I Purchased Sapphire!

[GUTS]

Are you retarded, literally?  I didn't say anything about the authenticity of the letter, Keranu was the one saying it looked fake.  Plus if it's real it proves that the Sapphires are fakes since Hudson said themselves they don't give a shit about old product and that means they wouldn't do a second run of an old as dirt game.

[MotherGunner]

You know its amazing how some people's buttons are easily pushed.  What happened to men acting like gentlemen? Some men are slowly turning into sensitive little 817ches.

No insult intended to those that don't deserve it.

Who cares if its fake or not, as long as each owner is happy.  It looks like some are only interested in swinging their "E-Penis" around here.....Literally, I mean all you have to do is look.

[PCEngineHell]

To Guts, I never said you said the letter was fake,but considering on the letter it states that it also could have been real I assumed you would go right at tearing it apart.For that I had to poke fun at you,in some ways making light of the conversation at hand.

To MotherGunner, you're right, I shouldn't bash or make fun of Guts or Emerald Rocker blah blah. I lowered myself to their standards when I did. Sometimes I do like to poke fun too,that I cant help but do, but also, Guts does act like a asshole jerk on a lot of post,and I don't think I'm the only one who notices this.
Anyway, sorry.

[esteban]

Who cares if its fake or not, as long as each owner is happy.  It looks like some are only interested in swinging their "E-Penis" around here.....Literally, I mean all you have to do is look.

Well, there are larger issues at stake here (i.e. how piracy a la Sapphire affects the Turbo community specifically and the gaming community in general).

Granted, this hasn't been the main thrust of the discussion, but it means that we should be thinking beyond "Is each owner is happy?" and more along the lines of "What provides the greatest good to the Turbo/gaming community, as  a whole?"

[Emerald Rocker]

Gosh, I'm sorry for being of such a low standard.  Since I'm such a cretin, I'd better start behaving like one.

Next time, since I'm such a low-standard fellow... instead of restraining myself and using logic/reason/debate, I'll just call retarded theories about companies doing stealth reprints of 6-year-old PC Engine games exactly what they are: "retarded".

[PCEngineHell]

Dont forget to involve the yakuza in all of them.They would'nt be complete with out the yakuza.

[Emerald Rocker]

Yakuza reprinting Sapphire is more believable than Hudson.

By the way, a new thought occurred to me this morning.  Let's suppose for a moment that it actually would cost the unrealistically high price of $20 grand to press 1000 Sapphire's.  (That's the cost you provided.)  Again, this is a rather small amount that could be paid for from one person's pocket, and a group of four could EASILY pay for it.  (So don't say a word about "broke-ass bootleggers".)  If each Sapphire disc was sold for a mere forty dollars, then that would be a total of $40 grand.  In other words, $20 grand of profit.  Since "real" Sapphire is so expensive, it would be easy to sell each one for $40, because most people wouldn't even care if they're fake or not at that price.

Really, for bootleggers, printing Sapphire is like printing money.  It probably wasn't the Yakuza, but that sounds like the kind of win-win deal they'd be interested in.  Whereas Hudson -- by their own admission -- isn't interested at all.

But what am I thinking -- it was crazy for me to even consider the possibility that the Yakuza could be funding illegal bootlegging activities in Japan.

Anyways, now that I've said that (I thought you weren't going to "lower yourself" to my standard?), I'm ditching this flame war in progress.  So now you're free to insult reasonable people like GUTS if that makes you feel better, and I won't say another word about it!

[Keranu]

If that's the case where it turns out to be a group of bootleggers that made the Sapphire fake, then lets go hunting.

[TurboHuC6280]

Damn, people.  Just chill out and enjoy a game of Sapphire.  

[PCEngineHell]

In the letter it states they could not find anything weird about it,long time Hudson employees couldnt. I like how you avoid that one completely,granted the letter is even real. I think it prob is,but Im kinda skeptical too,and I never said the game was real or fake,I just gave reasons why it could be real and not fake. You can go on any of these past post and you wont once see me say,"hey these things are real,and not fakes,because I know,because I know everything!"
I dont do it like that.

[Hiroshi Kudo]

Hello PC Engine love!

A colleague referred me to this discussion. Your interest in PC Engine is wonderful! Thank you!

