Best "score" ever-I might never top this again-56k

[rbudrick]

Hello,

Many of you probably read my post about my interview with Ben Smith, Former Nintendo Game Play Counsellor. If not I bet you'll dig it, so, go! Now! Read this first LOL :

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66125

I couldn't express enough then, nor will I ever be able to, the boundless kindness within Ben. He sent me these items without my even asking out of the goodness of his heart. I hope I don't annoy anyone with the "pic-fest," But I thought you'd really like seeing these and I just had to show them off (er,yes, brag. True). Enjoy!

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9634/3carts4fi.png

Just three carts. DK Classics and StarTropics Still have their instructions. The Letter From Uncle Steve has never even been seperated from the intructions (glued to the back...that is how it came, yes?)!! I don't even think it was ever unfolded, as the creases are still pretty stiff.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4262/crystalisdragonwarriorsealed0n.jpg

These two carts are sealed.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8944/dragonwarrior4noaenixlibrary4m.jpg

DW IV Complete...I think. It has both fold-out thingies which have quite obviously never been unfolded. Come to think of it, there are no instructions, but whatever. But it gets better. Look at these two pics below. They read "Enix Library." This got me curious. Could these be from the legendary NOA Employee Game Library? The one that all employees could borrow from to become more proficient on the phones? The one that every kid in America would have gave their left bunghole to hang out in for a day? I asled Ben and he confirmed they were indeed. Sometimes NOA gave extra copies away in company contests oand things like that. Man, was I psyched to hear that. I used to dream to own such a library when I heard about NOA's as a kid and the notion had a little bit of a role in jump-starting my collecting.

Behold.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8267/dragonwarrior4noaenixlibrary21.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/182/dragonwarrior4noaenixlibrary36.jpg


http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8374/3noalibrarycartstickersremoved2.jpg

Now these three carts were also from the NOA library, but you can onlly see the residue of the sticker strip on them now...at some point they were removed, but cool nonetheless.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/589/finalfantasy7ki.jpg

Just FF boxed, no instructions, but I've got one of those books lying around somewhere anyway.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7025/miketysonspunchoutcompletewith1.jpg

Ear Biting Rapist Punchout!!, complete...it even has the letter from Iron Mike hiimself that almost everyone lost and most don't know about....it also has never been unfolded and is untarnished.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/521/mickeymousedreamballoonsunrele1.jpg

Unreleased Prototype. Well, it did come out for the Famicom as Mickey Mouse III; Yume Fuusen (translation: Dream Balloon). As far as I know I have the only English copy left in the world. If someone has another copy, I'd love to compare notes.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/955/n64leatherjacket6du.jpg

A leather coat made by a Swedish distributor. Ben said only 5 were ever made. This thing is a super-high quality real leather coat. The following pics (in order) are the left breast, the inside tag detail, the back embroidered logo, and the shopping list in the pocket, heh heh. OMG!!!11 R4r3!!! LOL

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/398/n64leathercoatleftbreast2kr.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8545/n64leathercoatinsidetag7kz.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6379/n64leathercoatbackembroidery0j.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7862/n64leathercoatleftpocketshoppi1.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/9370/tetrisnoaemployeesale4vs.jpg

Tetris, complete with bag over the cart and cellophane still around the box. The best thing? Look at the sticker on the back. Straight out of the NOA Employee Store.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8838/tetrisnoaemployeesale26jf.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1123/tengentetriscompletewithletter1.jpg

This blows my mind. Not only is this a complete Tengen Tetris, but it is THE Tengen Tetris in Ben's story-it's the exact same cartridge. The one that could have started the whole damn shitstorm between Nintendo and Tengen (it is quite possible). I asked Ben to write a note for me and sign it explaining this is the cart Howard Lincoln asked Ben to hand over to him. Shortly after that, the legendary lawsuit was big news. Also, this game was probably bought the day Tengen Tetris was released, if I remember Ben's words correctly...cool little tidbit to add to the story behind this piece.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/803/sneskeyringobverse8qz.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/9717/sneskeyring8rb.jpg

Just a ccol keyring, both sides.


http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8079/rarewarebanjokazooiepolo7yp.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5977/rarewarebanjokazooiepoloback7p.jpg

A Banjo Kazooie polo shirt. Dunno how Rare (pun not intended) it is, but a cool collector's item.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4961/nwcallaccesspasssinged4mm.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1128/nwcallaccesspasssingedobverse4.jpg

Ben's actual NWC All Access pass, signed on the back. Truly, a centerpiece item in my collection. I wished I had one of these so badly at the NWC when I saw Ben wearing one. It's sooooo funny (ironic, really) to me that I have his!!!

