Only English Final Fantasy 2 NES Cartridge On Sale for $50K

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Only English Final Fantasy 2 NES Cartridge On Sale for $50K

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 23, 2012 @11:25AM from the perfect-gift dept.

Croakyvoice writes "In what seems to be the 'in thing' at the moment comes another auction to add to last month's Zelda NES auction and that crazy million dollar collection. This time, for RPG fans, this could be classed as the Holy Grail of NES games. The game in question is Final Fantasy 2, which was never released outside of Japan, but luckily for the person who at this time is selling this on eBay for 50K, there was one made for the 1991 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by SquareSoft. Sadly, the U.S. version never had a release because they decided to work on the Super NES instead."

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He should have sold earlier by uCallHimDrJ0NES · 2012-08-23 11:27 · Score: 3, Funny

Before Square burnt up every bit of affection the general public had for the name "Final Fantasy".

--
Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
1. Re:He should have sold earlier by Smauler · 2012-08-23 12:23 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  When did they do that? I personally hated 13, loved 12, liked 10, hated 9, loved 8, quite liked 7, and after (or before) this it's not about affection for the gaming public, because very few people have actually played 1-6.
  You'll get loads of people disagreeing with my personal opinion about FF, but IMO FF12 was the best they've done. Yeah, they fucked up 13 (IMO), but they've fucked up in the past and come back. It's still a franchise I'll buy into.
2. Re:He should have sold earlier by Burning1 · 2012-08-23 12:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Huh? Lots and lots of us in the US played Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 4, and Final Fantasy 6. A bunch of us also played fan translations of Final Fantasy 5. I also played 7, but I haven't tried anything more recent... I just don't have the time or energy to play Final Fantasy games anymore.
  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bit of a generational gap between those of us who played FF1-6, and those that play FF7+
  My bet is that the guys who played FF1-6 are the same group who miss reading Nintendo Power. :)
3. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 13:23 · Score: 0
  
  FF12 was trash. Wanna-be MMO mechanics made that game terrible.
4. Re:He should have sold earlier by k8to · 2012-08-23 14:31 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm too old for nintendo power (there was no Atari Power).
  However I did enjoy final fantasy 1 and 4 (or 1 and 2 as i knew them.)
  
  --
  -josh
5. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 14:32 · Score: 0
  
  I'm one of the "few" who played 1-6... even went as far as saving up money from my job in high school to get an imported copy of 5. $85 was a lot of money back then!
  I liked 13, but I also liked Megadeth's album Risk. Sometimes you expect the same thing from a company or a band each time out, and one time around they do something so completely off the wall that it alienates the established fanbase - but at the same time, had there been a different name on the front cover, had it not said "Final Fantasy" on the front, it probably would have been lauded as a worthy "off the beaten path" entry for fans of the genre to have a look at, probably the way we look at the Persona series now. I would never think of trying to compare 13 to say 6, but on its own it was an okay RPG. 13-2 was even better.
  At this point though I'm hoping Square will warm up to the idea of returning to some older conventions for a future Final Fantasy game. Probably won't happen, considering Famitsu keeps spitting out 39/40 and 40/40 scores no matter what kind of game they do.
6. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 14:41 · Score: 0
  
  Huh? Lots and lots of us in the US played Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 4, and Final Fantasy 6. A bunch of us also played fan translations of Final Fantasy 5. I also played 7, but I haven't tried anything more recent... I just don't have the time or energy to play Final Fantasy games anymore.
  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bit of a generational gap between those of us who played FF1-6, and those that play FF7+
  My bet is that the guys who played FF1-6 are the same group who miss reading Nintendo Power. :)
  Maybe not a generational gap, but there's definitely an age gap. My brother and I are four years apart, I was born in 1980 and he in 1984... we got Final Fantasy when I was 12 and he was 8. I loved it, he didn't really get it. Final Fantasy 6 came out when I was in high school, and he was still only marginally interested. 7 came out when HE was 12... and that one really grabbed his attention. To this day that's the one he remembers most fondly.
7. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 15:11 · Score: 0
  
  Yep, I miss reading Nintendo Power.
8. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 15:18 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed, there is a bit of a generation gap going on here. I played and loved 1 through 10 and 12 but admit I never completed 2 or 12. The style of game has changed a lot in this period so personal preference will vary wildly as the games hit and miss the elements they most enjoy. For me, 7 is the clear winner (and I'm actually playing through GalenMyra's FF7 Hard Type this week) but 6 is also decent (I guess plot is critcal to me). I feel there's a difficulty peak at 4 (10 was so easy it was painful, great for little kids though) and a musical peak at 8 (very subjective of course). The graphics naturally constantly improve (unless, like me, you preferred the polished 2d of 6 to the early 3d monstrosities of 7 and 8) and the battle systems are all over the place.
  There's a whole world to Final Fantasy out there. Expecting the top bidders of this gem hold back because they don't like SquareEnix would be like expecting hardcore Star Wars fans to say they don't want Luke's original lightsaber because they don't like what Lucas and how he's been mangling Star Wars.
9. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 15:21 · Score: 0
  
