106 replies to this topic

[Jess Ragan]

Good on you, Frank. I think you've got the right attitude about this. It's a shame and a waste when any video game is denied a chance to shine, and dumping (then sharing!) prototypes lets players enjoy games that otherwise would have been lost to time.

Also, I heard that someone started a charity drive to offset the cost of dumping an unreleased video game. It doesn't sound like it was Brandon, though. Thanks for correcting me on that.

By the way, it's really horrible what happened to him. I thought he was hit by a car but the reality was far worse than I could have imagined. So senseless...

TheRedEye, on Mon May 18, 2009 10:49 PM, said:

My perspective on this issue is that if you're worried about your "investment," you should consider a more lucrative hobby than classic games. I have "de-valued" (or at least contributed to de-valuing) more prototypes than anyone save maybe Tempest without ever selling a damned thing, and though I am currently unemployed and in a financial spot myself I have never regretted it. I would hate to think that fifty years from now a game is lost forever because some enterprising collector was terrified of losing, gasp, a thousand dollars.

Call me crazy if you want, but saving a one-of-a-kind piece of the history pertaining to my lifelong hobby and career is more important and valuable to me than one week's salary, even while I'm not working. It absolutely blows my mind that the overwhelming majority of people who dedicate their free time to classic games to the point where they regularly post on internet forums feel differently. I just can not comprehend that, it is absurd to me.

Jess, don't know what you're talking about with the donation drive, but Brandon dumped Raisins for free and sold it at a significant theoretical "loss" (though a $700+ profit compared to what he'd paid), which he was 100% OK with. He knew what would happen, but didn't care. I talked to him on and off until he died, and he continued to be proud of what he'd done, to the point where his mother wrote something about it on his memorial site.

[Phantom]

I think they all should be dumped and shared. Otherwise, what is the point?

Talking from my experience with Gamma Attack, I have received offers that have seemingly going down since I dumped it but that only means there is less chance I ever sell it since I seemingly value you it more than others currently and think the dump shouldn't affect the value and here's why...
It is still the only original known to exist and many times, this is the case with other dumped games or prototypes. Even if they arent the "only" original, they are still part of a very limited group so dumping should have no affect on the Originals in my view though some would disagree. Now if more popped up of the original, I would change my value but it would still have to be more than one or 2 for it to change too drastically.

The way I see it on the one game I dumped,
Gamma Attack is about the rarest cartridge of any produced game ever.
That alone makes it valuable to me, especially since there is still only one original regardless of what others think or how many reproductions were made.
That's my take. Dump Away!!!
Cheers and have a great weekend all

[Buyatari]

Phantom, on Sat May 23, 2009 6:01 PM, said:

I think they all should be dumped and shared. Otherwise, what is the point?

Talking from my experience with Gamma Attack, I have received offers that have seemingly going down since I dumped it but that only means there is less chance I ever sell it since I seemingly value you it more than others currently and think the dump shouldn't affect the value and here's why...
It is still the only original known to exist and many times, this is the case with other dumped games or prototypes. Even if they arent the "only" original, they are still part of a very limited group so dumping should have no affect on the Originals in my view though some would disagree. Now if more popped up of the original, I would change my value but it would still have to be more than one or 2 for it to change too drastically.

The way I see it on the one game I dumped,
Gamma Attack is about the rarest cartridge of any produced game ever.
That alone makes it valuable to me, especially since there is still only one original regardless of what others think or how many reproductions were made.
That's my take. Dump Away!!!
Cheers and have a great weekend all

The Proto value on most protos is I'd say 1k MAX on any proto and most in the 300-500 range. Any one who pays more than this pays the protos PLUS the for the privilege to release it in cart form and make a few bucks off the project. They may have no intention to use this privilege but it is still there and it can be passed on along with the proto to the next guy. If the privilege is used up. The offer will be for the physical cartridge only. So the value really hasn't gone down you just have less to offer.

[Phantom]

Buyatari, on Sat May 23, 2009 8:39 PM, said:

Phantom, on Sat May 23, 2009 6:01 PM, said:

I think they all should be dumped and shared. Otherwise, what is the point?

