Craigslist poster has unreleased Mini Racers, offering free N64 rom for services [update1]
A Craigslist poster out of Marlborough, MA is offering a "Free Never Released N64 Game," allegedly developed by Nintendo. The owner is interested in preserving the contents of the game by creating a rom backup.Anyone with the equipment to do so is free to contact the poster, presumably head over to the location in Marlborough, do the good deed, and in return, receive a copy of the rom. We have contacted the poster for more details and are awaiting a response. In the meantime, if you're in the area, mind doing a little investigation of your own? (If you do, please use wise judgment.)
UPDATE: While the Craigslist post has since been removed, the poster has confirmed with us that the game is Mini Racers, developed by Looking Glass, which is now defunct. Nintendo planned to publish the promising RC Pro-Am-like racer, but when Looking Glass went under, the game was cancelled. Interestingly enough, as IGN reported back on May 31, 2000, "the game [was] completed, approved and turned over to Nintendo." Also worth noting, Looking Glass was headquartered in Cambridge, MA, just 30 or so miles from Marlborough, where the poster is located. Coincidence?
[Thanks, evilmax17]










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bv @ Aug 31st 2006 6:03PM
Watch it be a copy of Superman 64.
tactics @ Aug 31st 2006 6:11PM
oooooh wonder what it could be??? this could be awesome... it'd be cool if it was metroid64.
of course, it could be something lame...
-"superfan" tactics.
Dracula Jones @ Aug 31st 2006 6:12PM
It's the infamous, unpublished game 'Trap Nerd to Death Trappings of a Crazy' (literal translation)!
vc @ Aug 31st 2006 6:12PM
Reminds me of that idiot kid who lied on his myspace page about having a version of a never-released Zelda game. This has scam written all over it.
Piss Head @ Aug 31st 2006 6:15PM
I just posted on craiglist, claiming that I have a never been released gamecube game (hint hint Mario 128). Yeah, can you please report on that too!.. Oh no, I said report.
bv @ Aug 31st 2006 6:16PM
vc-
are you referring to this stooge?
http://vav00m.spaces.live.com/
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/10/27/plot-twist-zelda-iii-dude-probably-lied-now-in-hot-water-with/
HotShotX @ Aug 31st 2006 6:19PM
Man, those peodphiles sure go the extra mile these days when it comes to luring unsuspecting children/teens to "pick up" an "unreleased video game"
~HotShotX
Jason @ Aug 31st 2006 6:25PM
Perhaps it could be the Animal Crossing (beta?) the was moved to the 'Cube...
Mouser X @ Aug 31st 2006 6:39PM
A few weeks ago, someone sold a N64 beta cartridge of an unreleased submarine game on eBay. They had pictures, and other stuff. If that auction was real, perhaps this is that game. If so, I know I'd like a copy of the ROM. It sounded like a pretty neat game idea. Unfortunatly, I don't have a link to the eBay auction, and I'm sure it'd be over by now for sure. Try searching in ocremix's forums, since that's where I found the link to the auction. Anyway, here's hoping that it's the real deal. Mouser X over and out.
Milesp707 @ Aug 31st 2006 6:49PM
News spreading across the nation today, the well known gaming internet website, "Joystiq" has unknowingly helped in the kidnapping of "Billy Johnson".
Young Billy visits Joystiq regularly for gaming news, and it seems they posted an article, claiming there was a man who had an "unreleased" game for the Nintendo 64 gaming system.
Billy was eager to get this game, and went to the address, provided by Joystiq. Billy has been missing 2 days, and authorities are asking for any leads or tips someone might have.
" Billy was always so gullible," says Ms. Johnson, Billy's mother. We have tried to reach Joystiq for comment, but there has been no response.
More on this story, at 10.
In other news, is it possible to live to 200?
No.
ty @ Aug 31st 2006 6:50PM
i live about 45 mins away. Im on the case. I hope its earthbound64.
Joe @ Aug 31st 2006 6:53PM
I live 10 mins away, but don't have the tech.