  That's not fair! The MMO mechanics made the game arguably worse than previous installments and even that is subjective. Your comments just make you out to be a troll. Everyone knows it's the music that made FF12 terrible.
10. Re:He should have sold earlier by hairyfeet · 2012-08-23 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  Or maybe, just maybe, its a taste thing? I was born in the late 60s and while I thought 1-6 was only so-so I really enjoyed 7 and 8. During the 1-6 period I preferred the Phantasy Stars over the Final Fantasy series but 7 and 8 had more of that epic feel like I enjoyed in the Phantasy Star games.
  That said $50k for a game cart? Damn, just shows people pay crazy prices for collectables if you get the right one.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
11. Re:He should have sold earlier by Myria · 2012-08-23 16:32 · Score: 1
  
  You're probably right about that. I love FF3, FF4, FF6, FF7, FF9; moderately like FF1 and FF5; and totally hate FF2, FF8, FF10, FF12, FF13. And yes, I miss Nintendo Power. =)
  My friend and I made the FF5 fan translation you played, but I never actually played through the game until like a decade later. FF5 wasn't one of my favorites, but it didn't suck like FF8 and FF13.
  
  --
  "Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
12. Re:He should have sold earlier by harmony7 · 2012-08-23 17:44 · Score: 0
  
  FF5 just got a lot of attention because it was the first complete fan translated RPG (or first famous one anyway). I know many liked it but looking back I think the quality, especially of the English, could have been much better.
13. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 18:58 · Score: 0
  
  I never thought I'd see such blatant trolling as I have in this forum. Step away from the computer, drop the ham sandwich and back the FRACK off, gaijin. I hate to use that word but you've made me that serious. As hard as it may be for you to fathom, some of us here are actual fans of the Final Fantasy series (pre FFX) and Square's work in general. You can try to bash me for an avatar that I bought because I happen to be a dedicated fan of perhaps the most poignant, painstakingly woven tapestry of love, loss and vengeance ever to be put from pen to paper, but you would fail, just like all of you flamers do in real life. Who can say that the minds at Square Enix (note: appropriate portmanteau is SQUENIX, not the laughable SQUEENIX) were not inspired by the works of William Shakespeare or Chuck Palahniuk? Cloud's bastard sword has more akin with the bastard sons of Macbeth than it does any armament of basilard of the time. The Honey Bee Club in Midgar reminds me more of the Fight Clubs than any brothel. So please, use your brains, not your sarcasm, and step up to the intellectual plate, or leave this forum and take your "haterade" with you.
14. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 19:27 · Score: 0
  
  What are your thought about the supposedly better 13: 13-2?
  I hated it even more.
  Fool me once (only played 7,10 and 12 before): shame on you, fool me twice (13-2): shame on me. I'll not be buying new FF related crap for some time (maybe only after lending the stuff from someone else).
15. Re:He should have sold earlier by parkinglot777 · 2012-08-23 23:31 · Score: 2
  
  because very few people have actually played 1-6.
  Are you implying that those people (including myself) are old? ;)
  Actually, I played all up to 8 (in Japanese version first, and then in English). When I was 12, I played Final Fantasy 1 when it first came out (in Japanese) and I was hooked because the battle system was completely unique that day. I am an old school and I like cartoon more than real. I like them up to 7. Once 8 came out and I tried for a couple hours, I no longer wanted to play it any more because the game looked too real and not a single part is cartoon.
  I agree with many people here that $50k is a joke for just a software with a crappy old case that you could still play using emulator and a downloaded ROM...
16. Re:He should have sold earlier by mister_playboy · 2012-08-24 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  I actually loved the mechanics of FFXII. As someone who had never played an MMO, it seemed like a a fresh design that was a lot of fun.
  Lots of incredible music on that game... just the intro theme got me smiling the first time I started it up.
  
