VICE Project Doom [NES] Proto?

[mydjsobad]

Well, first of all, I'm very new to these forums (as in this is my first post) but not new to the site in any way. Digitpress has been my site of choice when referencing anything new I happen to come across when I buy games (I'm a casual collector, but I'm very intrigued by alot of the major rarities). That being the case, the other day when I stumbled upon this title, I came here to try and find more details on it.

Now, since I'm a casual collector, and I'm pretty new to the intricacies of some aspects of collecting (proto's being one of them) I was relatively unsure of what I had here. I found this game at a local resale shop this past week for very cheap. Given the outer casing, I had a feeling there was something special about the cart itself, but I'm still pretty unsure about it as a whole. The guys I bought it from really didn't have any clue about the game itself, or where it came from, so I bought it more on a whim than anything else.

So when I got home, I opened it up, and much to my surprise it had a WAY different circuit board than I've seen in any NES cartridge I've ever owned. Here are pics of the outside and inside of the cart itself:

Cartridge Front (http://mydjsobad.bemanistyle.com/eddie/vice_004.jpg)
Cartridge Back (http://mydjsobad.bemanistyle.com/eddie/vice_003.jpg)
Board Back (http://mydjsobad.bemanistyle.com/eddie/vice_002.jpg)
Board Front (http://mydjsobad.bemanistyle.com/eddie/vice_001.jpg)

So how about it? Is it a definite prototype? If so, has anyone seen this particular one before? And if it is one, what kind of things should I be on the lookout (in terms of major differences) for if I decide to compare it to the public release? Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Postermen]

None of your pictures are working.

[mydjsobad]

Sorry about that. Fixed it.

[Postermen]

Looks like a legit proto to me. Did you get it at a game store? Looks like you're right down the freeway from me.

[jajaja]

I have one of those too, but another game. Afaik its a sample cart that was used for demostration in stores. Its not directly a prototype (under developement), altho i guess it falls under the category "prototype" because it still got the EEPROMs on the board, even if its the final version of the game. Cool find btw :) How much did you pay?

[mydjsobad]

I got it for $5 actually, at the GameSquare in Stanton, CA. They had a few other odds and ends that I picked up there and they gave me a bunch of posters and stuff for my apartment too.

I just thought it was weird that they just had that sitting in a box full of old NES games, 3/4s of which were Super Mario bros./Duck Hunt cartridges.

[jajaja]

$5 is a great price! :)

[MattyXB]

The board looks like my Crystalis Prototype. So looks real for me. Great find for $5,-. Congratulation. :)

[nesman85]

I have one of those too, but another game. Afaik its a sample cart that was used for demostration in stores. Its not directly a prototype (under developement), altho i guess it falls under the category "prototype" because it still got the EEPROMs on the board, even if its the final version of the game. Cool find btw :) How much did you pay?

I doubt that it was used in stores. Probably sent out to reviewers.

[MichaeltheGreat]

it seems these vice project doom samples are more common than some (or at least all apearing right now!):

other post (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82423&highlight=)

Yes it's a proto circuit board, but they are review copies/samples of some sort so they're probably pretty close to the final. Get a regular copy of the game and play them both.

[mydjsobad]

so there have been other copies that have popped up recently? I was kind of looking to see if anyone else had it as well. I'm gonna go pick up a copy of the final release today and play through it.

[jajaja]

I have one of those too, but another game. Afaik its a sample cart that was used for demostration in stores. Its not directly a prototype (under developement), altho i guess it falls under the category "prototype" because it still got the EEPROMs on the board, even if its the final version of the game. Cool find btw :) How much did you pay?

I doubt that it was used in stores. Probably sent out to reviewers.

That might be, but about a year ago i saw a guy from Switzerland who sold some carts like this. He didnt have pics of the PCB boards, but he mentioned that they were heavier than a normal NES game. IIRC he said he got them from an old store. Therefor i took a guess that they might have been used for demos so customers could check out the game early :)