NBA Jam XXX, an in-house version of the Super Nintendo classic that features raunchy voice-over calls, made waves online after I unearthed the game on a development prototype board last summer. The subsequent article that I wrote and corresponding YouTube video that I recorded has since resulted in over 100,000 people hearing Tim Kitzrow, NBA Jam‘s iconic announcer, shouting outrageous lines like “He’s on fucking fire,” “Grabs his johnson,”  and “Get that shit out of here.”

The public’s excitement over NBA Jam XXX soon turned into skepticism when Kitzrow called the recordings fake and the game a “hack job” created by an impersonator.

“I’m still friends with a lot of those folks from Acclaim and Iguana and no one knows who is pulling your chain,” he told Kotaku. “A good imitation to be sure, but trust me Jam was too big to have ever messed around like that.”

After his dismissive remarks, many started to brush off the game as a hoax, an attention-seeking stunt.

By accepting NBA Jam XXX from a private anonymous industry source, I had effectively adopted and taken ownership of its legacy. The game’s future rested in my hands. As its new caretaker, I felt that I had an obligation to defend NBA Jam XXX‘s integrity as a real piece of arcade and video game history that deserves to be respected and remembered.

For the sake of the game’s long-term preservation, I set out on a mission to untangle the wild mystery behind NBA Jam XXX.

Continue Reading…

You’ve probably heard of the Super Mario Bros. 2 prototype that was found in 2005 and leaked online, but do you know about the internal Nintendo of America samples that have been circulating among collectors since the late ’90s?

If not, you might want to check out this new article. Although I came up short in definitively solving the mystery behind these carts (i.e. dumping one), I still was able to uncover some new information by tracking down all three known owners and consulting Randy “Captain” Studdard, a former Nintendo Power editor and the creator of Captain Nintendo.

Be sure to look out for an interview with Captain in an upcoming issue of Game Informer.

The second most anticipated cancelled Game Boy Color game behind Resident Evil, Tyrannosaurus Tex  (or T-Tex for short) would have been the one and only first-person shooter on Nintendo’s first color handheld had it been released in 2001.

Despite receiving praise from gaming critics (most notably IGN) for its smooth 20-30fps 3-D action and impressive deathmatch multiplayer, T-Tex quietly disappeared for good after publisher Eidos permanently shelved the title.

To pay my respects to Tex, I wrote a 9,000-word article all about cyborg dinosaurs, robotic aliens, and Texan stereotypes… Yeehaw!

Slitherine Software, the English developers behind the game, provided the site with all of the never-before-seen background artwork from the “final” version, and T-Tex producer Iain McNeill also helped solve some unanswered mysteries. The game’s entire charming script has been transcribed, as well. Oh, and there’s an early prototype for you to play, too!

Although Slitherine never had a chance to share T-Tex with the world, the studio went on to enjoy success in the strategy game genre. In an amazing coincidence, Legion, the company’s first completed game, has just been ported to the iPad this week!

The first two ROM images provide a fascinating look at the famed medical mind game back when it was simply called Virus. In this abandoned version, the trademark “Fever” and “Chill” music tracks are missing and Mario is a veterinarian caring for a sneezing bulldog with the aid of his buxom nursing assistant Princess Toadstool.

“Helllllooo, nurse!”

Despite taking a leave of absence in the retail Dr. Mario, the NES instruction manual still refers to the Mushroom Kingdom’s Royal Highness as “Nurse Toadstool” who works alongside Mario in the virus research lab at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital.

The earliest build from 1989 was picked up at a San Antonio flea market and sold on eBay in 2010 for a fever-inducing $2,238.98.

The EPROMs are attached to an NROM PCB.

The second Virus, dated February 2, 1990, changed hands in 2008 after being quarantined in California. The game is strangely contained within a Tetris prototype cartridge.

The menu has been tweaked, some colors have changed, and those pesky viruses are now pulsating.

The third and final ROM image shows off a later beta closer to the PlayChoice-10 prototype that was discovered in Georgia last October (see Dream and Friends for more on that find). Also acquired in 2008, this Dr. Mario came out of the now closed offices of Nintendo Power. A carved-out Super Mario Bros. shell houses the board.

