Prospect of Making Some OMG RAREZ! Game Boots

[Nazi NecroPhile]

I'm thinking about having some booties made and selling 'em for just enough to cover expenses*.  When (if) enough are sold, I'll do another game on the list; lather, rinse, repeat 'til we run out of games worth the effort.  Are any of y'all interested in such an endeavor and if so which game to get the ball rolling?

The above US titles were chosen for being among the priciest and hardest to find (Dungeon Explorer II, Beyond Shadowgate, and Bonk 3 CD were also considered but omitted for not being quite as difficult to get), and the two PCE games were chosen for not being available at all in a pressed disc (in English for M.T.).  I'm open to suggestions though if these don't get yer motors running.  Personally, I'd love to have pressed copies of the translated RPGs, such as Xak III, Ys IV, and Dead of the Brain when it's completed, but I think the above games are a better starting point.

* - It's about $1000 for 500 copies with jewel case, color tray insert and eight page manual; cheaper packages could be considered, but this seems to me to be the sweet spot.  Considering the size of the Turbo community and how few copies of the homebrew games were sold, I'd probably have to sell them at $4 or so to break even; but if the response is greater than I'm expecting, I'll reduce the price accordingly or give a discount on the next booty.  In short - I'm not looking to profit anything other than a few more fun games to play, but neither am I looking to 'invest' $700 on a few hundred copies that'll sit on the shelf unloved for all eternity.

[CrackTiger]

I'd love a proper looking Space Fantasy Zone with manual. I'd buy $50 worth if it was done right. I'm not interested in bootleg Turbo CD games though. Magic Chase bootleg would be neat, even though I don't need one.

If you're going to do a Turbo CD bootleg, Dynadtic Hero should be first. Just make sure that the insert, manual and disc all have markings stating that their not originals. I'd avoid words like "reprint", since some of these are going to end up being resold at premium prices, no matter how you distribute them. Remember what people were bidding on Space Fantasy Zone for at first?

[blueraven]

Space Fantasy Zone, because i've heard that it has a glitch in the ending that only lets you complete it on emu or something; I think if that were fixed/pressed it would be pretty cool. So thats what I voted for.

I second the idea of pressing the JRPG's that have been translated. Excellent idea.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

My vote was for Motteke Tomago, by the way.  It's such a cute little game and I'm a sucker for multiplayers.

[CrackTiger]

I second the idea of pressing the JRPG's that have been translated. Excellent idea.

I'd gladly pay $100 for a single copy with fully translated manual of games like Ys IV and LoXII.

[chany60126]

My vote also goes for Motteke Tomago because it's a neat looking game where up to 4 people can play. It would be perfect for turbob fests. Space Fantasy Zone would also be bad ass. That would be my second place vote.

[Mishran]

I'd like Space Fantasy Zone as a first. Like CrackTiger mentioned, make sure everything has that it isn't an official release printed on it. Perhaps even the game's title screen. Anything to prevent assholes from trying to sell them as originals. If they had everything the originals had, including manual, I'd be happy to toss $10 a piece for them your way. I think this is a great idea, making the harder to get titles easier for everyone to obtain.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Stuff like Space Fantasy Zone and translated games would be obvious boots since there never was such a thing to begin with, but anything that straight up copies the original will have some sort of changes to make it clear that they're not originals.

[Keith Courage]

Yes, that sounds awesome. Especially for all those US releases that typically sell for over $100 Like Dynastic Hero, Beyond Shadow gate, Might and Magic III, Bonk 3, Dungeon explorer II etc... I am not willing to pay that much for those games so I will probably never own them.  I also 2nd the translated games. YSIV english rocks my socks!

[SignOfZeta]

I have no interest in any of these games. I'm not against it at all, I just don't care about these games. Super Air Zonk easily being the least appealing. Are fake US copies of games worth more than legit JP ones, even to neuvo hardcore eBay retards?

I think stuff like Ys IV is a much better idea. It's a better game than any of the ones listed and it's totally unavailibe legitimately anywhere in English.

A Magical Chase made with a mask ROM...I'd buy that for a dollar, probably $50 even. Stuff on CD...I mean, I can just burn a fake one myself, of any CD, and play it whenever. I also place no value in fake manuals.

