Need help identifying this PepsiMan Playstation Game. Proto?

[jjhudson63]

Is this a prototype? I need some help, since I’m not experienced with newer games, just classic games. Thanks in advance!

I found this game PepsiMan at a thrift store near my house and need help on identifying what it is. It is for the Playstation One and is an import game, but that’s all I know so far. I saw one on eBay, but the pictures of the game had Japanese writing on the covers and also Playstation logos. However, this one is different. It does not have any Japanese writing on it and no logos whatsoever, except a bumblebee in the lower right corner of the cover. Also, on this one, a few more screen shots replace the Japanese writing. The front cover is also different, because the picture is brought to the front instead of being in the background on the Japanese version.

I thought it might be a boot leg, because the game’s backside is silver instead of black like other Playstation games. However, the Pepsiman picture looks professionally added to the top of the CD and DRINK is encoded on the clear plastic middle of the center backside.

I got it to play on a Playstation One with a driver enhancer disk.

Any help with finding more info would be greatly appreciated! I will probably let this go on eBay to buy more classic games, but I want to be honest when selling this.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Ok, post a pic or a link and we can help you

[Raedon]

it's one of my Fav. games! PEPSIMAAAAAAAN! It's no proto though it was an import. info here http://psx.ign.com/articles/067/067243p1.html

[digitalpress]

Yeah, I own the game as well, imported from Japan.

Have fun with it, the game is a riot!

[Zaxxon]

I doubt anyone would bother bootlegging a game that sold for only $10 to buy new.

[jjhudson63]

I will get a picture posted soon. Can't get my host to work. I just can't figure out why the covers are so different. It doesn't even have the Playstation logo's or anything. Only the 1 or 2 Players - Memory Card 1 Block - and Analog Controller Compatible - icon pictures. That's the only way you can tell its for the Playstation unless you previously knew.

Working on the pictures.... Be up soon.....

[jjhudson63]

Sorry, had to go with an AOL photo album. :(

There are 4 photos total. 3 of my game and 1 of the one that was recently sold on eBay. Sorry about the quality of mine, my camera sucks.

Here's the link, thanks for the help.

http://aolsvc.pictures.aol.com/NASApp/ygp/Start?event=DirectView&shareInfo=KnVVBplenSMLJqJl3%2fcbkatVq1gZbrOHT2icVy mnBbm%2fjFCnkV3ciA%3d%3d

[geelw]

it's a bootleg alright. pepsiman was only released in limited mumbers as a budget title (2800 yen, i believe) in japan. if you don't see a playstation logo or copyright info on the disc or packing, chances are it's a burn. the game is entirely in english, making it a pefect import.

i actually wrote pepsico a few years back with a copy of a review i had written for the game (and that will most likely end up published here), and i told them it would be a perfect marketing tie-in for both pepsi and sony.i got a letter back a few weeks later- they had NEVER heard of the game! the u.s. arm of the company hadn't a clue about the japanese commercials either, which i found both amusing, and a little strange. then again, it's the same in the game industry. each territory has its own ways of marketing a particular product... :-D

[jjhudson63]

I just wonder why anyone would go to such lengths to encode the word "DRINK" into the back of the CD. The word is inside the back plastic and not etched onto the outer layer. Plus, they would have to go through a lot of picture editing to edit the covers. It's just more trouble than it's worth to bootleg a copy of a game sold inexpensively in Japan and then to end up at a thrift store.

[geelw]

if you're producing "professional" quality copied games for $, you need to make them look as legit as possible to the folks who think they're getting a bargain. i've seen perfectly silkscreened labels, serial numbers encoded into the backs of discs, and full manuals in some bootlegs. but once you see the original game, it's so easy to tell apart the fakes. your pictures won't load for some reason, so i can't see them, but i can tell within seconds whether a game is real...

[digitalpress]

It's definitely a bootleg. I have a few games that go through similar lengths to look authentic, including a Metal Slug CD that I didn't realize was a bootleg until I saw the original firsthand. Screening the disks is fairly common practice these days.

Also from what I've seen, PlayStation prototypes do NOT go through this trouble. They're usually just burned on plain ol' CD-R media and handwritten with black ink. Sometimes with a company CD. Our man Buyatari has dozens and dozens of them.

[jjhudson63]

Bummer :(

Thanks for helping me out.

[Buyatari]

Also from what I've seen, PlayStation prototypes do NOT go through this trouble. They're usually just burned on plain ol' CD-R media and handwritten with black ink

When it comes to review copies sent to game reviewers. I'd say 60% are generic CDRs. The biggest software companies either have their own brand of CDR which only they use (THQ or Sony for example) or they have the CDRS printed or even silkscreened with the name of the game current rev and any other details which they would like to disclose. Any highly anticipated title will also most likely not come on a generic CDR. Almost every Square,EA,Activision or Infogrames prototype disk I have is not on a generic CDR for the same reason. They want their games to stand out when a reviewer gets it in his hands.

Early early versions of games are almost always on generic CDRs no matter the company. This is due the fact the the code changes daily and it just not worth the trouble. Of the 50+ Squaresoft protos in my collection only 1 is on a generic CDR and its a pre-alpha version.

Adam