Prototype or not, how can you really tell?

[Mattiekrome]

OK, im still a noob at this sort of stuff, but i was just wondering how the hell can you tell if a game is a proto or not. Of course I have seen the cart casing cut out so that the chips could fit on the board, but some protos that I have seen do not have this. Some look just like the regular game from the outside, do all the workings and layout of the inside of the cart tell whether or not a cart is a prototype or not? Looks like anyone could make a fake "authentic" nintendo label saying "sample: Demo cart only" or something to that effect, and slap it on the front of a cart then call it a demo... If this is a totally stupid question, I have been drinking for the last 6 hours

[Ed Oscuro]

If you have to ask, you can't tell.

Seriously!

[Ed Oscuro]

This is a good topic, of course.

There's been a good deal of debate about when the "prototype" label is appropriate and when "sample" is; if you've got a Sega Master System game with a label on it reading "Sample" then you've essentially got the equivalent of a Game Boy Advance demo cart, but from many years ago.

Lab Loaners (pretty much exclusively Atari VCS) seem to be all the rage...I wouldn't say these are always prototypes as probably many are just copies of the code at a particular state of completion, given out to various companies for whatever devious purposes. However, I'm not very familiar with the process Atari used to produce their games.

There are also a good deal of blank or generic label CD-ROM/GD-ROM games on eBay that were review copies (I've seen Nightmare Creatures, and Activision's Ninja game for the PSX, a title I've been sorta interested in since playing the demo way back when...long gone off the scene, probably); nifty to pick up a beta copy of a game...but "beta" in the same way you have a beta for an MMORPG; the difference being that a.) it's not being given out to playtest, rather given out for reviewers, and b.) the number of copies given out is very small in comparison.

That said, my first comment still stands. I've been guilty of buying post-death releases thinking they were original in-house burns (two unreleased Lynx games on circuit boards in my case); it's hard enough to use one's common sense to figure out what's real and what's not without the fear of pirates and reproductions being sold as the real thing. Lots of VCS lab loaners have been reproduced on eBay; I don't know what sort of person buys them but probably more than a few have thought of reselling them as originals.

Sort of like the shrinkwrap debates we've had around here. There's way too many variables to take into consideration to get a good, definite answer - and when hundreds of dollars are potentially at stake, that can never be a good enough answer.

Only way to tell for sure would be to have some sort of paperwork or other accompanying materials. It's probably a good bet that something with a bit of weathering on it will be original, but I'd rather not lose that one

[PapaStu]

There are also a good deal of blank or generic label CD-ROM/GD-ROM games on eBay that were review copies (I've seen Nightmare Creatures, and Activision's Ninja game for the PSX, a title I've been sorta interested in since playing the demo way back when...long gone off the scene, probably); nifty to pick up a beta copy of a game...but "beta" in the same way you have a beta for an MMORPG; the difference being that a.) it's not being given out to playtest, rather given out for reviewers, and b.) the number of copies given out is very small in comparison.

These are a hard to tell thing IF there is no documentation for them. If I gave you a few of the Alpha or Beta CD-R builds ive gotten for the PS, they look just like anyone found a ROM of them on the net and burned them to a CD-R. However the paperwork, or the business cards and such that Ive gotten with them "mark" their legitimacy. That is unless you know the person who works at the company that gave them to you kinda thing these are almost impossible to prove.

Most modern CD based games that are found on eBay and the likes are actually Review copies. These need Debug or Test units to play, but tend to be almost completed games. Most reviews come on some sort of "official" media like this but ive seen many that are actually on Official system blanks for the company ( The DC stuff seems to all be this way).

If you plan on getting into the Beta/Proto mix, its best to search out DP here for others that have gone down this road and know what they are doing. Als the Prototype Forum is a good place to go, they can have lots of info for you there.