Talking from my experience with Gamma Attack, I have received offers that have seemingly going down since I dumped it but that only means there is less chance I ever sell it since I seemingly value you it more than others currently and think the dump shouldn't affect the value and here's why...
It is still the only original known to exist and many times, this is the case with other dumped games or prototypes. Even if they aren't the "only" original, they are still part of a very limited group so dumping should have no affect on the Originals in my view though some would disagree. Now if more popped up of the original, I would change my value but it would still have to be more than one or 2 for it to change too drastically.

The way I see it on the one game I dumped,
Gamma Attack is about the rarest cartridge of any produced game ever.
That alone makes it valuable to me, especially since there is still only one original regardless of what others think or how many reproductions were made.
That's my take. Dump Away!!!
Cheers and have a great weekend all

The Proto value on most protos is I'd say 1k MAX on any proto and most in the 300-500 range. Any one who pays more than this pays the protos PLUS the for the privilege to release it in cart form and make a few bucks off the project. They may have no intention to use this privilege but it is still there and it can be passed on along with the proto to the next guy. If the privilege is used up. The offer will be for the physical cartridge only. So the value really hasn't gone down you just have less to offer.

I know this is under the proto thread & I thought the dumping of Gamma Attack was relevant to the topic at hand but....
Gamma Attack is not a proto. Sure they could have made the score hold more digits but it is an actual release by an actual company that made rapid-fire attachments for years, this was their only release and they were a small company, but they were a legitimate company that sold one game none the less. Heck the fact that instructions were made for it back in 1983 or there-abouts says it was finished to me, whether the final product was rushed or not because of other variables is another story.

As far as values go.
As always, anything is only as valuable as someone is willing to pay.

Edited by Phantom, Sat May 23, 2009 10:59 PM.

[TheRedEye]

Buyatari, on Fri May 22, 2009 11:03 AM, said:

When raisins was dumped I was pretty upset at the events leading up to it. They guy was misled to believe by many people that the price would NOT drop after he dumped it. It was peer pressure that led him to dump it. Sure afterwards when he sold if for ~2500 less than he would have had it not been dumped he stated I still would have done it but really what was he supposed to say at that point? This why I chime in into these conversations whenever they pop up. You are free to dump the ROM should you want to but just know what it is you are doing. There are consequences both good and bad.

Anyway yeah Tempest, it was pretty horrible. He didn't just die he was shot and then his apartment was set on fire to hide the tracks by his roommates.

Adam, get your history straight before you accuse anyone of misleading or cheating the deceased. Brandon spoke almost exclusively to me, and was more than aware that his game would plummet in value if he dumped it because I told him, extensively, well before he packaged and mailed the cart to me. He knew what he was getting into, and did not care, because like some of us he recognized that the "value" of preserving a piece of history and being a hero was higher than a couple grand in cash.

I really take offense to you going on a public forum and accusing me of applying "peer pressure" to my dead friend, do not do that again. If you want to know more about what actually happened, ask me instead of generating your own stories that turn me into some kind of monster.

[Bratwurst]

Buyatari, on Fri May 22, 2009 11:03 AM, said:

When raisins was dumped I was pretty upset at the events leading up to it. They guy was misled to believe by many people that the price would NOT drop after he dumped it. It was peer pressure that led him to dump it. Sure afterwards when he sold if for ~2500 less than he would have had it not been dumped he stated I still would have done it but really what was he supposed to say at that point? This why I chime in into these conversations whenever they pop up. You are free to dump the ROM should you want to but just know what it is you are doing. There are consequences both good and bad.

Anyway yeah Tempest, it was pretty horrible. He didn't just die he was shot and then his apartment was set on fire to hide the tracks by his roommates.

