NEOGEO PROTOS breakdown list

Shito

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Ok, here is the deal.

1) Billy Pitt did a remarkable job in the proto field, and that's a fact. I myself don't like his attitude, but the work he did is still remarkable. He gathered a lot of information.

2) Lately, Xacrow presented us some emu-shot for some protos, plus a title list and some mag scans

3) I investigated the Japanese net, and found Xacrow's list source. Basically, Xacrow list was a translation from a Japanese list. But it was also just partially translated. So I just tried my best, retranslated the WHOLE list including EVERY bit, and integrated it with all other proto infos in my possession. The following list is the final result of my efforts.

4) As you would notice, the games listed here actually EXCEED the 'NGH blanking slots'... some games may be double, but still we have few titles exeeding the figure... mmmh...

4) Corrections, additions, commens are always welcome.

5) All in all, I think NGF actually had some protos for real. Namely: BangBang Buster, Brikin'ger, Pinball Fantasia, Shinryuu Senki. The last one was possibly reproduced and sold to 'big tymers'... copies MUST be floating around.

6) I still havent found any confimation about the existance of the infamous 'Neo Pool Master'.

ENJOY THE LIST! :)

*NEO-GEO UNRELEASED GAME LIST - BY SHITO*


NGH008? - SUN SHINE (aka BLOCK PARADISE) - SNK/ADK
[Coloums-type puzzle]
*1990/07 Location Test @ Ikebukuru Sunshine Underground Gorilla
*Official flyer found on the Yahoo Japan Acution (for the 'Sun Shine' title)
*Emulation screenshots for the 'Block Paradise' title made avalaible

NGH026? - FUN FUN BROTHERS - ALPHA DENSHI
[puzzle action game]
*1991 game. Working prototype found in 1998, screens avalaible.

NGH028? - DUNK STAR - SAMMY
[basktball game]
*1991/10 Presentation @ AM SHOW and @ 1991 CES Trade Show
*Official flyer avalabile

NGH035? - MYSTIC WAND - ALPHA DENSHI
[platform game]
*1991 Presentation @ CES Trade Show
*Screens avalaible

NGH054? - BUSTER BLAZE - ADK
[title of the original MVS version of Crossed Swords II - action game]
*1992/09 Location Test @ HighTech Nobel Jinbouchou

NGH130? - TENRIN NO SHOU ~SHIKAGO~ - VISCO
[prototype title of Breakers (eng: Crystal Legacy) - fighting game]
*1994/04 Presentation @ AM SHOW
*Gamest coverage
*official flyer found
*emu screenshot avalaible

NGH068 - SUPER VOLLEY '94 - VIDEO SYSTEM
[prototype title o Power Spike II - volleyball game]
*1994/04 Gamest ad.
*Emu screenshot avalabile

NGH070 - ZUPAPA! - FACE
[platofrm game - 41megs]
*1994/02/22 original version by Face presented @ AOU Show alongside with Gururin

NGH071? - BANG BANG BUSTER - VISCO
[platform game]
*1994 platform action game
*working protos supposedly existing

NGH???? - NINJA GAIDEN II - TECMO
[action game]
*1994/07 Location Test @ Ochanomizu Conan

NGH???? - CARIBE NO ZAIHOU - FACE
[dropping-type puzzle game]
*1994/09 Presentation @ AM SHOW + magazine coverage

NGH???? - PUZZLEKKO CLUB - VISCO
[puzzle game]
*1994/09 Presentation AM SHOW

NGH???? - ULTIMATE 4 (aka KING OF ATHLETE) - FACE
[16 variety minigames of loading-action]
*1995 coverage on NeoGeoFreak magazine issue2 ('King of Athele' title)
*"King of Athlete" is the tentative title

NGH072? - ~PINBALL FANTASIA~ LAST ODYSSEY - MONOLITH
[Pinball Game - 82megs]
*1995 game
*Working proto supposedly existing
*Presentation in NeoGeoFreak magazine

NGH077? - SHINRYUU SENKI ~The Warlocks of the Fates~ - ASTEC 21
[fighting game - 200megs]
*1995/06 Presentation @ TOKYO OMOCHA SHOW
*coverage on NeoGeoFreak magazine issue1
*emu screenshots avalaible

NGH???? - MASEKI TAISEN STOON - I'MAX
[dropping-type puzzle game]
*1995/09 Presentation @ AM SHOW

NGH111 - DROPPERS - FUYUUTOU NO DAIBOUKEN - ADK
[puzzle game]
*tentative title for the MVS version of OSHIDASHI ZINTRICK
*1996/02 Presentation (MVS) @ AOU SHOW
*1996/03 Presentation (MVS) @ Acme Show in Orlando, Florida

NGH099? - THE EYE OF THE TYPHOON ~KYOKUCHOUGOUKEN~ - VICCOM
[fighting game]
*1996/02 AOU SHOW
*FIGHT FEVER sequel

NGH120 - Choutestu Brikin'ger (Ironclad - Testusei Ninsha) - SAURUS
[shooting game - 178megs]
*1996/03 Presentation (MVS) @ Acme Show in Orlando, Florida
*Actual proto cart conversion sold in Singapore
*Emu screenshots avalaible

NGH126? - HEBEREKE NO PAIR PAIR WARS - SUNSOFT
[shangai puzzle game]
*1996/03 Presentaion @ Acme Show in Orlando, Florida
*CG-rendered Hebereke franchise game
*official flyer avalaible
*NeoFreak Coverage
*protos supposedly surfaced

NGH128? - GHOSTLOP - DATA EAST
[puzzle game - 82megs]
*1996 game
*Presentation in NeoGeoFreak magazine
*Proto fuound, bootlegged and dumped

NGH???? - MAHOU JUKU ~MAGIC MASTER~ - SAURUS/TAKUMI
[puzzle game]
*1997/01 Location Test @ Ikebukuro GiGO

NGH104? - QP - SUCCESS
[variety game]
*1997/03 NeoGeoFreak magazine coverage

NGH???? - FIGHTING VOLLEY (tentative name) - VIDEO SYSTEM
[volleyball game]
*Power Spike II sequel or alternative name?

NGH???? - ALL STARS VOLLEY (tentative name) - MAHOU
[volleyball game]
*Tentative title for some other title?

NGH110? - KARATE NINJA SHOU - YUMEKOBO
[action game]
*1997/07 Location Test @ Chuujun Tonai
*screenshots avalaible

NGH137 - OOKIKU FUKURAMASETE GAPPORIN - VIDEO SYSTEM
[puzzle game]
*1997/09 AM SHOW
*GAPPORIN tentative/prototype title

NGH158? - DANCE RYTHM MIX - ADK
[Bemani-style rythm game]
*2004 Location Test in Japan
 
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OlderGames

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Now *THIS* is very good info.
Thanks for the post shito!

EDIT: and unlike "other threads" concerning a related
topic this one actually provides info that can possibly
lead to some eventual releases.

I too believe NGF had a few of these, where they are
now "not in rom form like Xacrows, but the games themselves
physically" Is what needs to be figured out. If the FBI sold them,
or SNKP did there *is* going to be record of it. :cool:
 
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tsukaesugi

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Fantastic work Shito.

OlderGames said:
I too believe NGF had a few of these, where they are
now "not in rom form like Xacrows, but the games themselves
physically" Is what needs to be figured out. If the FBI sold them,
or SNKP did there *is* going to be record of it. :cool:

IIRC Warlocks of the Fates was on the list of seized games from the police raid on NGF, so it must have existed in a released form (whether it was 100% finshed and playable is still a mystery).
 

Shito

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Right Tsuka, Warlock of Fates was on that list. Not only that, I think that's the only 'proto' game NGF actually produced an insert for. My assumption is that was the only proto game they were able to replicate. Same goes with 'Irritating Maze Joystick Version'... but no way we can know if that was an actual proto or a 'simple' hackjob in the program rom.
 

OlderGames

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Shito said:
Right Tsuka, Warlock of Fates was on that list. Not only that, I think that's the only 'proto' game NGF actually produced an insert for. My assumption is that was the only proto game they were able to replicate. Same goes with 'Irritating Maze Joystick Version'... but no way we can know if that was an actual proto or a 'simple' hackjob in the program rom.

Now this is getting good...
Question is did they have any they sold prior "which they
said they did and subsequently sold to an un-named collector"
or was that all they had. If that was all they had then the question
is who has it now: FBI or SNKP... if it's the FBI and held in their
massive "evidence" stockpiles then there is a very good
reason to believe that they will be sold as siezed property
after a certain number of years have passed since the
case. If the F.B.I. has it then it might be auctioned in about
3-5 years give or take. If SNKP has it then we might be
in luck.

As a side note: There is some very good news in all of
this. I actually have real experience in buying assets
post-bankruptcy. I was in negotiations with a lawyer
for some time over snagging up the entire remnants
and rights to Absolute Entertainment a couple
years back but things fell through. The moral of
the story is the UR's may have been written off
and if they were just like the protos: they went
up for sale. The actual lawyer in charge of the
bankruptcy is who we need to find. We are still
in a 7 year window since the original closure
and he may have the rights to those protos
set aside along with possible copies of the
games still up for sale.

Keep in mind Playmore purchased the obvious
franchises, although that does not necessarily
mean they purchased the rights and assets
specifically to games like Warlocks Of The Fates
which may still be out there and buyable.

Read this over and think about it guys!
I'm willing to lend my hand in finding them
but we need more info for certain to even
know where to find the rights which
would lead to the games themselves.

p.s.- There is no such thing as a 1 of
a kind prototype. There is such a thing
as 1 copy floating around, but never
just one in existance. Companies
make handfuls and dozens so there
are going to be copies if the games
ever existed.

I like where this is going... If anything
it gives the community another avenue
to consider looking into. :D

p.s.2.- Tempest, I know you know what I'm
thinking... what are your thoughts, do you think
there are more? As someone with extensive
experience in protos yourself I'd like your
take on all of this. :cool:
 
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Shito

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As reported in the list, I've also confirmation of a single proto-to-aes conversion made in Singapore for Brikinger. The proto was shown and acquired in a local game fair. Not reproduced. One proto, one conversion. More protos of that titles are floating around for sure.

As for the FBI case, well, who know, it's not FBI officer actually went and try the cart to see the game running, don't you think? I guess the matetial was listed just by the title cover. Still, chances are NGF tWotF reproductions do exist.
 

lithy

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That Brikinger home cart was real?

So my main question since we're now noticing that there are way more protos or announced titles than there are empty NGH slots, at what point does a game get assigned an NGH number? Surely its not just because ADK wanted to make a game they would assign a number. They'd have to get to a certian point in development. So its almost like the only way to fill the slots is to find a proto and confirm the #.
 

Shito

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I would really like to call for both Billy Pitt and Xacrow (though Razoola?) entry and contibution in this thread.

This is supposed to stay drama-free as much as possible. :)
 

RAINBOW PONY

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Well one theory can be that there was an assigned Number for a Game, but during this production process the company decided they will not market the game, and thus abandoned the game entirely.

When they started work on a new game, they re-assigned the NGH Number to the new game, because they won't be releasing the Abandoned one anyway.

This way any Proto could existentially be an already active Game's NGH Number, because the 1st game that was assigned the number was stopped, and the 2nd one that would be eventually released took that number....

What do you think?
 

Shito

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DARK ANDY said:
Well one theory can be that there was an assigned Number for a Game, but during this production process the company decided they will not market the game, and thus abandoned the game entirely.

When they started work on a new game, they re-assigned the NGH Number to the new game, because they won't be releasing the Abandoned one anyway.

This way any Proto could existentially be an already active Game's NGH Number, because the 1st game that was assigned the number was stopped, and the 2nd one that would be eventually released took that number....

What do you think?

I was actually thinking something like that.

ALso, if you notice, Breakers prototype (SHIKAGO) is way to hold for having been assigned the NGH we all know as Breaker's... don't you think?

Maybe the NGH assignation is not that stoned in the producing process of a NeoGame, who knows.
 

OlderGames

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Shito said:
I would really like to call for both Billy Pitt and Xacrow (though Razoola?) entry and contibution in this thread.

