is this legit?

[THE AtariGuy]

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/133701601087?hash=item1f213c873f:g:x-AAAOSwOUxgWRwt

[Tempest]

I'm not an expert in Astrocade protos, but it looks similar to others I've seen.

[128Kgames]

1 hour ago, THE AtariGuy said:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/133701601087?hash=item1f213c873f:g:x-AAAOSwOUxgWRwt

Could be, but it's not like there aren't other Conan protos out there, as well as the ROM already dumped.  That price has Crazy Eddie written all over it...

[ballyalley]

4 hours ago, THE AtariGuy said:

is this [auction for this Ultra rare Conan the Barbarian prototype BALLY Astrocade Videocade nes] legit?

 

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/133701601087?hash=item1f213c873f:g:x-AAAOSwOUxgWRwt

 

This "Conan" cart looks like it could be real:

 

 

The seller, "school_girl_in_a_short_dress" is scant on details, saying only, "Ultra rare Conan the Barbarian prototype dor the awesome Bally Astrocade Videocade system. the paper label is loose..Condition is 'Very Good'. Works perfectly..one of a kind iteam..Shipped with USPS First Class."  If I were selling a cartridge for $749.00, then I'd make the auction more attractive-- and I'd spell everything in the auction title and description correctly ("dor" should be "for;" "iteam" should be "item").

 

You can see what some other Astrocade prototypes, here:

 

https://ballyalley.com/pics/cartridge_pics/Cart_(Prototypes)/Cart_(Prototypes).html

 

My gut feeling is the cart is real... but I wouldn't take my word for it.

 

Adam

[THE AtariGuy]

I know nothing about astrocade games. Just thought it was cool.

[Gunstar]

On 2/18/2022 at 6:55 PM, ballyalley said:

 

This "Conan" cart looks like it could be real:

 

 

The seller, "school_girl_in_a_short_dress" is scant on details, saying only, "Ultra rare Conan the Barbarian prototype dor the awesome Bally Astrocade Videocade system. the paper label is loose..Condition is 'Very Good'. Works perfectly..one of a kind iteam..Shipped with USPS First Class."  If I were selling a cartridge for $749.00, then I'd make the auction more attractive-- and I'd spell everything in the auction title and description correctly ("dor" should be "for;" "iteam" should be "item").

 

You can see what some other Astrocade prototypes, here:

 

https://ballyalley.com/pics/cartridge_pics/Cart_(Prototypes)/Cart_(Prototypes).html

 

My gut feeling is the cart is real... but I wouldn't take my word for it.

 

Adam

So would I. I always have deep descriptions when I sell, and lots of pictures from all side, if I'm selling a $10 item or a $1000 one. Another thing I never understood is why so many sell vintage systems that are so dirty and nasty looking, with just a once over with some windex and a cloth they could have something much more attractive for prospective buyers and also probably get twice as much in the sale or auction just because it looks so much better. Of course I refurbish and restore everything I sell. But hey, I'll continue to by the dirt cheap and very dirty stuff and refurbish and repair and clean them myself and resell for large profits for sometimes what amounts to a couple hours of work.

 

Of course this is not such a case, and rare or not, it's not a very good game and I wouldn't bother buying it even for a few dollars when I have a copy of the rom on my ulti-multi cart. It is so easy to fake stuff like this. It is VERY easy to make up a label and then make it look very old, slapped on a common cart case with an eprom burned inside, so I'd definitely have to see the inside of that cart before I'd buy it, if it was actually something worth a few. There isn't a large enough Bally market to justify paying so much for an "investment" and since I could make my own that looks better than that, I would, if I cared about the game.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Gunstar

[128Kgames]

It's not like Bally / Astrocade proto carts are hard to find, they show up all the time on eBay.  That seller just likes to draw attention to their other items with the exorbitantly priced ones ?

[holygrailvideogames.com]

It looks different than other Astrocade protos that I have had over the years but my gut feeling is that this is real.  

[+sixersfan105]

On 3/25/2022 at 1:35 PM, Gunstar said:

rare or not, it's not a very good game and I wouldn't bother buying it even for a few dollars when I have a copy of the rom on my ulti-multi cart.

To each their own, but I think this game is well done and I enjoy playing it. Video Game Critic has nice things to say about it, too. https://videogamecritic.com/mobile/astrocc.htm?e=11049#rev4478

[128Kgames]

9 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

To each their own, but I think this game is well done and I enjoy playing it. Video Game Critic has nice things to say about it, too. https://videogamecritic.com/mobile/astrocc.htm?e=11049#rev4478

Yeah, not sure who (or if) reviwed this but the opening lines "a limited-release" title is completely inaccurate: this is an unfinished, incomplete game, truly a "prototype." I think someone was just blowing smoke up someone's arse when they wrote that.  This isn't "Muncher" after all...

