Isn't it pretty obvious that some people collect protos for the history? Why do you think people bid tens of thousands of dollars on historically significant baseballs or basketballs or human balls? I'm sure part of it is for investment for many people--and who could really blame anyone for that-- but to ignore a pretty obvious reason for collecting the carts is ridiculous. Not to mention like 90+% of the protos out there aren't "reeeee-pro"-able anyway.

Also, this is the same dude who pimped out his Gold NWC on national TV for no other reason I can think of outside of either showing off or trying to increase the market, so...yeah.

Nice perm, though.

I was trying to corner the market on human balls. Thanks for ruining my life.

The irony here is that Pat is a member of NA. Active? Not really. But a member? I think so. So why does he slam a group that he not only belongs to but obviously chooses to know nothing about? Because he is a fucking pud, plain and simple. Fuck this guy, he could easily chime in at any time and set the record, or something. But no, so fuck him. Just one more dipshit who chooses to open his big fat Mr. Potatomouth merely because he, at the monent, has the audience. I say fuck him, and fuck all of his stupid mumblings. Don't like it? Don't listen. I don't. Not since I realized that he is just running his pud making mouth.




Pud = jizz, in case anyone didn't catch it years ago

Whoa, tell us how you really feel. Kidding aside I think it's pretty cool to collect protos. They are an important part of history and it's pretty neat finding rare unreleased gems as well.

Just want to chime in here. I never intended this thread to become a bash Pat thread. I actually like listening to his podcasts, while there are a number of things he says that I don't agree with. Not to say you can't voice your opinion on the guy, but I intended this to be a discussion about the state of prototype collecting, using his opinion as a catalyst for discussion. And it has been, for the most part. Just wanted to make sure we don't steer too far into that direction. Great stuff, guys.

Actually it's penis. 

I don't watch his videos as they have been lacking any serious displays of egalitarianism as of late.

Haha, oh wow. This is almost as bad as the time I said Guillavoie's avatar was Mario
 

Agreed. I've wondered about 'Police Academy' for years. 

 

Not your fault bud, this happens offen when it comes to pats podcast all it takes is someone to post one of them here and people tend to jump on his opinions. Some people take great offense to most of the things he does for better or worse, I do not know how I feel about how people handle their prototypes but I know what I would do with a contra spirits if I had it.

Screw that, I want Twin Peaks! How far along did Police Academy get, though? I thought it was just an idea. I am probably the biggest Police Academy fan you will ever find... I even openly admit it.
 

*Going to cut both Ian and Pat out of my reply yet still keep to the overall topic*
 There are plenty of collectors out buying up protos currently. Yes it's true a majority of protos that pop up go to a few dozen of the same collectors. Yes the higher valued ones find their way into an even small group of the same people. Protos are like any other niche item people collect. You will find different entry level collectors based on funding limits, collecting goals, and desired types or system based protos. $3k is a good chunk of cash to spend on a proto and not something unheard of. Privately protos change hands frequently at this price and higher more often then some would imagine. From what I've seen proto collectors often tend to be very private about their collections and dealings. One of the biggest reason being the bad publicity that could come from it like this youtube video. The person who bought Viewpoint 2064 has every right to not dump the cart and keep it tucked away in their collection. On the flip side I understand that plenty people would love to get a shot at playing the game. If the buyer decides to dump the game publically for free, awesome. If they start a fund raiser to have a public dump, great. Now at least some still have a shot at playing the game. If they put it up for sale for $40,000 all the power to them. Regardless what ever the buyer decides to do is up to them. Think the shitest thing to do is bitch about the new owners decision on what they are doing only days after the purchase. Buyer just dropped $3k on this game, how about we give them some time to enjoy it. 

Provided an individual isn't set to make a repro and dispense it, I don't really understand why publicly dumping a proto should decrease the value at all. That suggests that there's value to being the only person in the world or whatever to have access to the game. That seems weird to me, honestly. I see the value as coming from having the physical manifestation--often unique--of the history of the game.

