Well, some topics seem to get off ‘topic’ lately, and get into a discussion of repros and the process…what we are doing next ect.

I thought it might be a good idea to post stuff on this thread..organize it a bit.

Maybe make other threads that deal with cart shells or if we have a viable connector ect.

Now…where are we atm with reproductions

Well let’s see

I’m planning on sending out the free carts still. Need to get the labels..I’m going to send out 70 carts it looks like.

People that get a free cart can order the packaging at tusks website. The packaging has a small hold up on the hint-book. We’re not sure how much it will cost yet..depends on how many pages the instructions and hintbook has…Poster looks really sweet..morintari did the artwork for the poster and hintbook ect..

For people that want to buy one CIB…we will offer a few CIB (25?) (should the labels be the same?) Funny thing happened. After I released the rom..I stopped getting emails about copy-write stuff.

Blox will be released soonish..we’re going to do a small release at first (25) to make sure there is interest. Blox 2 isn’t going to be done yet..small issue with the save function.

Fastball: remastered still looks like it’s a go. Most of thunderstrucks changes that he has planned has been coded..But the job of coding 50 + levels might take a bit.

We’re going to do a small resupply of the boundhigh/space pinball carts in tusks store (25 of each). This will be the last resupply planned for a bit..so we can get other games done. So, if you haven’t gotten one..order them now (will be a few weeks til we get the new carts in)

After that..nothings been decided.

If we do an english version of gundam..prices will be higher. Richard has to make it have sram..so production costs on his side will be higher. I can prob get the batteries pretty cheap on my side..and install them in the USA.

Other ideas…english version of space squash (if it gets fully translated). I think this is a much better game (fun) to play then gundam. But, you really NEED the translation of gundam to play it..while space squash you can just pick up and play. So, not sure on which one I’d like done first…but I’d like both done.

Homebrews ? Should we split the more ‘commercial’ releases with homebrew releases ? I guess we’ll have to see how well blox does.

Fishbones…

gamehero…

Soviet Union collection…maybe horvat can combine his roms into one ‘collection’..if he wants to..we can do a release with that…

Virtual Chris came out with a bunch of games..maybe a collection ? have to see the interest

Anyway..just wanted to update people on where we are at.

Also, 3 kinda small points I want to make..might seem small..but I want to get it out there before any potential problems happen…

1st. My thoughts might not be Tusk’s or Mindstorm’s…so if I posts my thoughts here..please don’t take it as their thoughts 🙂 Just cuz I say something here..doesn’t make it ‘official’ stuff.

2nd. You can post want you want to see done..but even if we get 20 posts saying ‘we want gundam’..don’t be upset if squash or something else is done first. Maybe we can get to the point that we have a vote on which game comes out next…but we aren’t there yet. We might not have the chips for a certain game..or the manual might not be done ect.

3rd. If I talk about games about to come out..or plans for future games..doesn’t mean we’re doing pre-order’s 🙂 It would be helpful to know how many people are wanting to buy a game..but I don’t think we’ll be taking money ahead of time yet. That first bound high thing was a bit of a mess. Tusk had the packaging..then all of a sudden we could do CIB’s..but people didn’t seem to understand the time it took to get the connectors send them off to mindstorm..get them back..put the carts together ect. If we do any type of pre-ordering thingy..I think Tusk will post on another thread or something.

-Bigmak

Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

Guy Perfect wrote:
Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

So you must really hate NintendoAGE then because the constantly reproduce games. Either Japanese translations or unreleased prototypes.

Guy Perfect wrote:
Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

Dude… do you really want to be “that guy”?

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Guy Perfect wrote:
Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

Dude… do you really want to be “that guy”?

Here here Ben. (or, Hear Hear Ben. For the spelling police)

I am however intrigued as to how ‘I won’t allow it to happen’ would be implemented.

Hedgetrimmer wrote:

Guy Perfect wrote:
Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

Here here Ben. (or, Hear Hear Ben. For the spelling police)

I am however intrigued as to how ‘I won’t allow it to happen’ would be implemented.

I’ve learned over the years never to underestimate the capabilities of any one individual. It’s amazing how far one’s conviction can motivate him or her to stand behind a solid set of core values and effectuate change.

With that said, I understand Guy Perfect’s position of wanting to uphold copyrights. Integrity is a key factor in my field of employment, and it may very well be the same for him.

I do, however, feel this may be going a bit too far given the fact that these reproductions are based on a system that has been dead for close to 20 years and titles that no longer contribute to their respective companys’ portfolio. Some games may still live on in variations, but I fail to see how any of these companies would consider reengineered Virtual Boy games a threat to their bottom line.

I’m not well versed in the language of intellectual property rights, but it seems like the cost to pursue “action” may outweigh the benefits for these respective companies, especially based on the very limited demand and distribution for these games. I would definitely understand the conflict if Virtual Boy games were still being produced and available for retail purchase, but they aren’t.

It’s not the fact that we are distributing these for monetary profit. Rather, these ideas have been circulating so that all can enjoy the hard work of the original people and companies that created these games. Since being written off and all games/accessories liquidated thereafter, the Virtual Boy has not yielded any benefits for those companies. I guess I just don’t the point this far after the complete demise of the system.

