Sonic crackers proto arrived! \o/

o1s1n

Just thought I'd celebrate my 10,000th post by dedicating a thread to what will perhaps be the pinnacle of my ridiculous videogames purchases.. :pac: There are few things that pop up for sale in which I would be kicking myself if I let slip by. This was one of them.

Nobody really knows how many of these carts are in existence, but some reckon between 10 and 15.

This particular cart came out of a proto find back in 1997. The guys were mainly after 2600 games and this came lumped in with the find. It was sitting in storage for 10 years and then went into the posession of the guy I bought it from over on sega-16.

It hasn't been dumped, but they reckon it's similar to the other protos out there. It has the same serial number on the 'Sonic Crackers' screen. Still, I might try to dump it at some point.

Anyway, on to the photos!









It has one of those Sega boot up logos where each letter zooms in. You have to press start really quickly or it'll crash at A like so -



Menu screen. You have to press start here quickly or it'll crash too -

amacachi

Meh.

o1s1n

amacachi wrote: »

Meh.

/bitchslap :pac:

Professey Chin

What a ridiculous purchase indeed...............I must have one

Retr0gamer

Do I want to know how much you spent on it?

Also if it is a unique rom you really should find some one to dump it. There's nothing I hate more than collectors sitting on stuff like dreamcast protos.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Do I want to know how much you spent on it?

Well lets just say there goes my Radiant Silvergun money for the moment anyway

Ah well, there are lots more opportunities to buy that. Not so much the case with this.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Also if it is a unique rom you really should find some one to dump it. There's nothing I hate more than collectors sitting on stuff like dreamcast protos.

Aye, you're right. I'm going to look into getting one of those MD backup systems like the Famicom one I have. Could dump it with that. If I can't find one there's also a way of dumping carts using a Mega CD.

Atavan-Halen

Very very nice indeed. I wonder what would happen if you popped onto sonic & kuckles? :pac:

*I would thanks but I'm on mobile atm

o1s1n

atavan-halen wrote: »

I wonder what would happen if you popped onto sonic & kuckles? :pac:

:eek:

/back in a jiffy!

/edit - awh, nothing might be able to do something interesting with a Game Geanie though.

Retr0gamer

Well you can try out radiant silvergun on saturday but it might not be a good idea. As a shooter fan your bank manager might be meeting you discussing a loan for an 'investment' in a rare videogame :P

I wonder what the channels are to get a proto rom distributed? Maybe the Guru rom dumper or ask on the HG101 forums???

Atavan-Halen

o1s1n wrote: »

:eek:

/back in a jiffy!

/edit - awh, nothing might be able to do something interesting with a Game Geanie though.

No way?

Butch Cassidy

Sorry, I'm new. What the hell is this? Aside from retro game porn

I know Sonic, have the PS2 collections as well as some Mega Drive games. I'm terribly confused....

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well you can try out radiant silvergun on saturday but it might not be a good idea. As a shooter fan your bank manager might be meeting you discussing a loan for an 'investment' in a rare videogame :P

God damn it man, can you accidentally leave it at home please?!

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I wonder what the channels are to get a proto rom distributed? Maybe the Guru rom dumper or ask on the HG101 forums???

I haven't a clue! Not something I thought I'd ever have to do.

I had a reread through the thread and although it hasn't been dumped, the prior owner said it seems similar to the dumped rom. The only difference I can see so far between mine and the rom is mine crashes on the main menu when the others dont. (a unique glitch, hurrah! ) Here's the thread anyway, there are a couple of interesting posts about the carts origin -

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3429

amacachi

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

Sorry, I'm new. What the hell is this? Aside from retro game porn

I know Sonic, have the PS2 collections as well as some Mega Drive games. I'm terribly confused....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Crackers

o1s1n

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

Sorry, I'm new. What the hell is this? Aside from retro game porn

I know Sonic, have the PS2 collections as well as some Mega Drive games. I'm terribly confused....

In a nut shell, it's an unreleased Sonic Sega Megadrive game.

The idea was scrapped and the game mechanic was used for Knuckles Chaotix on the 32X instead. There were a few early development prototypes the team made to see if the game would work. This is one of them

Game wise, there are only a couple of levels, and they're pretty glitchy. But it's still a pretty interesting thing to own!

Butch Cassidy

Hah I just did a search and came across this - http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11147

Wow you must be a Fianna Fail banker to afford that


I'm assuming I could download this for an emulator or something?