BTW, you better watermark the living shit out of these things even if they are fan translations with no legit version. Someone paid like...$1000 or somethig for a CDR copy of Space Fantasy Zone that one time, remember? It's hard to imagine someone being hardcore enough to even know what SFZ is but not know it's fake, but these people do exist.

[VestCunt]

I'd be interested in Space Fantasy Zone and translated JRPGs.  I can understand if other people want MMIII, Beyond Shadowgate, and Dynastic Hero because they're crazy expensive, the import versions present a language barrier (or don't exist), and it's nice to play stuff on real hardware.  

Manuals pose a problem and should be minimized.  Inserts larger than eight pages become really expensive and reprinting the MMIII manual would be particularly challenging.  Likewise, translating JP manuals would completely change the format and it's not like the originals are expensive anyway.  Sparky-style inserts are cheap, effective placeholders and impossible to confuse with originals.

edit:  while you're at it, convince Mindrec to reprint Meteor Blaster on a real disc so I can actually play it without jamming my lens! 

[chany60126]

Personally, I would not want any boots of US games. At some point down the line, I would like to have a complete US set of games. I am just afraid that it would be hard to distinguish the real game from a fake when buying online. Which is the case with Sapphire.

On another note, I think another possibility for a pressed CD would be the Super Hu Card CD (I think that's how it's called). I don't know the link where you can download it, but BlueBMW brought his to the VGS last month and it had a bunch of turbo and pc engine hu card roms that ran perfectly on a Turbo Duo. It had a nice selection of games and would be perfect for those who don't want to pony up the cash to buy a certain game or just try it before buying it.

[nectarsis]

Not sure why no mentioned it but plaster some F%#** Ebay logo's on it and there should be zero confusion. ;)


I am MOST def interested in this.

[jlued686]

Depending on price I'd buy any of those, especially the US titles as I need all of them and they'd do fine as placeholders until I can afford the real things.

[thesteve]

it needs to happen.
im not going to tell you to do (X) game as my interest would be games i dont know.
just print "NOT AN ORIGINAL" on the disk to differentiate them.
translations would be great.

[DragonmasterDan]

I agree with Ys IV with the English patch being the best possible choice. With that said, of the choices listed I chose Motteke Tomago.

[GohanX]

I also like the Ys IV translated idea, but out of the list I think I'd enjoy Dynastic Hero the most. That being said, for $4ish a pop, I'll buy anything you make!

[Mathius]

I am all for it Necro! I vote for Ys IV as well, and if someone wants to subtitle Dracula X, then let NecroPhile package it I'd definitely throw my hard earned clams at that.

The "watermark" on a title screen idea along with the physical marks sound like a very good idea.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Voted Motteke!  When it comes to US games, you should have commercials that come up during the game every 5 minutes advertising dubious wares from around the globe  Seriously though, Jp RPG's in english would rock, no doubt.  Also, this is a direction I'm thinking of going with a project Black Tiger & I are mainly working on.  Any kind of remakes etc. could be done this way, so nobody profits, but everybody gets a hard copy of games with manuals, etc.  I'll be interested in how this all works out for sure!

I am all for it Necro! I vote for Ys IV as well, and if someone wants to subtitle Dracula X, then let NecroPhile package it I'd definitely throw my hard earned clams at that.

The "watermark" on a title screen idea along with the physical marks sound like a very good idea.

Drac X has already been translated(text), we would just need someone to insert new audio tracks(both redbook, & adpcm).  We could easily use all the audio from the PSP version, however, the hacking......

[Mathius]

I am all for it Necro! I vote for Ys IV as well, and if someone wants to subtitle Dracula X, then let NecroPhile package it I'd definitely throw my hard earned clams at that.

The "watermark" on a title screen idea along with the physical marks sound like a very good idea.

Drac X has already been translated(text), we would just need someone to insert new audio tracks(both redbook, & adpcm).  We could easily use all the audio from the PSP version, however, the hacking......

Why would the audio have to be change from the original?

[thesteve]

true.
the intro of drac X sounds like German not Japanese, its the subs that should be translated

[bartre]

i'd be in for anything at $5-10, but personally, i'd like for the front cover of the game to be not marked as heavily

[TheClash603]

I got $30 for however many Space Fantasy Zones that will get me.

