Well….where to start

Merry Christmas everyone

It’s close enough to Christmas..for me to announce something special.

I have acquired faceball, I have the ROM of the game. And I’m planning to release it for free.

That is the short story…now for the longer story and why I’m not releasing it with this posting.

I’ve been trying to acquire faceball for awhile now. Everyone talks about Dragon Hopper, but faceball is a ray-casting 3-d first person ‘shooter’ game. And, I’ve been wanting to play this game for years. I’ve wanted EVERYONE to play the game for years.

I talked to a guy that had the game..and he named a price. The price was ..let’s just say..I was forced to taste what I ate that morning.

I didn’t want to get a 2nd mortgage..I love my wife..and I want her to continue to love me. So, I explored my options. I talked to a very good friend of mine..Ben Stevens. And we came up with a deal. Ben would get the capital for the game, and in return..would receive the bulk of my virtual boy collection.

We sold all doubles (special thanx to foil lone wolf) to help with the financial hit. We received the game and with the help of mindstorm extracted the working rom from the game.

So, what now ? A copy of the rom is in safe hands..multiple hands. It will not be lost again and it will be released for free.

BUT…..

I know I will not get back the money from losing my collection. I did it for the community and I knew I would take a big loss. However, I would like to make some of the money back.

To do this, we plan to release the game in cart form first. The details are vague atm. With mindstorm and Tusk’s help, we are planning to release the game in Feb. Morintari (a great 3-d artist) has joined the team on this game to make the artwork. Ben is making the instruction manual. We are planning to make this a very special release. One that’s way overdue.

As for pricing..it will be more expensive then boundhigh. We are looking at 100 dollars per cart..but that’s subject to change. We are also planning on releasing a 2nd cart.. A donators edition that will be very limited and numbered with different artwork and other specials included. All of this is subject to change..

This isn’t a post to pre-order..or anything. After the carts are sold (or it looks like no more will sell hehe). I will be releasing the rom for free. If you can’t afford the carts..just wait..you will be able to play the game :).

I’m sure there is more I was going to post..but it escapes me atm :). Have a good holiday guys…smile..and enjoy life.

-Eric (Bigmak)

I definitely would want a boxed copy. Shall we make a list, of who is interested?

Protoman85 wrote:
People is just me on this one… And I didn’t even call him greedy, I just said that it felt a little greedy to me. But if he really spent 5 figures on this (which I didn’t know until after) I can’t blame him at all. The one I would call greedy however is the original owner of the ROM/cartridge/code or whatever.

Whenever the rom does get released, I’ll make a review of it.

I would agree that the first person, who owned the ROM, source code or a cart of an unreleased and otherwise unavailable game and who refused to let that game be released from his or her possession unless an extremely large profit could be made from the deal, could rightly be called greedy. It goes without saying, however, that Eric isn’t trying to make any profit off of this and is actually willing to take a loss for the VB community.

The unfortunate thing that the VB community may have to face is that if Dragon Hopper or Zero Racers or some other hitherto unreleased game is out there in private hands, it could very well be in the hands of a greedy person, who won’t give it up unless a ridiculous profit is made in the exchange. So the VB community would have to decide: is it worth it to come together and help pay the very large amount necessary so that the game can be played, enjoyed, and appreciated at all, or is it better to just never be able to play the game?

Those who help pay to get an unreleased Virtual Boy game released – even paying before they know how good the game is from playing it but who want it released anyway because they have an understanding that it is a genuine piece of Virtual Boy history that deserves more than the fate of being lost and unappreciated forever – are awesome in my book.

This is epic! I’ll be there when the sales begin, can’t wait! You are truly awesome for letting this out!

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Protoman85 wrote:
People is just me on this one… And I didn’t even call him greedy, I just said that it felt a little greedy to me. But if he really spent 5 figures on this (which I didn’t know until after) I can’t blame him at all. The one I would call greedy however is the original owner of the ROM/cartridge/code or whatever.

Whenever the rom does get released, I’ll make a review of it.

I would agree that the first person, who owned the ROM, source code or a cart of an unreleased and otherwise unavailable game and who refused to let that game be released from his or her possession unless an extremely large profit could be made from the deal, could rightly be called greedy. It goes without saying, however, that Eric isn’t trying to make any profit off of this and is actually willing to take a loss for the VB community.

The unfortunate thing that the VB community may have to face is that if Dragon Hopper or Zero Racers or some other hitherto unreleased game is out there in private hands, it could very well be in the hands of a greedy person, who won’t give it up unless a ridiculous profit is made in the exchange. So the VB community would have to decide: is it worth it to come together and help pay the very large amount necessary so that the game can be played, enjoyed, and appreciated at all, or is it better to just never be able to play the game?

Those who help pay to get an unreleased Virtual Boy game released – even paying before they know how good the game is from playing it but who want it released anyway because they have an understanding that it is a genuine piece of Virtual Boy history that deserves more than the fate of being lost and unappreciated forever – are awesome in my book.

Well said Sir, well said.

This is epic. Definitely sign me up for the special “Donator” edition.

Awesome! I am in for a donations edition for sure! Maybe two!

This is really exciting! Thank you Eric for doing this for the community! I will buy a copy of Faceball when it comes out. I still hope you at least have one Virtual Boy left with Wario Land and Mario Clash. 🙂

On the other hand, would Zero Racers be much easier to get than Dragon Hopper? It is not talked about as much. And it would be great for the F-Zero fans.

