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Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 8:47 pm
by eneuman96
In the year 2015, it has become very easy to buy reproduction cartridges in order to play games on a real system without the need for emulators or a ton of money. Would you ever be open to reviewing these? There are plenty of great rare games, unreleased games, and hacks that can be bought in the form of a reproduction cart. A couple of NES ones that come to mind are Mr. Gimmick and Recca, not to mention a whole bunch of translated NES versions of Japanese Famicom games. It would be great to see you review some reproduction carts, or at least write an article about your opinion on them. You could even add an icon specifically for reproduction carts just like for homebrews and hacks.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 9:28 pm
by LS650
I don't get it - why distinguish between original or reproduction for a game review?

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 9:57 pm
by Atariboy
He already has done this before. Jr. Pac-Man for the Atari 5200, for instance.

http://videogamecritic.com/5200fl.htm?e=66438#rev517

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 10:10 pm
by eneuman96
To clarify that it's not an official release. If the VGC were to review a reproduction cart of, say, Little Samson, which in its original form is very rare for an NES game, people might be under the impression that he has an original, rare copy of the game and thus would have to plaster the "expensive" icon on the review, but that wouldn't actually be the case here.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 10:41 pm
by Rev
I don't really understand the question here...

I understand the appeal of reproduction carts (I own several) but why would he buy a reproduction of a game that has a physical release in the U.S., except for maybe weird promotional games (like Nintendo World Cup). If he was going to do that he might as well just buy a flash cart and play it off of that since it is infinitely cheaper. Throw in the fact that usually reproduction sites won't make game reproductions for games released in the U.S., so he'd have to have someone he knew (or pay for one on like eBay, which usually get pulled down anyway) to make the cart and I just don't see the appeal, especially for a collector. I'm not talking like a "I buy several games a year" collector but someone who owns literally thousands of games (the mindset is pretty different). He might as well just emulate the game or play on a flashcart if he's going to go that route. Besides that, why would he need to specify that he reviewed a reproduction of Little Samson or something unless it was an obvious game that was either a.) never released in the U.S. or b.)a hack/new game.

I'm sorry... I guess I'm sort of lost here.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 20th, 2015, 10:59 pm
by eneuman96
This is just asking the question as to whether the VGC would be open to reviewing reproduction carts, considering they'd expand the possibilities of what he could cover, but admittedly you do have a point that a flash cart is more cost-effective.

Also, I think you mean Nintendo World Championships. Nintendo World Cup is a (much easier to find) soccer game with a similar title.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 21st, 2015, 12:20 am
by Rev
Yeah, I always get the two confused. Sorry, lol.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 25th, 2015, 6:44 pm
by VideoGameCritic
I think I would be open to reviewing reproduction games for games I couldn't obtain by other means. I would probably mention it's a repro in the review, but it shouldn't really affect the review itself should it?

I know the Angry Video Game Nerd recently reviewed a reproduction of Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest which "fixed" issues with the original game. That seems reasonable.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 27th, 2015, 4:30 pm
by Vexer6
AVGN also reviewed a reproduction cart for un unreleased NES game called Drac's Night Out.

Re: Reproduction carts?

Posted: April 27th, 2015, 11:23 pm
by Rev
Speaking of Castlevania II Redact, I think it would be super cool if someone did a hack of Castlevania II and took it even a step further. Since a lot of the "dungeons" tend to be criticized for little to no boss fights, simple designs, etc, I think it would be amazing if someone took the time and basically reworked those to really give the game an epic feel. People have done a ton of hacks to the original Castlevania games but this would be taking it a step further. Leave all the basic structures, lower the cost of equipment, keep the updated translation, and rework the different boss locations. I would love to play something like that.