Forgive me if this was already discussed, but has anyone attempted to contact the author of the article who reviewed Dragon Hopper in Nintendo Power to ask what happened to his review copy?

I realize that with the magazine going defunct years ago makes tracking the guy down more difficult, but that’s where I would start. If he didn’t have the cart currently in his possession (wouldn’t that be nice?) he may know what happened to it after he was finished with it.

He probably sent it back to NOA like every other review copy that goes to Nintendo Power.

Finding a prototype like this is always difficult. Most unreleased protos end up surfacing on auction sites or through forums on their own. If they don’t, making one surface significantly harder.

If we had a staff list for Dragon Hopper, one could try contacting the NOA specific employees that worked on the game, like translators.

The reviewer might know the name of the individual who received the games from NOA or at least point us in the right direction (provided they remember what they did with the thing almost 20 years ago). Otherwise he could get us in contact with someone else who might know. I’m just thinking that we know who *had* the cartridge. We just have to try to retrace their steps.

A staff list would be nice, as one of them may even have source code in their portfolio (which is all we really need anyway).

I refuse to believe that this game is buried in a landfill somewhere never to be enjoyed again…

There had to be a few prototype carts I would think. It was playable at E3, which had to have been on more than one unit, looking at the videos there were a few Virtual Boys to set up.

Apparently one of the carts is owned by someone who treats it like their baby and most likely won’t ever part with it or dump it, because they feel elite or something owning the only known copy. Childish, really.

Hopefully another cart surfaces though, I would love to play the game.

Just play the game through to the end and write down all the names in the credits… then contact each of them and see if any of them can help. 😉

DogP

I worked for a game magazine in the early 2000s.

Generally but not always cartridge prototypes/reviewables were returned to the publisher. There are a few exceptions to this for example when the publisher went out of business (SNK USA and the Neo-Geo pocket color for example). But usually these were returned and then re-written to another reviewable.

Even if the review cart itself was overwritten, someone must have the ROM used to image them, or know where they went.

Does anyone know what steps were already taken to locate the game?

If this has been already stated I apologize. But We know it came from Intelligent systems. why doesn’t someone find a game that came out for the SNES at the time of the making of Dragon Hopper then someone play it on an EMU so you could pause the game and as DogP stated play the game to the end and write down the names. I think that this would be the best plan of action.:VB:

Intelligent Systems developed Galactic Pinball. It’s possible that someone who worked on the game could have also worked on Dragon Hopper.

Please, have at it:

General Manager
Gunpei Yokoi

Director
Kenji Yamamoto

Main Programmer
Isamu Kubota

Programmer
Kenji Imai

Sound Composer
Kenji Yamamoto
Masaru Tajima

Sound Assistant
Minako Hamano

Graphic Designer
Naotaka Ohnishi
Miki Uraki

Assistant Designer
Masaki Fujita
Ryota Kawade

Assistant
Ryuji Kuwaki

Art Work
Masafumi Sakashita
Yusuke Nakano

Special Thanks To
Dan Owsen
Jim Wornell
Kayomi McDonald
Robin Krouse
Yoshio Sakamoto
Katsuya Yamano
Masani Ueda
Takehiro Izushi
Masao Yamamoto
Takahiro Harada
Keisuke Terasaki
Hiroya Kuriyama
Hiroki Nishizawa
Kaoru Kita

speedyink wrote:
There had to be a few prototype carts I would think. It was playable at E3, which had to have been on more than one unit, looking at the videos there were a few Virtual Boys to set up.

Apparently one of the carts is owned by someone who treats it like their baby and most likely won’t ever part with it or dump it, because they feel elite or something owning the only known copy. Childish, really.

Hopefully another cart surfaces though, I would love to play the game.

If those rumors about the very secretive Dragon Hopper owner are true, I highly doubt that he would have left the game undumped, as surely he would know that the cart could go bad any day. Thus, he probably managed to get it dumped by some means, and thus, the ROM is out there at least on one computer. But yes, if we are ever going to get Dragon Hopper, we must find some other source.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
If those rumors about the very secretive Dragon Hopper owner are true, I highly doubt that he would have left the game undumped, as surely he would know that the cart could go bad any day. Thus, he probably managed to get it dumped by some means, and thus, the ROM is out there at least on one computer. But yes, if we are ever going to get Dragon Hopper, we must find some other source.

That’s a good point. I did hear the rumor about a very private rom dump that was shared with a select few, but again, those are just rumors.

