173 replies to this topic

[birdie3]

I'd wager - not likely - however.. Does anyone know if this is rumoured to be a fun game? It doesn't really seem to be worth the obsessive compulsive bother if it turns out to be a real turd of a game in terms of game play. Were there any reviews of this game in the gaming mags of the era? Curious.

[Buyatari]

As long as its close to complete it won't matter. The same pattern used by others is still a good way to make some real good money.

1. Buy said proto
2. Don't speak a word to anyone as to gameplay
3. Make 250 or 500 copies
4. Slap $49.99 price on it.
5. Repeat as desired.

birdie3, on Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:25 AM, said:

I'd wager - not likely - however.. Does anyone know if this is rumoured to be a fun game? It doesn't really seem to be worth the obsessive compulsive bother if it turns out to be a real turd of a game in terms of game play. Were there any reviews of this game in the gaming mags of the era? Curious.

[moycon]

Breakpack, on Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:53 PM, said:

moycon, on Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:43 PM, said:

Dang that dude lives in Georgia!!??

Ummmmm I'll be right back.

Meet me in Centennial Olympic Park,we can meet up from there

<wink>!

Maybe that dude ended the auction early because he no longer has anything to sell.

[Breakpack]

moycon, on Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:52 PM, said:

Breakpack, on Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:53 PM, said:

moycon, on Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:43 PM, said:

Dang that dude lives in Georgia!!??

Ummmmm I'll be right back.

Meet me in Centennial Olympic Park,we can meet up from there

<wink>!

Maybe that dude ended the auction early because he no longer has anything to sell.

Yep!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Buyatari, on Sat Sep 16, 2006 11:35 PM, said:

If someone had the dump why would they buy it? Don't buy the cow when you got the milk for free.

Maybe some collectors think different here, but many people are buying e.g. homebrews even though the ROMs are available for download.

[Buyatari]

Quote

Maybe some collectors think different here, but many people are buying e.g. homebrews even though the ROMs are available for download.

Reread what I responding to. I am sure he didn't sell this cart on the side for $50 (price of a homebrew) esp when he had a bid at $1500. If someone went there and was able to download the ROM without him knowing they would have it for free. In that case the auction would have continued most likely without any of us ever knowing. Well at least until someone released 250 carts out of the blue.

Two main reasons this could have ended early.

1. He was offered a shit ton of money

2. He got so many questions he started to entertain the idea that a tested working cart might sell for more money than an untested one. A LOT more.

I think its #2.

Edited by Buyatari, Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:02 AM.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Buyatari, on Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:01 PM, said:

Reread what I responding to. I am sure he didn't sell this cart on the side for $50 (price of a homebrew) esp when he had a bid at $1500.

Fortunately homebrews are not that expensive.

Quote

If someone went there and was able to download the ROM without him knowing they would have it for free. In that case the auction would have continued most likely without any of us ever knowing. Well at least until someone released 250 carts out of the blue.

I think I got you now.

[holygrailvideogames.com]

It is back.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PINK-PANTHER-4-ATARI-M...1QQcmdZViewItem

Someone told me that they were interested in this game. My message to you is that I think the price is too high but that is my opinion.

[Albert]

Guess he found a 2600!

*Gasp*

..Al

[deathtrappomegranate]

mcgrail0007, on Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:21 AM, said:

I think the price is too high but that is my opinion.

Me too, but I often think that way about 2600 stuff.

Still, the seller walks the walk...

[Wonder007]

Wow, it is back up.....but for $3500.....not sure....

What can I do with $3500???? buy a bunch of clothes, buy some car parts including a new transmission, get some stock, buy groceries to feed the family, pay the mortgage, buy some CPUWIZ/ShyOne signature boxes (VERY NICE BY THE WAY)

and...still...have change

or

a Pink Panther proto

decisions, decisions.......

[CPUWIZ]

Wonder007, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:59 PM, said:

Wow, it is back up.....but for $3500.....not sure....

What can I do with $3500???? buy a bunch of clothes, buy some car parts including a new transmission, get some stock, buy groceries to feed the family, pay the mortgage, buy some CPUWIZ/ShyOne signature boxes (VERY NICE BY THE WAY)

and...still...have change

or

a Pink Panther proto

decisions, decisions.......

Pass on it and he will lower the price, I don't think anyone is going to dish that out, hard to get a decent return on it, even if 200 boxed repros are made from it.

[Wonder007]

True...I can't think of anybody in the Atari world that would pay that amount for a proto other than myself...unless I am forgetting somebody.

$3,500....I did not even pay that amount for Air Raid and I competed against some high profile collectors on that one, ones that would pay good money for rare Atari stuff.

[Crimefighter]

Geez, I think this guy is awfully greedy...he sure passed on a bid of $1,500 though....

[Buyatari]

Quote

$3,500....I did not even pay that amount for Air Raid and I competed against some high profile collectors on that one, ones that would pay good money for rare Atari stuff.

I wouldn't use Air raid as a measuring stick. If you paid $3500 for air raid $100,000 for Pink Panther wouldn't be too much.

Quote

Pass on it and he will lower the price, I don't think anyone is going to dish that out, hard to get a decent return on it, even if 200 boxed repros are made from it.

