Images" link at the top of this page to see another (more accurate but still fake AFAIK) cover for SFZ.:

http://pcecp.com/index.php?mode=catalog&action=info&gameid=691

-deadtech

[Lost Monkey]

I have no doubt that the seller has either been duped or is trying to dupe someone. His description even alludes to the fact that you wouldn't unwrap a rarity like this... there could be a jelly doughnut inside...

No company would ever produce shrinkwrapped copies of unfinished games...

Well... except for maybe Tramiel's Atari. X_x ;)

[GaijinPunch]

Well, he says in the auction, "I bought this here not too long ago, but just couldn't open it, so I'm reposting it." The original auction went for over 300,000 yen.

Now whether this is one of them or not, I do not know, but there are a handful of "real pressed" even though maybe not finished, SFZ's out there. I don't know an exact number, but a store in Osaka had one at one point, and sold it for a fortune. The beauty of this is, it's sealed, so you'd never know unless you opened it.

Also - it's not really concept art if it was actually used in an advertisement, is it? Go to my site (http://www.classicgaming.com/japangaming) and go to the bonus section (from the front page - the link on the bottom frame doesn't work at the moment). Go to the "print ads" section, and you'll see two Space Fantasy Zone print ads. Same image, but w/ text overlapping. I'm not sure where the non-text version came from.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Sorry for the stupid question, but...for what system is that game???

[ManekiNeko]

Turbografx-16/PC Engine.

JR

[SoulBlazer]

Maybe there's a way to X-Ray it to see if you can get a clue as to the inside contents. :D

Kinda makes me glad I'm a gamer and not a collector...... :-D