California Raisins on NES. I have and want to know more.

[brandver3]

I was fourtunate enough to get this from some lady who was getting rid of her son's old games. She had 4 of them. Mega man 2, Platoon, one i can't remember, and a cart that has a return to Capcom logo and a label that said "rasians".

Since I am collecting Capcom i went for the one since i thought it was a game i had yet to know about. I realized a few minutes later what it was and told her (after I got the "rasians" cart (curse me for not getting the other 3!!!!)). I told her they were valueless though since the others had come out.

So i got it home and palyed it and figured out what it was after some research on the net.

So now what do i do. I want to share it, but i kind of like having the only copy. I was thinking abouyt doing one of those release at the Classic gaming Expo but i don't know what the deal is for unreleased prototypes and copyrights and what have you.

As for the game it is a really average side scroller. Not bad, but not great. The music is fantastic though.

[nesman85]

post a pic of it.

[NESCollector75]

Wow, defently post some picts, If this thing is real then it will HAVE to removed out of Rumor Mill, into the proto section, please dump it so all can play!

[brandver3]

"Dump" it?

Pics will have to wait, my hard drive is fragat the moment. When i got my computer fixed i couldn't aford a new hard drive, so the ghosted windows me on so i could use it till i got a new one. Certain programs i can't install cause they use bad patches of my hard drive. my kodak DC215 picture down loading software is one of them (as is most pc games).

And how do i post pics, i don't have a web site to post them on and link to.

[nesman85]

he sent me a few pics, none of the circuit board since he doesn't have the right bit though. i posted 1 of the pics on my freeserver, but i didn't have enough space to post them all.

videogamestuff.freeservers.com

the 2nd pic is from when i had the SW handheld up there, this guy didn;t send it to me. he sent me some screens too and it looks authentic to me, this damn freeserver only let me post 1 because of file size so i posted the cart pic.

[eastern conference]

DO NOT SELL IT!!! DO NOT LET ANYONE DUMP IT!!! THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE LOOKING FOR THIS AND YOU HAVE THE ONLY ONE TO DATE!!! DO NOT LET PEOPLE TRY TO COAX YOU!!!! KEEP THIS!!! HELLA FIND BY THE WAY!!!

[Raccoon Lad]

Sure, the game has finally been found, and we might even get to play it via emulation, but will we ever know why Capcom decided not to release it?

[Mr. NEStalgia]

Congrats man! Extremely awesome find! I'm determined to find my first proto in the wild (mostly because im cheap), but thanks to you I have a newfound inspiration.

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[nesman85]

i am guessing they didn't release it because it got terrible reviews in all the game magazines. at least the ones i've read.

[Mr. NEStalgia]

I was fourtunate enough to get this from some lady who was getting rid of her son's old games. She had 4 of them. Mega man 2, Platoon, one i can't remember, and a cart that has a return to Capcom logo and a label that said "rasians".

Since I am collecting Capcom i went for the one since i thought it was a game i had yet to know about. I realized a few minutes later what it was and told her (after I got the "rasians" cart (curse me for not getting the other 3!!!!)). I told her they were valueless though since the others had come out.


When you say "they were valueless since the others had come out," are you infering that the others were protos also, but you just new they were released? Sorry, just a little confused (it's been a long day) please clear this up for me.

Thanks,
-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[nesman85]

he told me that the others were protos too.

[brandver3]

I was later informed that the woman was going to try to get "rasians" back and sell it if I came back it the store. I think me not being greedy was the better route.

[udisi]

well if you do end up wanting to sell it, let me know :D

[Buyatari]

Thats the question we all want to know.

If you plan to sell it let us know. We have cash waiting for ya.

Adam

[portnoyd]

He won't sell. Whatever offer you have planned won't be enough regardless.

dave

[Buyatari]

How do you know he won't sell?

Well if he doesn't dump it and he wants to sell I'll make him a nice offer.

Adam

[neschampion]

If I found that game I couldn't sell it fast enough, and thats probably the most truthful statement I have ever made.