I regret to inform you that Ginga Fukei Densetsu "Sapphire" was manufactured in 1995 only for PC Engine Duo. I was not directly involved with this title, but my brother Yuji told me that many titles in Hudson's back catalogue have been illegally duplicated [pirate copied, or as you say "bootleg" copied] !

Yuji is aware of illegal copied versions of:
Ginga Fukei Densetsu "Sapphire", The TV Show, Circus Lido, Patlabor, Mesopotamia, Blodia, et cetera.

Based on the photographs, Yuji is very certain that illegal copied games were sold under false pretenses.

I am sorry you pay for pirate copied video game. Currently, Hudson is focusing on current generation platforms and can not assist you.

Enjoy love PC Engine!

[GUTS]

Haha why would anyone want to pirate Blodia?  Hilarious.

[TurboHuC6280]

Ha.  I suspect that if Aaron were to check the IP, this one would match one of the other users.  

Funny post though.

[Keranu]

Haha, pirated Blodia.

[PCEngineHell]

Yea,I really dont buy that post for a sec.The broken english bits looked fake.
Sorry guys,you have to do better then this.

[PCEngineHell]

Also,Blodia was a crappy hucard right? I think I had it and had to give it away as a freebee in one of my auctions.
I really dont see this one being bootlegged. It wasnt even popular.

[TR0N]

Why would any body, pirate Patlabor heck last i check it was a digital comic game.

Those are not popular to collect due to there language barrier :

[PCEngineHell]

Yea really,alot of those games are easy to get,not rare at all.Blodia was the dead give away.But yea the rest are cheap games too,and have been for along time running.Nothing worth the time to fake.

[Emerald Rocker]

Here's a Blodia review...

http://www.honestgamers.com/systems/content.php?review_id=3496&console_id=24

This review makes the game sound bad.  I'm surprised anyone would bother bootlegging Blodia.

[Keranu]

Alright, come on guys, lets take it easy, it's not that bad. At least the music was entertaining.

[PCEngineHell]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Turbo-PCE-Duo-R-SYSTEM-MINT-COMPLETE-IN-BOX-Sapphire_W0QQitemZ8194304912QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[TR0N]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Turbo-PCE-Duo-R-SYSTEM-MINT-COMPLETE-IN-BOX-Sapphire_W0QQitemZ8194304912QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

   
I see that rebel scum is at it again.

[esteban]

holy sh*t I despise bullseye! this dude really irks me

[Keranu]

Jeez does Bullseye EVER learn?

I see that rebel scum is at it again.

Were you sort of quoting Star Wars here?  

[TR0N]

Jeez does Bullseye EVER learn?

I see that rebel scum is at it again.

Were you sort of quoting Star Wars here?  

pretty much

[Keranu]

Haha, if I was good at remembering the admiral's names and characters like them, I would have quoted it, but I wimped out and didn't want to get made fun of by other Star Wars fans!

[Ceph]

Wow, I can't believe anyone still has the slightest doubt about those counterfeit copies. Even that letter from Hudson pretty much proves it: It says: "Please understand that our PC Engine department has shut down a long time ago". That was in 2001. So much for the reprint theory, which was already disproven by the poor printing quality anyway.
[Did you even read my first post? For instance the part about the manual/inserts which were obviously made using an original copy as source since the counterfeiters had no access to the original source material.]
So the people at Hudson couldn't tell if it was was real or not? They simply had nothing left to compare the fake to.

Those who claim the counterfeits might not be counterfeits after all obviously belong to the "I want to believe" (X-Files trademark) faction who completely defy reason. Who am I to argue with you? Instead, I have an offer for you: Would you like to buy a valuably "development copy" of "Space Fantasy Zone" from me? They come on CD-R, but who knows, they might be the real thing. How about I send a CD-R to the original comapny who made Space Fantasy Zone first and ask them if this could possibly be an original prototype, would you then buy it from me?

[PCEngineHell]

Maybe if you could get it pressed noob.Maybe then we would buy it.

[Emerald Rocker]

Actually, some scammer already pressed a bunch of "prototype" Space Fantasy Zone's and sealed them.  That's probably what Ceph is referring to.  I saw these fakes on Japanese auctions for about 30 thousand yen a year or two ago, which is about 29,999 yen more than they're worth.

