Limited Run Games

[RH | 4,903]

2 hours ago, MiamiSlice said:

I don't know why Retro-Bit does this but I'm pretty sure all of their "retro reprints" have different colored carts than the original style. The 4 others they have on their site (3 SNES, 1 NES) are all black carts instead of gray. https://retro-bit.com/cartridges.html

iam8bit does the same thing... Mega Man X is white / blue, Street Fighter 2 is red, etc. etc. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/legacy-cartridge-collection

My guess is that there's some patent / trademark protecting the official cartridge designs / colors and so to avoid violating that, they make the carts look a bit different. Same as how the unlicensed carts from back in the day would look different too. 

This is completely speculative assumption, but I always assumed these official re-releases by the original companies made their carts different colors as to set them a part from the originals.  In other words, no one can pass these off as original.  It's a "fake".  A really nice, well made, licensed by the copyright holders, fake.

Edited May 26, 2021 by RH

[TDIRunner | 2,737]

42 minutes ago, RH said:

This is completely speculative assumption, but I always assumed these official releases by the original companies made their carts different colors as to set them a part from the originals.  In other words, no one can pass these off as original.  It's a "fake".  A really nice, well made, licensed by the copyright holders, fake.

This was my assumption as well.  I don't consider these games to be traditional repros since they have permission to print them, but they make them different enough to not confuse them with the original prints.  I basically view these types of games as a (less desirable) variant that is easy to tell apart from the original.  And I think that's a good thing.  

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

2 hours ago, LastCat said:

Question, does LRG take forever to ship out games? I ask because I'm considering pre-ordering a game from them soon.

At this point, assume any game you order from them will have a 6month to 1year turnaround time. If your okay with that then you wont be disappointed 

[RH | 4,903]

9 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

At this point, assume any game you order from them will have a 6month to 1year turnaround time. If your okay with that then you wont be disappointed 

I completely agree with this.  In fact, it's best to adopt the attitude of buying the game and forgetting about it.  If you are going to be super pumped, and can't wait to get it, LRG and these other companies are going to just annoy you to know end.

Instead, just tell yourself you are buying your future-self a random surprise.  Buy the game, archive the emails and forget you bought it.  Then in 10 months when it shows up, you can feel like it's Christmas in July.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

1 hour ago, RH said:

This is completely speculative assumption, but I always assumed these official re-releases by the original companies made their carts different colors as to set them a part from the originals.  In other words, no one can pass these off as original.  It's a "fake".  A really nice, well made, licensed by the copyright holders, fake.

As a courtesy typically sure like the Capcom ones.

I got Shantae finally in the mail yesterday and aside from where they couldn't use the words GAME BOY COLOR on the box art and cart, nor have CAPCOM still emblazoned on it, it effectively looks like the original cart, manual and box just with the minimal changes.  Then again, it's a re-release, not a fake though.  People making copies though on their own or side businesses, I've seen them so 1:1 you need a bit kit to investigate into shenanigans which to me, it's great.  Hate stuff sticking out like a sore thumb, and if it makes it harder on people raising hell, bonus.

 

And LRG is fine in the open window on a cancel, but if it's after since they run specific totals with a small window of replacement tolerance, they get pissy from all accounts I've seen to a very unprofessional level.  It's why when I do order from them, I'm 90% damn certain I want it.  The couple cases I didn't, I sold it off to an appreciative person who missed out.

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

33 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

At this point, assume any game you order from them will have a 6month to 1year turnaround time. If your okay with that then you wont be disappointed 

But I want to keep it sealed on my shelf now!

[Sumez | 2,951]

5 hours ago, LastCat said:

Question, does LRG take forever to ship out games? I ask because I'm considering pre-ordering a game from them soon.

Don't order anything from LRG you expect to receive less than half a year later. And that's if you're lucky.

[TDIRunner | 2,737]

I actually order my games in a way that will make them take longer to get here.  I try to combine as many games together as possible to save on shipping, which means that I don't get any of my games until the entire order is ready.  

In the unlikely event that they release a game that I MUST play today, I will just get the digital version and play it until my physical copy arrives.  

[DarkTone | 984]

I thought it was just in case someone tried to pass the cart off as the original. 

[avatar! | 1,811]

5 hours ago, RH said:

This is completely speculative assumption, but I always assumed these official re-releases by the original companies made their carts different colors as to set them a part from the originals.  In other words, no one can pass these off as original.  It's a "fake".  A really nice, well made, licensed by the copyright holders, fake.

I know what you're saying, although I think perhaps "fake" is a bit misleading. These are after all official releases, just not licensed because Nintendo/Sega no longer support old consoles. I also believe the reason they use such color is simply to make them more appealing.

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

8 hours ago, MiamiSlice said:

I don't know why Retro-Bit does this but I'm pretty sure all of their "retro reprints" have different colored carts than the original style. The 4 others they have on their site (3 SNES, 1 NES) are all black carts instead of gray. https://retro-bit.com/cartridges.html

iam8bit does the same thing... Mega Man X is white / blue, Street Fighter 2 is red, etc. etc. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/legacy-cartridge-collection

My guess is that there's some patent / trademark protecting the official cartridge designs / colors and so to avoid violating that, they make the carts look a bit different. Same as how the unlicensed carts from back in the day would look different too. 