I never produced a homebrew but I was under the impression that every run of 250 boxed game would net you appox 10k in profits.

[Breakpack]

Now that we got screenshots,anyone care to make a homebrew of it?

Edited by Breakpack, Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:33 PM.

[CPUWIZ]

Buyatari, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:15 PM, said:

I never produced a homebrew but I was under the impression that every run of 250 boxed game would net you appox 10k in profits.

More like $5000 in profit, if you sell them all! Which isn't easy, especially not with a property like Pink Panther.

[jbanes]

Looks like this guy went all out on his Atari. Must have been Gold Plated or something, because it ran up the price by $2000!

Buyatari, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:15 PM, said:

I never produced a homebrew but I was under the impression that every run of 250 boxed game would net you appox 10k in profits.

Where do you get that figure?

Doing a bit of reverse calculation here, I'm guessing you're thinking $40 per boxed copy. However, $40 per boxed copy only means $10,000 in revenue, not profits. Each copy includes costs related to materials, printing, royalties (to whatever artist(s) you hire), and manufacturing. More likely than not, those figures would easily add up to $35-$37, bringing the actual profits to a meager $750 - $1,250. There's no way you'd recover $3,500 on that sale unless you jacked up the price per copy to take it into account. Of course, if you jack up the price per copy, fewer will sell.

Sooo... caveat emptor.

[Breakpack]

CPUWIZ, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:54 PM, said:

Buyatari, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:15 PM, said:

I never produced a homebrew but I was under the impression that every run of 250 boxed game would net you appox 10k in profits.

More like $5000 in profit, if you sell them all! Which isn't easy, especially not with a property like Pink Panther.

Pink who?

[CPUWIZ]

jbanes, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 7:57 PM, said:

Looks like this guy went all out on his Atari. Must have been Gold Plated or something, because it ran up the price by $2000!

Buyatari, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:15 PM, said:

I never produced a homebrew but I was under the impression that every run of 250 boxed game would net you appox 10k in profits.

Where do you get that figure?

Doing a bit of reverse calculation here, I'm guessing you're thinking $40 per boxed copy. However, $40 per boxed copy only means $10,000 in revenue, not profits. Each copy includes costs related to materials, printing, royalties (to whatever artist(s) you hire), and manufacturing. More likely than not, those figures would easily add up to $35-$37, bringing the actual profits to a meager $750 - $1,250. There's no way you'd recover $3,500 on that sale unless you jacked up the price per copy to take it into account. Of course, if you jack up the price per copy, fewer will sell.

Sooo... caveat emptor.

Your calculations are wayyyy flawed.

[holygrailvideogames.com]

If someone buys this proto he is only purchasing the physical prototype to the game. It doesn't give the buyer the right to reproduce the game and sell boxed copies of it. It wasn't that long ago that a Pink Panther movie was released. The Pink Panther name and image is something that I am sure the owners wish to protect.

[CPUWIZ]

mcgrail0007, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:29 PM, said:

If someone buys this proto he is only purchasing the physical prototype to the game. It doesn't give the buyer the right to reproduce the game and sell boxed copies of it. It wasn't that long ago that a Pink Panther movie was released. The Pink Panther name and image is something that I am sure the owners wish to protect.

That is what I was getting at, you would have to pull the same thing the CGE guys did with Snow White, which is also heavily protected.

[dwh]

Crimefighter, on Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:33 AM, said:

Geez, I think this guy is awfully greedy...he sure passed on a bid of $1,500 though....

To make even more money, the binder with all the cool info in it, is now in a separate auction.

[jbanes]

CPUWIZ, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:14 PM, said:

Your calculations are wayyyy flawed.

Poppycock. Conservative and pulled out of thin air? Yes. Flawed? No.

I think you'll agree that it all comes down to how inexpensive you can make each link in the supply chain. An example of a basic set of costs might be (more figures pulled out of thin air, yipee!):

• Board - $2.50
  
• ROM - $1.00
  
• Cart shell - $3.00
  
• Label - $0.50
  
• Box - $10.00
  
• Artwork Royalties - $2.00
  
• Glossy Manual - $3.00

For a grand total of $22, not even starting to include items like the cost of assembly (aka Your time), costs of ROM acquisition, and any other extras that might be included. (e.g. shrinkwrap, flyers, swag, so on and so forth.) Therefore, improving profits means making each of these items as inexpensive as possible. So if you can reuse an existing shell for $0.50, then you've just saved $2.50 on production. If you can get a discount on the box by ordering a larger number, then that helps bring down the price. Burning the chip, assembling the cartridge and packaging the item yourself rather than paying someone else to do it can save money. (Though this can be false economy if you're not careful!) Obtaining full rights to the artwork rather than royalties (I believe there's usually a contest around here, isn't there?) can sometimes make it cheaper.

So on and so forth.

Am I still wrong?

[CPUWIZ]

jbanes, on Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:20 PM, said:

Am I still wrong?

Yep, you are not counting in quantities.

On a side note, nobody knows if this isn't some proprietary bankswitched/extra RAM cart, that can't be easily duplicated.