I do hope a copy emerges from the depths of secrecy eventually though.

speedyink wrote:
There had to be a few prototype carts I would think. It was playable at E3, which had to have been on more than one unit, looking at the videos there were a few Virtual Boys to set up.

Apparently one of the carts is owned by someone who treats it like their baby and most likely won’t ever part with it or dump it, because they feel elite or something owning the only known copy. Childish, really.

Yes, it is childish. But the E3 video on YouTube has 5-6 stations playing Dragonhopper & Bound High; so there MUST be at least 6-10 carts in existence. They wouldn’t have done E3 without backup stations & carts.

What likelihood is there that there are SEVERAL groups of “childish elite”, each thinking themselves “superior”? Or does ONE group own ALL the carts? Surely there are still N employees/programmers who have unsurrendered memorabilia (which explains why THEY won’t come forward).

In time, the “eliteness” has to wear off; it is a system that’s getting older…

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
If those rumors about the very secretive Dragon Hopper owner are true, I highly doubt that he would have left the game undumped, as surely he would know that the cart could go bad any day. Thus, he probably managed to get it dumped by some means, and thus, the ROM is out there at least on one computer. But yes, if we are ever going to get Dragon Hopper, we must find some other source.

The likelihood of dumps being “out there”, is 100%. It’s also likely that at least one person on this board knows something he’s not sharing (wish it was me!).

TheSmJ wrote:

I refuse to believe that this game is buried in a landfill somewhere never to be enjoyed again…

Yikes — perish the thought! 8-/

There is also credible chatter about at least one prototype for Zero Racers, and possibly Goldeneye (we have screenshots). As time goes by, the novelty of “sole elite” decreases…

speedyink wrote:

I did hear the rumor about a very private rom dump that was shared with a select few, but again, those are just rumors.

I do hope a copy emerges from the depths of secrecy eventually though.

I heard that rumor too. I would be ecstatic if we would could at least form our OWN “elite”, if necessary, if someone would agree to let us play it and not make it public. I don’t understand why it can’t be made public, but if the secrecy must continue, surely there are enough of us trustworthy enough to honor such an agreement…

I’d actually go so far as to say that there are members of this site that have knowledge of who owns the dragon hopper proto or even know them personally, but with the nature of this type of thing, those individuals with said knowledge have either been sworn to secrecy or have actually had to sign non-discolsure agreements. As for the rom being dumped, I’ll say DogP most likely did the dumping as he has had the tech to dump these roms for a long time, but he is most likely one of those that has been sworn to keep this knowledge secret. I could be wrong though. That’s just a theory.

[HP Lovethrash]

Sadly I’ve wondered if the secrets would only be revealed once general interest dies down. If nobody is going crazy with anguish over these lost games, there’s no point in hiding the game to gloat. My hope is that the supposed owners would feel the urge to be the first to “donate” the ROMs. Would you rather sit on it forever or be canonized as the one who finally made the games playable to all? You can nurture a power-hungry mentality by being nice as much as you can by not giving people what they want 🙂

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by HP Lovethrash.

shiro_akechi wrote:
I’d actually go so far as to say that there are members of this site that have knowledge of who owns the dragon hopper proto or even know them personally, but with the nature of this type of thing, those individuals with said knowledge have either been sworn to secrecy or have actually had to sign non-discolsure agreements. As for the rom being dumped, I’ll say DogP most likely did the dumping as he has had the tech to dump these roms for a long time, but he is most likely one of those that has been sworn to keep this knowledge secret. I could be wrong though. That’s just a theory.

Actually there’s a dumper readily available that can have an adapter made to work on a vb cart, and anyone can “dump” a rom. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of “time travel” — if I could ever build one (and then buy a dumper), I don’t know if I’d try to covertly copy one of the 1995 E3 display carts (did they remove them after hours?), or get a passkey for Gunpei’s hotel room while he was at dinner. It’s expected that he had ALL prototype carts.

(Bwaaaahahahaha!)