[jafohoaf]

http://www.nesplayer.com/features/californiaraisins/proto.htm

[Ballz]

Well, if that game becomes a rom.. anyone *could* make it into a homemade cart. And sell for profit.

Thats why I want to hold on to it, I don't want that to happen.


This is some faulty logic here. While technically, yes, it would be *possible* that someone could make copies of the game and sell it for profit, so far the trend in prototype rom dumps have been the exact opposite. Otherwise we'd be seeing carts of "Drac's Night Out" or "Robocop Vs. Terminator" on eBay all the time.

If it's depreciation of value you're worried about, again, it's a fear that is overly dramatized. I remember shortly after Earthbound NES was dumped, the actual cartridge exchanged hands several times, and every time it was for a large sum of money. And besides, if you have no intention of selling in the first place, monetary value should mean nothing. :)

I strongly do urge you to consider getting the game dumped, as sooner or later, it will bit rot, and *poof* no more California Raisins. If you absolutely can't stand the idea of anyone being able to download and play this game, then fine, don't distribute the rom image. I personally think that's a little harsh, but hey, it's your cart. I'm just offering some sound advice. ^_^v

[CrazyImpmon]

There may be a way to deter eBay profiteers. Quietly hide a text or graphic somewhere oin the game stating the game was dumped for emulation and is not intended for resale at all.

[AlanD]

I have dumped quite a few prototypes and other rare games over the years for the NES (Drac's Night Out, some Panesians, etc) In my opinion the least that should be done with the cart is that it be dumped. I really don't care whether it is released or not but if there are eproms inside, which I would say is an almost certainty, eventually they will die and you will be left with a corrupt cart worth very little.

As for making a rom release, I wouldn't worry overly much about it showing up on ebay. There are very few that have the technical knowledge to make the carts and most of us wouldn't bother since it is very time-consuming and fairly expensive. Also even if we did make one, the majority of us would have the morality to say it was a copy and not try to get prototype prices for a cheap copy which wouldn't devalue your original at all.

The technical knowledge and time is also why I don't think a CGE (or other convention) release is a reasonable option. To make even 20 of those carts would require 20 donor carts, not sure which cart - possibly a fairly rare one, aroudn $15-20 worth of eproms per cart, and then the 2-3 hours per cart of desoldering, soldering, cleaning cases, etc not to mention making a manual, box, label. The break even point against materials would probably be $100 a unit which is why I quit making carts for anyone. Not worth the effort.

Another thing to consider if you want to make a real cart release. Any cart that gets into other hands WILL be dumped. Not by me necessarily (highly unlikely - I rarely do NES work any more except for protos since people know I don't release them without permission) but it will happen. Maybe in a month, maybe 5 years but eventually it will. I actually think a rom release won't hurt anything as far as making a profit for yourself or devaluing what you have. You will still have the only known original copy of the game. No matter what you do, a hardcore collector will give beaucoup dollars just to say they own it regardless of there being a rom release of it.
AlanD

[sniperCCJVQ]

Has a NES collector, i have one thing to say

WOW ! :o

Congratulation man !

Joe now can remove it from the rumour mill.

[brandver3]

Well I stand by my word, no amount of money will make me part with it. If it wasn't a Capcom game, maybe, but it is and i collect Capcom, so it stays.

As for dumping i am thinking about it. I am really more worried about someone making a profit then my copy loseing value (as it was stated prior, i'm not going to sell it so I'm not to worried about it cutting into my profits) But i am inyerested in preservation.
Despite the cryptic warning i got about doing it he told me that bit rot happens in 20 to 30 years, and the games already at 10, so i don't want to take the chance (actually 13 years ). Maybe i'll have a rom made and then hand then out at the CGE.

But it would have to go with me. So the only way i could dump it is with someone in the south east. Around FLorida. So if you know anyone direct them to me.

[Kid Fenris]

Sure, the game has finally been found, and we might even get to play it via emulation, but will we ever know why Capcom decided not to release it?

Maybe they had to choose between the California Raisins and Yo! Noid.

[brandver3]

Yo! Noid was such a good game.

