Quote Originally Posted by TonyTheTiger View Post
Eh, see this is where I don't mesh with that. You keep pushing the idea of intent but it's precisely that intent that I think is missing here.

What I'm looking for is some evidence that Sega made a specific decision to "create" U.S. copies. A new printed insert or some other kind of identifier tailored to the specific copy would be just that. Sure, you could still pick and mix the internals but at least it would suggest that there was a specific intent to actually create a new edition. In other words, I'm looking for something that tells me that when Sega decided to sell Sonic in America they picked this copy, not a copy. Without that clear intent, the intent to not just sell a copy in America, then I can't jump on board. Look at Gyromite. Sure, some copies are actually Japanese PCBs with a converter inside. But the intent to "create" an American game was there. Sega shows me none of that with Sonic.

What if Squaresoft had started taking extra Final Fantasy VII stock from Japan, stuck a UPC sticker on them, and for whatever reason sold them in America? I think it's crazy to then say that there are two distinct "American" versions where one just happens to be entirely Japanese. Hell, if Sonic did get a legitimate release in addition to this UPC nonsense then I doubt we'd be having this conversation at all. Nobody would ever in a million years consider it an American version.

And let's even go further and say there were two identical copies of a game sold in America but the only difference was a different UPC code because of some backdoor wackiness. Let's say Mortal Kombat II or something had different print runs with different UPC codes. I will bet my ass they would be considered mere variants at best, not two completely different games with both being required for a full set. That alone convinces me the whole thing is crazy.
As a system, the SMS is somewhat unique in that it doesn't suffer from the normal differences that traditionally separate the same game from multiple regions. Both the US and Euro copies use the same boxes, carts, and insert style. I think most Euro games have multi language manuals where the US are just English (or possibly English/French, depending on Canada, I'm not certain). SMS also doesn't have any kind of NTSC/PAL issues nor does it have concerns with ratings. These facts alone make it very simple for a game to be pulled over and made an official release with little to no effort and more importantly to Sega, little cost.

Given that these are all acknowledged to be late releases when the system was winding down, why would anybody expect any real effort be put into the release of them? I'd suspect it was nothing more than a decision to release some big name games that would likely generate some revenue with the least amount of work. Again, the method they chose doesn't mesh well with what collectors like, but I assure you that was never a factor in their decision. They had stock on hand and it was an easy way to get product into a new market. Least amount of work for the most return.

The Gyromite is not really a good example in my mind as there are physical differences in Japan vs US releases. If they wanted to release it here, they had to make physical changes to the cart. It's not like any kid with an NES could buy a Famicom cart and use it in their NES. So, it did take more effort on the part of Nintendo, but that was due to design issues between the systems. SMS doesn't have that, no lockouts or any other physical or even programming differences exist. It's a plug and play system for cross region games making it simple to use pre-existing stock from a different region.

I firmly believe the reason we are having this discussion is the value of the Euro release over the US release. If the UPC code didn't generate a nearly $1000 price difference, nobody would care. But it does, so here we are. It is tough to get a copy of this that has the limited amount of provenance available, but there are copies out there with the appropriate back story and paperwork (in this case, a UPC on a box). We've also seen at least anecdotal evidence of it being sold in magazine ads posted here as well. That's not total proof, but it lends credibility to the other facts we have. It's certainly an odd release and a hotly contested one, but I see no reason to not believe it should be considered a US release while other games (Radiant, Shenmue, etc) are not.

True, if there are 2 copies of the same game released with different UPC codes, they would be considered variants to most, if not all. But with Sonic, there was no other release of it here to be a variant of. My thoughts on what constitutes a "full set" would be one of each title released for a system in a region. With that definition, Sonic would fit as it was the only released version in the region but I would not need both releases of the proposed MK 2 as they were both sold in the same region.

What ultimately matters is that the buyer and seller are both happy with the transaction. As an SMS collector, I'm jealous of someone that has a legit copy and somewhat bummed knowing that I will likely never have a complete US set due to the fact that I choose to not pay the price it takes for a copy of Sonic with the UPC. But even that doesn't put me in a situation where I'll say it's not a legit release because despite the ambiguity and concerns about it, the evidence tells me that it is a real release.