  --
  Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
17. Re:He should have sold earlier by indy_Muad'Dib · 2012-08-24 03:07 · Score: 1
  
  i still have by old issues of Nintendo Power you insensitive clod.
  
  im 34, ive never played a FF title past FF3/FF6 except the MMO which was honestly kind of crappy.
18. Re:He should have sold earlier by AnonyMouseCowWard · 2012-08-24 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  I think that's what he means... Back in the days, we loved FF1-3 (US) and 7. There wasn't a "hit and miss". It was good, the entire series. Now, though, people hate some of the FF games... that's burning the affection. :(
19. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-24 05:06 · Score: 0
  
  Speak for yourself.
  I played 1 - 6, 7, and 8.
  And yes, I played the Japanese versions because I learned Japanese in high school. No its not easy to play when you dont have a full grasp on the language, but its still better than whatever FF is out on the current platforms with its bullshit FMV sequences.
  FF1 is by far the best of them all.
20. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-24 14:58 · Score: 0
  
  Or maybe, just maybe, its a taste thing? I was born in the late 60s and while I thought 1-6 was only so-so I really enjoyed 7 and 8. During the 1-6 period I preferred the Phantasy Stars over the Final Fantasy series but 7 and 8 had more of that epic feel like I enjoyed in the Phantasy Star games.
  That said $50k for a game cart? Damn, just shows people pay crazy prices for collectables if you get the right one.
  Yea, I can see that. I actually really liked 8 for its focus on storytelling over everything else. I'm in the minority on that, though. And if I had $50,000 burning a hole in my pocket I like to think I'd find something else to use it on aside from a NES game. :)
21. Re:He should have sold earlier by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-24 15:13 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed, there is a bit of a generation gap going on here. I played and loved 1 through 10 and 12 but admit I never completed 2 or 12. The style of game has changed a lot in this period so personal preference will vary wildly as the games hit and miss the elements they most enjoy. For me, 7 is the clear winner (and I'm actually playing through GalenMyra's FF7 Hard Type this week) but 6 is also decent (I guess plot is critcal to me). I feel there's a difficulty peak at 4 (10 was so easy it was painful, great for little kids though) and a musical peak at 8 (very subjective of course). The graphics naturally constantly improve (unless, like me, you preferred the polished 2d of 6 to the early 3d monstrosities of 7 and 8) and the battle systems are all over the place.
  There's a whole world to Final Fantasy out there. Expecting the top bidders of this gem hold back because they don't like SquareEnix would be like expecting hardcore Star Wars fans to say they don't want Luke's original lightsaber because they don't like what Lucas and how he's been mangling Star Wars.
  Agreed. The problem with those early 3D consoles, the Atari Jaguars and the Sony Playstations and Sega Saturns of the mid-90s, is that the hype of 3D rendering was so far out ahead of the maturity of the technology that we got some absolutely shitty-looking games, blocky 320x240 monstrosities as a result. Every time I've gone back to play some game from that era, I put it away thinking that it hasn't aged well at all. Final Fantasy 7 and 8 do not look good in 2012 and I personally will hold off on playing them again until they get an HD remake.
  Squaresoft really drove up the art direction of their SNES titles somewhere around 1993 or 1994. You can tell a huge difference between Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3, and Final Fantasy 5 (which I'm playing the DS remake of this weekend) and Final Fantasy 6. Bahamut Lagoon is another game that looked absolutely great then and still holds water now.
  Time to go grind out ABP!
22. Re:He should have sold earlier by uCallHimDrJ0NES · 2012-08-29 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  It was called "Atari Age". I was an avid reader of it. They had an exclusive game published for readers only: Rubik's Cube.
  
  --
  Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
FF1 just ported to Android... by Picass0 · 2012-08-23 11:30 · Score: 1

.... makes me think FF2 might not be far behind.
1. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by jeffasselin · 2012-08-23 11:50 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  FF2 has been available on iOS for a couple years now.
  
  --
  If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
2. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:08 · Score: -1
  
  That's because most people use their iOS devices to constantly play games.
3. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by RocketRabbit · 2012-08-23 13:44 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  Well, that, and the fact that iOS users actually pay money for software. Android users are cheap, and a developer is going to go where the money is.
4. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by narcc · 2012-08-23 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  FF1 and 2 have been available on BlackBerry for ages.
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
5. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 14:38 · Score: 0
  
  Protip. When you're trying to slip in something nasty, it should at least be on topic. Doesn't matter if it's true.
6. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by LSDelirious · 2012-08-23 14:51 · Score: 1
  
  Dont need to wait for a port, just get nesoid emulator and any NES rom you can get ahold of can be played on your droid....
  