Retr0gamer

The last time I played it there was only an extremely basic level that glitched like **** after a while and a map screen that didn't work.

o1s1n

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

Hah I just did a search and came across this - http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11147

Wow you must be a Fianna Fail banker to afford that

Okay well it wasn't THAT much. Was a lot less than I was expecting it to be when I clicked on the thread. Would be why I contimplated buying it

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

I'm assuming I could download this for an emulator or something?

Yep, you can. As I said, don't be expecting much. It's pretty much one level with no enemies with Sonic and tails tethered together similar to Knuckles Chaotix.

There's also another isometric type level where you wander about. I think theres another level, I just haven't been able to access the level select menu on this as it crashes. Should be able to on the rom though.

Butch Cassidy

Eh ok... you're mad buying something that's not even worth playing :pac:

o1s1n

/facepalm.

Kind of missed the point of a prototype :P

Myrddin

amacachi wrote: »

Meh.

Jealously doesn't become you Amacachi

Butch Cassidy wrote: »

Eh ok... you're mad buying something that's not even worth playing :pac:

For a collector, a very warm feeling comes from the fact of knowing that you own something of which there are only a handful of in existence...

Edit -o1s1n, if your stuck I can dump the cart via the Tototek programmer. Its as simple as pressing "Read". For the sake of completion, you should def dump the cart and submit it for inclulsion into the goodsets.

landsleaving

Wowzers, that's one impressive piece of collectable goodness. Probably gonna be worth a fortune in the future. I hope you have some sort of ridiculous security set up around it with tripwires and an alarmed glass case and lasers.

/gets solid snake outfit and pack of smokes.

CiDeRmAn

Congrats on the purchase, that could be the investment of a lifetime, depending on how desirable the game becomes of course, but fingers crossed!
Don't tell Sera, she'll be outside you gaff in a raccoon/ninja suit, ready to swoop in and swipe it, Swiper No Swiping! Swiper No Swiping!

batari

That is sweet. Never heard of that before. But more importantly, did ya get any of the 2600 games that it had the honour of sharing a box with??!!:)

o1s1n

EnterNow wrote: »

Edit -o1s1n, if your stuck I can dump the cart via the Tototek programmer. Its as simple as pressing "Read". For the sake of completion, you should def dump the cart and submit it for inclulsion into the goodsets.

Cheers! I didn't know the Tototek could do that?

I'm after ordering a Sega Mega CD transfer cable from Tototek. I don't know if you've seen one, but they connect the Megadrive controller port 2 to a PC serial cable. It allows you to dump the Mega CD bios, but also any game that's plugged into the Megadrive.

I'll see how I go with that. If it doesn't work then I'd be up for dropping it out to you. Armed gardai accompanying of course

landsleaving wrote: »

Wowzers, that's one impressive piece of collectable goodness. Probably gonna be worth a fortune in the future. I hope you have some sort of ridiculous security set up around it with tripwires and an alarmed glass case and lasers.

/gets solid snake outfit and pack of smokes.

Unfortunately not, the height of my security is a Megadrive clamshell saying 'Sonic Crackers prototype'.

Perhaps I should change the label to 'Generic Sega Megadrive game'. or even put it in an old Championship Manager case. Nobody would ever dream of looking in that....

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Congrats on the purchase, that could be the investment of a lifetime, depending on how desirable the game becomes of course, but fingers crossed!
Don't tell Sera, she'll be outside you gaff in a raccoon/ninja suit, ready to swoop in and swipe it, Swiper No Swiping! Swiper No Swiping!

OMG! I knew there was a sinister reason why Sera couldn't come to the beers! :eek:

atariman wrote: »

That is sweet. Never heard of that before. But more importantly, did ya get any of the 2600 games that it had the honour of sharing a box with??!!:)

There was a prototype for something called Air Raid. It looked pretty stupid so I cast it to the bin.

In all seriousness though, it shows you how collecting has changed. Originally this prototype was just thrown in as a novelty freebee with the 2600 stuff.
'Ah would you look at that, an unreleased Sonic game..I guess we might as well hang onto it...' /throws into a box for ten years

Myrddin

Well you can dump SNES carts via the programmer, so I just assumed the MD one worked the same - I havnt tried yet so its open to correction. Either way that cable should work flawlessy for you, I remember talking to the guy who developed the method YEARS ago (Arakon), same guy who developed the muti-region sega cd bios chip...

To anyone interested you can also make those cables yourself, but last time I checked Tototek retailed them cheaply so buying one is a handier way to go.

o1s1n

Yep you can indeed. I was going to make one myself as you just have to solder the corresponding pins together.

However you'd need to sacrifice a Megadrive pad and a serial cable. Factor in the time it'll take to make and suddenly 15 dollars with free postage doesn't seem like very much!

