Faselei U.S. version ... is it really rare?

[GameGuru]

I have been reading reviews on this game for the Neo Geo Pocket Color and both say it is rare (the english version). Here are a couple quotes from two sites:


Reviewed by Wade Monnig on 2004-01-30


Overall Rating: 9

In Typical Games Are Fun niche game fashion, I am proud to present a review of Faselei!, a Neo-Geo Pocket game that you will probably never have a chance to play due to the 2nd (or was it third?) demise of SNK America. I was fortunate enough to receive one of the twenty or so review copies of Faselei! that were sent out to U.S. videogaming press just days before SNK America closed its doors in 2000. Gamers in the U.K. were able to get Faselei! in very limited supplies but my review is of the U.S. version. While I’m sure it is near identical, any differences in gameplay can be attributed to that.

Source - Games Are Fun (http://www.gamesarefun.com/gamesdb/review.php?reviewid=350)

... and ...


Faselei! is one of the most sought after games available for the Neo Geo Pocket, mainly because SNK pulled out of the west before it came out in the US. A Japanese version had been available for a while, but was obviously not too playable for anybody that didn't have good knowledge of the Japanese language. However, an English version was made and released over here in the UK, but because of SNK's change of business plans, not many were actually made, making it a very highly sought after item. Anybody that has seen the auctions on Ebay that had it going for $90 and more will know what I mean.

Source - Kazuya's Neo Geo Reviews (http://www.neogeoforlife.com/ngpc/reviews/faselei!.shtml)


If it is so rare why does eplayplay (http://www.eplayplay.com/fanepocoga2.html) have the U.S. version for $20? I am confused. That doesn't sound like a rare price. And note the date the first review was written, just a couple weeks ago!

[maxlords]

Because those guys are full of shit and know nothing at all. Here's what the REAL deal is:

The U.S. cart is dirt common, barely worth the $20 loose thanks to SNK/Playmore. When the NGPC died, they stopped production in mid-swing and just warehoused all the bare carts. They hadn't had time to print up manuals for Faselei and a lot of hte other carts that were in production at the time, so thousands of bare carts with no existing boxes or docs got stored away in SNK's warehouses.

Meanwhile, Faselei had a limited English release in the UK and prices for it, UK Pocket Reversi, UK Evolution, and a few others start to massively jump. This is about the time I bought my UK Faselei complete for $80.

Fast forward a couple of years. All of the sudden the SNK US stuff that was stashed away gets sold off cheap by SNK to cover costs or something. The stuff FLOODS the market just when NGPC carts are starting to hit sky high prices and almost completely kills the collector's market except for a few of the rarest titles. Included in that huge lot of cart only NOS (New Old Stock) games are HUGE lots of the US cart of Faselei. Unfortunately, a US box and manual don't exist for the game, so you can ONLY get it cart only. Easy way to tell is that the US cart has an ESRB rating and the UK cart has a little rainbow thing. Either way, there are a TON of them out there now, and the US cart only is NOT rare, though a complete UK Faselei fetches around $100 US these days.

[Arcturius]

As far as I'm aware the rarest UK Release was "Pocket Reversi" (one went on eBay a few months ago for about £120 according to Edge's Retro Magazine) other than that I'm not too sure on the rarity of the other games (I only have 3 and 2 of those are Jap versions ^-^)

[link1110]

My theory on EBay: Sinceyou can search for any game at any time and find like 5 of them, nothing's "Rare" there, but some things ARE expensive. Dracula X is an example of this.

[udisi]

on a side note, has anyone played this game?....an SNK RPG?....is it any good... I've been thinking of picking it up.

[Ed Oscuro]

Because those guys are full of shit and know nothing at all. Here's what the REAL deal is:

Why is it that SNK/Neo Geo stuff seems to have this sort of stuff happen so often? The company didn't always do what was right by its customers, I say, and the system's near-twilight existence has attracted a lot of leeches. I'll be glad to see the property move on to the Atomiswave.

I didn't know what the deal was with Falselei, in fact, I only knew about the U.K release. In a way, this is good news...