When I posed as Paul Brown for the Bio Force Ape prank of 2005 I was contacted discretely by many people via Paul's email address, one of whome was TheRedEye. Frank was operating under the assumption I had a real prototype of an unreleased game, and right from the start he was very upfront about the nature of dumping the game's contents, the fact that it would become devalued in the eyes of collectors but preserved, and also offered to make me a copy once it had been dumped, free, so I (Paul) could later sell the original devalued prototype but still have something to play.

The only other people who tried to get ahold of me were collectors wanting to buy it with offers well below what the 'real' market value of an unreleased NES game was. Nobody even offered half of what it technically would have been worth. And I would venture to say you're not the sort of person who would be so forthcoming with someone about paying an item's actual value if you could get away with paying less for their ignorance, Adam.

[Buyatari]

TheRedEye, on Sun May 24, 2009 9:28 PM, said:

Buyatari, on Fri May 22, 2009 11:03 AM, said:

When raisins was dumped I was pretty upset at the events leading up to it. They guy was misled to believe by many people that the price would NOT drop after he dumped it. It was peer pressure that led him to dump it. Sure afterwards when he sold if for ~2500 less than he would have had it not been dumped he stated I still would have done it but really what was he supposed to say at that point? This why I chime in into these conversations whenever they pop up. You are free to dump the ROM should you want to but just know what it is you are doing. There are consequences both good and bad.

Anyway yeah Tempest, it was pretty horrible. He didn't just die he was shot and then his apartment was set on fire to hide the tracks by his roommates.

Adam, get your history straight before you accuse anyone of misleading or cheating the deceased. Brandon spoke almost exclusively to me, and was more than aware that his game would plummet in value if he dumped it because I told him, extensively, well before he packaged and mailed the cart to me. He knew what he was getting into, and did not care, because like some of us he recognized that the "value" of preserving a piece of history and being a hero was higher than a couple grand in cash.

I really take offense to you going on a public forum and accusing me of applying "peer pressure" to my dead friend, do not do that again. If you want to know more about what actually happened, ask me instead of generating your own stories that turn me into some kind of monster.

You are a good guy and I wouldn't accuse you of this. It was the MOB on DP I will accuse of doing this.

I still think there was pressure on him to dump the ROM. I think that was wrong. Sure enough he ends up selling the cart he said he would never sell and he gets what $600? He had many people on the forums declaring it would still be worth the same. One side saying it will go down the other that it won't. None of the people saying it won't go down in value were standing there with "thousands of dollars" to buy it after it was dumped.

Had he found the cart closer to when he needed the cash and had he really known how much less he would have received if he dumped it first than sold it I don't think it would have happened. We are talking real world money that pays for food, rent and gas bills versus a digital game that people have since pretty much forgotten.

Now that is my view. I don't know him and we will never know for sure even if he was alive to tell us. I'm sure he looked up to you, Redeye and if he had any doubts he wouldn't have expressed them. What is important is that people who do find prototypes are aware of stories like this and that they do know that the value will drop and in some cases drop ALOT.

[Buyatari]

Bratwurst, on Mon May 25, 2009 12:35 AM, said:

Buyatari, on Fri May 22, 2009 11:03 AM, said:

When raisins was dumped I was pretty upset at the events leading up to it. They guy was misled to believe by many people that the price would NOT drop after he dumped it. It was peer pressure that led him to dump it. Sure afterwards when he sold if for ~2500 less than he would have had it not been dumped he stated I still would have done it but really what was he supposed to say at that point? This why I chime in into these conversations whenever they pop up. You are free to dump the ROM should you want to but just know what it is you are doing. There are consequences both good and bad.

Anyway yeah Tempest, it was pretty horrible. He didn't just die he was shot and then his apartment was set on fire to hide the tracks by his roommates.

When I posed as Paul Brown for the Bio Force Ape prank of 2005 I was contacted discretely by many people via Paul's email address, one of whome was TheRedEye. Frank was operating under the assumption I had a real prototype of an unreleased game, and right from the start he was very upfront about the nature of dumping the game's contents, the fact that it would become devalued in the eyes of collectors but preserved, and also offered to make me a copy once it had been dumped, free, so I (Paul) could later sell the original devalued prototype but still have something to play.

