Talos 1 Share Posted August 2, 2020 Found another batch of obscure PC ports, this time from Konami: I recently saw an article on LostMediaWiki about a very obscure PC port of NBA Powerdunkers (Also known as NBA In the Zone in the West). The status is currently "lost". https://lostmediawiki.com/NBA_Powerdunkers_(lost_PC_port_of_PlayStation_sports_game;_1997) What is interesting is that, one of the sources listed in the article includes info on all kinds of PC releases that saw a light of day in Japan, but are now very obscure. https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/970131/mitei.htm Another very obscure port is Vandal Hearts, a tactical RPG similar to Fire Emblem, initially released in 1996 for the PlayStation. Apparently, the game received a PC port in 1998, developed by Konami Computer Games Aoyama, a one-time studio with an objective to port PlayStation titles to the PCs. It was released in Japan, South Korea and China (I don't know if it means Mainland China or Taiwan, as I found out that there is a Chinese localization). I still do not know if the studio ever had an official website. I am still searching for any kind of link that can prove the existence of that studio. Here are some pictures of the box from a Japanese auction site: https://www.mercari.com/jp/items/m87106641459/ And some gameplay footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RnUAP7u8Sw Also, here is another RPG: Suikoden, also known in Japan as Genso Suikoden, a JRPG loosely based on the famous Chinese novel Water Margin. Initially released in 1995, the game received a PC port in both Japan (in 1998) and South Korea. I do not know if the game received a Chinese localization. (EDIT: It did! And in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese) Gameplay footage (Japanese): https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3931174 Korean version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf4pYXPdcEA EDIT: Traditional Chinese version footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50UClHS8DKo Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 5, 2020 Here's a look at Civilization 4 in Japanese. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM4-vE1aTJU Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrpenguinb 4 Share Posted August 6, 2020 A relatively rare/obscure game called LIVE WIRE! had a PC port, but the PC release is near non-existent physically (from what I know). I have a physical copy of the game, scanned the jewel case art, imaged the discs and uploaded it to Archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/LiveWire_201903 Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 6, 2020 How quirky. LIVEWIRE! is new to me. Poking around, there are lots more nifty Japanese releases. Some might have just a translated manual. Star Wars is known to be fairly popular in Japan so I'm not counting it right now. Rome Total War: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d284637839 Spider-Man The Movie: https://item.fril.jp/b3ef0a75827263aaee20519dd0de76a8 Spider-Man (Neversoft): https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t711503167 Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi master89 12 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 Livewire is such a delightfully 90's looking game, I love it. Thank you for sharing it. mrpenguinb 1 Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 8, 2020 I've spotted signs of a Bioshock Japanese release. No pictures of the contents unfortunately. https://www.amazon.co.jp/イーフロンティア-バイオショック-日本語版/dp/B001AG0RTW It would seem, however, that the original Bioshock 2 needs a translation patch. http://anabebelive.blog.jp/archives/52563184.html To go way back, how about System Shock? Pretty cool sight. Except I'm not familiar with the details of how DOS/V differs from standard MS-DOS. https://bcc.hatenablog.com/entry/20130113/p1 Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi master89 12 Author Share Posted August 9, 2020 There was a China-only PC version of Ys - Memories of Celceta, which was released back in 2015. According to XSEED, the 2018 worldwide PC release has little in common with the Chinese original, anyone know what they could be? Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 9, 2020 11 minutes ago, Luigi master89 said: There was a China-only PC version of Ys - Memories of Celceta, which was released back in 2015. According to XSEED, the 2018 worldwide PC release has little in common with the Chinese original, anyone know what they could be? I haven't turned up differences, but it looks like a bunch of trinkets were available. https://www.gamersky.com/news/201510/677153.shtml Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi master89 12 Author Share Posted August 9, 2020 I can't seem to find it anymore, but I remember there being news of a China and Korea only PC version of Trails of Cold Steel 4, and was announced months before the worldwide PC version. I wonder if they will also be two separate games or if they are the same. Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Several Falcom games have localizations not on PC. Such as the European languages in console ports of Ys 6 and Ys Origin. Or the Chinese and Korean console versions of Ys 8. The Trails of Cold Steel arc is supposed to be getting China and Korea PC versions, er, eventually. https://www.cloudedleopardent.com/en/home-3/ Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icup321 5 Share Posted August 9, 2020 There's a rare/missing PC version of a game called Frogger: Ancient Shadow which is now considered lost media because the way it was distributed is, weird and complicated, to say the least. Basically, it was sold as a bundle on a USB game controller called the Konami Live! Online Game Controller in retail stores which downloaded the game from Konami's online servers after plugging in the controller to a PC. The servers were shut down sometime in 2012 and the game's assets haven't resurfaced as of now. I wrote a PCGW page for this game to spread the word and hopefully for someone who owned it to read it and to preserve the game's assets from an existing installation: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Frogger:_Ancient_Shadow Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 9, 2020 The other version of that USB game controller had arcade classics. http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/gethwinfo.php?ID=U-016-H-00280-A I wouldn't try to understand what was going on with Frogger. The series went in strange directions, most would rather forget the awkwardness of Frogger: The Great Quest. Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icup321 5 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Good news, the lost PC version of Frogger: Ancient Shadow has been found, the assets have been released as well! However, it's currently at an unplayable state due to the game using multiple layers of DRM, in fact, the game itself might not even be fully playable because there is a high chance some of the assets are missing due to the game needing a constant internet connection to stream/download the game's assets. We might be able to make the game fully playable if we were to strip the game of its DRM and port over whatever assets are missing from the console versions. For now we at least have the base PC version archived, all we need are talented reverse-engineers interested enough to get this game fully playable again. mrpenguinb 1 Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theclaw135 4 Share Posted August 19, 2020 The Korean release of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd (third chapter) needs investigating. I'm getting the feeling it was digitally distributed by an obscure, possibly defunct company. http://blog.daum.net/fidusachates/7323440 The domain name "aruon.com" is no longer valid and redirects to a reseller. Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi master89 12 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 That's unbelievable, that frogger game has been found? Interesting that someone still had the data lying around! Reply (Quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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