Prototype (left), US/JP Retail (right)

Check out Mario sporting groovy new pointy shoes!

All three cartridges were purchased from the private collection of Johan, the same Swedish collector who supplied Nintendo Player with the Donkey Kong Land III prototype. He at one point listed them on eBay for $120,000 OBO, later slashed to a more realistic $14,000 OBO. Last I heard, negotiations for these greatly desired first-party treasures were at around $8,000 (breaking down to a devilish $2,666 per game). That should give you some idea of the monstrous medical bills incurred.

In a rare non-Nintendo update, the site has gotten hold of an Aaahh!!! Real Monsters SEGA Genesis prototype.

Join Ickis, Krumm, and Oblina at the article’s page for all of the smelly details!

These two Nintendo store binders provide an interesting look into the retail side of the gaming industry. The materials inside span from the NES to the GameCube. Click on one for more information and scans.

Also, the site’s mail server is down. I’m not sure when it crashed, but if you sent me a message and I never responded, please use the contact form to reach me at my new address.

As Nintendo Player previously reported, Bandai’s unreleased, uncensored, and very Japanese Parody World: Monster Party sold back in May 2011 for about $6,000 on Yahoo Japan Auctions. We’ve now learned that the new owner in Japan has backed up the cartridge, but he’s taken a hard stance against sharing anything of the game besides a video of the first level.

That video, which shows four minutes of gameplay footage and amusing references to Little Shop of Horrors and Planet of the Apes, is mirrored below to give you a peek into the party:

2013 is quickly becoming the year of unreleased prototypes, as we’re not even out of January yet and another lost gem has been preserved and shared with retro gamers worldwide.

If you’re unfamiliar with Faceball, this innovative, nonviolent first-person shooter replaced bullets with balls and realistic adversaries with smiley faces (called Smiloids) that cheerfully wished players to “Have a nice day!” after blasting them to kingdom come. The title is credited with offering one of the first multiplayer deathmatch experiences in gaming history.

Originally appearing on the Atari ST computer as MIDI Maze, later versions named Faceball 2000 made their way to Nintendo systems like the Game Boy and Super Nintendo, but the Virtual Boy port by Bullet Proof Software was cancelled in 1995 due to the 3-D system’s poor sales.

After a 17-year absence, Faceball (or Niko-Chan Battle as it is known in Japan) reappeared last September when a Japanese poster on the Planet Virtual Boy forums announced that his friend owned an approximately 80% complete prototype. Eric “bigmak” Freeman, a VB fan from Kentucky, worked out a deal to purchase the copy reportedly for over $10,000. Today, the binary file from that cartridge has been made available to download, surely making this one of the most generous acts of Nintendo game preservation to date.

And you can quote Nintendo Player on this: Niko-Chan Battle won’t be the only Faceball-esque unreleased game that you’ll get to play for the first time this year. More on that later!

You’ve seen the $4,000 OBO auction. Now stop your window shopping and come in for a closer look at the mysterious Donkey Kong Country 3 SNES prototype.

Speaking of the Kongs, there have been some major additions to the Donkey Kong Land III prototype article all thanks to DKL guru Blaziken257 and the mighty map extracting program that he created.

To complete the banana trifecta, a new blog called RetroGamesUK has just released the 2001 Diddy Kong Pilot alpha for your downloading pleasure. This digital copy of the cancelled Game Boy Advance game allegedly originated from “someone at Nintendo.” As the folks at DKC Atlas discovered, the build still contains remnants of the Space World 2001 version with the Mario characters. If you ever desired to see Yoshi riding a Lakitu’s Cloud like a bull, your day has come!

In non-simian news, an up-and-coming 16-bit resource called SNES Hub hopes to fill some gaps in the online SNES fansite community by offering frequent reviews, articles, interviews, and scheduled interactive events. Awsuh, Robb, da awnuh, e’ss eh felluh Philly boy. Suh, ga head awn playingwithsuperpower.com. Yeh Phulls! (And come visit the City of Brotherly Love to enjoy more of our English-butchering accent!)