I do have an N64...
Banjo-guy @ Aug 31st 2006 7:02PM
Could be this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ7nyNf2a1M&mode=related&search=
Or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9uhFaiQsI4&mode=related&search=
And this is the game you were talking about Mouser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9uhFaiQsI4&mode=related&search=
It's called Echo Delta and it was a weirdo little game.
Xero @ Aug 31st 2006 7:07PM
@ 9
Mouser X? From Blockland?
HotShotX @ Aug 31st 2006 7:07PM
"Billy was eager to get this game, and went to the address, provided by Joystiq. Billy has been missing 2 days, and authorities are asking for any leads or tips someone might have."
Breaking News: Jack Thompson has announced today that he shall not rest, sleep, or adhere to logic until this game is removed and banned from all shelves in America. He was quoted to say:
"The loss of Billy Johnson is tragic and unforgetful, with that in mind, pay attention to me as I use this tragedy to bolster my failing career."
...and that's the news at 10, tune in tomorrow morning as Leo Leonardo III delivers to us, on site, live, his investigative report on whether or not Jack Thompson truly was born with a stick up his bum.
~HotShotX
lordroba @ Aug 31st 2006 7:09PM
I dunno, just wondering, but is there a possibility of it being the Final Fantasy Game that they were working on for the N64 before things with Nintendo and Squaresoft got sour?
ohms @ Aug 31st 2006 7:14PM
could possibly be dinosaur planet.
Tull @ Aug 31st 2006 7:29PM
Yeah, sounds like a kidnapping in the making.
-It puts the lotion on it's skin!
o.o
thedanceman @ Aug 31st 2006 7:38PM
It should be one of these games..
http://n64.icequake.net/mirror/64scener.parodius.com/canned.htm
Roddie @ Aug 31st 2006 8:25PM
Jason, Animal Crossing wasn't just a beta on the N64, it actually came out in Japan as Animal Forest.
CJC @ Aug 31st 2006 8:35PM
My money's on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech:_Crystal_Dreams
Or kidnapping and rape. Either is likely, really.
V1L3 @ Aug 31st 2006 8:36PM
#10: Or more realistically...
"Young Billy visits Joystiq regularly for gaming news, and it seems they posted an article, claiming there was a man who had an "unreleased" game for the Nintendo 64 gaming system.
Billy then went to his father and inquired as to what exactly a 'Nintendo 64' was, and if it was some model of Playstation he hadn't heard of. Billy was then subjected to a 3-hour lecture about how things were so much better in 'the good old days,' and how 'kids these days don't know how good they've got it, with their Gamebox 350's and their drive-thru McDougalls and their mobile cell telephones, and how 'music hasn't been the same since Wings broke up,' before being forced to endure a 24-hour M*A*S*H marathon.
Doctors are optimistic that Billy will recover from his ordeal soon, though there's a chance the damage may well be irreparable."
Jorge @ Aug 31st 2006 8:40PM
This would most likely be Mini Racers, which was cancelled by Nintendo and secretly developed by Looking Glass.
Lithium Mirage @ Aug 31st 2006 8:55PM
This would most likely be sodomy.
Julian Emmett Turner @ Aug 31st 2006 9:10PM
GUYS! This is probably NOT Robotech Crystal Dreams (heh, one of my old Nintendo Power mags has a "Coming Soon" poster for that). The Robotech beta was dumped and released years ago, or at least a very early version was. I'm sure this guy would know if this was already dumped because he would have done the research before offering to give it up.
That said, I have exactly five machines that could do the job without taking it apart and even more that could do it with a MaskROM 32-pin DIP test-clip. I hope it's Panel de Pon 64 developed by Nintendo Software Technologies (one of the few the would likely be in the US) or Eternal Darkness. Dinosaur Planet probably never made it to the NOA Treehouse until it was a GC game, so don't get your hopes up.
BTW, how does Craig's List work? All I saw was some strange email that I'm sure CL uses to obscure the other guy's and I sent a message. Is that all there is to it? No signing up for anything?
tactics @ Aug 31st 2006 9:22PM
that's it, julian. thanks for taking the initiative. hope this turns out to be something cool!