This topic is actually appropriate for me, given that I think I'm getting ready to dump a lot of my stuff. Granted, I don't have any unreleased games, but I do have a number with coding differences, some significant. The problem I have is that many of these games are so big that I could use the extra eyes and free time of others to help me locate the differences! I'd personally like to see a proto subforum where people can dump roms and have people post differnces they may find. For example, if I want to dump an Earthworm Jim proto for Sega, I create a thread simply titled "Earthworm Jim-Sega," and I ask for a little quid pro quo. I will dump it, but I ask in return for those who play to post anything they find that stands out as different. From there, we could start to document changes and upgrades, etc.

There's value in having something exclusive I guess. I don't know if that's it or what, but at this point it's been shown time and again that dumping and sharing something like severely deflates the value.

IIRC there was a first version that was mostly complete and a decent game. That got scrapped and they started on a new game that was worse and went unfinished. Also there are box proofs out there for one of the versions.

edit: stole this off facebook:

This just seems weird to me. I'd actually think that dumping stuff could lead to people finding differences and inflating the value, but I guess everyone has a different perogative.

 

Interesting. Thanks or the info. Now I have two games to dream about at night.
 

This is a pretty interesting idea and something that encourages collaboration between users. Working in groups can obviously lead to more/better discoveries of differences and/or hidden data in released protos. Many of the protos already out on the internet could really benefit from analyzing and documenting. Not just speaking personally; I'm sure if one person gets the wheels turning to look through a proto, others will probably join in.

Needless to say, one of the big problems would be making sure the focus of such a section doesn't get derailed.

I have a Tengen poster (similar to the one below) that shows a bunch of released and unreleased games like License To Kill and Police Academy.

I didn't want to continue quoting others who aren't involved here, but that poster is pretty boss. Thanks!

One of my ideas if I ever made an NES homebrew was a Police Academy game similar to Sierra's Police Quest, for some reason it just feels wrong to me that they never made one. I guess I'm not the only one who's though that, it's a shame that game was never finished. I would've loved to play it along with License to Kill.

Pardon me for lurking in an ancient thread.
Once again, I understand the financial and legal burden that prototypes and ROMs have on collectors.


I respectfully must disagree with what some other people say.
I believe what Ian said from 1:50 to 2:40 hit the nail on the head so goddamn hard.

Gaming is something we all love and cherish and should share.
I would love to see these unreleased games become part of a digital library.

Plastic yellows, gets chipped, and degrades.
Original hardware will break more and more.
Original parts will become scarce.
Sealed games will be opened.
Cartridge games will corrode.
Disc games will scratch and become unusable. (Already starting to happen)

ROM Dumping and Sharing helps preserve the future.

If you look at what happened to silent movies, the nitrate that made the film started to decay and now it's estimated that around 50 to 90 percent of all silent films are lost.
The same thing will eventually happen with video games. Nothing is eternal. However, when something is shared in mass, it dies off a lot slower.


From a historical standpoint, this stuff needs to be backed up.
Even if it can't be enjoyed by the public (due to "devaluing" of the source cartridge), establishing a National Archive of Gaming will be necessary in the near future.
It seems silly now, but it won't in the not too distant future.

EDIT: Can't believe I forgot about Bitrotting.
This is literally nitrate film all over again.

Sorry for getting to the game late too. No surprise Pat didn't post here. The guy is a shameless self-promoter and a straight up hypocrite. He called me out for selling the Zelda proto for a ridiculous amount. Then goes on national TV with his NWC's. Then we get into a heated exchange that has since been moderated and he insults all of NA. No class, no integrity. Anything that is valued more than his stupid NWC's he's got a problem with. Anyone selling games for profit he has a problem with.

Back to rob07's points. Rob, a lot of these games are backed up in some capacity, either privately or publicly. I know that is true of my protos as well as all of the Nolan's and Dream's. Between the Nolans and Dream's you are probably talking a LARGE part of the proto world. But your points are valid. I personally think bit-rot is overblown but you know what? In 25 years I might not be saying that. To your point, better safe than sorry.

Mod edit: Leave the personal appearance insults out of it.

This thread is absolutely riddled with personal appearance insults. Shocking mine is the only one that is moderated...</sarcasm>

No wonder I barely post anymore. Personal vendetta much?