  --
  Slavery is the legal fiction that a person is property; A Corporation is the legal fiction that property is a person.
7. Re:FF1 just ported to Android... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 18:44 · Score: 0
  
  Actually, most iOS SE games are already available for Android. The catch is that you need to buy them at the Square-Enix Android Market, only in Japan and only for AU and Docomo carriers. But looks like this strategy failed as it is a pain in the ass to install the games(let alone even know that the store exists), so they are slowly bring everything to Google Play.
  But in terms of executable software, everything is already playable, from FF1 to Chrono Trigger.
Does anyone know if... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 11:33 · Score: 0

theres a ROM dump of this?
1. Re:Does anyone know if... by Githaron · 2012-08-23 11:50 · Score: 1
  
  Considering how rare it is, I doubt it.
2. Re:Does anyone know if... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 11:51 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Yes. The person auctioning the cart dumped it himself. (It's Frank Cifaldi, who's a pretty well-known video game historian and journalist.) While doing so kills the market value, Frank Cifaldi believes more highly in the preservation of prototypes and betas than in maintaining the value by letting a cartridge languish in a box and degrade.
  I believe his site, Lost Levels (lostlevels.org) in fact offers the ROM for download for preservation purposes.
  The translation is kind of rough, but I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.
3. Re:Does anyone know if... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 13:30 · Score: 0
  
  All your base are belong to us.
4. Re:Does anyone know if... by geminidomino · 2012-08-23 14:16 · Score: 1
  
  I believe his site, Lost Levels (lostlevels.org) in fact offers the ROM for download for preservation purposes.
  There's a link, but it's a dead-end redirect =\
5. Re:Does anyone know if... by mastershake82 · 2012-08-24 01:56 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  FTFAuction:
  
  Q: Can you please upload to ROM online, so the world can play it? There is no way publisher will release this, and if you don't it could be lost to time: Forever.
  A: OK, I did it (9 years ago).
  
  So, it looks like he dumped and uploaded the ROM as soon as he acquired the cart.
ff3 to ouya.. by zlives · 2012-08-23 11:34 · Score: 1

which is droid so....
I suspect this is a fake by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 11:37 · Score: -1

Someone simply burned one of the many different fan translations available to EEPROM and plugged them into one of the many available developer boards.
1. Re:I suspect this is a fake by LocalH · 2012-08-23 12:05 · Score: 1
  
  It's authentic.
  
  --
  FC Closer
2. Re:I suspect this is a fake by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:09 · Score: 0
  
  How about we ask Enix/Square if they ever did a translation?
3. Re:I suspect this is a fake by RyuuzakiTetsuya · 2012-08-23 12:12 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  They did. IT was on display at CES. The translation features Nintedoisms like censoring the religious symbology and so forth.
  It's Frank Cifaldi. The dump's authentic.
  Now Bio Force Ape... That's going to be one hell of a sale.
  
  --
  Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
4. Re:I suspect this is a fake by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:17 · Score: 0
  
  Now Bio Force Ape... That's going to be one hell of a sale.
  He will probably never sell Bio Force Ape. The story is just too good. He was carrying it on his person last PAX East.
  Worth 2K monies indeed.
5. Re:I suspect this is a fake by Darkness404 · 2012-08-23 12:19 · Score: 2
  
  Um, they did.
  
  http://www.lostlevels.org/200312/200312-ffan2.shtml
  
  With enough searching I believe you should be able to find screenshots and such from the game.
  
  http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17wkpxma1zym7jpg/original.jpg is an image of part of an ad that ran before its release.
  
  --
  Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Is it worth it? by joeflies · 2012-08-23 11:40 · Score: 5, Interesting

I never really understood why these development cartridges fetch such high prices. Well, on a superficial level, I understand since it's a matter of supply and demand. But at a deeper level, it's a one off because it's an unfinished product. To me, I don't see any difference between a free fan-based english conversion vs an official "never sold to the public" version.
Would you pay millions of dollars for a test version of Windows 98 developed for esperanto? The answer is no, because nobody cares. However, the same logic doesn't apply when it comes to toys and games
1. Re:Is it worth it? by Githaron · 2012-08-23 11:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It gains the owner prestige in his/her social circle.
2. Re:Is it worth it? by _Shad0w_ · 2012-08-23 12:04 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I would and you wouldn't, because you don't care and I don't care, but I bet someone would and does. People like to collect all sorts of things and some of them have a lot of money to spare. Collecting game cartridges is no more stupid than numismatics, philately, or even cartophily - some cigarette cards have sold for millions.
  
  --
  Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.
3. Re:Is it worth it? by veganboyjosh · 2012-08-23 12:12 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Altho i'm loathe to use the word/admit it, i collect vinyl records. i tend to focus on a specific sub-genre of one that's not uber popular, so the records i'm really after and willing to spend more than list price on usually don't go for too much. Many of my peers are into collecting every variation of a record that's pressed on multiple colors of vinyl. (ie, a label will press 1000 of a particular band's album. 500 of these will be on black vinyl, 250 on red, 200 on green, and 50 on clear vinyl.) My collector nerd friends would then seek out all 4 versions. Indeed, a lot of labels even offer a pre-sale package featuring all 4 variants, particular for these guys.
  