California Rasians is so generic. I can't say it was a big loss that it didn't come out.

[Oobgarm]

Wow, brandver3, that's simply unreal. Congrats on an awesome find.

I also find it puzzling that the clerks at the game store didn't pick up on the "Return to Capcom" sticker. If someone would have brought one of those into my store, I definitely would have taken it in on trade, and I would have peed everywhere with excitement! LOL

[AlanD]

Unfortunately due to the current world situation I'll probably be going to sea soon for 6 months (in US Navy) If it were not for that fact or my cruise gets delayed I would be glad to dump the cart for you. Would be a little drive but if I get some sleep in the middle of the evolution it can be done.
Alan

[brandver3]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11030&item=3001753702

this is why i don't want to dump it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1950971503&category=11030

[udisi]

He's right, if he did dump it, this this would happen...I think bit rot thing is over done....sure they COULD erase or become messed up, but I believe the risk of that is quite slim....if you keep eproms out of the sun and don't expose them to high grade flouresnt lights, I doubt anything is gonna happen. Even in direct sun light it takes about 3-4 weeks to erase an eprom. Plus I don't see atari prototypes dying, and some of them were made 25 years ago.

[ubersaurus]

Actually, bit rot would set in regardless if you kept it out of sunlight, since some UV radiation is going to get in there irregardless of where you put it...it'll just last longer keeping it out of the sun. But you don't know how much it already has been exposed to.

[portnoyd]

Personally, I wouldn't think eBay carts would happen. If it didn't happen for 95% of the unreleased games out there, why would it happen to this one? EB is a very cult game (look at the starmen.net ppl...), that's why people do it, because they know these people will pay...

dave

[AlanD]

I agree with you that the 2 auctions are fairly valid reasons for not releasing the rom. I don't think there would be a huge market for it especially if the rom is released to the public so copies would be fairly far between. Not saying it wouldn't happen but as portnoyd EB is a game that has a very devoted following so people are willing to pay a fair amount for a 'real' cart of it. Personally I wouldn't make them if there was a chance of them closing for less than $100 since I value my time as a tech a little more than that.

I, however, don't agree with you that they are a valid reason for not dumping the game. Bit rot is very real and keeping them out of sun, etc will only hold off the inevitable not prevent it. I have dumped 3 or 4 NES protos that bitrot has set in on already. Not trying to come across as a scare tactic. I'm just stating my experiences on the matter. I'm happy that you found the cart before it set in and it can be archived for posterity. Please feel free to ask DP, Mike Etler, CX2K and others on this board and they can confirm that I have done this type of work for quite some time and am not just blowing smoke. :)
Alan

[eastern conference]

You people are all blowing smoke out your asses. I have been collecting for over 20 years and never lost a game to bit rot. You are trying to get this guy scared by believing he will lose a prototype worth thousands to bit rot and have him dump it so you can get your hands on the ROM. Do you people remember the Y2K scare? It is the same thing. If you take care of your games, then you have nothing to worry about. Leave the lucky find alone and stop feeding him lines of BS. All you want is for the game to be dumped so you can get your hands on it and charge people for carts.

[ubersaurus]

You people are all blowing smoke out your asses. I have been collecting for over 20 years and never lost a game to bit rot. You are trying to get this guy scared by believing he will lose a prototype worth thousands to bit rot and have him dump it so you can get your hands on the ROM.


If I recall, didn't we lose the Sega 32x version of Ecco the Dolphin to bit rot?

[AlanD]

AFAIK there is no 32X version of Ecco. I own the demo that was shown at a convention of Ecco jumping thru the word 'ECCO' that continuously loops. I dumped it and released it. I'm sure it is around the net somewhere. Only plays in one emulator as I recall. Anyway it was fine. No bit rot damage but I originally got it as a mass of about 200 chips and a few proto boards. Took forever to track down all 8 chips for the thing and get them in the right order. That may be what you are thinking of since I did 'leak' a version when I had just about given up hope of ever getting the thing to work.
Alan

[nesman85]

this eastern conference idiot doesn't know a thing about protos or bit rot. he hasn't been collecting for 20 years and hasn't lost a proto to bit rot because he has never owned one. does everyone remember that pa_nes_ian guy who was banned... THATS HIM.

[eastern conference]

I don't know what you are talking about nesman85. I have been collecting for 20 years and if you need me to send you pictures of my collection I will. You are correct in saying I don't have prototypes but I do know what I am talking about.

[ubersaurus]

AFAIK there is no 32X version of Ecco. I own the demo that was shown at a convention of Ecco jumping thru the word 'ECCO' that continuously loops. I dumped it and released it. I'm sure it is around the net somewhere. Only plays in one emulator as I recall. Anyway it was fine. No bit rot damage but I originally got it as a mass of about 200 chips and a few proto boards. Took forever to track down all 8 chips for the thing and get them in the right order. That may be what you are thinking of since I did 'leak' a version when I had just about given up hope of ever getting the thing to work.
Alan

Oh ok ;p I was wondering what the story was behind that for a while now. I'm not sure I'd ever have the patience to go through 200 chips for a specific 8 that had to be put on the board in a specific order.

[Ballz]

You people are all blowing smoke out your asses. I have been collecting for over 20 years and never lost a game to bit rot. You are trying to get this guy scared by believing he will lose a prototype worth thousands to bit rot and have him dump it so you can get your hands on the ROM. Do you people remember the Y2K scare? It is the same thing. If you take care of your games, then you have nothing to worry about. Leave the lucky find alone and stop feeding him lines of BS. All you want is for the game to be dumped so you can get your hands on it and charge people for carts.

Please stop trying to pass yourself off as an authorative source, because people who might not know better may actually buy faulty assumptions you're making.

And yes, I speak as a person who owned a prototype of Crystalis that had begun to bit rot, so I can validate FIRST HAND that the threat is very real. And that game was only about ten years old when it had begun to bit rot. Thankfully, I believe it was only the CHR that was bitrotting and not the PRG, so the vital data was preserved when I sent it to Kevin Horton (http://tripoint.org/kevtris/index.html) for dumping a few years back.

If anyone is curious to learn more about bit rotting, I strongly urge you to look at this site (http://sf.victoly.com/Bit-Rot/) before you start making all these bogus claims that eproms don't bit rot.

[eastern conference]

Oh I am sure if a game is not taken care of then it will go to hell. If you take care of it and store it properly then there is no reason the game will not last for a very long time. I am glad to hear you saved the prototype though, what a shame it would have been for you to lose it.

[CrazyImpmon]

You people are all blowing smoke out your asses.

I keep telling them not to fart so close to open flame! It's their fault if they ended up with a bald asses. LOL LOL


I have been collecting for over 20 years and never lost a game to bit rot.

I've had been collecting for a lot longer than you have. The very first game that came in my possesion would be about '79. Anyway bitrot is real, I used to work with industrial computer and even though the program chip was sealed inside a small steel case (with the rest of PC) inside yet another steel case, a few of them have failed and have to be erased and reprogrammed.

I've lost 2 games to bitrot: Metalfighter and one unknown blue Colordream game (label was mostly ripped off). Both had EPROMs but both wouldn't play at all. I desoldered the graphic chip and dumped it using my company's EPROM burner and instead of character graphics I saw in Metal Fighter ROM, I saw garbage. Garbage like a snowy picture.

There is a web site somewhere that has graphical representation of bitrot but I can't remember where. Just remember one thing: it doesn't take much to ruin the program in the EPROM. just one stray electron out of place and the game could be completely unplayable.


You are trying to get this guy scared by believing he will lose a prototype worth thousands to bit rot and have him dump it so you can get your hands on the ROM. Do you people remember the Y2K scare? It is the same thing.

Not really the same thing. Y2K was real and some computer did suffer setbacks as a result of cheap programming trick. One gas station chain had to hand write every credit card transcation because the gas pump wouldn't take any card. One airport was reporting arrival and departure time on electronic sign in 1900. But a lot of the doom and disaster predicted didn't happen mainly because many of the computer system were fixed or replaced before Y2K came.


If you take care of your games, then you have nothing to worry about. Leave the lucky find alone and stop feeding him lines of BS. All you want is for the game to be dumped so you can get your hands on it and charge people for carts.

We take care of our own games as there's still a few that mysteriously go dead. I'm not talking about cart fried from lightening strike, I'm talking like game was fine one day but wouldn't do anything next day no matter how you clean it. Static electricity can happen and sometimes you won't even notice it at all.

We only want this game dumped for preservation. Like I said, EPROM won't last forever and it will "rot" over time. If this person doesn't want the game released, that's fine. He can keep the backup copy but I'd rather there's more than one copy so it won't be a total loss if the game cart fizzles and succumbs to bit rot or other unmentionable fates.

If you still insists we're just blowing smoke, then I'll have to insist that a witch doctor living next door to your house will start performing voodoo and make a random cart per day mysteriously explode.

[AlanD]

While I am not really wanting to get into a big debate on bit rot, I can state firmly it WILL happen no matter how well you take care of the carts. It is the nature of the beast with an eprom. I have many many times had to reprogram arcade board eproms because of it. If you have never lost a cart to bit rot, there are 2 possible reasons: The carts you have don't have eproms but roms which are not susceptible to bitrot (but by no means indestructible) or you have been lucky and haven't had one reach their usable life.
Alan

[Ballz]

Oh I am sure if a game is not taken care of then it will go to hell. If you take care of it and store it properly then there is no reason the game will not last for a very long time. I am glad to hear you saved the prototype though, what a shame it would have been for you to lose it.

You can delay the inevitable by keeping it in an airtight sealed container and then storing it at 65 degrees F, but in the end, the result will still be the same.

Secondly, I wasn't the original owner of the Crystalis proto, and this guy isn't the original owner of California Raisins. We have no idea how these games were treated before they came into our possession. You'd be playing Russian Roulette if you simply think "Well, nothing bad has happened to it YET, so I'm in the clear!"

Again, I'm not trying to force this guy to dump it, I just want him to better understand what will happen to this game sooner or later.

[brandver3]

Just a quick question conference....which unreleased proto do you have? Cause everyone I'v talked to that have unreleased protos says the exact oposite of what your saying. So i just want to know what game or games give you your athourity?

[nesman85]

he has no protos, released or unreleased, and no authority whatsoever.

[Quazick]

Just a quick question conference....which unreleased proto do you have? Cause everyone I'v talked to that have unreleased protos says the exact oposite of what your saying. So i just want to know what game or games give you your athourity?
That's because most people who own them are greedy ass holes.

[udisi]

One more question still to be answered.....are there Roms or eproms in that cart?....Most likely it's eproms, but then again there are some prototypes with roms in them...they were usually pre releases sent to mags and such....the label on this cart does say return ROM to capcom after use....If it's a ROM, there's no reason to worry....Otherwise yes, eproms won't last indefinitly, but most likely there's no need to make a descision yet.....someone needs to send a cart bit to brandver3, in fact, brandver3 if you PM me your address I'll send you one.

[Blackjax]

Please take a look at my site - it's linked in my signature. Out of all of those unreleased games, there are very few of them that have been burned back to EPROM and sold on the market. Earthbound has seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. Honestly, besides Earthbound, I only know a handful of people who make carts from prototypes, and all of them seem to create them for their own personal use.

Luckly, NES prototypes haven't decended into the hell of 2600 prototypes, with 2600 counterfits appearing daily. Of course, NES games are a lot more complicated to reproduce than the earlier generation of games.

Like it was said before, most people simply want to *play* California Raisins, as it's become something of a holy grail among NES prototypes - being that everyone knew it was out there and yet no one had found it yet. Besides, if it's publically released through a site like Digital Press or my own, it would be well-documented who held the original, and profits made from any copies - IF it was even possible to duplicate - would be minimal at best. Everyone would know you held the only confirmed original, and anyone else selling would be suspect - especially by the people willing to pay any significant ammount of money - generally those are the more informed people and they generally know who and where to buy legit copies from.