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1356/noaempjacket2hj.jpg

A red blazer made solely for NOA Employees. Here's some detail pics:

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2377/noaempjacketinsidettag5ru.jpg

The inside tag detail. What a crazy cloth pattern for the lining! LOL

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/760/noaempjacketleftbreastwithpin4.jpg

Left breast logo detail with a cool Mario/Yoshi pin.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3695/noaempjacketmarihippiepininrig1.jpg

This Mario (no, it's not Luigi, heh heh) Hippie pin was in one of the pockets. Anyone know what the deal with this is?

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5764/noaempjacketnwcpatch6gq.png

Ben put one these NWC patches on the right arm at some point. I was looking for one of these for quite a while. Amazingly I found one online the same week in an eBay auction so now I have 2....funny how the world works sometimes. Now I've gotta find the rarer black version of the patch. LOL

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/139/noaempjacketpins9ao.jpg

A couple of pins by the right breast. Nintendo 125th Anniversary!! Oh, and DK. :)

Hope you guys liked the pics!! Sorry for the bragfest, but I just had to... :D

-Rob

[boatofcar]

This is the best haul of Nintendo items I have ever seen. Ever. That Tengen Tetris is unbelieveable.....

Oh, and congratulations! :D

[Kroogah]

These are more than games and some cool swag, these are historical items.

Therefore I'm not going to lock this and point you to the finds thread, since this stuff will probably get enough questions asked about it to warrant its own thread.

[Drexel923]

This might be the coolest find I've ever seen. It's awesome that he sent you the stuff for free. I'd kill to have that NWC pass.

If what he claims is true, and from reading the other thread I can't really doubt him, that Tengen Tetris is an absolutely amazing piece for your collection.

Congrats!

[Lothars]

that is awesome, I love the Leather Nintendo Jacket

I want one :)

but I just wanted to say that's awesome, Great going :)

[DigitalSpace]

That is some SWEET stuff! Congratulations on the score and thanks for sharing these photos with us.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

That is just plain awesome. So many items there with awesome history behind them. Very, very cool.

(PLEASE dont send this into the regular 'finds' thread. PLEEEASE!)

[classicb]

wow no really wow, collecting rare games is one thing but this is up there with the stuff on the antique road show. This is a true piece of NES history and video game history. Congradulations on a great story followed by some great collectibles.

To me the story makes these items so much more interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Jumpman Jr.]

That stuff is awesome!! Congtats!
Those jackets are so freaking retro. I love them.
Those are some pretty historical items you've got there. Espessially that NWC "All Access" pass.

[GarrettCRW]

That Tetris cartridge alone is possibly priceless. Awesome haul, man.

[Brisco]

Wow. that is one amazing haul. Congrats!

[Classicgamesdepot]

I'm speechless, this guy is amazing, first a great story, now the pics and items to go with, thanks for sharing...wow and congrats

[Dji]

A bunch of NES games :)
Sealed NES games :D
Dragon Warrior IV :-D
A leather jacket 8-)
A prototype! :rocker:
Games that were used by counselors to help people who called the Nintendo Hotline \^_^/
Actual copy of Tetris by Tengen, which caused huge controversy :eek 2:
Other stuff. :-P

Getting all this for free :yipes:

[Pantechnicon]

Amazing set of acquisitions you've got there. And you can't argue with the price. Congrabulations.

[RetroYoungen]

Ho-ly poop on a stick.

rbudrick, you are the luckiest collector in the world at this point, methinks.

Absolutely incredible find! Congratulations doesn't quite cover it, that rocks too hard!

[imanerd0011]

AMAZING!!!!! Why did he give you all of that stuff? I wish more than anything that he would have given me the all access pass to the NWC.

[evil_genius]

That is like the coolest shit ever. I would have cried.

[Damion]

oh man what a haul!

I'm so jealous I could spit.

congrats man.

[Bluteg]

Damn... that is definately the best find I have have seen here in a while. Good job!

[Videogamerdaryll]

that is awesome, I love the Leather Nintendo Jacket

I want one :)

but I just wanted to say that's awesome, Great going :)

Just what I was going to Post...Ditto... :rocker:

Awesome stuff..