  In addition to a completist mentality behind wanting to own every variant of a record, there is also a demand (ranging from "mildly interested" to "i will mortgage the house to get this") for "test pressings" of records. These are just like what they sound. There are usually fewer than 20 of these made per release. Often less than 10 or even 5. Plain white labels or possibly a boilerplate label with "artist, song title, label" info handwritten onto the labels. No printed cover. A few go to the label, some to the band, for listening to and final proofing before the "go ahead and make us 1000 copies" order is put in. It's very rare that there is a change to an album once the test pressings have been created and they are almost NEVER available for sale to the general public. I've mostly only seen them for sale after the album comes out, strictly as collector items.
  
  The $50k asking price may be ridonkulous, but the demand for this one-off game makes perfect sense to me in light of what i've seen people get stupid over in the vinyl world.
4. Re:Is it worth it? by Chemisor · 2012-08-23 12:13 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  People also pay a lot of money for an original Van Gogh painting, even though a good modern painter can make you a copy that only an expert would be able to distinguish from the original. If appearance were the only thing that mattered, the price difference wouldn't have been as great.
5. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:29 · Score: 1
  
  Selling items that have no tangible value is what capitalism is all about. I wish the Soviet Union was still around to force this type of non-sense out of consumers.
6. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:39 · Score: -1
  
  I would venture to say that if someone has the money to spend on this and to him or her it's a must-have, that social circle is small if non-existent.
7. Re:Is it worth it? by Z34107 · 2012-08-23 12:41 · Score: 1
  
  You answered your own question. Supply is rather constrained, and there's a lot more demand for a piece of Square and Nintendo history than there is for old Windows betas.
  
  --
  DATABASE WOW WOW
8. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 14:50 · Score: 0
  
  Tens of thousands of neckbeards would give their left nut for this. There's no telling how far a retarded fanboi will go. He probably pays thousands for the "privilege" of having first generation Star Wars toys shoved up his ass.
9. Re:Is it worth it? by andyn · 2012-08-23 17:28 · Score: 1
  
  Altho i'm loathe to use the word/admit it
  No you don't. Damn hipsters!
10. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 17:47 · Score: 0
  
  I'd say that social circle consists of everyone who clicked on this story, including you and me.
11. Re:Is it worth it? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · 2012-08-23 17:53 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I don't think anyone will give you shit for collecting vinyl records, as long as you're not one of those nutters who claims they are better at reproducing sound than a properly mastered CD. "Vinyl collector" does not necessarily equal "Vaccine-shunning, astrology-believing, $5,000-power-cable-buying, moon-landing-denying audiophile."
12. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 19:38 · Score: 0
  
  I'd say you don't know what "social circle" actually means.
13. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 21:53 · Score: 0
  
  Indeed. While I don't collect myself, I could easily imagine myself reviving my passion for the Sharp MZ-700 - the first computer I even owned. It's an obscure piece of hardware which I believe was fairly popular in the U.K. and Europe back in the early 80's. It had an 8-bit Z80A compatible processor in it, I think. I got mine from my uncle when he moved on to Amiga. The one I own is the only one I've ever seen here in Sweden, and I have never heard anyone here mention it - ever. Most people in Sweden had the Commodore 64 or Atari.
  I still have it in storage and last time I checked it still worked. Only problem is that it's difficult to get software onto tape and running it (soldering would probably be necessary), so I never bothered to try. But yeah, I can easily see myself spending lot's of money to relive those days and the endless hours I spent playing ManHunt, Nightmare Park, Land Escape and Pacman.
14. Re:Is it worth it? by realityimpaired · 2012-08-23 23:03 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I don't think anyone will give you shit for collecting vinyl records, as long as you're not one of those nutters who claims they are better at reproducing sound than a properly mastered CD
  I haven't heard a "properly mastered CD" in years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ
  That's why vinyl sounds better... it's not that the medium itself is better, it's that it's not physically possible to press a record that's been as overmastered as the crap that they can do with a CD.
15. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 23:55 · Score: 0
  
  Mi estas tre interesata en vian kopion de Windows 98 por Esperanto. Mi estis seranta dum jaroj, bonvolu aboni min al via revuo.
16. Re:Is it worth it? by jones_supa · 2012-08-24 01:24 · Score: 1
  
  Movies usually have pretty good sound quality. My assumption has been that the sound artists adhere strictly to one or another Dolby standard. Mixing and mastering CDs should have similar standards.
17. Re:Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-24 01:49 · Score: 0
  
  "500 of these will be on black vinyl, 250 on red, 200 on green, and 50 on clear vinyl"
  Would you happen to listen to punk? Sounds a lot like what I see on Ebay when looking for vinyl in that genre.
18. Re:Is it worth it? by veganboyjosh · 2012-08-24 12:29 · Score: 1
  