[esquire]

My theory on EBay: Sinceyou can search for any game at any time and find like 5 of them, nothing's "Rare" there, but some things ARE expensive. Dracula X is an example of this.

LOL. LOL I wholeheartedly agree on that one. Seems that game is always up for sale on ebay, and usually there's like 3-5 of them going at once. Not sure why it's so "rare" other that people are stupid enough to pay that much for it.

[Vroomfunkel]

Well, some things are still rare even on Ebay. Mega Man: Wily Wars on the Megadrive, for example. Or Darxide :D

Oh, btw, there is a loose Pocket Reversi just in one of those clear-plastic cases in CEX here at the moment, for a mere £50 if anyone is interested ...

Vroomfunkel

[Parodius]

My theory on EBay: Sinceyou can search for any game at any time and find like 5 of them, nothing's "Rare" there, but some things ARE expensive. Dracula X is an example of this.

There has been two Pocket Reversi(NGPC - UK) sold on ebay for the past 30 days. One for $300 and the other for $360.

I've been watching this one for a while and this is a rare game. I t does pop up occassionally on ebay though.

[Mayhem]

Now that the market is flooded with the loose stuff, only the complete items are holding their value somewhat. Especially due to the desirability of the clam shell cases. So if you want the games, they are quite easy to find now in general. If you want them complete... you still gotta pay the premium.

Evolution is rarer than Faselei in my opinion, the former having a 2000 run as opposed to a 5000 run for the latter. As for Pocket Reversi, they would have made at least a 1000 of them, just depends how many were sold at the time. Any unsold would have been returned and reprocessed into other titles. For instance, Sonic is one of the most common out there, it had more than 100k copies made.

So as for the number of UK Pocket Reversi out there... who knows. Probably around 100 I think at least. Still, the price is all governed by supply and demand, and if hardly anyone wants to sell, then prices will still go high regardless of the number actually owned because lots more people still want to get it!

[Blackjax]

I bought one off of ebay.

Screw rarity, the game is fun LOL

[GameGuru]

Oh ok, thanks for the info. I just won a brand new one off ebay for $15 (sans box and manual of course). Now I just need to get a NGPC ha ha. Yep, I joined the club of having a game for a system you don't own.

[Garry Silljo]

So what's everyone's opinion on US Faselei. Since it wasnt officially released, is it needed for a complete collection? I have all the officially released US games and havent even looked for Faselei until I recently noticed this whole thing going on. Are there any other unreleased US versions of anything floating around?

[Mayhem]

Last Blade springs to mind.

[SoulBlazer]

SO what you're saying is that the American game itself in cart form is common, but finding a complete one with box and manual is next to impossible? 8-)

[Mayhem]

Yes, because they were never made, only the carts made it through the production line process.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, I was actually thinking about the review copies. Are'nt those complete? There HAS to be a US box and manual for the game floating around somewhere.....

[goatdan]

I've got a copy of the game, and while it is really quite good for what it is, it isn't exactly my style of game.

It's a turn-based mech game, more or less. I paid $12.00 for my copy. It isn't "rare" anymore, but at one time people were paying $200+ for copies of it because the warehoused copies were not known to exist.

It definitely is part of a complete NGPC collection because it was released -- by SNK Playmore. Just because it doesn't have a box / manual doesn't mean that it doesn't count.

For under $20.00, I would say it is definitely worth it.

[geelw]

Well, I was actually thinking about the review copies. Are'nt those complete? There HAS to be a US box and manual for the game floating around somewhere.....

i doubt it. generally, non-retail reviewables will come with no manual, a photocopy of a final or in progress manual, or some sort of hint sheet. the only time you'll see a boxed/complete reviewable is after a game goes into production and is about to be (or already has been) shipped. there's probably a good chance that there's box art and a package/manual design out there fo the u.s. version, but it costs less for playmore/snk to just get rid of the carts as is...

and i CAN'T believe i passed up on not one, but TWO uk pocket reversis about 2 1/2 years ago for $24 each (nooooooooooooooooo!).. O_O :eek 2: