Sega Genesis Smash Controller

[MrMark0673 | 197]

I was clearing out some of my old junk and stumbled on this guy:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RmiVjV2v5wdduwEe6

A Sega Smash controller used for Whac-A-Critter in the US (or Mallet Legend in Taiwan).  It's made by Realtec, and it's new old stock.  I'm having a really hard time seeing any that changed hands in the last 10 years.  

Gamesniped called it rarer than Outback Joey 11 years ago: http://gamesniped.com/2009/11/06/whac-a-critter-realtec-controller/

And this Sega16 article from 2008 speculated that the controller didn't exist:  https://www.sega-16.com/2008/11/mallet-legends-whac-a-critter/

So...

What's the deal with these things?  Anyone seen or heard anything about them since 2012?  I'm not holding onto this thing, but I'd love some data points if anyone has any info.  Having owned a complete Outback Joey, I've seen that change hands plenty over the last decade, but nothing on this controller.  Thanks for any help!

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

@Johnny? He's told me to buy one in the past I know and he thinks it's way cooler than I think it is, lol. We have it in a podcast ideas list under NOS finds, but I don't have an info on how many were actually found or where. Johnny might know.

[MrMark0673 | 197]

That’s awesome! I’d love to hear johnny’s take on it (or any other Genny collector for that matter).  I snatched it up when I saw it as I knew it was near impossible to find, and I *think* it was around 2012.  Again, haven’t heard or seen one pop up since, so I’d love to know what the deal is with them (More out there? Desirable? Expensive?)

[TrekMD | 1,408]

Never seen that before!  Cool!

[DarkTone | 985]

Nice one. Curious to know how it would work with other games.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

I've got the original version of this, two of them actually. I'm at work but I'll post more later with my thoughts.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

Okay, Realtec was a Taiwanense company. In addition to making original Sega Genesis games, they also licensed and produced the Codemasters games for Famicom, as well as producing a long line of bootleg Famicom carts.

This controller was originally bundled with the game cartridge for the Taiwanense release, which features kick-ass artwork, etc. When they decided to release their three original Sega games in the USA, the decided to sell the whac a critter game and the controller separately, for unknown reasons.

As a whole, the original Taiwanense versions of these Realtec games are much, much rarer than their USA counterparts. I guess that they sold poorly over here, and that the unsold stock was relabeled for a western market, and then sold, as the games code are identical iirc.

With this particular device, Ive seen maybe five or six of the original Taiwanense versions, in ten years time, of course with game cartridge. It seems very few of the controllers have shown up stateside, though the cartridge itself seems to be fairly common.

Tons of Nos of the USA versions of the Realtec games have shown up over the years, assembled, unassembled, etc, whereas one of the original version games (Earth Defence) Ive never seen ever here n taiwan.

It's my opinion that there are likely to be pallets with these controllers waiting to be discovered, based on the trends surrounding the other games, both in the USA and in Taiwan itself. So while very "rare" at the moment, I don't think it actually is rare.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/1a1rrp/rarity_810_i_finally_got_both_versions_of_the/

http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1083

Edited September 10, 2020 by fcgamer

[MrMark0673 | 197]

8 hours ago, fcgamer said:

It's my opinion that there are likely to be pallets with these controllers waiting to be discovered, based on the trends surrounding the other games, both in the USA and in Taiwan itself. So while very "rare" at the moment, I don't think it actually is rare.

Eh, the game is 27 years old at this point.  To assume there are pallets of these controllers around is a bit of a stretch.  Anything is possible of course, but pallet finds of any kind are becoming less and less common.

I'm familiar with Realtec in the sense that it's a Taiwanese company (I mention as much in the opening post).  I've seen the Taiwan version much more recently than the US version:  

That's from 2018.  The most recent post I can find about the US version between what I posted and what you posted is 2012.

I was really hoping for *any* sort of sales data, collector's data, or even relatively recent discussion.  Not a whole lot of unlicensed games for the Genny, and though the game is relatively common, the only way to play it in an enjoyable way is with this controller.  It's like if WCTM was a rarity 1 and the power pad was a rarity 10.  It's incredibly odd.

I cross posted on Sega-16, but that place is becoming more and more of a ghost town.  Maybe I'll find a Genesis collector's group on Facebook or something.

Regardless, I appreciate the help folks!

 

Edit to add:  Another more recent post about the Taiwanese version, this one from 2019:

https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/reportajes/juego-cascar-topos-mega-drive-historias-tio-bruno-423321

Edited September 10, 2020 by MrMark0673

[fcgamer | 4,725]

@MrMark0673 I respect you in every way possible bro, but in this situation, you're way off base.  If I were you I'd sell now, it's only a matter of time before a cache of these is discovered. This goes for everyone here, mark my words, within the next ten years max.

Edited September 10, 2020 by fcgamer

[fcgamer | 4,725]

Also, not to be pedantic, but the two you posted could easily have been two of the six or whatever I had mentioned...

[MrMark0673 | 197]

58 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

@MrMark0673 I respect you in every way possible bro, but in this situation, you're way off base.  If I were you I'd sell now, it's only a matter of time before a cache of these is discovered. This goes for everyone here, mark my words, within the next ten years max.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I just don't see why we should *assume* there will be a large quantity of these found in the next ten years.  At that point, you're talking about the time between production and discovery being 37 years.  I just don't see it as having a high likelihood, but all I can do is speculate on that.

As far as those two being part of the 6 or so that you know of, sure, ok, entirely possible.  My point was that if I'm looking for recent rumblings or info, I can find some info on the Taiwanese version a few times in the last two years.  I can't seem to find much of anything on the US Innovations version since 2012.  As far as I can tell/remember, there were a handful of them available on Amazon at that time (I can't remember the number, but it was a 2 digit number).  They were snatched up quickly by collectors, and there has been a drought since.

With essentially no photos or discussion of the US version in the last 8 or so years (and again, I'm hoping to be wrong as I'd like to see more info), I have a hard time calling this anything but exceptionally rare for the Genesis.  That's not to say expensive, or desirable, but if someone really wanted to buy one right now, regardless of the price, I'd imagine it wouldn't be an easy thing to do.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

@MrMark0673 I respect you in every way possible bro, but in this situation, you're way off base.  If I were you I'd sell now, it's only a matter of time before a cache of these is discovered. This goes for everyone here, mark my words, within the next ten years max.

Why magically in the next ten years when nothing has popped up for the last 27?   

And even if they do pop up, it's still a matter of them making it to the marketplace instead of being dropped into the ocean.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

You guys do realise this game came out in 1993, not 1983, right? By my calculation, it's only 27 years old, but I'm not a maths guy.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

2 hours ago, MrMark0673 said:

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I just don't see why we should *assume* there will be a large quantity of these found in the next ten years.  At that point, you're talking about the time between production and discovery being 37 years.  I just don't see it as having a high likelihood, but all I can do is speculate on that.

As far as those two being part of the 6 or so that you know of, sure, ok, entirely possible.  My point was that if I'm looking for recent rumblings or info, I can find some info on the Taiwanese version a few times in the last two years.  I can't seem to find much of anything on the US Innovations version since 2012.  As far as I can tell/remember, there were a handful of them available on Amazon at that time (I can't remember the number, but it was a 2 digit number).  They were snatched up quickly by collectors, and there has been a drought since.

With essentially no photos or discussion of the US version in the last 8 or so years (and again, I'm hoping to be wrong as I'd like to see more info), I have a hard time calling this anything but exceptionally rare for the Genesis.  That's not to say expensive, or desirable, but if someone really wanted to buy one right now, regardless of the price, I'd imagine it wouldn't be an easy thing to do.

Well you yourself just proved my point, somewhat, the original (Taiwan version) less are known to be around than the Innovation-published release, a small two-digit cache of those had been discovered by your own admission, in the past ten years, and who knows what was out there prior to that . I do know that it was known to exist though, I had seen information about it (the USA version) back about 2000 or 2002 already.

If the controller had been rebranded, I might feel differently; however, it's not. The Realtec games were readily available NOS at Funcoland back in 1998-2002ish, as mentioned earlier, afaik the data (and shells) are the same as the original Taiwanense versions, only the labels and box art had been changed.

Those games are *all* very very hard to find here, but are super easy to find in the USA, NOS, it suggests to me that the unsold stock was sent abroad. Considering the game was originally packaged with the controller, and the controller ended up being sold abroad, with only the packaging changed (even the brand was the same...are we noticing a pattern here?), It seems very very likely to me that there's still a lot of these out there, sitting somewhere in storage in the States. There was the cache from 2012, likely to be more out there, it's just a matter of time.

From what I've seen about Outback Joey, it of course has all the makings of a rarity , imo, but this one honestly doesn't, looking at and knowing about the whole situation.

[fcgamer | 4,725]

14 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

You guys do realise this game came out in 1993, not 1983, right? By my calculation, it's only 27 years old, but I'm not a maths guy.

Edit: okay I get your meaning, at the end of the next ten years it will be 37 years old. 

But at only 27 years old, currently, there's still plenty of time for this to pop up . 

[fcgamer | 4,725]

On another note, Realtec had a much much larger presence and popularity abroad (i.e. Central / Eastern Europe and the West) than it did locally (i.e. Taiwan, Thailand, and surrounding bootleg-ish environs). 

Very similar to their Sega originals, their Famicom games (original ...the Codemasters originals) rarely show up here, and the locals have no interest in buying them, aside from if they can sell them to foreigners abroad. As for their bootleg Famicom carts, again, hardly ever show up, though are always appearing abroad, all but proving they were more focused and oriented towards foreign , non-Asian markets, first and foremost.

[Johnny | 38]

On 9/9/2020 at 12:39 PM, MrMark0673 said:

That’s awesome! I’d love to hear johnny’s take on it (or any other Genny collector for that matter).  I snatched it up when I saw it as I knew it was near impossible to find, and I *think* it was around 2012.  Again, haven’t heard or seen one pop up since, so I’d love to know what the deal is with them (More out there? Desirable? Expensive?)

So for a long time, like pre 2012 these things were crazy hard to find, they were really expensive for the time too being at 100+ easy. It was March 2012,when the seller Games Express Online (Selling out of NJ) dumped a bunch of New Old Stock on Amazon. they were clearing them out for $20. That batch sat for a little bit but not long and were eventually all snapped up. I haven't seen many more since then. I am not positive they made it to a full retail release, and if they did it wasn't very wide.

As far as a big crate popping up, maybe but that's gambling. Odds are we have seen what we have seen of these and the ones that will find there way into the market will be from collectors and not from some warehouse that is probably guarded by "Top Men".

 

[fcgamer | 4,725]

@Johnny It's all speculation either way, but either scenario is possible, and I have my reasons for believing a lot more of these will appear.

[cartman | 195]

I don't know but it looks like some cheap Chinese toy.

[supergamboy | 61]

I remember the cache of these that were on Amazon as I bought a few myself (all sold and gone now). I think they were sold direct from Innovation, or at least a company that was only selling NOS of their products.

I don't know if any more will surface, but I also don't know how much demand there are for the controllers. I think I and others got excited when there was that Amazon bunch because of coverage like you showed from gamesniped ("Oooh rare"), so on the other side it could seem like not much demand/interest only because they aren't talked about.

[Johnny | 38]

15 hours ago, fcgamer said:

@Johnny It's all speculation either way, but either scenario is possible, and I have my reasons for believing a lot more of these will appear.

Sure, but possible vs probable, it seems less probable more would appear.  People love to talk about mythical pallets appearing, but that is quite rare. Could it happen though, sure it is possible. If you have information that makes the scenario more likely, great you should use that information to make the best decision. As far as hoping, I hope we do find more, these controllers are kind of awesome, I hope you know something we don't so more people can get these. 

@supergamboy They were sold by Gamers Express Online, which appears to have no affiliation with Realtec, I am not sure if other amazon sellers had it though, but this is what my receipt shows.

As far as demand you are probably right, I am not sure who wants these, I am also not sure how many people really know about them.  

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Johnny

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

No real other place to ask this and I don't want to start a new thread but were there only 3 games released by Realtec in the US? Was Tom Clown released here?

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

3 hours ago, CodysGameRoom said:

No real other place to ask this and I don't want to start a new thread but were there only 3 games released by Realtec in the US? Was Tom Clown released here?

I have never even seen a picture of a real Tom Clown, floppy or cartridge. If you ever come across one let me know. Someone asked the Belarusian guy who dumped it to post a pic years ago and he didn't follow up  There are a couple reports on Usenet that the other 3 Realtec games were found at Kay-Bee Toys in the US, so those came out here.

Tom Clown is a mystery being apparently bundled with the Realtec Magicom on a floppy, a disk copier it's difficult to find discussions of period, let alone in English. You can find some pictures of it all on Mega Drives on the non-English internet. IMO Tom Clown never had any kind of real US release someone can show me the slightest evidence it did.

Edited September 14, 2021 by DefaultGen

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

6 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

IMO Tom Clown never had any kind of real US release someone can show me the slightest evidence it did.

Sweet, I already have the other 3 so that dumb subset is complete then.