[Gunstar]

12 hours ago, sixersfan105 said:

To each their own, but I think this game is well done and I enjoy playing it. Video Game Critic has nice things to say about it, too. https://videogamecritic.com/mobile/astrocc.htm?e=11049#rev4478

Believe me, I've seen it, I know exactly what the game is like to play, and it's very unfinished. As you said though teto.

[ballyalley]

16 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

Believe me, I've seen it, I know exactly what the game is like to play, and it's very unfinished. As you said though teto.

 

I think that the Conan prototype is a fun one, even in it's incomplete state.  Swinging the sword does tire-out my hand, which is a downside of this game.  I did make a video dedicated to the Conan prototype back in August of 2017:

 

 

This video has turned out to be pretty popular.  I suppose because people love the character Conan the Barbarian and I get people who aren't interested in the Astrocade watching this video, where it might otherwise go unnoticed.

 

Adam

[Gunstar]

Yes, I watched your review on it and a couple others on the game a few weeks back after I got my Ulti-Multi from Allen and saw the game listed on it. I will give it a try once I'm done with my upgrades and start using it. But from your video and the others I think I got a pretty good idea of what it's like and it just doesn't interest me much, I have many similar games from the same era with primitive graphics too, but the game play is just better I think, after watching your video.

 

But my main point was, I don't believe it's worth $90, even if it's a real proto cartridge. I'd be interested in seeing the rom board inside it. Maybe someone's signature tucked away or something. I wouldn't buy it because there is no hard proof it's an original proto, and so as an investment, if you tried to sell again, how do you prove what you have? I'm also not saying that the label on it isn't really a ~40 year old label, but as an artist, I know of all kinds of tricks to make something look old and original (the easiest is to find old stock labels that have yellowed from years sitting on a shelf), and making a paper label look 40 years old is very easy.

 

I even have an old dot-matrix printer that I could set in draft quality mode and use an old ribbon to get light, faded looking print on it. I could make up my own cartridge just like that, and the only way anyone could ever know it isn't a real proto is to see the rom board on the inside with an eprom sitting there. And if a real proto is using an eprom instead of a prom, than once again, how can you prove it original and somewhat valuable?

 

By the way, I was going to make a suggestion about future review videos like this; Show the game play first, and give the history second for those interested. I liked the history bit, but it was a bit long and many people just want to see the game play and graphics. I forgot to lave the suggestion there though, so I thought I'd make it here. Or at least show what the game looks like on the screen, then do the history, then review the game with more game play video. Just my humble opinion, but maybe I'm wrong and most people prefer the order you did the video in...

Edited March 28, 2022 by Gunstar

[ballyalley]

33 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

I was going to make a suggestion about future review videos like this; Show the game play first, and give the history second for those interested. I liked the history bit, but it was a bit long and many people just want to see the game play and graphics. [...] Just my humble opinion [...]

 

I don't get much feedback about my videos, so every little bit of feedback like yours counts, Matt.  There are plenty of short gameplay-only videos of every Astrocade game that was released on cartridge, or that are available to play as a ROM.  Even prototype games like Conan have several people giving them a run-through on YouTube.  My aim with this video on Conan wasn't to show its gameplay, but rather to give the history of this game and how it fits in with the Bally and/or the Astrocade/Astrovision, Inc. company.

A prototype of this game pops up from time to time and then, and just like what happened with this thread, people ask about it.  I guess I thought I might be able to help people out a bit, but really, for that purpose, my video doesn't really work to help identity the game itself.  Ah, well, it was fun to make the video and learn more about the game, which, for me, is what makes being part of this gaming hobby fun.

Perhaps someone will buy this Conan prototype and open it up on video to show us what is inside of the cartridge's case.

 

Adam

[Gunstar]

3 hours ago, ballyalley said:

 

I don't get much feedback about my videos, so every little bit of feedback like yours counts, Matt.  There are plenty of short gameplay-only videos of every Astrocade game that was released on cartridge, or that are available to play as a ROM.  Even prototype games like Conan have several people giving them a run-through on YouTube.  My aim with this video on Conan wasn't to show its gameplay, but rather to give the history of this game and how it fits in with the Bally and/or the Astrocade/Astrovision, Inc. company.

A prototype of this game pops up from time to time and then, and just like what happened with this thread, people ask about it.  I guess I thought I might be able to help people out a bit, but really, for that purpose, my video doesn't really work to help identity the game itself.  Ah, well, it was fun to make the video and learn more about the game, which, for me, is what makes being part of this gaming hobby fun.

Perhaps someone will buy this Conan prototype and open it up on video to show us what is inside of the cartridge's case.

 

Adam

Ok, I understand why better now. And you are right, there are other videos as you say. I guess I'm just used to mass redundancy on Youtube and expect yours to have game play and review of that from the start since it says "review" in the title and not "history and review" so I guess my suggestion in that case is to be more precise in your titling.