Game Gear Frogger prototype... OBTAINED!

[ManekiNeko]

I'm posting this here in the main forum so more people will notice it.
So hey, after waiting over three years, my aunt finally brought back the rest of my video games. That includes a 3DO, Turbografx-16, Game Gear, and most importantly, a prototype version of Frogger that I'd left lodged inside the Sega handheld before I left Arizona.
I'm tickled pink that I can play this again... it's not only a rarity, but a fantastic game that's among the best in the Frogger series. I'd like to give others the opportunity to enjoy it as well, by dumping the ROM to the Internet. However, I don't have the tools necessary to do this. I discussed my dilemma with Omar Cornut (aka Zoop, or more recently, Bock) a few years ago, and he was willing to dump the cartridge... but not so willing to send it back once he was done.
My question is this... is there anyone on the forum who I can trust to dump the game to a ROM and send it back? I would greatly appreciate it, and it would give gamers everywhere a chance to play this great Game Gear version of Frogger. If you're interested, please send me an E-mail at mneko@hotmail.com as soon as you can. We'll discuss the details from there.
Thanks again, guys! I appreciate the help.

JR

[omnedon]

I wish I could help, because that is a noble cause.

What kind of ROM dumper guy would insist on keeping someone elses cart?

[zektor]

I dont think Omar would have a problem with it if you specify that you NEED to have it back. A choice between sending it back and having it dumped, or not accepting the offer at all...is...well, not a logical choice at all.

[Bratwurst]

I have a suspicion Omar was kind of joking with you about that, I'm sure if you specified he'd return it, he's been an honest person in my dealings with him. Why don't you post on the SMS Power forum and see if someone will loan you a dumper, conversely? Surely there's someone in North America that would help expedite the process.

[Zaxxon]

Is this that rare? I've seen a few people selling carts of this game years ago. I would think it's already been dumped long ago. Have you done a search for it on the net?

[Bratwurst]

I've seen the board for this game on Ebay at least once last year or so, and presuming ManekiNeko wasn't the guy who won that auction, there's at least a couple of them floating around, then.

[Tempest]

I know Sean sold one one Ebay last year.

Tempest

[zektor]

Is this that rare? I've seen a few people selling carts of this game years ago. I would think it's already been dumped long ago. Have you done a search for it on the net?

I'm about 99.9% sure it is undumped. Unless of course someone out there dumped it (like Sean) and just didn't release the rom.

[Buyatari]

If Sean sold one and its not dumped I'd be very suprized.

There are others out there which I have seen. However, it is possible it is not dumped because it is a Game Gear game and no has yet bothered to do so.

Adam

[ManekiNeko]

I hope I'll be the first one to get this dumped. After all the ROMs I've leeched over the years, this would be my chance to give something back to the emulation community. Now that you mention it, it IS surprising that the game still isn't available on the Internet. I received this prototype and two others from Sean back in 1996. The other two games- an unfinished version of Pengo and an extremely unfinished version of Knuckles Chaotix called Sonic Crackers- have been dumped, but Frogger wasn't. That's weird, because I know Sean sold multiple copies of the game.
I just wrote a letter to Mr. Cornut... hopefully he'll be more reasonable than he was before. I made three requests of him in return for letting the game get dumped. The first is to send the game back once he's finished. The second is recognition for my contribution on the website. The third is access to the registered versions of MEKA. I hope he doesn't think I'm asking too much, but if he's not willing to agree to those conditions, I can always find someone else to dump the game instead.

JR

[ManekiNeko]

Zaxxon: I looked on Google and nothing came up. I don't think SMS Power has it either, and they've got EVERYTHING.
Joe *thought* he had a ROM of the game at first, but then realized that it was a version of Frogger for another portable system.

JR

[Alex Kidd]

I'm 5 roms short of a complete North American SMS collection, and the missing games that raen't dumped aren't even that rare.

Hell it was a LONG time before I found a rom for Rambo First Blood Part II.
And it turns out someone on this board had it dumped (somewhat) recently. And it was the first dumping of it. and come on, Rambo is NOT that hard to find for the SMS.

Alex Kidd

If the point of this entry is lost, I'm stating that even common games can remain undumped if people with dumping hardware don't have the game itself, and there's no real demand for it.

[Bratwurst]

From my perspective I think the SMS community suffers from a lack of interest in that regard- dumping the games, that is. It isn't that SMS Power, Cornut et all doesn't try hard enough, it's instances like that: Rambo goes undumped for the longest time. I know of a few people who have bought Fire n Ice and actually -don't- want to get it dumped, to preserve the value of the game, yet they still play it. My opinion on that is kept to myself because I am friends with one of them :P , but it's their right.

[Alex Kidd]

To me dumping roms is like copying artwork.

There will only be ONE Mona Lisa.
But we can copy it ad infitium for people to hang in their office or wherever. It's not the orginal, and has no value above the time, paint and talent it took to reproduce it, but it's nice to be able to look at.

Roms played on a Computer, or even a playstation or DC or whatever, do not look and sound EXACTLY a like, they can be so close as to trick even the most rained eye, but they are NOt EXACT, and they are NOT the actual physical cart and system.

For those art fans that want to see the REAL mona lisa, they can alaways go to the Louvre (thats where it right?) and for those who just want a copy they can hang and look at, there's the copys.

For those who really dig the SMS/NES/Whatever and want to have all the games, they're out there for us to find. For those who just want to replay an old favorite a few times we have roms.

The idea of leaving roms undumped to increase value is the same as locking the Mona Lisa away in a vault for 350 years and saying only 10 people can look at it before it gets sealed away for another 350 years. Sure it'll increase the value but only to DIEHARD fanatics. Plus it's just not fair or right.

However I DO believe in not being allowed to dump roms of games currently in production because it DOES affect sales.


Alex Kidd

[Bratwurst]

I'm pretty laid back about the morals of it all because eventually the games /will/ get dumped. There's no bit rot issue here, I believe, unless Tec Toy uses EPROMs.

[ManekiNeko]

(Remember kids, Geocities can be used as an image host! Just change your picture's extension to .TXT!)

JR