I do agree with Zeta, doing a US game which has a far cheaper JP release and does not have text, Super Air Zonk-like, doesn't make sense.

[Sparky]

nice.. & i am down with those pce games man.

Also for those US titles, if you just want to do 2 page inserts i would be happy to supply you artwork of what i did to the project... or be of assistance on other print options.

[DragonmasterDan]

Why would the audio have to be change from the original?

Konami did an English dub of it on the PSP release so the entire game would be in English, if there were a way to pull the ROM image off the PSP one (since the PSP version is essentially a ROM on an emulator) it could make this a crapload easier.

[CrackTiger]

Why would the audio have to be change from the original?

Konami did an English dub of it on the PSP release so the entire game would be in English, if there were a way to pull the ROM image off the PSP one (since the PSP version is essentially a ROM on an emulator) it could make this a crapload easier.

Plus the bonus underwear.

[Lilgrafx]

Has anyone tried to make a bootleg hucard? I'd buy all those games but I only have a Turbo Grafx with out a CD unit.

[thrush]

All of those listed are great ideas, but I like the idea of the translated JRPGs the best.  I'd also love to see Dracula X, and would definitely buy Motteke Tomago as well.  ^^b

[pceslayer]

I'll bite on translated games and unreleased.

[SignOfZeta]

Why would the audio have to be change from the original?

Konami did an English dub of it on the PSP release so the entire game would be in English, if there were a way to pull the ROM image off the PSP one (since the PSP version is essentially a ROM on an emulator) it could make this a crapload easier.

You could just play the game through and record the sound from the PSP's headphone jack. Then trim the file to size with the help of Turborip. Easy as hell, really.

I can't give two shits about translating Drac X though. I has more text in the closing credits than it does in the entire rest of the game, and the credits are already English. The spoken word is...what, 5 minutes, if that? Its a nearly non-lingual game and a legit copy is barely more expensive than a new PS3 game.

[DragonmasterDan]

You could just play the game through and record the sound from the PSP's headphone jack. Then trim the file to size with the help of Turborip. Easy as hell, really.

I can't give two shits about translating Drac X though. I has more text in the closing credits than it does in the entire rest of the game, and the credits are already English. The spoken word is...what, 5 minutes, if that? Its a nearly non-lingual game and a legit copy is barely more expensive than a new PS3 game.

No argument here, I think it's the single most common game registered on PCEdaisukaisen. It requires very little English and the PSP English release can be found for around 10-20.00 max if anyone really wanted to find it.

I'd much rather see Ys IV glass mastered.

[Mishran]

Ys IV would be a good one, but it needs english voice acting done first. Without, it just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion. Perhaps the community here could make that a reality? We have seen it possible with MSR... why not Ys IV?

[Mathius]

You could just play the game through and record the sound from the PSP's headphone jack. Then trim the file to size with the help of Turborip. Easy as hell, really.

I can't give two shits about translating Drac X though. I has more text in the closing credits than it does in the entire rest of the game, and the credits are already English. The spoken word is...what, 5 minutes, if that? Its a nearly non-lingual game and a legit copy is barely more expensive than a new PS3 game.

No argument here, I think it's the single most common game registered on PCEdaisukaisen. It requires very little English and the PSP English release can be found for around 10-20.00 max if anyone really wanted to find it.

I'd much rather see Ys IV glass mastered.

I'd rather see Ys IV as well. However, It's been a dream of mine since I got Drac X a few years back to know what the hell they are saying.

I don't have a PSP either.

[Otaking]

Ys IV would be a good one, but it needs english voice acting done first. Without, it just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion. Perhaps the community here could make that a reality? We have seen it possible with MSR... why not Ys IV?

I haven't looked into it but I while back I vaguely remember reading that the guys who did the first Ys IV patch were working on updating the patch with english voice acting.

[DragonmasterDan]

I haven't looked into it but I while back I vaguely remember reading that the guys who did the first Ys IV patch were working on updating the patch with english voice acting.

They eventually decided not to go forward with dubbing it.

[SignOfZeta]

I thought the Ys IV dubbing project had been dumped but then picked back up again by someone else. Was it then dumped again?

[DragonmasterDan]

I thought the Ys IV dubbing project had been dumped but then picked back up again by someone else. Was it then dumped again?