The only other people who tried to get ahold of me were collectors wanting to buy it with offers well below what the 'real' market value of an unreleased NES game was. Nobody even offered half of what it technically would have been worth. And I would venture to say you're not the sort of person who would be so forthcoming with someone about paying an item's actual value if you could get away with paying less for their ignorance, Adam.

I have no doubt Redeye would speak the truth. However, I also know many others say whatever it takes to pressure someone to dump a game so that they can play it. For every Redeye telling someone the truth you have 5 others saying the opposite and they start to believe it.

As for paying "actual value" sure everyone wants a deal. The problem I have is when the uneducated call people names and spout off misinformation to get an owner to dump a game.

[Kid Fenris]

Buyatari, on Sun May 24, 2009 8:38 PM, said:

You are a good guy and I wouldn't accuse you of this. It was the MOB on DP I will accuse of doing this.

I still think there was pressure on him to dump the ROM. I think that was wrong. Sure enough he ends up selling the cart he said he would never sell and he gets what $600? He had many people on the forums declaring it would still be worth the same. One side saying it will go down the other that it won't. None of the people saying it won't go down in value were standing there with "thousands of dollars" to buy it after it was dumped.

Had he found the cart closer to when he needed the cash and had he really known how much less he would have received if he dumped it first than sold it I don't think it would have happened. We are talking real world money that pays for food, rent and gas bills versus a digital game that people have since pretty much forgotten.

I don't see a lot of public pressure for him to dump and release the ROM in the original thread about the game. Most of the posters are telling him to get it dumped just to ensure that the game isn't lost. And while he has a self-mocking signature referring to the game's fallen value, I think this post from this thread stands as his final word on the subject.

Brandver3" said:

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents about the price issue.

I know I could have had alot more money if I had sold it undumped. I knew that when I got it and when I dumped it. But honestly, there are a lot more things then money. Yeah, money is nice, but I'm a gamer first. Once I saw how many people wanted to play it, what kind of ass hole would I be if I saw to it that no one ever got to play it.

I don't regret my desision at all. The thanks I have gotten from people about being a decent human being and letting everyone get a chance to play it, the thank you's more then make up for the monitary loss.

Adam, there are times when I think that you and DreamTR don't deserve a lot of the flack you get for being outspoken collectors of prototype games. Then I see posts like the ones you've made here, and I realize that you truly are a disgusting man-child who doesn't deserve any benefit of the doubt.

[Buyatari]

Kid Fenris, on Mon May 25, 2009 2:32 AM, said:

Buyatari, on Sun May 24, 2009 8:38 PM, said:

You are a good guy and I wouldn't accuse you of this. It was the MOB on DP I will accuse of doing this.

I still think there was pressure on him to dump the ROM. I think that was wrong. Sure enough he ends up selling the cart he said he would never sell and he gets what $600? He had many people on the forums declaring it would still be worth the same. One side saying it will go down the other that it won't. None of the people saying it won't go down in value were standing there with "thousands of dollars" to buy it after it was dumped.

Had he found the cart closer to when he needed the cash and had he really known how much less he would have received if he dumped it first than sold it I don't think it would have happened. We are talking real world money that pays for food, rent and gas bills versus a digital game that people have since pretty much forgotten.

I don't see a lot of public pressure for him to dump and release the ROM in the original thread about the game. Most of the posters are telling him to get it dumped just to ensure that the game isn't lost. And while he has a self-mocking signature referring to the game's fallen value, I think this post from this thread stands as his final word on the subject.

Brandver3" said:

I just wanted to put in my 2 cents about the price issue.

I know I could have had alot more money if I had sold it undumped. I knew that when I got it and when I dumped it. But honestly, there are a lot more things then money. Yeah, money is nice, but I'm a gamer first. Once I saw how many people wanted to play it, what kind of ass hole would I be if I saw to it that no one ever got to play it.

I don't regret my desision at all. The thanks I have gotten from people about being a decent human being and letting everyone get a chance to play it, the thank you's more then make up for the monitary loss.

