There is an even higher form of collecting!

Yes, its true. Im talking about prototypes, unreleased games and development kits. Now what i tell may sound weird but there is a very big underground market for these types of things. Mostly Japan, to get inside these collecting societies is very hard and dangerous (yes, dangerous).


Advance Wars 64
Star Control (was showed on E3 sealed in a sealed PSX)
The white M2 (the M2 developer kit)
Robotech 64
Gamecube Dolphin Cartridge version (a red gamecube without dvd but cartridge, some even have dolphin logos!)
Konami Famicom
Sega Master System Disk System (only 1 functional unit made)
Sega Saturn developer kit (extremely rare)
Super NES CD prototype (found in a dumpster!)
Prototype cartridges from SNES (think starfox 2 etc)
Mirai


I will scan in photos of some of these later. Most of the article source was the collector "Assembler". Some might know his website.



What interests me is that the article describes how one type of collectors wants to buy these things and share them to the public, while others just want them to be secrets forever. You see, many companies even pays alot of money to get their old software and hardware prototypes back, often they are then locked forever in storage. An example: the only known Virtual Boy prototype was bought for 3 000 dollar, on a "secret" auction, and is now stored in a anonymous collectors valve.

why is it dangerous?

I heard of some of those mentioned games....but a sealed Star Control (with tear strip???)???
Wow....a sealed One of a kind....is there a pic of this game?

striker wrote:why is it dangerous?

Dangerous because if you own something that wasn't intended to be in the hands of the general public, you could end up having all sorts of legal worries, or even the companay heavies after you. Especially if you own a very rare prototype or dev kit that perhaps originated in secret and was scrapped or even stolen...

Gemini-Phoenix wrote:

striker wrote:why is it dangerous?

Dangerous because if you own something that wasn't intended to be in the hands of the general public, you could end up having all sorts of legal worries, or even the companay heavies after you. Especially if you own a very rare prototype or dev kit that perhaps originated in secret and was scrapped or even stolen...

Yes and since the whole world is underground, it makes up different play rules, less laws, easier to get screwed etc.



There is a pic of a tv with Star Control playing, thats all.

pandaholic wrote:

Gemini-Phoenix wrote:

striker wrote:why is it dangerous?

Dangerous because if you own something that wasn't intended to be in the hands of the general public, you could end up having all sorts of legal worries, or even the companay heavies after you. Especially if you own a very rare prototype or dev kit that perhaps originated in secret and was scrapped or even stolen...

Yes and since the whole world is underground, it makes up different play rules, less laws, easier to get screwed etc.



There is a pic of a tv with Star Control playing, thats all.

I've read in a magazine recently (It was either GamesTM or Edge) about a SNES Cd-Rom drive that was found inside an open dumpster!

Dreamcast Kitana dev-kits are rife amongst collector's circles, and are often seen for auction along with various Gd-Rom's such as Flintstones, Half Life, and Propeller Arena, to name but a few. Clearly these were not ever intended to be released into the public domain. Obviously, if you were in possession of such items, you have to be very careful how you conduct yourself if you don't want to be visited by certain individuals in black suits...

This is not the only worry. If you were in possession of something very rare and / or sought after, then you could have all sorts of people willing to do whatever it takes to obtain such an item. As with any form of collecting, you have to be very careful indeed!

Gemini-Phoenix wrote:
Dreamcast Kitana dev-kits are rife amongst collector's circles, and are often seen for auction along with various Gd-Rom's such as Flintstones, Half Life, and Propeller Arena, to name but a few. Clearly these were not ever intended to be released into the public domain. Obviously, if you were in possession of such items, you have to be very careful how you conduct yourself if you don't want to be visited by certain individuals in black suits...

This is not the only worry. If you were in possession of something very rare and / or sought after, then you could have all sorts of people willing to do whatever it takes to obtain such an item. As with any form of collecting, you have to be very careful indeed!

Weird, because Half Life, Propeller Arena I have seen ripped and uploaded, available freely for download. Now that wasn't too careful, was it?? And yet I never heard of anyone get in trouble for it.

'm perfectly aware about prototype collecting,Assembler forums is full of them.
But it is NOT in ANY WAY a HIGHER way of collecting.
Just another one.

striker wrote:

Weird, because Half Life, Propeller Arena I have seen ripped and uploaded, available freely for download. Now that wasn't too careful, was it?? And yet I never heard of anyone get in trouble for it.

I doubt those are the most rare ones, but the article talked about 2 sorts of collectors, those who wants it to become public and those who wants only themselves to have it. Sonic Saturn is one game thats been brought to public, after many years in the dark. But the market is wide, i mean you cant compare a obscure dreamcast game with prototypes of Atari Mirai.




Adol: Maybe not a higher way of collecting, but i find it more "hardcore", you cant exactly search for Saturn dev. kit and find one to buy, like you can with most sealed games, you must go underground to find one. But i mean both markets are very wide, although i think sealed collecting stretches more to mainstream than prototype collecting. But of-course there are sealed games that are as "hardcore" or "extreme" as prototype collecting. Maybe stupid to start to compare them both.

You're right,it's stupid to compare them.
I never said it was a LOWER way of collecting either.
It is just not a HIGHER way of collecting,just another one.