I was unaware of anyone else picking it up.

[SamIAm]

I may be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that basically all the recording had been completed by one group, and the only thing left to do was the mixing and mastering.

The LoX:II dub is basically done, by the way. I'm going to get a couple lines redone here and there, but otherwise, it's essentially complete.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I could be wrong, but I haven't heard anything about it lately, so I assume Ys 4 was dumped again.

[TGX16]

I voted for Space fantasy zone!
But any translated jp game would be great.. I've tried to patch some but allways seem to do something wrong because it never works.
As for the US games well some of the more "ebay-expensive" ones would also be great. but more intressed in the translated jp-games!!!

[CrackTiger]

Something that isn't available at all in published form is much more worthwhile than a straight reprint.

Sapphire still isn't that cheap and available and bootlegs still sell for as much as or more than the original Turbo versions of some of the titles in the poll (and even real copies of Sapphire), which means that it would still be more worthwhile to bootleg it than those games.

[VestCunt]

Sapphire still isn't that cheap and available and bootlegs still sell for as much as or more than the original Turbo versions of some of the titles in the poll (and even real copies of Sapphire), which means that it would still be more worthwhile to bootleg it than those games.

Except we all have copies.  Anyone who doesn't can ask nice and get one.  Maybe we don't all have packaged bootlegs, but resources are better spent making new glass-mastered discs to help gamers play more rare games on real hardware than making extra facsimiles for half-assed collectors too lazy to either print their missing packaging or buy the real thing.

[Otaking]

I think the Space Fantasy Zone print by Anime4Ever is really decent, I personally don't think it warrants an improved version.

edit: the version I'm talking about is this one:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5143.0

[nectarsis]

I think the Space Fantasy Zone print by Anime4Ever is really decent, I personally don't think it warrants an improved version.

edit: the version I'm talking about is this one:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5143.0

Except for the ridiculous price ;)  Plus looks to be "sold out".

[CrackTiger]

Sapphire still isn't that cheap and available and bootlegs still sell for as much as or more than the original Turbo versions of some of the titles in the poll (and even real copies of Sapphire), which means that it would still be more worthwhile to bootleg it than those games.

Except we all have copies.  Anyone who doesn't can ask nice and get one.  Maybe we don't all have packaged bootlegs, but resources are better spent making new glass-mastered discs to help gamers play more rare games on real hardware than making extra facsimiles for half-assed collectors too lazy to either print their missing packaging or buy the real thing.

Well then, why waste money on packaging at all and not just have a few different games pressed as disc-only for the price of a single packaged game?

Personally, I'd rather have professionally made inserts and manuals and have to burn my own cdr (whether professionally labeled or not) than the other way around. I'm still thinking more about fan translations and unreleased games though.

Most of the Turbo games we're talking about don't go for too much. Why does anyone need Air Zonk in english anyway? Dynastic Hero is the only CD game that isn't available too often and goes for quite a bit. But the only benefit of going to the trouble of bootlegging it would be so that a single guessing game is a little easier (if we're talking about simply helping people play on real hardware). I may play through a lot of gaijin protected games, but I literally guessed randomly the few times I've played through the import and it wasn't a big deal. The other thing to keep in mind is that this isn't some original game that we can only fully appreciate by playing the rare Turbo version of. The Genesis version can be bought CIB for $10 and is always available.

I suggest doing any Turbo games only after all the unreleased, translated and better expensive and/or rare PCE games have been done.

[GohanX]

I really didn't know anything about Space Fantasy Zone, not being a Fantasy Zone fan, but I just looked it up and nobody told me it was Space Harrier starring Opa-Opa. Do want!

[CrackTiger]

I really didn't know anything about Space Fantasy Zone, not being a Fantasy Zone fan, but I just looked it up and nobody told me it was Space Harrier starring Opa-Opa. Do want!

You might as well download it and start playing it. It doesn't exist in anything other than cdr form.

[VestCunt]

Sapphire still isn't that cheap and available and bootlegs still sell for as much as or more than the original Turbo versions of some of the titles in the poll (and even real copies of Sapphire), which means that it would still be more worthwhile to bootleg it than those games.