Oh, and one more thing about the Earthbound "protos" that appear... while it may appear that they sell for a lot of money, you never know if that was a real bid, or a shill bid to screw the pirateer :D

NOw who could be doing that.... hmmm..... :roll:

(for the record, it's not me)

[Tempest]

I just wanted to say that I own over 200 Atari 2600, 5200, and 400/800 prototypes and I've never had any go bad due to bit rot. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying that it's not as common as you might think.

Tempest
--- www.atariprotos.com ---

[usk84flip]

I completed the released US Nes collection in 10 months and finished in October of 2002. I don't own any prototypes currently, but do have some thoughts on the situation.

#1 - I think he should get it dumped. Pronto! Nes players everywhere would love to get a chance to play this game.

#2 - Good call and big balls not to sell the thing.

#3 - He shouldn't be worried about people making a profit off the game on ebay since he knows he has the real thing and enjoys owning it due to the Capcom factor. After all, he has repeated that it isn't about money, and I doubt the value of something that is priceless to him (since he has no intention of selling) can really go down.

#4 - Hopefully most the people that might buy it or sell it on ebay would be for distribution reasons so that the nes collecting world such as you and me can buy the game knowing its just a copied cart for our collections and to play. As for the people that will sell it as the an original proto like earthbound...... its gonna happen.... if they aren't scamming on one thing, its another...


I hope that it will be preserved above all, and that a lasting copy will remain somewhere beyond the proto. ~Matt

[brandver3]

I'm going to let the dust settle before Ii make any kind of solid decission.

[rahga]

I feel for you man, I really do.

For curiostiy's sake, I'd love to get my hands on a ROM of this just so I can see what the insides look like.... It's a hobby of mine. ( http://www.rahga.com/fun/coedsuperspikevball.png http://www.rahga.com/fun/sdb_wtf.gif are past experiments) While I don't think California Rasins will result in an epidemic of ebay clones, I can understand you not wanting to take a chance. For what it's worth, though, it may be possible to modify the rom so that it is unplayable without an emulator. There's a number of different ways to go about it, such as modifying the ROM so that it is only possible to play with a custom savestate... Removing the first couple of bridges that get the game from the first "copyright" screen to the opening menu should be insanely hard to reverse. Either way, the goal would be the same: It gets the ROM out there in the public, and once it's there long enough, the actual ROM can be released post-hype without the same threat of fake carts popping up.

Anyway, just my thought for the day. :)

[Captain Wrong]

Man, what an interesting discussion. I'm not a NES expert, but I know this is a bit of a "holy grail" find.

It's odd, because we all dream of finding something like this, but what are you gonna do if you actually find it? I mean, you've got something here that's clearly worth more than money and what do you do with it? I know if I was in your shoes, I'd be totally confused.

Seems like this has fallen into the hands of someone who can truly appreciate it. That's really cool. But I'm sure you've got a lot of people (not here, the discussion is pretty civil) sreaming at you that you should do this or that with it.

I think you'll do the right thing, whatever that is. Fantastic find, enjoy it!

[_zane]

Seems like this has fallen into the hands of someone who can truly appreciate it. That's really cool. But I'm sure you've got a lot of people (not here, the discussion is pretty civil) sreaming at you that you should do this or that with it.

I think you'll do the right thing, whatever that is. Fantastic find, enjoy it!

I would agree with the Cap'n on this one: for all the debate that's followed this find, I think brandver3 has done good.

Despite all the cajoling to sell it, dump it, or to hide it away, he's managed to be level-headed and keep a reasonable degree of objectivity. Put just about anyone else in that same position and see if they react as well.

I think we can all understand the concern about eBay 'RARE Earthbound 0 PROTO RARE L@@K'-type counterfeits, but frankly, in my opinion, it just doesn't seem likely. As was said earlier, there aren't that many people who have the skills necessary to do this for NES games, and the overwhelming majority of them have the good sense not to use their skills for things like scamming protos.