At least, I think that's what happened.  I'm a noob so maybe I dreamed it all in my head.

[esteban]

Actually, some scammer already pressed a bunch of "prototype" Space Fantasy Zone's and sealed them.  That's probably what Ceph is referring to.  I saw these fakes on Japanese auctions for about 300 thousand yen a year or two ago, which is about 299,999 yen more than they're worth.

At least, I think that's what happened.  I'm a noob so maybe I dreamed it all in my head.

Yes, and shortly thereafter a few of these popped up on ebay.fr and ebay.de if I recall correctly. Insanely priced, of course.

[PCEngineHell]

Pressed or burned.They do make blank Silvertop disc cd-rs,long strategy,that can be labeled.Have any of you bought one to find out?Can anyone here provide pics of boths sides of the disc?
Very interested to see.
Also I find it funny that a noob only post on this one topic,like the fake Hudson guy,who worked for Hudson but had to use his brother for reference.This and the whole Patlabor and Blodia thing,lol,I still chuckle over that one.
Any noobs who post here look more like created alter egos then anything else.Thi swas a almost dead topic for the last couple weeks,then a noob post on it again,makes me wonder.

[PCEngineHell]

Also in 2001 I did not expect Hudson to care about PcEngine.But back in 99 there could still have been slight interest,and this was the timeline those disc appeared,not 2k1.Alot of people in the Pcengine laseractive groups i have talked to have this copy,and picked it up in Japan,in late 99-to 2k.Remember games were pressed still in late 90ies,remember Dead "of" the Brain?

[Emerald Rocker]

Dead of the Brain 1&2 was advertised and marketed to retailers --- that's a big difference.

Listen, I'm not gonna get back on the Sapphire part, but the Space Fantasy Zone story is well-documented across the internet.  Let's not even get into a pointless discussion of fake/real "prototype" on that one.

It's also a little silly to theorize that Ceph is an alternate account.  He explained how he found this thread... the same way that Fudoh found the thread.  That's all.  Three times now (once with me several pages ago, twice with Ceph just recently) you've tried to dismiss an intelligent voice of reason as "noob" or "alternate account".  You should stop doing that.

[GUTS]

I doubt they're fake accounts,  it makes more sense that new people would stumble on this thread once in a while than for anybody here to start arguing again weeks after the thread has died.

[Emerald Rocker]

Dude, is that avatar image a caveman's fossilized dildo?

[PCEngineHell]

You missed the whole point,as I dont question the fakeness of the Phantasy Zone proto. I want to know if the disc being sold were pressed disc,or cd-rs labeled and packaged. That is why I asked if anyone bought one and could provide pics of both sides. Read my post better.
And yea it is funny a noob would "stumble" upon this thread,and only post on it,and nowhere else.

[Emerald Rocker]

I guess I did miss the point, because I don't see the point in spending 30 thousand yen to see whether a fake was pressed or whether the fake was burned to CD-R.

Now back to the question at hand... GUTS, is that a fossilized dildo?

[GUTS]

I wish, it's just some dude who had the AWESOME idea to make a sand penis instead of the ol generic sand castle.  Pure genius if you ask me.

[PCEngineHell]

You dont see much of anything Emerald,you too busy gawking at the penis avatar.

[Emerald Rocker]

I see reason; that's better than some people.

Kind of unrelated, but here's a cool article on why Rodimus Prime kicks Optimus's elderly ass:
http://www.segabastard.com/features/rodvsop.html

[ParanoiaDragon]

Ok, that's random.  I still like Optimus better, though I'm deffinitly not a Rodimus hater.  BTW, I'm a Transformer nut, down to G1 all the way up to Cybertron, & everything inbetween.

[GUTS]

Yeah Optimus 4 lyf, Rodimus was a pansy.