Now that the Virtual Boy is in the annals of Nintendo history, it seems only fitting that we, the premier Virtual Boy community in the world, carry on its legacy.

…but that’s just my two cents.

Dor-Si wrote:

I would definitely understand the conflict if Virtual Boy games were still being produced and available for retail purchase, but they aren’t.

The same case was made for NES, SNES and even Nintendo 64 titles up until the introduction of the Wii Virtual Console (and to a lesser extent, the GBA Classic NES Series). There is precedent for the argument of “the games are not currently being sold” failing to hold up in the long run.

Incidentally, the legal action associated with infringement relating to international copyright agreements is not that of a civil lawsuit, but of criminal prosecution. Hosting companies, internet providers and even governments take the issue very seriously.

Wow. You truly do want to be “that guy.”

That’s sad.

Guy Perfect wrote:
Distributing or selling commercial games, even if translated, is very illegal. Don’t do it. I won’t allow it to happen.

Somehow I never get your point. You ‘allowed’ the reproduction of bound high and space pinball. Also, you never tried to stop the release of faceball. All of those games are copyright protected.

Roms of the translatated games have been published and you ‘allowed’ that as well. However, if someone starts a none profit project and tries to distribute a very small number of modified games you jump in and ruin it?

For me it looks like you don’t bother about copyrights at all. You just like to be the guy who has a different opinion.

Just as a side note: I have seen translated Roms been published on NA with the explicit request to not use them for reproductions. However, there is a group of people that doesn’t care and simply makes money by reselling those translations as physical cards. Multiple people tried to stop them by blaming them to the original copyright holders, web-hoster and so on. Nothing changed there.

Oki…this thread has taken a turn…now

where we are at

The connectors are getting boards for the restocking of bound high and space pinball (25 each)..again..last time these will be restocked in awhile (might be over a year..unless we have a HUGE surge of people requesting)..we’re moving on.

25 prototype faceballs are also getting ready to go to the store. Around the same time..the paper for the cib’s will go on sale (to those who get free carts in the mail). Cart’s are still waiting labels.

I’m getting more baseballs in..also I have to unshell what I have here. We’ll use those for a 50 cib run of an english gundam release, also a 75 cib run of faceball: remastered.

After that..I’ll try to pick up more baseballs..these will prob go to restocking the store for blox/gundam/faceball: remastered….maybe around that time we can get a 50 cart release of space squash..or fishbones…we’ll see..we’re talking more distant future stuff here.

Also talked to tusk. For those wanting to make there own boxes/manuals. The files to make them will be released after a period of time (like 6 months after we start selling them ???? no clue).

So…

Coming soon:
Restocking bound high/space pinball
(25) cib release of blox *price not known
(25) cib release of faceball: prototype *price not known
IB release of faceball: prototype *price not known
(70) mailing out free faceball prototype carts *free ya bastads

Coming later:
(50) case release of English gundam *price will be higher then normal
(75) Faseball: remastered *price not known

Coming in the future:
restocking facball: remastered, gundam, blox
space squash/fishbones ??

As always…all above is not in concrete ..these are future plans and might change. Just want to give you guys a heads up..we are not doing pre-orders on anything that might change 🙂

-Eric

Thanks for the update Eric.

Nice update Eric.

Have been interested in this topic for a while. 😀
Just never really posted a comment :).

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the update! Sounds like I’ll need to set aside *some* money for VB games in the near future, heh.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

1. Dragon Hopper
2. Mansion of Insmouse (North American Version)
3. Polygo Block
4. Virtual Block
5. Virtual Bomberman
6. Virtual Double Yakuman
7. Virtual Fishing (North American Version)
8. Virtual Jockey
9. Zero Racers

So these were all most likely completed, but we’ve never talked to anyone who currently has em. Should a US version of Gundam be on there, or was that not gonna happen?

Looks like a lot of potentially two player games in there (5, 6, 9 and possibly 8), Might be time for me to rig up another gamelink cable to get ready. If we ever get repros of those there should be a Two-pack special that comes with a cart CIB (if the art and instructions show up), a Cart without box and a makeshift gamelink.

Personally I’d REALLY like to see 9, 5, 1, 4 in that order. I’d like to see all of them really, But 2, 3 and 7 aren’t as important since we have them in an existing form already and the last two (6 and 8) are too japanacentric for me (although I’ll still take what I can get when it comes to the VB, so I’d buy if I had the chance).

Anyways, looking forward to getting FB and hope we get some dates for a Gundam Translation Soon. All the ingredients already exist, right? (as in the Batt cart and a Translated Rom).