[-hellvin-]

I think that nwc pass is one of the best items I've seen posted here. It's truly a centerpeice item for you now and you've aquired some unfathomably amazing peices of not only nintendo, but gaming history. Congrats, and enjoy!

[TheRedEye]

Neat! I actually like Mickey Mouse 3, it somehow reminds me of Duck Tales, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout and Balloon Kid ALL AT THE SAME TIME! What does the title screen of the English version say?

[CreamSoda]

Most of the times I hate these threads and will bash anyone because I can't stand bragging/showing off an awesome find.

But you sir, have earned every right to brag/show off until your blue in the face. That is the most impressive video game find I have ever seen in my life.

CONGRATS! 8-)

[Gunstar_Hero UK]

That is amazing. Great stuff you got there. Especially the Mickey prototype. What a nice guy to just send you all that stuff. Hats off to Ben.

Joe :)

[Sam]

That is absolutly amazing.

It's great that items like these are in a collectors hands - remember it's now your duty to swear to protect these pieces of gaming hostory for all time, you are the chosen one.

Rock on - unbelivable score. Just O_O

[sniperCCJVQ]

Finding unreleased Proto is always awesome.

[rbudrick]

Thanks so much, everyone! Regarding me being the luckiest collector in the world, don't I know it! I feel very lucky indeed...words simply can not express how overjoed I was to receive these....it's pretty humbling, as Ben wouldn't take anything in return.

As to why he did it, imanerd0011? I guess it made him happy to do so. He thought I would enjoy them more than he has. His philosophy when he was working at Nintendo was that he was in a job that helped to make others happy. It was the best time of his life. Though he no longer works there, he still keeps it a life philosophy as far as I can tell...he very much likes seeing others happy. A model Nintendo employee for that reason, imo. :) Like I said, he's an incredible guy! I guess there's not much more to it than that, though I'm sure Ben had his own reasons.

Do you folks want to play this Mickey proto? If so, I guess I need some help dumping it. While we're at it, I have a couple other protos from my collection that need dumping (Double Dragon II, Terminator II and maybe one or two more). If they can be dumped w/o taking out the EEPROMs, then I would love some help in sharing these with you all, plus it would be nice to have the backups and I'd loike to do a ROM comparison to the released version.

Oh, and the title screen of the Mickey proto I think said
Mickey Mouse
Dream Balloon

But I could be wrong. The Engrish in this title is hilarious!

Thanks again, folks! If there's other questions, ask away.

-Rob

[legov8]

WOW, that's a lot of nice stuff you got there. Tale care of those things and congradulations.

[NESaholic]

Hotdang man what a mega great present,unreleased proto,this guy just gave you more then $1000 worth of stuff.Congrats and enjoy it to the max! :D

[cheesystick]

I just won this auction the other day for $450:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8211118164&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

How did I do? Overall I thought it was a pretty good deal. I am picking it locally so I dont have to suffer and shipping charges. I am planning on selling most of it, so if you are interested in anything, drop me a PM. I will keep most of the Atari stuff for myself as well as the Sega CD unit. I will be selling off all the SNES and most of the NES, including the toploader. I have already been blessed with one of those. Hopefully I can sell all the crap and earn myself a free Atari unit. PM me if anything sparks your eye.
-Chris

[ClubNinja]

I just won this auction the other day for $450:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8211118164&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

How did I do? Overall I thought it was a pretty good deal. I am picking it locally so I dont have to suffer and shipping charges. I am planning on selling most of it, so if you are interested in anything, drop me a PM. I will keep most of the Atari stuff for myself as well as the Sega CD unit. I will be selling off all the SNES and most of the NES, including the toploader. I have already been blessed with one of those. Hopefully I can sell all the crap and earn myself a free Atari unit. PM me if anything sparks your eye.
-Chris

What the hell..?

[Jumpman Jr.]

I just won this auction the other day for $450:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8211118164&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

How did I do? Overall I thought it was a pretty good deal. I am picking it locally so I dont have to suffer and shipping charges. I am planning on selling most of it, so if you are interested in anything, drop me a PM. I will keep most of the Atari stuff for myself as well as the Sega CD unit. I will be selling off all the SNES and most of the NES, including the toploader. I have already been blessed with one of those. Hopefully I can sell all the crap and earn myself a free Atari unit. PM me if anything sparks your eye.
-Chris

What the hell..?

I am so confused :?

[WiseSalesman]

You already know how lucky you are, Rob, but I just wanted to drop in and say thanks for pointing me to your stories and interviews. They made me feel like a kid again.