Adam, there are times when I think that you and DreamTR don't deserve a lot of the flack you get for being outspoken collectors of prototype games. Then I see posts like the ones you've made here, and I realize that you truly are a disgusting man-child who doesn't deserve any benefit of the doubt.

First of all you can't take one single thread without taking the whole forum from that time period. There was plenty of talk during this time about greedy proto owners. Other threads about dumping protos etc. People who had protos and didn't dump them were bashed and all of it amounted to peer pressure to get new finders of protos to dump them.

As for his statement you quoted sure he said that but what was he supposed to say? I screwed up I should have waited and now I need the cash and don't have it?

This was his frame of mind when he dumped the ROM.

brandver3;56715 said:

Well I stand by my word, no amount of money will make me part with it. If it wasn't a Capcom game, maybe, but it is and i collect Capcom, so it stays.

6-7 months later.

brandver3;141739 said:

Priorities changed, I need some money. The original is up for sale. ALready have a few offers on the table. PM me with offers, highest offers gets it.

Thanks

If he was that sure he would NEVER sell and then turns around and sells it for $600 because he needed the cash how can you be so sure he would have turned down an extra $2,000 at that time no matter what he says.

Nice going with the name calling not even sure where that is coming from but that is just what I am talking about.

[TheRedEye]

Buyatari, on Sun May 24, 2009 7:38 PM, said:

You are a good guy and I wouldn't accuse you of this. It was the MOB on DP I will accuse of doing this.

I still think there was pressure on him to dump the ROM. I think that was wrong.

I appreciate the clarification, and there's no hard feelings or anything, but I still have to disagree. None of us can know what kinds of emails and private messages he might have received, but judging from the public conversations, he experienced no more "pressure" than anyone else has in that situation - much less so than many, I would say.

He missed an opportunity to make some cash, sure. My recollection is a $2,000 offer from NES-God and a final $750 sale to...a guy who wanted to remain private for whatever reason (not a normal "big" proto collector, just someone who appreciated the story and history), so he missed out on $1,250 or so in free money.

I'm not sure I understand your overall point. Like I said in private, if you think Brandon would have thought a little harder about his decision if he was actually in NEED of $1,250, sure, that's pretty likely. But I don't see how he was pressured into doing anything he didn't want to do, and I think his final post saying he has no regrets - mere days after selling this thing at a "loss" when he apparently needed money - says all that it needs to about his character and his decision.

I still stand by my initial point here that $1,250 in free money is absolutely nothing compared to preserving a piece of video game history, and I think Brandon proved that it's not just weirdos like me and Matt who feel that way and actually make "sacrifices." I put that in quotes because if I were to actually add everything up, I don't think I've ever lost actual money with this hobby - I've about broken even on what I paid and sold for everything over the years, the only money I "lost" wasn't mine to begin with.

Oh, except for that stupid CD-i Mario game, that was a loss.

[Phantom]

I don't know the guy, but it appears Brandon had made a decision that he was fine with at the time he made it.
Did he have some regrets, sure after the fact.
But don't we all have some throughout a lifetime?

This is the first I've heard of this fellow and I read all of the story about his death and being murdered and it is just disgusting and scary how scumbags like this are walking our streets.
I am sad, angered and disgusted at the pieces of shit that took his life.
An apparent nice guy, Brandon, that was willing to help these people out in hard times while they were probably taking advantage of him every way possible and probably sitting around his home, smoking their crack pipes while watching horror flicks and then to kill him on a whim? I hope that both of these scumbag criminals both get the shit beat out of them daily and other worse stuff that I won't even mention. R.I.P.

Edited by Phantom, Sun May 24, 2009 9:36 PM.

[Buyatari]

Phantom, on Mon May 25, 2009 3:32 AM, said:

I don't know the guy, but it appears Brandon had made a decision that he was fine with at the time he made it.
Did he have some regrets, sure after the fact.
But don't we all have some throughout a lifetime?