  Closest I've ever come is picking up an audiophile magazine at a bookstore, in which there was a review of a 1 meter RCA cable that cost $5,000. That's more than I've ever spent on audio equipment in my life, combined. I don't like being a collector. I just enjoy collecting the records.
19. Re:Is it worth it? by veganboyjosh · 2012-08-25 00:05 · Score: 1
  
  Yup, mostly. Usually it's only something i notice either with brand new releases that a label/distro is pushing, or older collectible records that are 15-20 years old, and someone is selling/trying to collect the whole "set". There are a few releases I've gone after or even own in all the variants, but for the most part, once i own ONE release of a record, that's enough for me to say i own it and i don't feel the need to grab all the others. Usually my threshold is when i find one idon't have and it's super cheap, i'll pick it up.
  
  I wonder if other genres do the same? I do dabble in a few others, but don't recall seeing like hip hop or electronica singles or LP's doing the same thing. Curious observation.
never released in the US? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 11:45 · Score: 0

Of course it was... It was called FF5.
1. Re:never released in the US? by retchdog · 2012-08-23 11:49 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It was FF4 that was released as FF2 in the US.
  
  --
  "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
2. Re:never released in the US? by DemonGenius · 2012-08-23 11:51 · Score: 1
  
  You're trying to be funny, right?
50k is not the selling price by Spy+Handler · 2012-08-23 11:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

50k is his asking price. As anyone who's watched Pawn Stars knows, there's usually a big difference between what people ask for and what they end up getting.
1. Re:50k is not the selling price by sconeu · 2012-08-23 12:01 · Score: 1
  
  I've never figured out why people take some of that shit to a pawn shop instead of Christies.
  Case in point, the Willie Mays uniform, or the George Washington Funeral Medal.
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
2. Re:50k is not the selling price by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:03 · Score: 0
  
  So some idiot will end up paying 200k for it.
3. Re:50k is not the selling price by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:13 · Score: 0
  
  Pawn Stars *has* to screw these people because they're mostly a souvenir shop now, there's very little pawn shop left.
4. Re:50k is not the selling price by fast+turtle · 2012-08-23 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  because they want it back? That's what a Pawn shop is all about. Secured Loans. They hold the item and are responsible for security and everything else.
  
  --
  Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
5. Re:50k is not the selling price by Darkness404 · 2012-08-23 12:23 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Because Pawn Stars is a TV show, they run a real Pawn Shop but many episodes are filmed with actors "recreating" moments that might have happened. Just look at http://centraltendencies.com/2011/03/pawn-stars-is-fake/
  
  That doesn't mean that its any less entertaining, but its a staged show bringing in far more interesting things than what the average pawn shop owner would ever see in their lifetime.
  
  --
  Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
6. Re:50k is not the selling price by SurfaceMount · 2012-08-23 12:27 · Score: 2
  
  I've never figured out why people take some of that shit to a pawn shop instead of Christies.
  They explain it to customers all the time during their negotiations.
  "Yeah it will sell for triple my offer at an auction, but you will have to pay $$$$ upfront for catalogue fees and appraisal, then a percentage after sale, and it may take 6 months to sell".
  People go to a pawn shop because they need money TODAY, bills have to be paid.
  They dont have any money for upfront costs, they cant wait months for the sale. They need that cash in their hand asap and thats what a pawn shop specialises in.
7. Re:50k is not the selling price by Nidi62 · 2012-08-23 12:32 · Score: 1
  
  The items the OP mentioned were actually sold to the shop on the show. They usually get anywhere from 40-70% of retail value depending on their negotiating skills/how bad Rick/whoever wants the item.
  
  --
  The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
8. Re:50k is not the selling price by Zorque · 2012-08-23 12:43 · Score: 1
  
  There's a possibility of making more money at a pawn shop. Most big auction houses take fees of at least 30%, which of course is only worthwhile if you can get more out of the auction than the item is really worth. At a pawn shop you can often talk them into giving you 75%+ of the item's worth.
9. Re:50k is not the selling price by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:59 · Score: 0
  
  He (Frank Cifaldi) has stated publicly that he'll accept a fifth of that:
  http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3285054&pagenumber=359&perpage=40#post406733064
  "If we don't get any five-figure offers it's just going to stay where it is, there's no rush to get rid of it. If it's not worth at least $10K right now it will be someday."
10. Re:50k is not the selling price by fredgiblet · 2012-08-23 14:57 · Score: 1
  
  Also, stopping by the store and selling it is a lot less work, and people are lazy.
11. Re:50k is not the selling price by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 16:13 · Score: 0
  
  well if you look at the other two auctions the article references, they both sold at or over their asking price.
  old games stuff is hot.
Remember, It's A Crime To Copy It by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:01 · Score: 1

