This eBay listing was posted recently in the auction spotlight:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....The thread was removed because the listing was less than 14 days old. In the original thread, the legitimacy of the cart was called into question. Well, I now have the cart in hand, and it is most certainly the real deal.
First off: Yes, I put a sticker on the EPROM window immediately after taking the picture.
And now for the reasons I know this is legitimate:
- Many prototypes/pre-release samples have raw artwork. Mason's SCAT prototype had a rough black and white label, as well as many of the NTSC Solomon's Key 2 prototypes. Example:
- Looking at the board, it's apparent that this cart was not meant to be released commercially. The game has an EPROM, and there are a number of jumpers needed to get the game to run properly.
- And lastly, the bidding is the deal-sealer. This is a proto bidding war in the truest sense. Notice the third place bidder bid just over $30, while the second place bidder bid nearly $190. Why would this matter? The second place bidder was DreamTR, and he just so happens to need a Terra Cresta prototype for his collection.
I haven't seen any glaring differences between this and the released version, but I haven't even had the chance to complete the first level. This, like all of my other prototypes, will be safely backed up on numerous computers and likely released at a later time for one of our monthly rom dumps.
