Black + White UK Pocket Games

[jedipie]

Hey people - I'm confused - did these black + white games ever get released OFFICIALLY in the UK or not??

What was the point of releasing them if the colour versions were already available??

If they were released in the UK, how many were made??? Which shops sold them?? How much did they sell for in comparison to the standard colour games???

Until someone can answer all of these questions i will only believe that the 39 colour games were released and these black and white ones are imports (poss from Asia?)

Hope you guys can help!

Will

 

[jedipie]

Forgot to mention this link too - is this really UK OFFICIAL?!?

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1</a>

Cheers

 

[Plisken]

jedipie:
Forgot to mention this link too - is this really UK OFFICIAL?!?

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1</a>

Cheers

Yeah it is an official release, but not UK.
It's Asian, and they released 2 versions over there, one in english and one in japanese.

I have a Asian Soul Calibur 2 Xbox, and the manual is in both Full english and Japanese. Same for the Box and the Spine.

 

[bokmeow]

Plisken:

jedipie:
Forgot to mention this link too - is this really UK OFFICIAL?!?

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38598&item=3026455539&rd=1</a>

Cheers

Yeah it is an official release, but not UK.
It's Asian, and they released 2 versions over there, one in english and one in japanese.

I have a Asian Soul Calibur 2 Xbox, and the manual is in both Full english and Japanese. Same for the Box and the Spine.

How can you tell it's Asian and not UK?

 

[rudekid]

markiemark is a member on here ask him about the game

 

[cre$u$]

it's the honk kong version

 

[bokmeow]

Hong Kong used to be a commonwealth of UK, doesn't that make it the UK version?

 

[teren]

No.
They were released in jap version but for the nglish speaking people in asia needed an english version, that is why this is a HK version....

 

[teren]

The HK release of KOF r1 is not aht much rare !
12£50 is too high !

<small>[ May 27, 2003, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: teren ]</small>

 

[evil wasabi]

It now sells for a lot more than that, teren, your timing is a bit off...

 

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Well, the English versions could be bought in the US directly from SNK-USA. The same may have been true of SNK's European branches. I dunno if you wanna consider that "official distribution" or not.

In anay case, I certainly wouldn't call them "UK versions," but then I wouldn't call any of the Neo Poke releases "UK versions" since they were manufactured in Asia and distributed there and all over Europe as well as in the UK (this is after they quit doing the multi-language packaging). I would just all them "English versions" or something.

And the B&W games came out in the 1998 mostly, so they were out around a year before the Color was released.

Also, interesting is the fact that the English version of Neo Geo Cup B&W is different from the Japanese version. It's actually a B&W version of Neo Geo Cup '98 Plus, while the Japanese is minus the "Plus" and has some very slight variations.

I'm also still trying to confirm whether or not Puzzle Link B&W came out in English. If anyone can help with that...

 

[evil wasabi]

I thought about that...
Here's my theory.

Puzzle Tsunagete Pon (first of the series)
Puzzle Tsunagete Pon Color (second)
Puzzle Tsunagete Pon 2 (third)...

Whereas in the Europe/USA, the first one of the series is Puzzle Link, English version of Puzzle Tsunagete Pon Color...
Considering it's just called "Puzzle Link", and not "Puzzle Link COLOR", I guess the black and white version has no English counter part.

 

[mr.nippy]

Course they were UK! The Black & White Neo-Geo Pocket was heavily marketed in HMV in the UK. Well over a year before the NGPC. There were at least ten to twelve different titles available all of which were UK versions, mostly sports titles, but yes, Puzzle Link was UK amongst others, I was there when it was launched. They were all considered poor quality, and the staff at HMV would tell you that the "Color versions" would be out soon, so I suspect these UK versions may have been destroyed / recycled once the NGPC was on its way.

 

[c.t.h]

I have seen with my own eyes, a B&W UK puzzle link. It was on ebay a long long long time ago. But I distinctly remember that.

 

[evil wasabi]

Weird... Ok. o_o
I think they should have called the color version Puzzle Link Color though...

 

[c.t.h]

Yeah, the whole thing is very strange.

For example, wtf is this official KOFR1/Melon Chan demo cart I have? Where did IT come from? It even has a box and official insert!

Strange things went on at SNK, strange things indeed wink

 

[evil wasabi]

Hmm, although the box is all black and white, no ?The insert looks like a home made thing, like photocopied. o_o

 

[c.t.h]

Actually, it's blue ink, and it's official...just like other inserts.

 

[MarkieMark30]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the interest in KING OF FIGHTERS R1 for the NEO GEO POCKET. The snap lock box, cart, and Instructions are all in complete english therefore i put UK on my auction. This cartridge is also very very hard to come by and worth every penny to a collector.

 

[c.t.h]

Not really.

I am going to have 6 of them soon, they cost me like 8$ each.

Oh so rare.

 

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

c.t.h:
Yeah, the whole thing is very strange.

For example, wtf is this official KOFR1/Melon Chan demo cart I have? Where did IT come from? It even has a box and official insert!

Strange things went on at SNK, strange things indeed wink

It's a demo cart. SNK sent them out to shops to put in Neo Pocket machines as demonstrations for people to try out. Many of them have partial teasers or WIP games, but I think the Melon Chan and KoF:R-1 on that cart are both complete and no different from the released versions, right?

 

[c.t.h]

No...I've had quite a few demo carts, this is completely different.

It's a dual booting game - you turn it on, you're prompted w/ Melon chan or KOF r1. If you pick KOF you get a "demo" team of 3 players - melon chan is also demo mode.

So no, it's not like any demo cart I've seen before.

+ the label is different, and it has a box.

Wack.

 

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

So, the versions of the games on there are *DEMO* versions? How is that not like any *DEMO* cart you've ever seen before? Well, I guess some of the Neo Pocket demo carts have complete games, but most are demo versions just like you describe.

The reason its packaging is diferent is probably just because it was their first demo cart, they didn't have a pattern yet. And also, they probably wanted to show off the clamshell cases which are so much nicer than the plain cardboard boxes Gameboy games came in. Anyway, this is definitely a demo cart, it's listed as such on one of the Japanese Neo Pocket sites.

What's disabled in the demo version of Melon Chan, by the way?

<small>[ May 31, 2003, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Sweater Fish Deluxe ]</small>

 

[c.t.h]

Yes, of course it's a demo cart, just not a NORMAL demo cart - ie, a box w/ insert, and different sticker. Anyway, as for melon chan - I haven't checked, as I've never really played the game before, and wouldn't be able to detect any noticable differences.

I will scan the insert tommorow, (it's going to france soon) so we will have a record of it.