shenmueso wrote:
true, it’s just irritating when some lovely people from the community put it out there for free.
I’m with you there, believe me I’m no bigger a fan of the practice of price gouging than you are, especially for items that people put work into and released without making that money themselves.
The guy selling it goes by the name of MrCollectibles, I think it’s a bit unrealistic to expect that anytime a copy of this game changes that it’ll end up in the hands of someone looking to just own and play the game, and not someone looking to cash in on its rarity and collectibility. Welcome to the world of collecting, this isn’t the last time you’ll see one of these releases for sale for a premium price, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some sellers were looking to dig deeper into your pockets than this one. As they say “vote with your wallet”. If you don’t want perceived values to go up, do your part by not paying big premiums. If one sells for $300, you know the next guy is going to be asking $400. If it doesn’t sell at all for $300, that says the game isn’t worth $300 and it’ll eventually drop in price.
I think what the OP might be asking is, are repros done away from PlanetVB still considered as “official” (for lack of a better, non-oxymoronic term, if one exists) as the PlanetVB unlicensed releases.
Lester Knight wrote:
i’ve never sat and played snatcher all the way through on the sega cd. is there much backtracking? as far as the FB goes, is the save overwritten with each new flash? i like the idea of giving to charity, that is a great idea.
I’ve never played it all the way through either, but unless you are extremely thorough during your first playthrough, some backtracking will be inevitable (didn’t take an item you realized you needed, forgot a piece of information given to you by someone that is necessary to advance, etc), but I never found the gameplay to be tedious at all.
Quaze wrote:
Just while we’re here, if in the event this ever becomes a physical release, absolutely add me to the list, I don’t care if it’s in 2 years, this post is my commitment to being “in” :p
Nitrosoxide wrote:
Put me down for a copy too. I would definitely pay for a physical release of this.
I still plan to finish Snatcher. It’s kind of hard for me to get started again because I know as soon as I do it will consume allot of my time.
I’m also not sure how I feel about a physical release. While I like the idea I do have a problem with infringing copyrights.
I can certainly understand your reservations there and I do respect them. I don’t know if there’s any way to release the game as a “not-for-profit-making” fan project or how one would fund or approach such a project without stepping into those waters. Most ways I can think of could also be perceived as a loophole/circumvention with some nefariously-perceived intent attached to it, and most would basically equate to you selling the game to cover the cost of producing it, without making any profit for yourself.
Two issues with that: One, you’d still be “selling” the game, even if you weren’t “profiting” from the game. Two, it’s a lot of work, and you deserve something for that work. I understand there is such a thing as a “labour of love”, but nobody here expects (or wants) you to invest time and effort into something of that scale without compensating you in some way, your efforts deserve rewarding.
So there are some of the roadblocks, if there is anything we can do to break them down, by all available means we will. I certainly have no expectations at this point, but man, pie-in-the-sky it sure would be sweet for something like this to see the light of day someday.
Just while we’re here, if in the event this ever becomes a physical release, absolutely add me to the list, I don’t care if it’s in 2 years, this post is my commitment to being “in” :p
Nitrosoxide wrote:
Anyone make one of these that looks professional enough that they’d think of selling them?
I’d love to buy a well made one that looked good aesthetically.
I know there’s this DIY article, but the result is functional but not too pleasing on the eyes in my own opinion.
Ben Heck’s idea of using the strap from a hardhat or faceshield assembly seems the most aesthetically pleasing way I’ve seen to date. You can find the video of Ben Heck’s VB teardown on the main page of the site.
Benjamin Stevens wrote:
You’re welcome, and thanks!
I’ll try to get the scans made for the ’96 report by this weekend. Even though there isn’t much mention of the Virtual Boy in that one, it’ll be nice to have for Nintendo fans.
Man I must’ve spent half an hour reading through all that just now, awesome stuff. Thanks a lot for scanning it!
Quaze wrote:
This is insanity 😄😄 If you guys knew how little it would take for me to give up and go buy a new VB, you’d be laughing right along with (or at) me. 😄
Thinking that a “new” VB is guaranteed to work, while not insanity, is at least naivety…
Even VBs that were never opened and sat perfectly still in a shipping container for over a decade exhibit the display problems. It’s inherent in the design, and this kind of cable bypass or the (relatively much easier) standard solder fix are the only ways to make sure the glitches don’t return.
How many easily reparable VBs have you thrown away? 😛
Lol ok maybe that came off a bit like I’d throw it in the trash for a scuffed lens :p What I meant was that if the repair required any more than a regular Joe’s workshop expertise or soldering iron finesse, I’d probably sell it as-is to someone on these boards who really know what they’re doing, and get myself another unit. To answer your question (yes I know it wasn’t a “real” question :p), I’ve been lucky to never experience any mechanical issues at all with my VBs. Then again I have paid higher prices before to ensure I got units in great cosmetic/functional order, and being an OCD sufferer I pretty much handle my VB with the care a new mother might exercise while handling her child for the first time :p Fingers crossed the good fortune keeps up!
Holy crap, that looks like an insane amount of work. Naïve me thought I’d just see an arcade stick with a VB controller end on it somehow. Truly insane, I wonder if the aesthetic of just a regular arcade stick with VB controller guts can be achieved. Love to see that 🙂
RetroDan wrote:
I don’t know if anyone else has discussed this possibility, but has it occurred to anyone that the V9 series are likely units that were sent to Nintendo for repair? I know that SNES units sent in to Nintendo were given new serial number stickers beginning with ‘9’ to denote that they had been repaired under warranty – the similarities between that and the VB, a mere handful of years later (when they would almost certainly adhere to the same process) are hard to deny.
I believe this is the reason for the “V9” serial numbers, and the fact that the V9 stickers were placed right over the V1 stickers suggests this as well.