Quote:

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

1. Dragon Hopper
2. Mansion of Insmouse (North American Version)
3. Polygo Block
4. Virtual Block
5. Virtual Bomberman
6. Virtual Double Yakuman
7. Virtual Fishing (North American Version)
8. Virtual Jockey
9. Zero Racers

I don’t know of anyone that knows anything about who has these roms. There are no talks that I know of to get these roms..there are no plans to make these CIB’s…Just don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Even IF someone somehow gets the roms..I think there is a low chance that the 2-player code was coded into the games…

I think the best bet if you want 2-player games is homebrew…but it’s the chicken and the egg..the coders prob need cables to help code homebrew games…but who’s going to try to mass produce cables without the games…

I don’t see the translated gundam happening <3 months. I don't even have all the connectors in hand..then taking the carts apart..sending them off ..that's not to mention changes that might be needed on the paper side of things...

-Eric

oh yeah, Unless there was actual code already on the cart for two player I seriously doubt any would come around. Thats just me sharing pipe dreams and what ifs.

Kind of the same for the remaining “known” missing games being found and put on a cart. Its just hard not to talk out loud about dreams when THREE completely unreleased games somehow made it to not just cart, but cart with frickin’ box!

ectoglow wrote:

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

1. Dragon Hopper
2. Mansion of Insmouse (North American Version)
3. Polygo Block
4. Virtual Block
5. Virtual Bomberman
6. Virtual Double Yakuman
7. Virtual Fishing (North American Version)
8. Virtual Jockey
9. Zero Racers

So these were all most likely completed, but we’ve never talked to anyone who currently has em. Should a US version of Gundam be on there, or was that not gonna happen?

I don’t think there has ever been any official mention anywhere that Bandai was planning to let Gundam be released in English or allow some other company to release it for North America, so it shouldn’t be on there unless we find out more information that indicates that it deserves to be there.

Also, there isn’t enough evidence to say that all of these unreleased games were “most likely completed,” only that all of these games were developed to a certain extent and that XX% finished versions of the games are most likely out there somewhere in some form. Based on the observable evidence, it can only be said with confidence that Dragon Hopper was 100% finished, and therefore, there should be a 100% finished version of the game out there, unless it got lost, and this can be gathered from what was written about it in the Nintendo Power preview found in Issue 86. There it reads:

“Despite its challenging leaps and mazes, Dragon Hopper isn’t a difficult game to finish. Since the game doesn’t force players to build levels or spend hours trying to defeat a frustrating guardian, a few hard-core gamers might even finish their quest in one weekend. But the game has so many random spells and hidden areas that players won’t be able to find all of them in a single game.”

I am strongly convinced that Nintendo Power would not have written this if they didn’t already have a 100% finished game in their possession, which could be finished by a gamer in a single weekend.

Ehh… I take anything Nintendo Power says with a grain of salt: Especially at that time, it was a marketing mouthpiece for Nintendo directly, so I don’t know that I’d take their word as law.

But I would wager they probably had a version of DH that was super close to completion, if it wasn’t 100% complete.

So far as I’ve been able to glean, people have essentially said: “There are prototypes you’ll never hear of” and left it at that. If anyone does have Dragon Hopper or Zero Racers or anything else, we’ll have to pry ’em from their cold, dead hands.

Or we’ll have to raise a bigmak-ian sum of cash to buy the dumps off ’em, but even if anyone has them they don’t seem to be sharing anyway… so all we can do is wait. I wouldn’t even know who to throw money at. We’d probably have to have a (minimum) 5-figure sum of money available to send to someone directly before anyone would even *talk* to us. My guess would be that DogP knows who to talk to, but it seems like he isn’t around much these days or doesn’t want to be pestered; dunno.

Oh, and as a note for people talking about the Gundam Translation: There IS a translation patch available made by Ben Stevens & his brother, here: http://www.planetvb.com/modules/games/?r011d

It seemed like some people were talking like they didn’t know about it, so there’s that, haha. Combined with a flash cart, you can play it on real hardware!

jrronimo wrote:
Ehh… I take anything Nintendo Power says with a grain of salt: Especially at that time, it was a marketing mouthpiece for Nintendo directly, so I don’t know that I’d take their word as law.

But I would wager they probably had a version of DH that was super close to completion, if it wasn’t 100% complete.

Well, in addition to the Nintendo Power evidence, there is also the Vidpro Card evidence:

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/advertising/?v

While it is true that Vidpro cards were made before a game’s official release, there is good reason to suppose that Vidpro would not have gone to the trouble, and especially would not have wanted to endure the expense, of making a Vidpro card for a game unless they had very good reason to suppose that the game was going to be released, and I would think that it would have been in the form of the developer informing Vidpro that the game was done, mass production would begin or had already begun, and perhaps even a specific release date would have been known.

Now, I still have my doubts about whether or not the images of the Dragon Hopper Vidpro card that appear online are truly images of a genuine Vidpro card, but I am more inclined to conclude that the images do in fact portray a genuine Vidpro card that was made for Dragon Hopper rather than a hoax, especially since the discernible screenshot on the back is different from all of the other screenshots from known, trustworthy sources. If a hoaxer made a fake Dragon Hopper Vidpro card, then that hoaxer must have access to Dragon Hopper.

Hrnms I understand the thought of unreleased prototypes captures the mind and people want to talk about them. But, it seems like threads like this one go off tangent quite a bit…

Please..lets use this thread to talk about the current state of reproductions…i’m not sure how dragon hopper and zero racers will be produced anytime soon….