That's right folks, it's a crime! Don't copy that floppy, don't copy that ROM! You're only paying for the physical media, and once it wears out, it's gone.
1. Re:Remember, It's A Crime To Copy It by LocalH · 2012-08-23 12:05 · Score: 1
  
  Too late, it's already been copied. :P
  
  --
  FC Closer
2. Re:Remember, It's A Crime To Copy It by jones_supa · 2012-08-24 01:38 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe legally so. But if I was the creator of FF2, at this point I would only be glad if people were copying it and, thus preserving and enjoying the game.
I also want $50k by cvtan · 2012-08-23 12:15 · Score: 4, Funny

I have this copyrighted chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's the only copy written in English. Because you know it's not possible to make another copy of it.

--
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
1. Re:I also want $50k by Darkness404 · 2012-08-23 12:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The value of this is not the data, it is the cart itself. Just because everyone knows what the Mona Lisa looks like and you can buy a nice replica for $5 at a decoration store and a nice hand painted copy for $50 doesn't mean the original painting is only worth $50 or $100.
  
  --
  Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Definitely Unfinished by guttentag · 2012-08-23 12:26 · Score: 3, Funny

A screenshot of the game shows the status screen for a character that has been killed. It simply reads: "GUY DEAD"
1. Re:Definitely Unfinished by Dwedit · 2012-08-23 12:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  "Guy" is the character's name.
2. Re:Definitely Unfinished by skipkent · 2012-08-23 12:35 · Score: 2
  
  From that example, the character was actually named "Guy" and he was dead.... But yes, from the other screenshots it seems that the translation is a bit rough... From what I'm getting one lady translated it for the trade show, so it wasn't the polished final results.
3. Re:Definitely Unfinished by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 12:35 · Score: 0
  
  Except the name of the dead character is, in fact, "Guy".
4. Re:Definitely Unfinished by guttentag · 2012-08-23 12:37 · Score: 1
  
  More fun quotes:
  
  What's silver? Is it yummy? (The economy in their reality must be even worse than the one in our reality.)
  
  King of Palakia said: "Anyone enters this castle gets my daughter!" (Threat or offer of reward? You decide.)
5. Re:Definitely Unfinished by Pikoro · 2012-08-23 12:42 · Score: 1
  
  The character's name is "Guy". In Japanese it says "Guy" also.
  
  --
  "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
Old NES translations by phorm · 2012-08-23 12:46 · Score: 1

I seem to remember some of these existing in the wild on emulators quite a long time ago. There was a patch which could be run against the dumped ROM to translate most of the dialog etc. Some things that were actually graphics rather than text still retained Japanese letters/characters, but the character dialog was surprisingly well done.
1. Re:Old NES translations by LocalH · 2012-08-23 13:13 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Those were fan-created translations. This one was official.
  
  --
  FC Closer
2. Re:Old NES translations by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-24 03:28 · Score: 0
  
  ...which generally means that the translation is a lot worse (especially at that time). Then again, it could have more gems like "You spoony bard!".
It's just the translation patch, it's a fake by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 13:13 · Score: 0

10 dollars says it's the US fan-made translation patch that some idiot programmed onto EPROMs and is passing it off as a "rare prototype".
Emulation has brought us a lot of wonderful things; but it has also brought scumbags that make "reproductions" and cook up fake prototypes, often relying on the legitimate hard work of many people just so they can make a quick buck.
1. Re:It's just the translation patch, it's a fake by Myria · 2012-08-23 16:54 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  10 dollars says it's the US fan-made translation patch that some idiot programmed onto EPROMs and is passing it off as a "rare prototype".
  While that's possible, in general, there exist ways to determine whether a game has been translated by force. Because of the lack of the original source code, many of the changes to the existing code will be done as branches to other areas of ROM.
  If you change the size of a block of assembly code, you have to adjust pointers throughout that segment and beyond. This is the task of an assembler and linker, working on your source code. For ROM hacking, you don't have the source. It's infeasible--and provably uncomputable in the general case--to know where all these pointers are, so that you can adjust them when you rebuild with hacks in place.
  Thus, patched ROMs are made by placing branches in one part of the code pointing at some previously unused area, then jumping back after finishing whatever needed to happen there. These jumps can be detected in a thorough analysis of a given ROM image in comparison to its Japanese original. If it is clear that the code adjustments made for the English version were made by reassembling from source, the probability that it is a translation from the original author is very high.
  
