Buck Rogers SNES Prototype Released!

Actually this is the 21st century A.D.

Out of far left field comes Buck Rogers: The Arcade Game for the SNES. This interesting game was never commercially released but has recently leaked online (google it, it's easy to find). Originally developed in 1993 by the French game developer, Loriciel, the game was eventually canned when the licencing agreement for using Buck Rogers, a popular late 1920's science fiction character, fell through. Loriciel didn't retreat, though, and decided to tweak the game and release it under the title, Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D. This allowed them to reuse their intellectual property from another Loriciel-developed title, Jim Power in Mutant Planet released on the Amiga in 1992.

He's literally inside of it.

This recently leaked game shares a lot of similarities with the tweaked final product, a game often hailed as the "most difficult game of all time". A few things that really stands out in Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D are the soundtrack by Chris Hülsbeck (famous composer of the Turrican soundtrack) and the mind-numbing 3-D effect by parallax scrolling.

Now let us compare this to the prototype of Buck Rogers.

They almost look... the exact same... I can't spend too much time staring at this, though, it is giving me a headache but I'm excited to see another unreleased game come out of the woodwork. I love these types of things and I wonder if it will have any effect on the price of Jim Power: Lost in Nausea. Feel free to pick up a copy if you have $5 and don't get seasick.

4th of July Top 4 Most AMERICAN Video Games

Ah, the smell of barbecue, the indistinct noise of children playing, and all the sights of what makes AMERICA the greatest nation on earth. I love the 4th of July. I love what it means. For me, the 4th of July means AMERICA, and I love AMERICA. So today, to celebrate our beautiful, God-graced nation, I have complied a short list of the Top 4 Most AMERICAN games ever. If you want to love our country, then I suggest you go out and buy these games... and hug a veteran. My list starts with the top of the top, I am of course referring to...

1. TOP GUN for the Nintendo NES

Jets. AMERICA. Machismo. AMERICA. Death of a friend. AMERICA. Guilt. AMERICA. Homoerotic undertones. AMERICA. Well, those things were more in the movie but at least the game had jets. In TOP GUN, you control an F-14 Tomcat flying around and shooting stuff to death. The game is notorious for its confusing controls and lack of forgiveness when it came to landing and refueling, but was nonetheless ground-breaking for its time. Current prices are hovering around $3.50 and I have to say, it is completely worth $3.50. I don't even own an NES and I have a copy.

2. Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror for the PS2

Following the tragedy of 9/11, developer Black Ops Entertainment decided to cash in on America's hatred for all things terror. They ended up making one of the most rushed and terrible games ever. Released as Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror in the US, it went by America's 10 Most Wanted everywhere else in the world. You play as Jake Seaver, a counter-terrorism agent with a God-given talent for punching terrorists. Across the games' 10 levels you, raid various locations in first-person shooter mode, then engage in a fighting minigame where you must punch a terrorist into an arrest. Nothing is more AMERICA than that. Of course, most soulless and AMERICA-hating game reviewers complained about the games poor graphics, story, mechanics, sound, and general lack of good gameplay but they missed the point. You get to punch terrorists. 

[AMERICA INTENSIFIES]

The final boss battle is you punching Osama bin Laden until he is arrested, because here in a AMERICA, we don't kill terrorists, we put 'em to trial [IRONY]. This game is worth every penny of the dollar that an average copy sells for.

3. M.A.C.S. for the Nintendo SNES

One of the rarest SNES games ever produced, M.A.C.S. was a shooting-simulator for the SNES and could only be played with an M16.

Well an M16 clone, the Jäger AP 74

M.A.C.S., or the Multi-purpose Arcade Combat Simulator, was your standard lightgun shooter and was developed as a cheap way for the U.S. Army to practice shooting without having to waste money on expensive things like bullets or real guns. There are three known versions of the software, and each version is basically an entirely new game.

There's reported to be fewer than 600 copies of each of the three versions made, making them INCREDIBLY RARE. They fetch around $800 as a complete set, but it is hard to get the rifle, since the U.S.Army doesn't like it when you remove guns from army bases and try to sell them on eBay.

so... epic...

