Time to spice things up a bit. I'm pretty sure everyone knows what I'm talking about after reading the topic description. Assumed to be long gone, lost forever and disappeared into a dark void... ...these rarities have finally been found, and are now owned by me. Now, before you all go "hoax! FAKE!", rest assure, these are real. Real as in: they are the very same exact cartridges, as seen in the above photo. are complete with their original case, and original boxart of which scans exist. these are NOT reproductions. I've taken several photo's of them (along with some other rarities I own), which can be seen at my website: http://www.phatfish.nl Use the forward or back buttons to control the slideshow. Here's a little teaser: History of the "s2 beta pirates": I obtained these cartridges this week after buying them from a person in Sunnyvale, California, who had them in his possession for 13 years. He was a former member of the Sonic communities in the heydays of SonicRetro, when Simon Wai was still active with his website. A guy in Australia had the beta, which his father bought him back in 1992 somewhere in Europe, and the guy from California bought it from him. Shortly after, he found the non-beta Sonic 2 beta and the Sonic 3 pirates on ebay. I bought all three from him. And yes, they're in a safe place, I am collecting Megadrive games, they will be taken care of very well! If you don't believe me these are the real deal after seeing the pics, come and visit me here in the Netherlands sometime, and I'll show you (only during visiting hours, and when I'm carrying a shotgun). - Lennart
Fantastic! This is the holy grail of Sonic, SEGA... HECK, MEGADRIVE possessions. It would be fantastic if you could give us some videos of the games inserted and being played. Not for proof, but for our archives. Take great care of them and remember that if you're ever in need of a bit of cash, we'll all be happy to chip in and take them from you
Buy a goddamn safety box. Or get a safety deposit box at the bank, or something. I don't know where you live, but I've learned the hard way that unforeseen disasters can and do happen and will wreak all your shit.
Are these both pirates of the Wai proto? [Maybe it has been a long time since I looked at this site, and have forgotten, but was it known for sure what build was on these pirate cartridges? Part of me is tempted to say either way that perhaps dumping the content would be a good call to make anyways, but that's just the odd side of me.]
Well, time to get new dumps of these, for great justice... and science. Good stuff, though. Glad they have a good home to keep their shelf life long. Bit rot is a horrible thing.
Just to clarify: The pirate cart on the left, with the Japanese blue text in the upper left corner, contains the final/retail version (it is altered however, sega startup and copyright missing). The pirate cart on the right, with the tilted beta title logo and EHZ background, is the Simon Wai beta and is as far as I can tell similar to the available rom. Sure thing, will look into that this weekend. Anything in particular you would like to see featured? They're tucked away pretty good, but a safety box would be the best thing to make sure nothing happens to them. I have only played the cartridges just once, to verify what their contents are, and are tempted to leave them alone. I have an Everdrive anyways so I can play the beta whenever I want without worrying. I do want to see these treasures dumped, however I have no means of doing so, maybe someone can help me out?
Seconding everything that has been said. Get a fresh dump and get it documented to the max. This crap is truly the cornerstone of the community.
When I was a pirate collector I tried finding these to no avail. Remember also going through heck with a Brazilian auction seller who had a very misleading auction.Too bad I never found them then, though at least it's good to know the ROMs out there anyway. The cart on the left and its corresponding box confuses me a bit, since I found out a couple years back that that box was found with a pirate of the SMS game before, not the Genesis one. Here's a pic of its cart. I guess they used it for both the SMS and Genesis games. I can't believe the Genesis one doesn't have the beta but just the final, though. Talk about misleading!
Thanks! Well, just a video of the game cart being put in, turned on, and the screen showing it working, just so we have a proper video of the carts themselves. I'm so glad that someone decent has gotten these games, you really have no idea. I joined the online community largely because of these betas and I've spent a long time researching and following the history of them. Also, that Crackers cart and case- are they the real deal? I can't believe a decent quality case for Crackers was officially made.
Er.. that Crackers case is so obviously a repro I can't even begin to comprehend how someone can think it's some sort of official proto case they made :v:
The fact that he was from Sunnyvale, California really spooked me because I used to live there (lived there for nearly 20 years). How on earth I never came across this particular Sonic fan when I was there is beyond me :v: Assuming you've got no one you can trust with it to dump it for you, we can point you in the right direction on how you can go about dumping it. Kudos to you and all.
Well I saw the other cases and wondered whether they'd been quickly made by the internal teams. It's not so farfetched considering the Beta and Sonic Crackers were both showcases, one for the public at a toy show and one for the internal team as a game pitch. But that's a shame if they're just put together by someone else. So am I right in saying that ONLY the carts are official, and all the cases are not? What about the artwork for that first case, with that nice looking Sonic, isn't that drawn by BigIsland? Here' s a photo if egel doesn't mind me linking to it:
Nope, those are pirate cartridges based on the stolen prototype (or based on another prototype they somehow got ahold of). Also, regarding the Sonic Crackers cartridges, here's some info on them.
Don't get me wrong on not knowing how extremely rare and valuable these carts are - also I am well aware of the history of the other beta's found - been lurking here on Retro for many years. Shoeman, I've read your 2009 thread multiple times and I'm sorry you got in such a hassle with that shitty seller on mercado livre. That could well have been the Wai beta. I saved the photo of the auction too; stuff like that catches my interest as much as any of you guys. I also found a photo of what I think, is one of the Brazillian s2 beta pirate carts (bottom right): much like the famous "once-assumed-to-be-beta-blue-japanese-text-s2-pirate-cart", this thing has "Beta" written all over it. Of course, I could be wrong and it might just be a generic pirate with the retail/final version of s2 on it. If my memory serves me correct, the artwork on that particular pirate came from a Brazillian mag preview. IIRC, you could even rent them prior to the official release in certain video stores (that rental sticker sorta proves this lol). Haha, I couldn't receive a better compliment on the custom box-artwork I made for my Crackers proto! And no Shoeman, it's not a repro, it is also the real deal All the cases and the box-covers (except Crackers) are as authentic as pirate covers get. I read the updated part of that article a couple of days ago, thanks for putting the link here IceKnight. I want to get both carts dumped first before I subject them to intensive scanlight. I read somewhere that I could sacrifice a controller for dumping or something? I'll elaborate a bit more on the story behind them soon, and some theories I have. Going to make that video now. Edit: you can find the Crackers box-cover here: Sonic Crackers Box Cover
I love to know who this guy is. what was his username? it'd be great if for old times sake he can swing by here and discuss this topic with us. Also, egel for instant member approval?
This is very cool. I know you've already said you would record footage of it, but if you could direct us to the video(s) after you're done with them, that'd be great. Also, make sure you get someone to dump it for you. I also don't have any knowledge about it, but there has to be a Retro member who lives around there. Hell, you could even wait until Sonic Boom and have someone do it for you, or, of course, there won't be a better time to learn how to than now
No idea, waiting for him to respond to my last e-mail. I lost my pw with my previous nickname when I registered some years ago, and can't seem to access that account anymore. I was thinking of a new nick and this came to mind pretty quickly, easy to remember. I can let you track it down on youtube if you want, using only keywords to find it. Will post the link tomorrow, unless you feel like hunting? Anyone living nearby with a decent way of dumping is welcome.