  --
  "Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
2. Re:It's just the translation patch, it's a fake by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 18:30 · Score: 0
  
  Insightful, please mod up
3. Re:It's just the translation patch, it's a fake by Megane · 2012-08-23 23:52 · Score: 1
  
  If you change the size of a block of assembly code, you have to adjust pointers throughout that segment and beyond. This is the task of an assembler and linker, working on your source code. For ROM hacking, you don't have the source. It's infeasible--and provably uncomputable in the general case--to know where all these pointers are, so that you can adjust them when you rebuild with hacks in place.
  It is possible, but it's a lot of work, and it grows with the size of the code. First you have to start with a disassembler that traces down branches and calls, then you have to keep looking for more code that didn't get traced because it was referenced from a jump table somewhere, and tell the disassembler to search that too.
  It also depends on the instruction set of the CPU, and how pointers get represented in memory. In 6502 code, each byte of a data record is often put in separate tables, and jump tables that use PHA/PHA/RTS will use the address - 1 because of the way RTS works.
  But in my experience, the hard work is data blocks with pointers to other blocks that contain even more pointers. When the code is in assembly language, a lot more liberties can be taken with data formats than would be done in C code. Sometimes the only way to be sure is to find the code that accesses the tables, and identify which offsets contain addresses under which conditions.
  It's one thing to do this to an arcade-style game that's 16K bytes. It's completely different trying to do this to an RPG of a few hundred K bytes. I've done the former, but never had the guts to try the latter.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
it will be destroyed. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 13:23 · Score: 0

Which means will they will buy it. Claim its a fake, and ebay will make them destroy it then refund their money.
Was the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery ever made? by friendofish · 2012-08-23 13:57 · Score: 1

I bet that would fetch a zillion dollars... Hell the Chalice of Lightwould probably fetch a mint at auction, millions perhaps?
I have an idea. by jtownatpunk.net · 2012-08-23 17:10 · Score: 1, Interesting

Someone launch a Kickstarter project to buy this then put the ROMs out for the rest of the world to use on emulators.
1. Re:I have an idea. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 19:13 · Score: 2
  
  better idea, go get the ROM as mentioned in a comment above yours for no cost
2. Re:I have an idea. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-08-23 19:51 · Score: 0
  
  Or just don't play one of the worst Final Fantasy games ever made.
3. Re:I have an idea. by CronoCloud · 2012-08-23 20:37 · Score: 1
  
  The Gooch makes a movie that isn't a breakout hit and they pressure him to leave, but Kawazu makes game after horrible player unfriendly game, which don't sell well in the US and is rewarded!
  Kawazu should be fired! He's the Uwe Boll of Square,
4. Re:I have an idea. by CronoCloud · 2012-08-23 21:38 · Score: 1
  
  Why FF2, Kawazu and every other games he makes, sucks:
  http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=ff02
  http://www.largeprimenumbers.com/article.php?sid=saga
Why selling secondhand games should be banned by kwark · 2012-08-23 19:38 · Score: 0

A prime example of why studios think you shouldn't get to sell the games you bought, none of the money is going to the studio, which makes them very sad.
1. Re:Why selling secondhand games should be banned by jones_supa · 2012-08-24 01:47 · Score: 1
  
  What is interesting though, would FF2 still sell, if it was available for, let's say 1€? Should game publishers put their past catalogue on sale, bundled with proper emulators to support them? I'm just asking a neutral question. In a way this is already happening at GOG.com.
Some editing from the editors, puh-lease! by wonkey_monkey · 2012-08-23 21:40 · Score: 1

"In what seems to be the in thing at the moment
Bit of a clunky opening. I'd hyphenate "in-thing" so it parses more easily.

last months
Jesus, really?

Zelda Nes auction
That would be "NES". And was it a NES that was sold, or a NES game?

and that crazy Million Dollar Collection.
Oh yeah, that! Wait, what?

This time for RPG fans this could be classed as the Holy Grail of Nes [sic] games.
This could be classed as the Holy Grail of NES games for RPG fans.

The game in question is Final Fantasy 2 which was never released outside of Japan but luckily for the person who at this time is selling this on Ebay for 50K, there was one made for the 1991 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by SquareSoft, sadly the USA version never had a release because they decided to work on the Super NES instead."
65 words. Two commas.

on Ebay for 50K
Another example of the headline having more information than the summary - that's in $. But is it 50 kilo-dollars or 50 kibi-dollars?

--
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
1. Re:Some editing from the editors, puh-lease! by BenoitRen · 2012-08-23 22:27 · Score: 1
  
  Also, it's "eBay".
8.99$ as an iPhone game... by DarthVain · 2012-08-24 03:11 · Score: 1

Rather than spending $50K on a NES cartridge, you could just go to the iPhone app store and buy Final Fantasy II for 8.99$.
Just sayin'.