I wonder how the guy with the rom was found.

I think a fundraiser sounds like a great idea, to help soften the blow. After all the Rom is being released for free. The CIB option is optional for people who want an official looking item.

I will take part in any fundraiser and will be buying a copy also.

Thanks again Eric

Hi!!!

It’s great that you decided to release Faceball’s ROM and greater by making cartridges and its boxes with instructions.

I’m interested in one of this numbered and limited editions with box and instructions. ¿How can I get it?

I have some repeated carts which can be at your disposal to donate, if possible, please send me your address and I will send them inmediately.

Planet Virtual Boy need people like you!!!

If you want to contact me please let me know your private email address and we talk about this.

Virtual Boy guys, now for Dragon Hoopper!!!!!!!!!

Hey MOLINASON,

The person who is always in need of donor carts is Richard. You can find his e-mail information here:

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/usercenter/index.php?section=profile&uid=545

Thus, if you want to mail him free VB carts to use, send him an e-mail asking for his mailing address, saying that you would like to send him free donor carts to be used for the project, and even if he doesn’t need them for this project, he can certainly use them for some future project, because at least several more are planned.

The thing is, though, Richard is very modest and may say something like “that’s okay, I don’t need any more donor carts,” when in reality, he truly does. So if you can’t get his mailing address that way, just ask me and I’ll send it to you via PM. Then you can mail him the free carts, and he will have no choice but to accept them! 🙂

Thanx for all the support everyone 🙂 I’ve been working crushing hours at work and haven’t had time to post like I should. If someone wants to start a fund raiser..I won’t stop them. But, I’ve always felt that you should get something back. That’s why we came up with the special release cart..it will be fairly expensive…but it’s our way of saying thank you to such a great community. I’m also sorry you have to wait a few months for us to get everything together 🙂

Now..what I really wanted to post about.

It wouldn’t be fair unless I mention another person that helped make this all possible and made another sacrifice. Ben Stevens.

Not only did he buy my virtual boy collection..on very short notice. But, he let me keep my games..and he concentrated on all of the merchandise I’ve collected over the years. He wrote a much bigger check then that merchandise was worth. He might not have known what my plans were for faceball, but he overpaid on purpose to make sure faceball was acquired. He wouldn’t come forward himself and say it..but this thing I’m doing wouldn’t be possible without his selfless love (ahh lets face facts.. addiction) to the virtual boy.

I don’t think I would have had the stones to write a check like that for a game. It’s much easier to give up a collection that you spent years collecting…then to do that.

Now come on Ben, if your reading this..take some time and take some awesome pics of your amazing virtual boy collection :). I’m looking forward to seeing them :). If your worried i’d be hurt by seeing everything..DONT..I know it’s all in good hands.

-Eric

Thanks to you aswell Ben, without you also this would not be happening.

Yeah come on take some pictures, i would love to see the new additions to your already fantastic collection.

Could you also post a picture of the faceball prototype cart? I would love to see it!

VBmills wrote:
Yeah come on take some pictures, i would love to see the new additions to your already fantastic collection.

I’ve been having a hard time deciding how I’m going to display the collection on my profile page, since there are only 6 images allowed, but I guess for now, I can take pics and add them to the collections thread, since there are no limits on that. I don’t have everything nicely displayed in a room, so I can’t make a picture of a home display, but I’ll keep it in mind to try to make photos of the items lying out on the floor or something soon.

Wow, I come here because of Bound High and find this too? You guys are amazing. I fully support the ideals of the games liberation army 😛 Whenever I get some hard-to-come-by piece of Nintendo gear or whatever, I can’t wait to take it around for everyone to get to play, and can’t understand why you’d want to keep it away from everyone. Though that said the whole world of prototypes and secretive private collectors and stuff does seem rather intriguing… it’d be interesting to see some kind of documentary on it actually. Hmm.

Wait, I’m rambling again. Ugh. ADMIRABLE WORK! I’m definitely down for a copy once this gets off the ground.

FPS like Faceball will be a nice adage to the VB library for sure as its a higher programming over insmouse.

Can somebody explain to me what exactly Faceball is? I am going to buy it, but I would like to know some things first.

Does it add anything other the other versions(SNES, PCE Duo, Gameboy)?

Eric, how did you find the guy who owned the prototype cart?

How did DogP and that magazine get a hold of the prototype cart? Why were they allowed to borrow it?

Is it true that Dragon Hopper has been privately dumped?

Should we focus on Zero Racers instead?

segagamer99,

Have you checked out this thread?

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=19596#forumpost19596

It should give you some of the answers you’re looking for.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
segagamer99,

Have you checked out this thread?

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=19596#forumpost19596

It should give you some of the answers you’re looking for.

Yes, I’ve read that before, thank you. 🙂

But I am still confused. Did Mr. G sell the cart to Eric? He said he had it, but wasn’t allowed to share it? The google translate was very confusing.

At least it’s the best version available. 🙂

Well, Mr. G talked about a guy who owned the cart, who didn’t want to accept any offers for the game but who would maybe change his mind about it someday. Basically, Eric was able to make a deal for the game by contacting Mr. G., and the deal was evidently accepted.