This is supposed to stay drama-free as much as possible. :)

I agree. My only problems as stated previously we're
Pitts claiming recognition for things he didn't do and
Xacrows very obvious ploy to play with the NG community
both which are very big NO NO's in my book.

If lets say Mr. Pitt came in and volunteers to help with
the idea that the found games are to be released upon
obtaining them I'm willing to forget and work on it.

This is some really good news... I must say I'm feeling
a bit retarded since I should have realized the paper
trail on these immediately.... I mean it's only my JOB
to know these things. :rolleyes:
 

Shito

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Well, I'm the kind of man who always tries to get other people's popint of view.

Clarely, Billy try to deal with protos in the way he thinks he can aquire the highest number of them. So, basically, while his OK with sharing informations with the community, possibly he want some titles to remain 'exclusive' mosty for trading purpose.

Fact is some proto owners are not part of the 'so-called' NeoCommunity. Larry Bassin and the Fun Fun Brothers case is a clear example.

Xacrow may just be another one. Not because you care something, you're elegible to obtain/claim for that thing. And this is the case. All in all, Xacrow has released nice shots of proto games for us all to see. And he owed NOTHING to us.

It's natural each one basically acts for his own sake. NeoGeo is a luxory hobby after all. It's not you can claim any 'natural right' as for basic life needs. ;)

I just try to stay positive and educate. I really would like to see those protos avalaible. ROM release or BOOT burned, just the same for me. And my money are always where my is of course. :)
 

OlderGames

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DARK ANDY said:
When they started work on a new game, they re-assigned the NGH Number to the new game, because they won't be releasing the Abandoned one anyway.

It makes perfect sense. It also means that numbers changed and
the diff. versions may have diff numbers or may be stripped of
them alltogether.

On another note you can forget having Xacrow state where
he got his since he is obviously unwilling to provide any
real detail on his carts/roms/whatever... being this is the
case one must naturally assume that he purchased them
from the raid leavings.

Going on that aspect is is also a good thing to consider
the entities present @ the original SNK bankruptcy liquidation...
We know for a fact that the "DUO" were there and possibly
purchased a few of said protos during this time, what isn't
clear however is who else was.

Any rumors on who may have shopped @ corporate
around this time beyond what is already known?

Also the Birikinger proto in the swap meet / market thing if
that is what you meant "becuase I don't understand the
asian definition of markets" could possibly mean some was
thrown away, unsold, salvaged and possibly given away
or put up for trift "which is where a lot of swap people
get their items". This means that there can be a
plethora of consoles, and protos that SNK dumped
out which they were unable to sell.

All of these are extremely good leads and at least
following one of them to the source can lead to
finding the actual games themselves.

Question is if we have any asia-based members
who can take a peek into some of these from
that corner of the world?
 

Shito

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Something I would like to bring to your attention is: we don't really know if Xacrow ownz any phisical proto. What we know for sure is he ppossibly owns the ROMS. As far as we know, he could have obtained those through some asian/Japanese contact in the emulation field/circle.

Fact is Asian Neo Fanbase is quite silent and unknow to the wester audience.

I know for sure Japanese fans produces since years 'modded version' of main carts, swapping hacked eproms to standard roms, to obtain boss-enabled versions of fighting games, and such, just working on regulard NeoGeo unit.

That's just an example, but you got the figure I guess.

Japanese BBS are extremely active, but as pic posting is generally forbidden, those seems pretty anonymous to us.
 

Tempest

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OlderGames said:
p.s.- There is no such thing as a 1 of
a kind prototype. There is such a thing
as 1 copy floating around, but never
just one in existance. Companies
make handfuls and dozens so there
are going to be copies if the games
ever existed.

Yes that is generally true. Although I have one or two true 'one of a kinds'. I know because the programmers told me they were. However I believe anything you're going to find for the Neo Geo isnt going to be a WIP copy (although I believe one WIP prototype "Pair Pair Wars" has been found), but rather a magazine review copy or a loc test copy. This would mean that most Neo Geo protos have multiple copies out there, and the odds of finding another are good.

p.s.2.- Tempest, I know you know what I'm
thinking... what are your thoughts, do you think
there are more? As someone with extensive
experience in protos yourself I'd like your
take on all of this. :cool:

Well I don't know anything about the whole buying of siezed protos things, nothing like that has ever happened in the Atari realm.

