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Rare/Obscure PC versions


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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

Capture.PNG

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