Good news: the final cases have arrived. They turned out a bit more golden than I expected, and they’re of really nice quality. As promised, here are two photos. After sealing the boxes again, I took them to the post office right away, so in a few weeks they should come back from the machining guy with beautiful CNC cutouts.
By the way, did you notice that there is not a single red item remaining in the Status section on the right? It won’t be long until we can indulge in the nicest Retrodes (Golden Edition, of course) the world has ever seen.
so want one… and the shirt is a nice idea admin!
you should do golden than silver than red. in production orders.
Will I ever be able find it in stores or is it an online only product? I do not like ordering stuff from the Internet.
I would find it very suprising if this hit any stores ever.
it would be very cool – it would be a site to see harrods sell it!
Maybe Radioshack or some other electronics store. It is a possibility. I imagine a lot of people would like to buy one if it works for Earthbound (one game that should definitely be tested as soon as possible), myself included. That game does not seem like it will be re-released anywhere outside of Japan anytime soon.
So you think you can convince 10,000 people to
(1) buy this product based on a single (rare) game title, and
(2) pay a 30% surcharge (RadioShack is not a charity organization) instead of just ordering the thing online…?
If you succeed, I will without hesitation appoint you Chief Marketing Officer ;-)
By the way, since you happen to have a copy of Earthbound, where are you located? I’d love to have a shot at it.
1.) I wonder how exactly many EB cartridges were actually created. Some of them are in the hands of collectors.
2.) Better than being ripped off by a “free-trial offer” from Rapsody or Napster. I can’t remember which it was, but they canceled my sistered account while she was still setting it up. As such, she lost her “free trial offer” when she tried to set it up again.
3.) Yes I have the SNES game cartridge of “Earthbound”. My Mother got it for before she died. I would be glad to give it a try. One of my SNES controllers do not work correctly with my SNES, so it might be better than using that thing.
I don’t think I quite get your point (2) in connection with your original post. Either you trust the product I invented, then you should not mind purchasing it from me directly through the internet. Or, you don’t trust it, then you shouldn’t buy it at RadioShack either :D
ad (3), I am sorry I cannot send out the few prototypes I have to non-developers. However, in a few weeks I hope I can take regular orders again.
I can understand the whole not be able to send out prototypes. It can be hard to trust people these days. I am willing to wait for the official release.
The whole thing about my sister being cheated was a recent example of online deals going bad. My family signed up for Vontage once, the problem was we could not use because it of a dial up internet connection (it required a connection faster than dial up). We sent the thing back immediately, but we didn’t get our money back.
It is things like that make me a little reluctant to make online transactions. I have a feeling it will work (and would be glad to take a risk as a beta tester for all Earthbound fans to prove it), but I would be a little less worried knowing there is a physical location for me to return it to near by with a 30 day money back guarantee, if the option to be a beta tester is out of the question. I am sure if a problem came up, I would find it by then.
Even if Earthbound did not work on and the worst thing happened, I would still have the SNES game cartridge to remember my mother by. I do not want to risk losing it in the mail.
Also, here is something else for you to note on why people should care about your product Earthbound has a some incredibly strong copyright protection measures. The random encounter rate increases. Some enemies show up in odd groups or the wrong places. The worst part is with the final battle. After phase one, it will freeze up and delete all you save data.
I am sorry to hear about your mother. If this game cartridge is the only memory you have of her, you should probably keep it away from the Retrode (and any other device, including the SNES, that might potentially kill the cart).
I still have the Players guide (it is falling apart now) and some other games. Anyway, Earthbound will not be the first game I test on it. I will use games that are available on Virtual Console already or I have a spare cartridge of first. Examples: Super Mario RPG, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Scooby Doo Mystery.
My SNES plays Earthbound, but the main problem I have is that the demo sequence has white specs appear on the screen during transitions.
Re: Admin
No, but I am now :); it’s amazing all the times I’ve been here and haven’t noticed that subscribe area until I looked for it just now.
I second the liking for the gold color. I am also wondering what the final price is, I think you mentioned a $20 reduction because 200 units are being made, and when you will be opening up for orders again.
I assume you are already on the mailing list? (hint hint)
Oh, right, the pricing part of your question. The price has been lowered by 10 EUR, as mentioned in the Group Buy announcement. Though I cannot offer the extras, sadly. The actual number of orders I have received so far is way below 200, so I am doing this on my own full risk already.
I quite like the gold colour better than a brilliant yellow. I can’t wait until I can buy one. Looking on ebay to extend my snes and mega-drive collection ready!