This is the first I've heard of this fellow and I read all of the story about his death and being murdered and it is just disgusting and scary how scumbags like this are walking our streets.
I am sad, angered and disgusted at the pieces of shit that took his life.
An apparent nice guy, Brandon, that was willing to help these people out in hard times while they were probably taking advantage of him every way possible and probably sitting around his home, smoking their crack pipes while watching horror flicks and then to kill him on a whim? I hope that both of these scumbag criminals both get the shit beat out of them daily and other worse stuff that I won't even mention. R.I.P.

Perhaps he wasn't pressured into doing it. It looks like he would have rather shared the game and at the time he really didn't need the money.

However, what if he did need the money when he still had the cart undumped? What if he did sell it undumped. Then we have the same flesh and blood person who either was a hero or one of the "greedy ass holes" depending on where he was in life when he found this.

I'm just sick of the name calling and the bashing

[Kid Fenris]

Buyatari, on Sun May 24, 2009 11:56 PM, said:

I'm just sick of the name calling and the bashing

To be clear, I don't think you're disgusting because you prefer to collect prototypes a certain way. I think you're disgusting because you tried to distort the opinions of a deceased individual just to back your opinion of something as frivolous as game collecting.

[Buyatari]

Kid Fenris, on Mon May 25, 2009 4:51 AM, said:

Buyatari, on Sun May 24, 2009 11:56 PM, said:

I'm just sick of the name calling and the bashing

To be clear, I don't think you're disgusting because you prefer to collect prototypes a certain way. I think you're disgusting because you tried to distort the opinions of a deceased individual just to back your opinion of something as frivolous as game collecting.

He said he would never sell the game. He told the person he bought it from he would never sell the game and he stated it on the DP forums. "Well I stand by my word, no amount of money will make me part with it." Then he needed cash so what did he do? He sold it. So don't tell me he wouldn't have sold it undumped just because he said so. It may not have been so much a result of the name callers and yes it did go on in that thread but he is the one who lost out in the end.

When someone needs money they don't care about something as frivolous as a videogame. Real life money to pay for food,gas and rent vs a digital "frivolous" video game. I felt bad for him then and I feel even worse about it now.

[Crazy Climber]

Well, I remember in a thread about the Pink Panther game I said the new owner would loose a considerable amount of money if they dumped it. I was told by many people, including moderators, that I was crazy for thinking that and it would loose no value. They said the game would still be worth the same. If I didn't know any better and I was the one who owned it, I just might have been pressured into dumping it, believing that I would not loose any of the value. Well I do know better and I say bullshit, sorry but it's true, games loose a LOT of money when dumped. I would honestly sell a proto undumped if I ever found it, yes some people say that would make me a greedy asshole but I am just not in a posistion in life right now where I can give away thousands of dollars to be nice. Sometimes if life hands you a break, you haved to take advantage of that. People pay more for undumped proto's so I would sell it that way

[<Retro-Freak>]

Been reading this thread thoughout the past few days, and i'll add a little say. Not much but due to skimming through the thread somewhat, but yeah whatever.


Just read about the Brandon guy that died. Although i just found out about it, i too am deeply saddened he's gone. He definitely didn't deserve what was coming to him. Hope the killer gets raped everyday! But anyways, one of the last things the guy did for the community was pretty "Epic" (Not sure thats the correct term in this circumstance, lol, but yeah. RIP. Despite me not clearly knowing what prototype he uploaded, i too appreciate he did it. If he waited longer, the guy would have died (and the proto possibly lost).


Now, if i were in a situation of owning a proto worth god knows how much, tons of people spamming up my mailbox, threats and all, my take, i would probably hang on the ROM until threats and/or spamming would stop. Personally, i think videogame preservation is worth more than raw cash. In fact, if i had a one-of-a-kind proto in my hands, i would scramble all over the internet asking someone if they could lend me a ROM Dumper in a paranoid kind of fashion, because anytime, bitrot may occur lol. But all in all, even if said proto was to go down in value, i'd be more concerned about the survival of the ROM than survival of my investment and selfishness. I know the flack i'll get if i had said mentality. Moreover, if i was to sell a dumped Proto, i'm sure i can still recoup at least HALF something back (unless i knew how to make repros).

