Quote Originally Posted by understatement View Post
I think the problem is that people on the fence and people that think SMS Sonic should not be considered a U.S. release only see us saying the difference in the UPC is the key but that’s for this particular instance.

We all agree that Sonic without UPC sticker is different than Sonic with UPC sticker. Even if it is just the sticker you can logically tell them apart right? The non-sticker copy was only sold in Europe and the sticker copy was only sold in the U.S. right? The next logical conclusion to me is to say non-sticker copy = EU and sticker copy = U.S.

Now we put Radiant Silvergun (a game with a similar history) to the same test a U.S. purchased copy next to a Japanese purchased copy and can you tell what one is what? I say no they’re identical down to the last pixel in the last piece of Japanese text.

Then there’s things like the GBA games where they say “see the UPC doesn’t count for that much” and in the GBA games case no it doesn’t but when you put them through the same test low and behold you can tell what game is what without the need of the UPC.

Now with the variant argument I’ll say it again if SMS Sonic got a reprint in the U.S. that changed something on the packaging it would be a variant and if it was the same it would be a second print run.

So in conclusion I’m not saying the UPC should be taken as an absolute for defining what region a game was released in (in this case it just happens to work) but each game should be taken case by case. Seems most people agree with this for things like Atari but somehow after Nintendo everything has to be black and white?
But as I mentioned earlier, how can one tell the difference between a loose American copy, and a loose European copy? Do all loose American copies suddenly become European, since they no longer have the box with the UPC? I just can't wrap my head around this point.