[PCEngineHell]

Yea,and when the space dust took hold of Hotrod/Rodimus,who saved the day????
Optimus Prime baby!!!!
Back from the dead and better then ever,and in full blaring mono audio with the crappy"You got the Touch,you got the power!!!! YEAAA!!!" tune.
Optimus Prime cured everyone with the Matrix of Leadership, I dont remember Rodimus doing that?
Optimus gave his life for the Autobots,did Rodimus?
Optimus put his life at risk many times over,has Rodimus?
No. Rodimus copped out,and because of this we got stuck seeing Grimlock grow a brain and build the Technobots,or Star Screams ghost,(thank god for Chris Latas voice still being there) making a lame appearence here or there trying to get a body back.
O and lets not forget the lame ass appearence of Cobra Comander in the future,helping terrorist fight the Autobots. I dont think Rodimus even saved the day then.
I always wished someone like Blitzwing or Astrotrain would just stomp him into the ground.
That or Devastator would just rip him limb from limb and send his left overs,after being mashed and smashed into paste,back to the junk planet for the Junkieons,or whatever they were called,Weird Al wannabies,to  try to fix.

[PCEngineHell]

Rodimus was fucking weak. Him and Mr.Ultra"I cant get the Matrix of Leadership to work"Magnus.
Screw both of them.
Optimus died saving the Autobots,twice.
UltraMagnus got fragged by Galvatron cause he was a dunce.
Not because he gave his life.
Rodimus was a pussy,who hid behind everyone.
When Ultra Magnus got snuffed,before being put back together,I laughed,thinking it was well deserved.
If Rodimus would have died,Id have cared less.
When Optimus died,mind you I was very young,I morned,cried even.
He meant the world. It totally sucked.I was so hurt as a little kid. I think takara,Hasbro and the animators should have been sued,because I remember alot of kids crying over this. It was total bullshit.
They should have never put us,as kids back then,trough all that emotional
trauma.

[Emerald Rocker]

I didn't cry.  Why cry over an idiot like Optimus Prime who forgot in the very first episode that he could fly?

[PCEngineHell]

He remembers when it counts,and besides,why fly when you can "roll out"?

[Emerald Rocker]

Actually, he didn't remember.  Jazz had to pull him out of the water.

[PCEngineHell]

He has flown in other episodes.

[PCEngineHell]

You better be careful here, I think there are many more Optimus fans here then you think. Stop knocking Optimus. He saved us all from the horrible space dust.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Actually, in G1, Autobots don't fly.  They did for a few episodes in the 1st season, then later changed it, so that only Decepticons fly, with the occasional Autobot that flies via a jetpack, or they happen to have a flying alt mode, like Jetfire & Powerglide.  The Dinobots do fly, though it's never explained why.  They were made on earth, maybe didn't have true sparks...or maybe Prime's connection with the All Spark(inside of Vector Sigma) allowed them to fly.  But, it's because of Autobots not being able to fly, that the Arielbots were such a big deal.  Later, the only other time you ever see Autobots fly, is when in the middle of space, like when Blaster, Ramhorn, Rewind, Blurr, Wreck Gar, & Perceptor were flying to an asteroid where Quintessons were taking energon out of the past.  I'd assume they were just able to project themselves thru space via some kind of thrusters.  But they never have an flying ability in an atmosphere.  Also, it's noted that all Autobots(that are Autobot of race, not faction) come from the worker race built by the Quintessons, with the Decepticons(Decepticon by race, not faction) coming from the warriors, which had natural flight ability.

Also, it wasn't space dust, it was the hate plague.  Here's info on that: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/6563/hateplague.html

Ultra Magnus never claimed to be a leader, he didn't even want to be a leader.  He told Optimus that he's just a soldier, & he proved that, by getting blown up, relying too much on the matrix.  As just a soldier, he thought it was the darkest hour, though, far from it.  BTW, originally, Magnus was going to be an upgrade for Optimus, rather then a new character, but, they axed that.  I forget if anyone explained their reasoning for killing Optimus & countless other Autobots & Decepticons.  I'd assume just to have no reason to continue to sell those respective toys, & push the new one.

Also, I'll note that Rodimus was a brand new leader, he had ALOT of learning to do, which I thought was cool.  Optimus had been the leader for millions of years, with Rodimus for a few years.  I'm sure Orion Pax/Optimus Prime had plenty to learn back in the day, especially since Megatron was already leading the Decepticons quite awhile before Optimus Prime came to be(noted in War Dawn).

However, I cried when Optimus died, I was 10 years old, I still get teary eyed to this day when I see that seen, and I'm 29.  I also get emotional watching Code of Hero, when Dinobot sacrifices his life, to save the (proto)humans & the Autobots fate, even though he was a descendant of Decepticons, he chose the honorable path.