Except we all have copies.  Anyone who doesn't can ask nice and get one.  Maybe we don't all have packaged bootlegs, but resources are better spent making new glass-mastered discs to help gamers play more rare games on real hardware than making extra facsimiles for half-assed collectors too lazy to either print their missing packaging or buy the real thing.

Well then, why waste money on packaging at all and not just have a few different games pressed as disc-only for the price of a single packaged game?

Personally, I'd rather have professionally made inserts and manuals and have to burn my own cdr (whether professionally labeled or not) than the other way around. I'm still thinking more about fan translations and unreleased games though.

I argued for minimal manuals in my first post and would be fine with disc-only boots. 

CD-R's are useless.  I've spent hours burning Grade A Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs and other high-quality brands at different speeds and they don't work.  They jam the laser in my Duo and, while playable in my SCD, they make really bad noises.  I have some old games on 74-minute discs that work fine, but such discs can't found anymore.

Most of the Turbo games we're talking about don't go for too much. Why does anyone need Air Zonk in english anyway? Dynastic Hero is the only CD game that isn't available too often and goes for quite a bit. But the only benefit of going to the trouble of bootlegging it would be so that a single guessing game is a little easier (if we're talking about simply helping people play on real hardware). I may play through a lot of gaijin protected games, but I literally guessed randomly the few times I've played through the import and it wasn't a big deal. The other thing to keep in mind is that this isn't some original game that we can only fully appreciate by playing the rare Turbo version of. The Genesis version can be bought CIB for $10 and is always available.  I suggest doing any Turbo games only after all the unreleased, translated and better expensive and/or rare PCE games have been done.

I'm also for doing unreleased and translated games first.  I think we're on on the same page other than doing another Sapphire bootleg.

I think the Space Fantasy Zone print by Anime4Ever is really decent, I personally don't think it warrants an improved version.

edit: the version I'm talking about is this one:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5143.0

Except for the ridiculous price ;)  Plus looks to be "sold out".

Yeah, Space Fantasy Zone deserves special attention. 
Unlike the Sapphire...
1)  it was never officially released
2)  the bootleg is now sold out
3)  the bootleg is a CD-R, albeit a high-quality one
4)  the bootleg originally sold for $160, then $89 + $10 shipping (compared to $60 for the Sapphire bootleg in 2005)
5)  no one like BlueBMW has ever given away free copies

[DragonmasterDan]

Yeah, Space Fantasy Zone deserves special attention. 
Unlike the Sapphire...
1)  it was never officially released
2)  the bootleg is now sold out
3)  the bootleg is a CD-R, albeit a high-quality one
4)  the bootleg originally sold for $160, then $89 + $10 shipping (compared to $60 for the Sapphire bootleg in 2005)
5)  no one like BlueBMW has ever given away free copies

I was unaware the Bootleg of Space Fantasy Zone is a CD-R, I guess it's another possibility.

But I am on the translated game and unrelased game only bandwagon. So Motteke Tomago, Ys IV and Space Fantasy Zone are the logical choices here.

[CrackTiger]

I argued for minimal manuals in my first post and would be fine with disc-only boots. 

CD-R's are useless.  I've spent hours burning Grade A Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs and other high-quality brands at different speeds and they don't work.  They jam the laser in my Duo and, while playable in my SCD, they make really bad noises.  I have some old games on 74-minute discs that work fine, but such discs can't found anymore.

I think that it's more of a system by system issue as well as people trying to burn crappy isos off the net. Although I haven't made and played many games on cdr in years, the ones that I have that weren't random franken-isos, such as Ys IV and Xak III, which I ripped myself without converting the audio tracks into a different format, plus all the Mysterious Song betas, have always played just as well as factory pressed discs. The last time my Duo had problems playing cdrs, was not too long after I got it years ago as the old laZer was dying and had trouble reading real games as well.

I have a spindle of RiDATA that I got from a local computer store, after asking for "the cheapest cdrs you have". I burned the latest MS build a few months back at full speed and it plays perfectly fine. Maybe you just need a new laser or system?


I'm not pro-Sapphire bootlegs, they just make more sense than some of the other suggestions. The copies that BlueBMW gave away are loose misprints. People are still paying as much as $100 - $200 for what they know is a (complete) bootleg, while authentic copies can be found for as little as $200.