Now i'm only 16, and quite recently had an interest of game preservation, but i'm already well aware about all the potential undumped software circulating out there, in danger of becoming lost. I have that proto Pink Panther for the 2600 in mind after reading that thread. *sigh* Just having the thoughts of of some unaware bloke dashing away old games deeply saddens me. Sigh, one mans trash is another man's treasure i suppose.


Remember kids! Videogame preservation comes first before the money! My conclusion? Dump away!

Edited by <Retro-Freak>, Mon May 25, 2009 8:51 AM.

[DreamTR]

RetroFreak, you're using the wrong word here.

People always use "selfishness" as the key word here. If the game is ALREADY DUMPED and the collector DOES NOT release it, then it's not selfish....that's not a big deal, but a lot of people assume that the owner just chooses not to save it PERIOD, and I'm a bit sick of those assumptions.......the value goes down, and money is money. If you think that's being greedy, then you should really look up the definition of being a philanthropist here, because some people are not in the business of giving away stuff for free to those that don't at least DONATE to the cause. I've lost enough money on some of these and people still call me selfish.

[Buyatari]

<Retro-Freak>, on Mon May 25, 2009 3:46 PM, said:

Just read about the Brandon guy that died. Although i just found out about it, i too am deeply saddened he's gone. He definitely didn't deserve what was coming to him. Hope the killer gets raped everyday!

A note on the website says the killer ended up killing himself. I think the killer's girlfriend was also involved in this to a
lessor degree. Not sure what her fate was.

[Wickeycolumbus]

DreamTR, on Mon May 25, 2009 3:34 PM, said:

RetroFreak, you're using the wrong word here.

People always use "selfishness" as the key word here. If the game is ALREADY DUMPED and the collector DOES NOT release it, then it's not selfish....that's not a big deal, but a lot of people assume that the owner just chooses not to save it PERIOD, and I'm a bit sick of those assumptions.......the value goes down, and money is money. If you think that's being greedy, then you should really look up the definition of being a philanthropist here, because some people are not in the business of giving away stuff for free to those that don't at least DONATE to the cause. I've lost enough money on some of these and people still call me selfish.

I totally agree with you here, except for one thing: If prototype collectors are so interested in keeping the value of their protos up, why would they even collect prototypes in the first place? They are just going to erase themselves in a few years and become virtually worthless. Since their value is going to inevitably plummet, why not just release it/make reproductions? Unless the collector is in it for the money...

[CPUWIZ]

I had a Pink Panther proto and didn't like Wonder's offer, I recycled the EPROM's and tossed the case.

[Wickeycolumbus]

CPUWIZ, on Mon May 25, 2009 5:13 PM, said:

I had a Pink Panther proto and didn't like Wonder's offer, I recycled the EPROM's and tossed the case.

You sure did!

[Buyatari]

Wickeycolumbus, on Mon May 25, 2009 9:51 PM, said:

I totally agree with you here, except for one thing: If prototype collectors are so interested in keeping the value of their protos up, why would they even collect prototypes in the first place?

True or not most collectors will refuse to believe this till it happens to them.

[Phantom]

Buyatari, on Mon May 25, 2009 4:33 PM, said:

<Retro-Freak>, on Mon May 25, 2009 3:46 PM, said:

Just read about the Brandon guy that died. Although i just found out about it, i too am deeply saddened he's gone. He definitely didn't deserve what was coming to him. Hope the killer gets raped everyday!

A note on the website says the killer ended up killing himself. I think the killer's girlfriend was also involved in this to a
lessor degree. Not sure what her fate was.

If he did, good for him! He did one decent thing in his life.
Shame he didn't do it a few years earlier before he met Brandon.

[HFK]

CPUWIZ, on Mon May 25, 2009 5:13 PM, said:

I had a Pink Panther proto and didn't like Wonder's offer, I recycled the EPROM's and tossed the case.

Thank you for lightening up this thread a little, I was starting to get depressed.