-"superfan" tactics.
Julian Emmett Turner @ Aug 31st 2006 9:35PM
I hope he hasn't been inundated by requests already. :(
Julian Emmett Turner @ Aug 31st 2006 9:36PM
Oh, and I didn't mean PdP was developed by NST; that honor goes to my favorite developer on the planet: Intelligent Systems (Nintendo first-party). It was actually localized by NST, the US Nintendo devs with a lot of Digipen-ers. They also ported Need for Speed to N64 and NDS for Namco, made Bionic Commando GBC for Capcom, etc. With those, they've garnered a reputation of basically taking on a lot of projects that 3rd parties are unwilling to do so that they actually get a release on Nintendo consoles. I applaud Big N's initiative.
Mouser X @ Aug 31st 2006 9:55PM
@ 14 - Xero
One and the same. I'd say more, but I'd rather not pull this off-topic
On-topic: I read IGN's preview of Echo Delta. It sounds like an interesting game. I'd certainly like to give it a try. Though, I'm quite certain that Submarine Titans (for the PC) is probably better. Still though, I can't think of many games that take place underwater (minus the Ecco series). I'm still holding out hope that this "undumped game" is Echo Delta. Mouser X out.
Martin @ Aug 31st 2006 10:28PM
More realisticly all,
Young Billy, an aved reeder of a gamin blog, Joystiq, finally has succumb to poor grammor and bad speeling errers. In the hunt for a serect N54 vidogam, Billy travled to Marlboro due to a tip from Joystiq and has now ben enfected with the Lung Cancer!
Oh yeah, and he bot the cigorittes on craigs'list.
Satertek @ Aug 31st 2006 11:25PM
I'm felt a really strong deja vu when I read this story. I'm sure I heard the exact one a while ago...
trimbandit @ Sep 1st 2006 1:37AM
"This would most likely be sodomy"
You mean Sodomy64!
jc @ Sep 1st 2006 1:47AM
http://www.joystiq.com/2005/10/20/rare-legend-of-zelda-iii-nes-cartridge-on-ebay/
deja vu all over again?
vav00m @ Sep 1st 2006 4:19AM
geez you guys keep posting my msn space url and i get rediculous amounts of traffic.. thanks :)
shirizaki @ Sep 1st 2006 7:22AM
So this guy gets a cartridge that was never released. Sounds like something that hit the warehouse but never made it out the door (Half-Life for Dreamcast for Ex.).
Hmmmm, who knows? It could be any from that list.
And that cart should survive almost anything. Pfft, he's a nongamer. My Duckhunt cart is still kicking all these 20 something odd years.
Darrell @ Sep 1st 2006 10:15AM
Jason, Animal Crossing actually came out on the N64 in Japan.
Draco @ Sep 1st 2006 11:43AM
@shirizaki
Half Life did come out for Dreamcast, they had it at the EB games near my place recently... it was $5.99 CAD I think. retailed at I think $59.99 CAD at the time. almost bought it.
diskoboy @ Sep 1st 2006 12:21PM
Draco - Half-Life was never released through retail. Only through the homebrew community. Same with Propeller Arena.
You probably saw the PC version - not the DC version.
If you saw it at a Gamestop - and it is for the Dreamcast.... Well I'm sure whoever accepted the trade for it probably got fired shortly after. Because it's freely availible all over the web.
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/games/Comlete-Unreleased-List-Games-txt-ftopict32461.html
John H. @ Sep 1st 2006 4:35PM
Here's hoping it's Addams Family Pinball....
hillbilly @ Sep 2nd 2006 12:28AM
Duke nukem forever?
W.J. Hill @ Sep 2nd 2006 10:26PM
Wonder if anyone would be interested in dumping the ROM I have of Frogger for the N64? It is from really early in the development cycle.
Darren @ Sep 11th 2006 3:21PM
I still have my Z64, which I believe can take ROM backups. Plus I'm in MA. How awesome am I?