As for the part numbers, its a bit strange. Sometimes Atari would assign a part number to a game that never got past the concept stage while other times they never assigned a part number to a completed game. I really have no answer as to when something got assigned a part number, usually it was when it was something special like an arcade port. Original games and programmers pet projects usually didint get a number until they were well underway.

Of course most of this doesnt apply to Neo Geo protos. Although it is concevable that they either didnt assign them part numbers (especially if they were 3rd party games) or they reassigned the number.

This is all very interesting...

Tempest
 

Shito

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As for protos being trashed, that's very possible.

IE I saw a Pochi to Nyaa proto once, months before the much-delayed release of the games. It had been brought by some SNKP employee to a Rome Game Expo, and was just dispayed on a casual machine of a casual operator. That was because SNKP reps had no their own stand, they were just guest.

Once the expo closed its door, the cart stayed with the 'causal operator' above. I tracked the cart and easily got a chance to buy it, the seller not even knowing nor realizing it was a proto or something. To him it was just a 'lame puzzle game'.

I didn't buy that, as the official release was coming. Guess the proto has been trashed by now. Same with SSZ and MS5 protos I saw, both incomplete version of the games.
 

OlderGames

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Tempest said:
Of course most of this doesnt apply to Neo Geo protos. Although it is concevable that they either didnt assign them part numbers (especially if they were 3rd party games) or they reassigned the number.

This is all very interesting...

Indeed. I forgot about the pet project aspect of Atari
protos... thats where you'd get a lot of the 1:1's. On the
NGH we are definately in a different Ballgame both in the
cost of production and level of production. On one hand
people would tend to think that SNK would do 1:1's
to test but as you and I would both know since SNK
was publisher for a lot of the games being developed
outside of SNK they would have likely done several
carts with several testing phases at a time.

It just seems more feasable. for example let's just
"hypotheically" say Monolith was making another
Mahjong game.... They would theorietically send
2 copies or more at a time to get burned onto
roms and sent back for testing, likely SNK kept
a recorded copy as-well. They'd have a situation
like 2 different board designs, or charachter
sprites etc... bc of the time it would task them
to test variations back then and see said results
on a cart this was likely a common production
technique.

If my hypothesis is correct then we are talking
about a LOT of loaners at the old SNK in addition
to any of the actual copies kept by the developers.

Finding out who was in charge of the sale is
probably going to give a very good start
to where these copies went.

As stated before I think we can also agree
that some met the garbage can. Although SNK
was selling most of it's assets off, just like any
company it likely had some older prototypes
it saw as worthless to someone purchasing
assets like a retailer who wouldn't sell dev
production carts, or a business who wouldn't
be interested in abandoned projects from
years back.

Imagine how hard it must be for Trip Hawkins
to sell off a game asset like 4 horsemen after
the demise of 3DO to another developer then
imagine if you will SNK trying to do the same
thing but, unlike 3DO's horsemen, the console
manufacturer, cart production plant and seller
of said game properties is one in the same.

This is why they were most likely stuck with
a lot of "in their eyes" useless prototypes.
When the duo went to their corp it is obvious
they did a bit of shopping. What isn't as
obvious is who else went, what they bought,
what was left or thrown out and/or whether
or not the duo's story of what they got is
actually all there was, what they actually
bought or mostly outright lies hidden beneath
some small truth to their stories.

Anyone?
 

kuk

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Hello

Good work
Do you know if some of these proto were for Neo Geo Cd too (or only for)?
 

super-saiya-jin

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kuk said:
Hello

Good work
Do you know if some of these proto were for Neo Geo Cd too (or only for)?
Its quite possible because the earlier neo geo carts had a low MEG count, thus making it easier to "transplant" the roms onto the cd
 

TonK

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bump for the most interesting post this year... more please
 

Howdoin

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TonK said:
bump for the most interesting post this year... more please

Sorry for not bringing much to the table but just as Tonk said : props to one of the most interesting thread in recent month.

