Hi everyone, I'll let this auction run through Wednesday March 13th, 12:00 PM EST.
starting Bid: $50
High Bidder: wheelcakes, $50
Shipping: $20
For sale is a Famicom oddity, namely Cha Cha Amigo. The game was only ever released on NOAC-style plug n play machines, though this year a small Taiwanese game studio known as ITG decided to do a small print run of the games for the Famicom, complete with maraca controllers. As you can see from the pictures below, this was purely a hobbyist project, and it was likewise done in Taiwanese style. The Taiwanese are quite pragmatic, rather than being perfectionists, trying to jerry-rig everyhting together. So this release gets about a "C" grade for professionalism, though I still find it to be interesting and worthy of mention, even more so if one understands the culture here.
The game included in the set is Cha Cha Amigo, an unlicensed Famicom rythm game that is essentially a backport of the Samba de Amigo game series. Two maraca controllers are included (only compatible with 9-pin Famiclones), or one could also use a regular joypad to control the game, by using the A and B buttons. There is also a small printed manual / information sheet about the game.
These were put out as a hobbyist project, and while the game is not a homebrew, this release sort of treads a gray area between homebrew and official release. Less than fifty of these sets were produced, I was lucky enough to have connections with some collectors here in Taiwan, and ended up with two CIB sets and a loose cart.
In addition, I've heard that ITG game studion has the aim to release a true, original game release sometime this year, aimed at the retro gaming community.
I estimate that the shipping for this will be around $20; if it's higher, I will cover the rest of the cost. If it's lower, I will refund the difference (or if you are a well-established member here, I can ship first and then just give you the real shipping cost).
Thanks for checking this out everyone!
Edit (3/9/2019): Here are more pics and information, since I was tired last night while typing, and might not have eplained this well.
First of all, here are some more pictures:
Back around 2000 whatever, it was becoming popular for cheap Chinese / Taiwanese game developers to produce plug n play machines, I'm sure we all remember the ones shaped like Nintendo 64 controllers that starting appearing in malls one Christmas season. Well it went from Famiclones to original NOAC-based games, without any sort of cartridge slot, i.e. strictly plug n play machines with original games based on Nintendo / Famicom hardware. Initially came a bunch of dance mats like this, cashing in on DDR (I hope ITG also decides to turn those into proper Famicom games), then came this game based on Samba de Amigo.
While the game did also appear on a Famicom multicart, the proper version (i.e. with the maracas) never appeared anywhere for Famicom, as far as I am aware, aside from as a standalone plug n play. From my understanding, the folks at ITG Games Studio started taking said plug n play machines and cannabalizing them, so that they could be turned into actual Famicom cartridges, for Famicom collectors. While some gamers / collectors hate cannabaling other products, hardly anyone collects / cares about plug n play machines, though if put onto a 60 / 72 pin compatible cart and then sold, suddenly gamers have a "new" game they can play and show off. That is what this item is, basically.
So one can see that the quality is not for the perfectionist, with the labels on the maracas being handwritten, the cart design itself being somewhat artistic in design, etc. Even the packaging is crudely done, though from my understanding, it was done just as a way to package the item (in Taiwan, people generally prefer no packaging and a cheaper good than a high quality packaging that 90% of people will just toss out anyway). With that said, it is a small effort by a hobbyist gaming studio over here, and I know they have one or two original games they hope to release at the end of the year, albeit with a higher standard of quality I imagine.
Either way, I think it's a neat piece, and find it amazingly odd to be able to play a game on the Famicom that uses maraca controllers!