To be honest, I would lean towards having the game dumped. People have been waiting literally for years to see what this game is like. It would be a shame to miss out on that for fear of a few lamers screwing things up down the road.

In the end, though, it's up to brandver3. I agree with Cap'n: if what's happened so far is any indication, I think he'll do the right thing.


--
_zane

[rbudrick]

Yo Noid is the friggin worst gamer ever, no offense...I just hate that game. It's only even playable with cheats, otherwise, I find the game impossibly frustrating. Then again, some people dig that....some people actually like Battletoads, and S&M too.

-Rob

[Mr. NEStalgia]

Yo Noid is the friggin worst gamer ever, no offense...I just hate that game. It's only even playable with cheats, otherwise, I find the game impossibly frustrating. Then again, some people dig that....some people actually like Battletoads, and S&M too.

-Rob

Ummm...what are ya talkin about there buddy?

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[rbudrick]

Somebody mentioned Yo Noid a few posts back..um page 1.....I forgot to hit submit till today, lol.


-Rob

[ShinobiMan]

Hey congratulations on that find man. I used to hope and pray and dream of the day I found a prototype, and reading your story makes me both happy and envious at the same time! I say hold on to it like grim death. LOL

[wberdan]

massive find- very nice.
my only comment is: please make a backup.
take care!

willie

[nesuser2]

i feel like i know very little but, i consider myself honest, i would have just bought the stuff from the lady and never told her. she would sleep easier over it. and you would have had all of them, what a set.....but nice find, wish i could find something like that

as far as pricing goes, you said you weren't going to sell it i realize that, but just as convo, this game would go for high dollars......very high.......NWC cart goes for 4-8k in gold.......and this game probably doesn't look as good as those, but well its the only one, just conversation. anybody wanna nail a price on it, i'm just curious. yes you are keeping the game, i do respect you for that greatly, it would take more than i have to do so. but what did some of the exchanges of other proto's reach?

[rbudrick]

Hi Folks,

Here's my 2 cents:

Bit Rot is REAL. I have some Brazilian VCS carts (non proto...actual releases...maybe they are pirates...dunno...it's hard to tell w/ Brazil carts) with EPROMs in them and some have died due to bit rot. One cart, a Spiderman clone is in the process of dying...some of the graphics screw up and no amount of cleaning will change it (ONLY this game does it, so it's not my system).

While we are on the topic....who does dumping here?! I mean, all this talk, and we don't even know who to turn to if we need something dumped! I have a few protos and carts that I would gladly pay to have dumped and backed up for me, but I can't find anyone to do it. So who wants tp make some $? Dump my carts! We should have a dumping forum....hmmm...what do ya think, Joe?

Yours,
Rob

[gamergary]

at the nesworld.com forums there is a guy called the buddha he dumps stuff and jason wilson has a friend who can make backups for him.

[Tritoch]

Even if you don't actually distribute it, I still think you should make SOME kind of backup for it. If nothing else, find a reputable dumper and then keep the ROM for yourself (backed up in multiple locations on floppy, burned CD, and your hard drive just in case). In that case it would be preserved in some form, and if your cart ever did die due to bit-rot (or sheer accident) then you could release the ROM (while publicizing that the original is dead) without fear.

I'm probably the only person who's read this thread and has no interest at all in playing California Raisins (it sucks, right?), so hopefully this provides an unique view of the situation.

Is it obvious that part of my job deals with backing up Windows and AS/400 servers? :-D

[ManekiNeko]

http://sardius.cjb.net/

My suggestion to Brandver3? Hook up with Sardius at the Sardius Experience, and let him dump the ROM. His site is pretty popular among NES gamers, and he'll make sure you get the credit you deserve for your contribution (as well as informing his readers that your copy of the game is the only real prototype known to exist).

JR

[brandver3]

The game has been dumped and backed up.
It will never be lost so all is right in the world.

[ManekiNeko]

That's good news. Will it be distributed publicly?

JR

[brandver3]

haven't decided.

[delbogun]

just interested, who dumped it? is it confirmed to be a good dump?

[brandver3]

It was dumped by the best of the best. That is all I can really say right now.