[rbudrick]

I just won this auction the other day for $450:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/e...RK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

How did I do? Overall I thought it was a pretty good deal. I am picking it locally so I dont have to suffer and shipping charges. I am planning on selling most of it, so if you are interested in anything, drop me a PM. I will keep most of the Atari stuff for myself as well as the Sega CD unit. I will be selling off all the SNES and most of the NES, including the toploader. I have already been blessed with one of those. Hopefully I can sell all the crap and earn myself a free Atari unit. PM me if anything sparks your eye.
-Chris

Lol...wrong thread?

You're more than welcome, Wisesalesman!

I had a chance to play all the way through the Mickey Mouse game last night. It's a pretty good game, though it needs quite a few Engrish things fixed, and the story is really horrible. The title screen does indeed say

Mickey Mouse
Dream Balloon

even though the cart is labeled as Mickey Mouse Dream Balloons. The ending shows the staff for "Mickey Mouse III project." There is a code at the end (similar to the Konami code) for a secret Hard Mode in the Japanese version, from what I see on Gamefaqs.com, and although the code was given in the ending to this version, it listed a bunch of dots instead of the actual button sequence....guess they never got to finishing that little detail....maybe I should go through the Japanese version for comparison. I also have to see if the Japanese version's code works on this one.

-Rob

[video_game_addict]

A couple of pins by the right breast. Nintendo 125th Anniversary!! Oh, and DK. :)


Rob great pics, thanks for sharing!

I had one comment on the pins, I believe the MLB pin was for the 125th anniversary of Major League Baseball, which would have been around 1996. Maybe those pins were picked up in the N64 days, and just added to the jacket for safe keeping. Nintendo's 125th won't come around for another 8-9yrs.

[buttasuperb]

Nice.

I remember that letter that came with Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Yea, I lost mine. LOL

[rbudrick]

I had one comment on the pins, I believe the MLB pin was for the 125th anniversary of Major League Baseball, which would have been around 1996. Maybe those pins were picked up in the N64 days, and just added to the jacket for safe keeping. Nintendo's 125th won't come around for another 8-9yrs.

Ahhh...that makes a lot of sense, VGA. Explains the baseball logo. Thanks, dude!

-Rob

[Captain J]

Thats is probably the greatest lot you could have ever obtain at one time for free. Nintendo or otherwise! Congrats and heres hoping it brings you much happiness (i know it would for me!!)

[Mattiekrome]

Man nice haul! That NWC pass is one of the coolest NES items I have ever seen. That proto is @_@

[joshnickerson]

A hearty "huzzah" and an earnest "kudos" is due to you. That is one HELL of a score.

[jgenotte]

Holy Testicle-Tuesday! That is, hands-down, the best find of NES schwag that I have ever seen. You must have made a real impression on this guy. I am sure that you deserve everthing that you got and that you will honor and care for it as you know you should.

-james

[studvicious]

Wow. That is totally awesome. Congrats! @_@ 8-)

[erehwon]

That is awesome. If came across such finds, I'd invest in a safe. My parents had their prototype odessey 2 stuff stolen before I was born. I want to a similar thing.

[rbudrick]

That is awesome. If came across such finds, I'd invest in a safe. My parents had their prototype odessey 2 stuff stolen before I was born. I want to a similar thing.

That's not a bad idea....I really should look into a a better security situation. Anbody could get by my camera/submachine guns around the premises along with my landmines and death ray lasers. LOL I wonder what safes cost for a good size one that is too heavy to steal.

Did the O2 protos have any identifying marks? maybe they will pop up online and they can trace em back to the source...

-Rob

[aaron7]

Shyts pants, keels over....

...wakes up 10 minutes later... hates you and wants to shake your hand at the same time...

Amazing. Just... amazing. I'm speechless.

[AFGiant]

I...am...not...worthy!
:hail:

This is the coolest find ever...it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Ben Smith just rocketed to the top of my list and I must say that I am glad to see all of this stuff in the hands of someone who appreciates it and shows it off to us! Finds like these give me hope that someday the average collector can come across a piece of history or make a difference in the gaming world.
Game ON!

[§ Gideon §]

Seeing all that makes me want to weep. Ben Smith is incredibly kind.

[BSmith]

Thanks so much, everyone! Regarding me being the luckiest collector in the world, don't I know it! I feel very lucky indeed...words simply can not express how overjoed I was to receive these....it's pretty humbling, as Ben wouldn't take anything in return.