Is this the rebirth of ng.com?
 

OlderGames

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If any of our Asian-Based members want to look into this
I'd be more than happy to tell them where they need
to go. There must be some equivalent of a city / province
record hall where the details of the original SNK bankruptcy
can be reviewed "including the sale of assets".

I'm sure this is public information, but we actually need
someone to go and look this up. Any takers? There is
about a 50% chance that the info documented about
it will lead to finding unreleased prototypes and
development assets of the former SNK...
 

Mouse_Master

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OK,

NGH137 - OOKIKU FUKURAMASETE GAPPORIN - VIDEO SYSTEM
[puzzle game]
*1997/09 AM SHOW
*GAPPORIN tentative/prototype title

I 'think' that is Pop 'N Bounce.........

NGH???? - FIGHTING VOLLEY (tentative name) - VIDEO SYSTEM
[volleyball game]
*Power Spike II sequel or alternative name?

NGH???? - ALL STARS VOLLEY (tentative name) - MAHOU
[volleyball game]
*Tentative title for some other title?

NGH068 - SUPER VOLLEY '94 - VIDEO SYSTEM
[prototype title o Power Spike II - volleyball game]
*1994/04 Gamest ad.
*Emu screenshot avalabile

Probably all the same game. There have been Super Volley '94 MVS carts for sale on Ebay, and I bet the game code for Power Spikes II has that title in it, like the Zupapa release has the new SNK title besides the original Face title. Someone can check I am sure, or we could bug Jeff maybe.

NGH???? - PUZZLEKKO CLUB - VISCO
[puzzle game]
*1994/09 Presentation AM SHOW

Possible early version of Puzzle de Pon! ??

NGH???? - CARIBE NO ZAIHOU - FACE
[dropping-type puzzle game]
*1994/09 Presentation @ AM SHOW + magazine coverage

Gururin?

NGH???? - MASEKI TAISEN STOON - I'MAX
[dropping-type puzzle game]
*1995/09 Presentation @ AM SHOW

NGH???? - MAHOU JUKU ~MAGIC MASTER~ - SAURUS/TAKUMI
[puzzle game]
*1997/01 Location Test @ Ikebukuro GiGO

No clue on these, a wild guess for the Saurus title would be 'The Irratating Maze' but I doubt it.

NGH???? - ULTIMATE 4 (aka KING OF ATHLETE) - FACE
[16 variety minigames of loading-action]
*1995 coverage on NeoGeoFreak magazine issue2 ('King of Athele' title)
*"King of Athlete" is the tentative title

There must be a goldmine of FACE Neo Geo 'stuff' somewhere......

NGH110? - KARATE NINJA SHOU - YUMEKOBO
[action game]
*1997/07 Location Test @ Chuujun Tonai
*screenshots avalaible

I have always thought this was just Ganryu for some reason......

NGH158? - DANCE RYTHM MIX - ADK
[Bemani-style rythm game]
*2004 Location Test in Japan

I am quite surprised this was never released, unless it was really bad. Much cheaper for an op to buy the $1k MVS cart than the $10k DDR machine. Although, controls.....

As far as games seized from NGF, that was done by the US Marshal Service, and not the FBI. All prototypes would/should have been returned to them because they were not infridging product, and were not covered under the warrant. The court order covered only items of a bootleg nature, and there was no claim as to any sort of 'corporate espionage' in the warrant, which would have been required in order to keep the proto carts taken the first time.

I know items were returned to them, and I 'think' they got everything back, which was part of the settlement, but again, thats just gossip from the grapevine, or recall from the events that occurred. Any settlement they had is most likely confidential.

You must remember, the whole crackdown was infringement, and not anything to do with any prototype carts, to be honest, NGF could probably sell most prototypes legitimately, since their existance is a very grey area, and so is enforcement. The new law W signed could have an impact, but who would be the company to claim damage? All these games were licensed from a company that no longer exists (the original SNK)..... It is hard to say who got rights to what in the Japanese bankruptcy sales.
 
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