4. Liberty or Death for the SNES and Genesis

The first time I saw this game, I freaked out. I had never seen something so perfect in all of my days as a U.S. Citizen. This game is the most AMERICAN of all time and it is actually a really GREAT turn-based RPG. You can either play as George Washington (greatest human of democracy) controlling the American Continental Army or Thomas Gage (scummiest scumbag of the monarchy) controlling the British Army, during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the game is to wipe out the enemy army from the colonies but to do so you must strategically move your troops around the map while also taking into effect various Loyalist and Rebel militias, Hessian mercenaries, and the various socioeconomic dynamics of the war. The game is lauded for its complex strategy depth and its historical accuracy. It is also incredibly long, you can play for hundreds of hours and still not reach a decisive end [COMMENTARY ON TODAY'S MILITARY]. In my opinion, it is also incredibly undervalued, the Genesis version sells for $12 and the SNES version is worth $22. If you are into war simulators and you haven't played this game, you aren't AMERICAN.

Monster Party Prototype Released!

Remember when we announced that a rare Monster Party Famicom prototype was up for sale on eBay? Well it ended up selling for £2,050.00 (or $3516.18), well outside of the price range of most collectors, but lo and behold! Now you can have it free! Mark Nolan, one of the two Super Nolan Bros., released the ROM earlier today. He is well known for his larger-than-life presence in the collecting community, breaking into the spotlight with the auction of his $55,000 Zelda Prototype. As an early 4th of July present to us all, he's released the Monster Party prototype rom for download! This prototype is notable for the many differences the early version had compared to the final commercially released product. Bosses were different, there was blood, even the title screen was different. Now you can enjoy the whole thing yourself. I wonder if this will have any effect on price of the regular Monster Party?

Earthbound Prices Revisited One Year After eShop Release

Almost one year ago, Earthbound was released for Wii U eShop. When it came out, we predicted Earthbound cartridge prices would decrease but not as significantly as other titles in similar circumstances.

How did we do? Spot on.

From the date of our prediction, the loose price decreased from $179 to $137 (-20%).

Some gamer's decided to buy the eShop version instead of the cartridge. So demand decreased a bit. There are lots of collectors out there who are willing to pay a premium for the original, which explains why prices didn't collapse.

This 20% decrease compares to a 40% decrease for Marvel vs Capcom 2 a year after its virtual release.

Two Wario Game Boys Surface

I must apologize but I'm on a Game Boy kick and nothing can stop me. Recently I received an email from a reader who saw my article on 7 Rare Game Boys. Apparently she's had two of those black Wario Game Boys in her attic for the past 20 years!

Satin curtains?

Turns out her two children won the Game Boys from a contest in The Sun, one of the UK's biggest tabloid magazines. The two Game Boys are pretty heavily-used and you can see the original paint under the black which leads me to believe that all these limited edition Game Boys were just painted over normal Game Boys. After talking to her for a while, she wishes to remain anonymous, she stated that she is going to hold on to them for a while before she decides to sell them. Sorry collectors, but we are all gonna have to miss out on this one.

A Look at the Limited Edition Kirby Game Boy

A few months ago, I wrote about 7 super rare Game Boys even I didn't know about. Recently an auction went up on eBay then was quickly deleted for the rare Kirby Game Boy. I managed to snag the photos though, so I thought I would share them and talk a little about the item.

RUN KIRBY, RUN.

Oh wow, you gotta love that hot pink paint job and rapidly-moving Kirby. Look at the speed lines on that baby. Also note that there is no "NINTENDO GAME BOY" painted on the body. I assume this console just had the case painted over and then painted on with a Kirby stencil.

Notice the sticker.

The auction even came with the box. Notice the Limited Edition sticker slapped on. That sticker is the same one on the Wario Game Boys.

The fine print says I won a lifetime of pain. :(

Now we are getting to the interesting stuff. The auction even included the paperwork! These little pieces of minutia are often missing and are hard to hold on to. They always increase the value of the item and are important for proving that the item in question is not a fake. Turns out that these Kirby Game Boys were a part of Prince Giant Mallows promotion sponsored by Jacob's Bakery, a British company.

More paperwork...

He even included the winning certificate! I love these little things. I think it is great that he kept everything. Sadly the auction went down very quickly and I'm not sure what happened to the Game Boy. If I had to put a price on it, including all the paperwork and the box, I think such a rare item would fetch for over $300.