Jack burton

looks nice man, this just makes my complete gunstar heroes on the way look like nothing

o1s1n

It does kind of make it hard to get excited about anything else.

/Begins hunting down a Sonic 1 prototype.

Jack burton

Sure look you might aswell just give away your collection and start collecting prototypes only.

yes I think that would be the right thing to do. and before you throw out your MD collection I'll take a few games off your hands! I dont mind at all!

o1s1n

Dark Savior

Niiice,if I had that I'd probably send herself into the spare room and cuddle up to it for a few nights lol.O.....k I've said too much,enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling of owning something noone else has :pac:

o1s1n

'I now pronounce you man and prototype, you may kiss the cart casing...no not the pcb slot, you dirty whore!'

Butch Cassidy

o1s1n wrote: »

It does kind of make it hard to get excited about anything else.

/Begins hunting down a Sonic 1 prototype.

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showpost.php?p=58427&postcount=37 :pac:

Retr0gamer

I hope you are ready for the 'who do you love more, the prototype or me!' argument with the girlfriend.

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I hope you are ready for the 'who do you love more, the prototype or me!' argument with the girlfriend.

I already get that with videogames in general.

Mrs o1s1n - 'Sometimes I think you love your videogames more than you love me'

o1s1n - /blank stare.

I better shut up, she reads boards :pac:

Retr0gamer

Compliment her by telling her she is the panzer dragoon saga of women

Myrddin

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Compliment her by telling her she is the panzer dragoon saga of women

Or the Sonic Crackers of women - rare, desireable, only a handful of good ones...but temperamental

KeRbDoG

If the ROM hasn't been dumped before and you have a SegaCD, why not dump it for the world
http://retrodev.com/transfer.html
(didn't realise that it would be so simple btw)

Retr0gamer

Bring it on saturday, I'll hold on to it for you :P

o1s1n

kerbdog wrote: »

If the ROM hasn't been dumped before and you have a SegaCD, why not dump it for the world
http://retrodev.com/transfer.html
(didn't realise that it would be so simple btw)

Already have one on the way

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Bring it on saturday, I'll hold on to it for you :P

I'm worried Sera will use the opportunity to sneak into my house while I'm gone, so I may have to! :eek:

KeRbDoG

o1s1n wrote: »

Already have one on the way

Nice think yea need a US (or a modded) Sega/MegaCD as the version of that ripping/dumping tool that allows larger carts is US only it would seem

Myrddin

kerbdog wrote: »

Nice think yea need a US (or a modded) Sega/MegaCD as the version of that ripping/dumping tool that allows larger carts is US only it would seem

Good point, I never thought of that. You can use my mega cd in that case if your stuck o1s1n.

o1s1n

To be honest I haven't even looked into the rom dumping software yet. Is it only larger carts that require an NTSC Sega CD? As Sonic Crackers is quite small.

o1s1n

Bit of a necro post but it's for good reason.

I had a lad called Mike from Nintendoplayer.com contact me last week saying he was writing an article about the origins of the Sonic Crackers carts. Namely my one as it had a bit of traceable history to it.

Seems he's actually managed to trace the cart all the way back to the Sega Employee which it came from. Makes for interesting reading!

http://www.nintendoplayer.com/prototype/following-the-trail-of-cracker-crumbs-the-origins-of-sonic-crackers/

Pyongyang

That's a great read! I love stories like that! Now if only we could find a proto of Dick Tracy on the C64 and track that back to the suit that signed off on it.

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

That's a great read! I love stories like that! Now if only we could find a proto of Dick Tracy on the C64 and track that back to the suit that signed off on it.

Should I play this Dick Tracy game just so I know how bad it is?

.

Pyongyang

Yes. Though I will not be responsible for you crying your eyes out and wanting to put butter knives up your hoop to block out the hurt you will suffer.

It's so bad that even when you walk to the next screen the music suffers slowdown.

It's probably my favourite version of the game and one of my favourites of all time. I suggest playing it on your cab, just for the hoot.

o1s1n

Pyongyang wrote: »

That's a great read! I love stories like that!

I love stories about tracking stuff down like that myself. Bit of a mad one when you're actually included in one though :pac:

Pyongyang

Just a bit, must feel very odd! I remember reading a blog a guy made about collecting Famicom games and he always preferred to buy the really beaten up copies.

Games with stickers on them, writing and drawings. He said they made the games more personable and a gave a bit more of a story to them out of curiosity for whom might have owned them before.

Atavan-Halen

Great read!

o1s1n

Holy mother****ing ****balls. The weirdest thing in the world just happened.