Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Man ransoming unreleased Resident Evil GBC prototype ROMs to the Internet]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/29/man-ransoming-unreleased-resident-evil-gbc-prototype-roms-to-the/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/29/man-ransoming-unreleased-resident-evil-gbc-prototype-roms-to-the/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/29/man-ransoming-unreleased-resident-evil-gbc-prototype-roms-to-the/#comments Two prototype versions of the Game Boy Color port of Resident Evil are waiting in the wings for an imminent release; news that strikes us as rather serendipitous considering that we were just talking about that game last week. Like all great news, however, there's a bit of a catch.

We're not talking about something awesome and legit, like an official 3DS eShop release, we're talking about ROMs. What's more, the ROMs for these two prototype cartridges, one containing most of Jill's campaign and the other containing an earlier build, will only be released to the internet if the anonymous seller's "fundraiser" reaches its $2,000 goal by the end of February.

Now, that sounds more like extortion than a fundraiser, but the third party running the sale maintains that the benefactor in question is actually taking a substantial loss at that price point. That sounded reasonable at first, but the more we think about it, the less we buy it.

It's true that some rare games can sell for tens of thousands of dollars, but those games tend to exist in extremely limited quantities and also tend to be remarkably verifiable; Stadium Events for the NES and the European version of Kizuna Encounter for the Neo Geo immediately spring to mind. Those are actual games, though, and not ROMs. Unless this collector destroys these cartridges after the ROMs are posted, the $2,000 entry fee is nothing but pure profit, since the cartridges can still be sold afterwards.

Don't get us wrong, we love the idea of preserving the gaming industry's wackier moments. What we don't love is the idea of someone coercing a substantial amount of money from a dedicated fan base by ransoming the distribution of a product that they have no right to distribute. To paraphrase a brilliant professor of archeology, "They belong in a museum!"

JoystiqMan ransoming unreleased Resident Evil GBC prototype ROMs to the Internet originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fundraisergame-boy-colorprototyperansomresident-evilROMunreleasedSun, 29 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Virtually Overlooked: River City Ransom EX]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/05/virtually-overlooked-river-city-ransom-ex/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/05/virtually-overlooked-river-city-ransom-ex/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/05/virtually-overlooked-river-city-ransom-ex/#commentsFiled under:

Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.

Talking about the execrable Renegade last week put us in a Technos kind of mood. It's not really fair to Technos or to you to focus only on their one terrible NES game. Let's cleanse our palates together with a good Kunio game.

River City Ransom EX is a Game Boy Advance remake of the NES River City Ransom, which is significantly improved in almost every respect-- except boxart, unfortunately.

Continue reading Virtually Overlooked: River City Ransom EX

JoystiqVirtually Overlooked: River City Ransom EX originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>atluscitykuniomillionnintendonintendo wiiNintendoWiiransomriverriver city ransomriver city ransom exRiverCityRansomRiverCityRansomExtechnosvowiiThu, 05 Jul 2007 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[PS2 held ransom for gas money]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/28/ps2-held-ransom-for-gas-money/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/28/ps2-held-ransom-for-gas-money/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/02/28/ps2-held-ransom-for-gas-money/#commentsFiled under: ,

Having trouble getting your deadbeat friend to pay you the money he owes you? Just take his game system and see how fast he comes running with the cash.

That was the strategy apparently taken by an unidentified man who stole a PlayStation 2 from Des Moines resident James Kloppenburg while he slept. According to a short article in the Des Moines Register, "Kloppenburg told police he could have the game machine back if he repaid money he owed for gasoline." We can only assume that if Kloppenburg knows who he owes the gas money to, he also probably has a pretty good idea of who took his system. Still, according to the police report, Kloppenburg later decided not to press charges against the suspect.

Why drop the charges? Maybe the ransomer threatened to harm Kloppenburg's precious PS2 if he didn't back off. Maybe Kloppenburg decided to steal back his system vigilante style. Maybe Kloppenburg just paid back the gas money and now everything's hunky dory. Whatever the case, one thing's for certain -- when debts come between friends, it's always the innocent game consoles that suffer most.

JoystiqPS2 held ransom for gas money originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>debtsfriendsPS2ransomrobberystoletheftWed, 28 Feb 2007 18:55:00 EST