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Thread: Sealed SMS games

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    Default Sealed SMS games

    I purchased Golden Axe Warrior and Strider for the Sega Master System which both came shrinkwrapped. They are US releases (you can tell from the UPC sticker). From what I know, games like these that were European and released in the US were identical except for the UPC sticker, and did not have the shrink wrap as my games have.

    All European SMS games were sold new unwrapped with the Sega sticker sealing the cart on case's right opening. Was this the same with the US release of SMS games that were a direct port of European games?

    The game's shrinkwrap is in poor quality with seams on three sides and does not have the open oval opening at the top that is so typical of new US SMS games.

    My guess is they are new because the Sega seal is not broken, but the shrinkwrap was put on later to give them more of a collectible value. Opinions?

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    Strawberry (Level 2) grolt's Avatar
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    Interesting find! I have never encountered a "new" US version of the four Euro games that were brought over. I'd be inclined to believe that the shrinkwrap would be there to protect people from pealing off the UPC or something like that, but if there is no opening and the wrapping isn't that brittle hard plastic that all the other sealed SMS games have, then I'm inclined to believe it's probably a re-seal. Pictures would be nice, though. As for the sticker looking as if it is not broken - it is super easy to just open a game with the European seal and then put it right back on - about half my games I've managed to do this with.
    "Enduro" is a symbolic journey through life via the media of a race.

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    Golden Axe Warrior was a regular USA release. It has a USA case and manual. I am almost certain that this game was in standard SMS wrap when I buy it back in the early 1990s at TRU…

    I also have Sonic the Hedgehog which was a European game brought over as it have multi language case and panoramic manual.

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) ninjabearhug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TurboGenesis View Post


    Golden Axe Warrior was a regular USA release. It has a USA case and manual. I am almost certain that this game was in standard SMS wrap when I buy it back in the early 1990s at TRU…

    I also have Sonic the Hedgehog which was a European game brought over as it have multi language case and panoramic manual.
    Most European SMS RPG's have USA style cases and manuals for some reason. As far as I am aware there was no specifically printed USA release of Golden Axe Warrior, the US version is the Euro release with a UPC sticker. You can tell the difference of a specifically printed US release by checking on the back cover. Here's an example using another well known SMS RPG:

    US Phantasy Star ( Sega Of America on back cover)

    Euro Phantasy Star (no mention of Sega Of America on the back cover)

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    The Sega sticker can be peeled off and reapplied without damaging it...I've got a few games from my childhood that I just peeled the sticker off, rather than breaking it. Don't depend on that little sticker.

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    Pear (Level 6) rpepper9's Avatar
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    I don't mean to be harsh, but aren't these questions you should have been asking before you made the purchase? Are they for your collection for for playing? If they are for playing, then it should like you got some games in great shape!
    Condoleezza Rice is nice, but I prefer A Roni!

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    Strawberry (Level 2) grolt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ninjabearhug View Post
    Most European SMS RPG's have USA style cases and manuals for some reason.
    The reason being that since the RPGs are text-heavy and English only, it makes no sense to advertise it in other languages because none of the others could play it. I believe all those RPGs (Golvellius, Ys, Lord of the Sword, Phantasy Star, SpellCaster, Golden Axe Warrior) were only released in the UK, Canada and the US (other than the Mark III or Tec Toy versions) because of the language barrier.
    "Enduro" is a symbolic journey through life via the media of a race.

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    Apple (Level 5)
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    Quote Originally Posted by grolt View Post
    I believe all those RPGs (Golvellius, Ys, Lord of the Sword, Phantasy Star, SpellCaster, Golden Axe Warrior) were only released in the UK, Canada and the US (other than the Mark III or Tec Toy versions) because of the language barrier.
    Correct.

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    wrong

    here's the German release of Phantasy Star with German manual:


    here's SpellCaster:


    here's Ys:


    and so forth (pictures with kind permission).

    basically, every other European country had their own language manual, mostly Germany, France, Spain, Italy
    Last edited by tom; 03-18-2009 at 05:36 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by tom View Post
    wrong

    ...

    basically, every other European country had their own language manual, mostly Germany, France, Spain, Italy
    I stand corrected...I've never seen those. Is that just sticker on the Y's box, I presume? What do the backs of the cases look like?

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    Sticker on Ys box says: German instructions enclosed

    as for back of European SMS boxes, they were sometimes in English only, sometimes multi language

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    Quote Originally Posted by tom View Post
    Sticker on Ys box says: German instructions enclosed

    as for back of European SMS boxes, they were sometimes in English only, sometimes multi language
    I know what the European boxes look like generally...I meant those titles specifically. They look like US editions with German manuals added.

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    That I wouldn't know, most Euroepan releases say on the back Made in Japan:

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    That's a Euro release, the US release would say Sega Of America Inc. inbetween the barcode and the Sega logo on the back cover. I believe the US release of this game was made in Japan too.....

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    Strawberry (Level 2) grolt's Avatar
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    Interesting on all those foreign manuals. I'm still wondering why they'd release them at all though, even with an alternate manual. Like how are you supposed to play Phantasy Star without knowing the language? Lord of the Sword you might be able to get by, but all the standard action RPGs are pretty text heavy, and games like Miracle Warriors, SpellCaster and Phantasy Star are totally run by English menu commands.
    "Enduro" is a symbolic journey through life via the media of a race.

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    Anglo-Japanese plot to spread the new world order by vidya game

    Tom, how long you spoken (or at least written) English? Was Phantasy Star a deciding factor in this decision?

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    True, in the past USA (and English translated Japanese) RPGs were English throughout Europe. One of the first translated games was Heart of Africa by EA. Before that, the Odyssey2 game Quest for the Rings was 'germanised'. Germans usually don't have a problem with English language, and neither does the rest of Europe, especially in Skandinavia, where even USA TV is still being shown nowadays in English, with Swedish/Norwegian/Finnish (depending on country) subtitles.
    It was the French who had problems not wanting to play English speaking games due to the fact that 'we're French', if you know what I mean. So during the years, more and more computer games were being translated into th relevant language, later this was done also with console titles, even text heavy RPGs, mainly when (US, Japan) companies started to have offices in European countries.

    I play games in English, due to the fact that I lived in the UK for a long time, although recently I returned to Germany. Phantasy Star was not the factor, I started gaming with 2600 and Atari 8 bit, which came to Germany in QWERTY (German = QWERTZ + umlaute), so I was used to the USA type of speaking/gaming right from the beginning.
    I also worked for the US Army in Germany before I went to the UK, so you could say English is my first language anyway.

    .
    Last edited by tom; 03-19-2009 at 01:59 AM.

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    Default Here are the games scans

    I finally was able to scan the games. As you can see, the Sega sticker is intact on both games, but did these come with shrinkwrap new, and if so are these genuine?









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    Strider is so beautiful with that UPC sticker!

    I wish I can find a copy....

    Anyway, I remember KB Toys having the game as well as others with the sticker and they were sealed that way, so perhaps they are genuine...but who knows...
    Proud owner of a Neo 25 Neo Geo Candy Cab!

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    Those are both clearly re-wraps. A factory sealed US SMS game has an opening for the hang tag at the top. The second one looks like it's the wrong kind of shrinkwrap since it's not smooth and has lots of wrinkles. I have never seen euro sealed SMS games with shrinkwrap. There were some sold in the UK that came in a plastic blister pack. I recall seeing some of them at Toys R Us outside of London in the early 90s. I suspect in this case, the store or seller just shrinkwrapped them at some point.

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