As to why he did it, imanerd0011? I guess it made him happy to do so. He thought I would enjoy them more than he has. His philosophy when he was working at Nintendo was that he was in a job that helped to make others happy. It was the best time of his life. Though he no longer works there, he still keeps it a life philosophy as far as I can tell...he very much likes seeing others happy. A model Nintendo employee for that reason, imo. :) Like I said, he's an incredible guy! I guess there's not much more to it than that, though I'm sure Ben had his own reasons.

...

-Rob


LOL..after reading this thread I'm starting to wonder if I was nutz for sending that stuff to Rob. JK, I have zero regrets. The reason I did it was the stuff was sitting in boxes or hanging in closets and I never did anything with it other than to move it out of my way. I had the NWC All Access Pass in my desk drawer and I would notice it a couple of times a week, but when I looked at it, the feelings were pretty much the same as looking at a shopping list sitting there or something.

Then I got in contact with Rob after accidentally discovering an article he had posted about his NWC experience. I could not believe his enthusiasm for the NWC and the NES. He was just as exuberant as he was at 12 when I met him at the NWC. In those ten weeks I met thousands of people, including celebrities. Out of all those I only remember a few specific encounters and one of those was with Rob and his friend Kevin who beat me in Tetris.

We exchanged some emails and he asked if he could post an interview and I agreed. After that was done and reading it and some responses I discovered there was a very big following for retro gaming. I never had really thought about it as the years have simply passed and my NOA experience has faded into memories and I've been busy becoming a computer geek and running my little business these past few years.

I was impressed with Rob's passion and thought that he would get a lot more appreciation for the stuff than I had. It didn't make sense for it to sit around collecting dust and maybe end up being discarded down the road. I thought it would be in better hands with him so I packed it up and shipped it.

I'm quite overwhelmed reading this thread as I had absolutely no idea it would mean this much. I knew he'd appreciate it, but this is something else. This thread only reinforces that it was a good decision, and the right one.


I have a few things left, but nothing from the NWC. I found my copy of Game Over by David Sheff. It's autographed by Howard Lincoln, Howard Phillips, Minuro Arakawa, Lance Barr, Phil Rogers, Don James and Gail Tilden from NOA. I almost had an opportunity to have Shigeru Miyamoto sign it but missed out. Not sure if that has any "historical" value, but I know it's a great behind the scenes peek into NOA.

Later,

Ben

[aaron7]

That's a great story and thanks for sharing! It's always neat to hear the background of an item.

Now if you have anything else you need taken off your hands... let me know! LOL

[rbudrick]

Glad you could post, Ben!

Ben recently told me about how he found out the hard way that NWC carts don't work in toploaders. I didn't know that, either. :-) I was starting to think bit rot or something, lol.

I guess they only work in frontloaders. His cart is fine! It just garbled the screen and such in a toploader.

-Rob

[syd]

That stuff is amazing! Congratulations! As Indiana Jones would say, "It belongs in a museum".

[rbudrick]

When there is a real videogame museum, I will put it there. You are right.

-Rob

[leonk]

Rob..

this is the first time I saw this thread.. I must say...

\^_^/ your dedication is AMAZING! Keep up the great work!

[DreamTR]

I want Mickey Mouse =(

[Li Wang]

That stuff is awesome, especially the Tetris cart. Getting all that stuff for free would be like winning a small lottery.

[mickoz]

DreamTR, haw! Sure the content doesn't always replace the item, but at less we could get those cart dumped for people to enjoy.

I don't know how you proto collector think (some really want to own an undumped proto, some care of the item and are able to share the content), but of course getting them dumped is cool.

There is also that cart that finished for 1800$ lately. That one looked quite cool. You almost won it.

[machine.slave]

That's cool... t'would be better if it was SOA stuff, though. ;) J/k

good haul. I'd ask him to bare your children.. if that were even possible.

[rbudrick]

DreamTR, do you have NES dumping ability? Teach me the ways, oh master. I can at least try to get the roms out there. Lord know I ain't selling it (or any of my protos), so I might as well let everyone play. Iirc, you used to own one or two of my protos, lol.

-Rob

[hezeuschrist]

That Tengen Tetris cart is amazing. He's got to know that he was fairly responsible for the whole shitstorm between Nintendo and Tengen, and he just pony'd up the cart for no reason other than to be a good guy. Astounding.

[zerohero]

Awsome man, one in a life time give aways!

[Sothy]

Nice haul man.

I dig the gold mario / yoshi SNES pin. got a watch with the same design.