I would bet anything it's just because people think they look cool and there's no cost difference between boring gray and kewl transparent blue. Mega Cat Studios occasionally has plain gray ones, but mostly do the snazzy color thing.

[dvertov | 205]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

I would bet anything it's just because people think they look cool

FTFY

[avatar! | 1,811]

57 minutes ago, dvertov said:

I would bet anything it's just because people think they look cool

FTFY

True! After all, Zelda carts were all gold and shiny... I always thought Metroid carts should be silver, alas, missed opportunity! At any rate, most anything is cooler than dull gray

[MiamiSlice | 3,095]

Just saw a post on FB where someone had 4 copies of Razion Ex... turns out NGDev didn't have an order limit for the first round of orders so people were able to just order a bunch if they wanted. Asinine. How does this keep happening? Good news though is they are limiting the next batch to 2 per person. LOL. 

[Sumez | 2,951]

I saw the same post. Apparently he had to order at least 4 before they'd ship to UK (probably due to some Brexit thing?), so at least it wasn't done to scalp.

[MiamiSlice | 3,095]

5 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I saw the same post. Apparently he had to order at least 4 before they'd ship to UK (probably due to some Brexit thing?), so at least it wasn't done to scalp.

Ah ok.

I like how in the comments he’s like “I’m not into scalping, I’m keeping these to trade later”

...which is scalping unless he’s trading each one for 60 Euros of trade value

[Gloves | 11,777]

15 minutes ago, MiamiSlice said:

Ah ok.

I like how in the comments he’s like “I’m not into scalping, I’m keeping these to trade later”

...which is scalping unless he’s trading each one for 60 Euros of trade value

It's not scalping, it's investing! 

[Tabonga | 2,317]

17 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

I would bet anything it's just because people think they look cool and there's no cost difference between boring gray and kewl transparent blue. Mega Cat Studios occasionally has plain gray ones, but mostly do the snazzy color thing.

I don't have a dog in the show but has anyone emailed them and asked them why they do it?

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:26 AM, TDIRunner said:

This was my assumption as well.  I don't consider these games to be traditional repros since they have permission to print them, but they make them different enough to not confuse them with the original prints.  I basically view these types of games as a (less desirable) variant that is easy to tell apart from the original.  And I think that's a good thing.  

Quite the opposite, these are reproductions and the bootlegs are not. The games were initially produced with a license and anyone that makes more without the license isn't actually reproducing anything, they're just creating bootlegs. Limited Run (or their publisher) acquiring the license officially makes these reproductions since they are now being reproduced once again.

It's funny because people initially made bootlegs and wanted some term that made them sound less illegal so they used reproduction even though that wasn't technically correct. Now that actual reproductions are being made, people don't want to use this proper term for them because it got associated to bootlegs somehow improperly. It's backwards.

[TDIRunner | 2,737]

2 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

Quite the opposite, these are reproductions and the bootlegs are not. The games were initially produced with a license and anyone that makes more without the license isn't actually reproducing anything, they're just creating bootlegs. Limited Run (or their publisher) acquiring the license officially makes these reproductions since they are now being reproduced once again.

It's funny because people initially made bootlegs and wanted some term that made them sound less illegal so they used reproduction even though that wasn't technically correct. Now that actual reproductions are being made, people don't want to use this proper term for them because it got associated to bootlegs somehow improperly. It's backwards.

I didn't say "reproduction."  I said "repro" which is a common slang term for an illegally produced game.  Not everyone may use the term "repro" the exact same way, but on multiple occasions I've made it clear that's how I use it.  

[Renmauzo | 1,201]

As far as MM: Wily Wars goes, I don't believe this print run should be considered 'reproduction' since there was never a North American hard copy for this print run to be a reproduction of.

I any case, I'm just excited for more Mega Man and am VERY intrigued by the prospect of the game play performance issue improvements mentioned in the details.

[Code Monkey | 2,010]

23 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

I didn't say "reproduction."  I said "repro" which is a common slang term for an illegally produced game.  Not everyone may use the term "repro" the exact same way, but on multiple occasions I've made it clear that's how I use it.  

Repro and reproduction are literally the exact same thing.

That would be like a fridge and refrigerator being different things. They aren't.

[TDIRunner | 2,737]

19 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

Repro and reproduction are literally the exact same thing.

Not in my example they aren't, especially not when I've specifically defined how I use the term on multiple occasions.  I've had this conversation before, and I'm not wasting my time on it again.

[Inzoreno | 102]

Anyone following the LRG releases, we have confirmation that the third game is coming at the end of next week. 

[Sumez | 2,951]

15 hours ago, Renmauzo said:

I don't believe this print run should be considered 'reproduction' since there was never a North American hard copy for this print run to be a reproduction of.

Depends. Did they change anything for this game, or is it the same game already released in other regions? 
If someone takes an american product and creates an identical copy, selling it only in Russia, is that copy not a reproduction because it's sold elsewhere?