(Really sucks about Gunpei’s death — interesting read disparaging “conspiracy theories” here:
http://kotaku.com/5789740/why-gamings-most-tragic-conspiracy-is-bullshit )

HP Lovethrash wrote:
Sadly I’ve wondered if the secrets would only be revealed once general interest dies down. If nobody is going crazy with anguish over these lost games, there’s no point in hiding the game to gloat. My hope is that the supposed owners would feel the urge to be the first to “donate” the ROMs. Would you rather sit on it forever or be canonized as the one who finally made the games playable to all? You can nurture a power-hungry mentality by being nice as much as you can by not giving people what they want 🙂

‘Zactly; given time, the motivation for “hoarding” and being elite evaporates; no one cares (except a few of us die-hards). Seeing as how there had to be so many carts, the first person who donates the rom will be the one remembered.

shiro_akechi wrote:
DogP most likely did the dumping

i do recall reading a reply from dogp on this site where he said he has never been asked to dump dragon hopper. the search function isn’t helping so perhaps someone else who recalls it can link you back to that comment.

vb-fan wrote:
I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of “time travel” — if I could ever build one (and then buy a dumper), I don’t know if I’d try to covertly copy one of the 1995 E3 display carts (did they remove them after hours?), or get a passkey for Gunpei’s hotel room while he was at dinner. It’s expected that he had ALL prototype carts.

(Bwaaaahahahaha!)

i would have been a volunteer for their floor staff, and then taken a cart at the end of the 1st night and mailed it to a PO box. “where is it” — “hell if i know” — “you are dismissed” — “ok” — then run home to the PO box.

i would have been a volunteer for their floor staff, and then taken a cart at the end of the 1st night and mailed it to a PO box. “where is it” — “hell if i know” — “you are dismissed” — “ok” — then run home to the PO box.

They took volunteers? You woulda had to have been very sneaky (and had a KEY) to unlock one of the displays and “borrow” a cart. That’s why it would have been good after-hours, if they left the carts in the displays (probably not). You’d be surprised how much you can get away with, if you have a uniform (or even a suit and a badge!) and a “confident-I’m-authorized” attitude. Just walk past security with a brief nod, walk right into the booth and unlock and copy a cart (no one will question the guy with a KEY), lock it back up and leave with a “Have-so-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time” expression…

(It’s highly unlikely that any “N” employees would even HEAR about the intrusion…)

Did all the displays have the same key?

I woulda been happy with just a copy; especially with them not knowing there WAS a copy. I really think it’s only a matter of time until one shows up, and likely soon — I just rewatched the Youtube “E3 1996” video (all 27 seconds), I count about TEN stations (half woulda had “Bound High” and the other half “Dragonhopper”). So there have to be 6-12 carts that were made; I hope & pray none of ’em are in landfills. I’m really really happy to have a Bound High. It’s the best VB game so far.

On an annoying note, I’m glad this thread happened; I went over to the site to look at the copier, and it’s been DISCONTINUED since Summer 2013, only current stock left. So I bit the bullet and ordered one…

The pinout for a “VB adapter” is on their site; I made a very nice “inline” cable adapter — it has a U-shaped cart slot mounted to the VB plug on a ribbon cable, other end is a 0.6″ dip plug. Obviously now I have to buy a sega cart and put a dip socket in it…

And no I didn’t destroy a VB to get the console plug; made mine from scratch!

Lester Knight wrote:
i do recall reading a reply from dogp on this site where he said he has never been asked to dump dragon hopper.

Heh, I’ve been asked to dump Dragon Hopper many times… just never by anyone that had the cart. 😉

Obviously I’d love to see any unreleased VB game dumped and released, though if I could choose any game, I’d personally go for Zero Racers. Dragon Hopper just didn’t look that exciting to me (my opinion could certainly change after playing it though 🙂 ). It does seem like Dragon Hopper was likely closer to release though.

I wonder whether they ever sent out to get the mask ROMs manufactured, or if they pulled the plug just before then. Timeframes are kinda hard to gauge, since the games are reviewed and articles written well ahead of time. I don’t know exact mask ROM lead times that Nintendo would have had, but it’s usually somewhere around a couple months. Then the ROMs have to be installed on the PCBs and given a final test, plus retail packaging and distribution. So, if they were planning for a late August release, they would have probably started the process in May. If they pulled the plug in May, the July Nintendo Power (which usually arrived in the mail in June, so probably written in May, or earlier) would still have the article printed.

I’d guess that it’s very likely that these still exist somewhere, but I’d be a bit surprised if they were actually in a private collector’s hands. If Nintendo still has all the VB protos (or possibly no hardware, but still the source code/ROMs), I don’t see them getting out, unless they go under (look at all the crazy Atari stuff that has appeared from them closing).

I think 3rd party protos are more likely to be released… probably just sitting in a box somewhere, or maybe backed up by one of the programmers… not even realizing that anyone would want that stuff, or not releasing the stuff since it’s technically “owned” by the company.

DogP