[BSmith]

That Tengen Tetris cart is amazing. He's got to know that he was fairly responsible for the whole shitstorm between Nintendo and Tengen, and he just pony'd up the cart for no reason other than to be a good guy. Astounding.

Thanks, but I can't take any credit where it isn't due. I'm sure NOA would have found out that Tengen had released their version of Tetris even if I hadn't brought my copy in. How could they not have?

If you've read Game Over you'll know the great lengths Howard and Mr. Arakawa went to to obtain the rights to Tetris. As soon as they found out someone else was distributing Tetris on the NES they went into action, and understandibly.

Not to take away from the cart Rob has either as it is the actual cart that Howard L. wanted me to give to him.

Ben

[BSmith]

That Tengen Tetris cart is amazing. He's got to know that he was fairly responsible for the whole shitstorm between Nintendo and Tengen, and he just pony'd up the cart for no reason other than to be a good guy. Astounding.

Sorry, accidentally posted twice when trying to make a last minute edit. Oh well. I'll learn.

[rbudrick]

Yeah, Ben's right...they woulda found out eventually, iut it's still quite possible that cart got the ball rolling a lot sooner! But Maybe not...I'd have to ask Lincoln if he already knew....I might just get around to that someday. Who knows...Scheff never interviewed Ben at the time, or else maybe we'd all know! Scheff mighta got to the bottom of it... LOL LOL LOL

Maybe if I contact Scheff, he's still in contact with Lincoln... who knows.

-Rob

[djbeatmongrel]

although i am not much of a classic nintendo fan i must say history and "holy grail" wise you have acquired some of the most priceless items from that era.

i really think that NWC pass makes this hual really sweet. sure we all know about the carts and thier mystique but it doesn't match having that pass. Its like having a pristene civil war rifle while another collector has General Lee's hat. you cant beat it.

[GamecubeFreek]

Holy cow! I feel lucky just seeing pictures of these great items. I can hardly imagine how you must feel. That Ben Smith must be one heck of a guy...wow...

[donkeykong1]

That is some kickass stuff you have there.

[hezeuschrist]

That Tengen Tetris cart is amazing. He's got to know that he was fairly responsible for the whole shitstorm between Nintendo and Tengen, and he just pony'd up the cart for no reason other than to be a good guy. Astounding.

Thanks, but I can't take any credit where it isn't due. I'm sure NOA would have found out that Tengen had released their version of Tetris even if I hadn't brought my copy in. How could they not have?

If you've read Game Over you'll know the great lengths Howard and Mr. Arakawa went to to obtain the rights to Tetris. As soon as they found out someone else was distributing Tetris on the NES they went into action, and understandibly.

Not to take away from the cart Rob has either as it is the actual cart that Howard L. wanted me to give to him.

Ben

Oh I'm certain they would have got their hands on Tengen one way or the other, but you were the first to bring the product to the President of NOA, albeit unintentionally. That's just an excellent piece of gaming history ;)

[alec006]

ohhhh man thats frekin sweet,congrats man

[rbudrick]

The almighty Kevin Horton has dumped my NES proto roms. This includes the unreleased Mickey Mouse Dream Balloons.

TRM, would you like to host them on your proto section of your site or are you uncomfortable hosting roms? Anyone else care to host them if TRM doesn't want to??

Dumped protos:

Mickey Mouse Dream Balloons
Double Dragon II
Terminator II
Game Master Kid (Game Action Replay proto...interesting that the menu can not be accessed, but the code for it is there! Is a .bin file, so it is useless for anything other than a backup...is not a playable rom or anything.)

He also attempted to fix my commercial GAR...I believe he dumped the file from this too.

-Rob

[mickoz]

Are prototype, if unreleased technically legal?

(Like japanese anime that are unreleased and unlicensed here are legal to fansub and distribute from what I understood. Of course it is all a matter of law).

But from the title I see, some have probably been released and licensed, but some not.

I can somehow announce them at kinox.org at less, as for hosting, in the worse case it will be an indirect hosting (i.e. an account on geocities)

[Matt-El]

Technically, It would be illegal, but the collector/player community can go unnoticed at times.

Truthfully, though, the tetris copy is a true treasure. I would be honored to have that part of history, and I am sure that you will treasure it too.

"That belongs in a museum" is quite apt.

[rbudrick]

Yeah, I guess releasing proto ROMS is illegal...but I just wanted to share the wealth.

Not that it justifies anything, but at least they're not current Gen.

-Rob