Is the Golden Axe 3 Asian version official?

[mrpj]

Thanks for the information Mista Ed, very informative. One thing though, to be selling these for £11 each including packaging and postage from Thailand, what kind of profit can this seller be making? Surely not much at all?

Christuserloeser, my point is, if you want to make a thread titled 'What's the best Golden Axe game?' then go ahead. Your first post is the kind of reply that would fit in perfectly there. But this particular thread is not the place for that discussion, I think that's obvious - read my original post, it's very clear. Two posts from you and neither have done anything to answer my question. Look at Mista Ed's response for a great example of what I was looking for.

[Wesker]

The Asian version is just the Japanese version with an "Asian version" sticker.

[Smii]

One thing though, to be selling these for £11 each including packaging and postage from Thailand, what kind of profit can this seller be making? Surely not much at all?

That's pretty much why I'm skeptical that they are repros. It seems like repros of that quality would require too much effort and expense. More likely that the game probably just didn't sell well in Thailand, and they bought up tons of old stock from somewhere. (The seller in Mista Ed's link has lots of brand new consoles and games for other formats too.)

Does anyone here have the Asian version, and an original Japanese version of Golden Axe III to compare? (Super Shinobi II, too?) :P

[mrpj]

(The seller in Mista Ed's link has lots of brand new consoles and games for other formats too.)

Just looked at his other games, some of them are even cheaper: Greendog for £6.50. The postage and eBay fees would take up most of that, if not all. Is that really a game worth making a reproduction of? I haven't played it but the reviews on this site are average and there doesn't seem to be much demand for it.

[64k]

graphics are alright...its okay for short blasts but nothing major.

Im selling mine for like £2 loose if you're in the uk.

[Mista_Ed]

Thanks for the information Mista Ed, very informative. One thing though, to be selling these for £11 each including packaging and postage from Thailand, what kind of profit can this seller be making? Surely not much at all?

true - 11 pounds is exceptionally cheap and there cant possibly be TOO much profit margin on that......

however - depending on how theyre actually getting things made would be the deciding factor in that....

(i have friends who work in print who can get things off for me at no cost at all!)

making an instruction booklet would literally cost pennies each if you did a few hundred or so....same for all the other printed parts.

if this is the case - its all about economies of scale AND undercutting other sellers.

11 pounds as a certainty could very easy be doubling your money, at least.

as i said previously, i cant say for certain that this is definitely a reproduction - although personally - i am totally convinced that it is.

also note - the link to the auction i posted:

NEW SEGA MEGA DRIVE SUPER SHINOBI 2 II BOXED MANUAL

NEW! Super Shinobi II

EVERYTHINGS ARE IN BRAND NEW and WORKING!!!

....etc

i think it literally is NEW.

anyway....

[64k]

im gonna get me one of those there reprint carts hyuk hyuk.

[Mista_Ed]

im gonna get me one of those there reprint carts hyuk hyuk.

you should! - youll see what im sayin first hand

[ruimtemuis]

I live in Japan and have a copy of both the Japanese version and the Asian version, and from what I can tell, they are absolutely identical except for the sticker. The weight is the same as well.


I have also bought Super Shinobi from this seller before, and it also seems to be exactly the same as the local japanese version which I have.


I very much doubt if these are fake, however I am not a specialist when it comes to printing.

[Mista_Ed]

ahaaaa.....maybe we can get the bottom of this then!!!

if you have two copies of this (one from the seller in question + another not) - could you please take the inside sleeve out from the box and check them against each other?

also have a good proper hands on feel of the paper - the thickness and feel should be the same spec

I have not come across ANY difference in the weight / quality / texture of any of the paper products within any of my originally bought imports, or otherwise

the only ones that are different are obvious bootlegs....and this copy of shinobi!!!

id be really interested to hear what you have to say about it if you have two independantly bought copies!!!

(crikey.....this thread has turned into some next-level paper/printing geekery....apologies )

[ruimtemuis]

Right, I will check them as you say. I also have a few other games from this seller which I can check against Japanese/European versions if you'd like, namely Super Shinobi II, Streets of Rage II, Mazin Saga, possibly one or two others which I can't remember at the moment.

[Mista_Ed]

yeh man - nice one!!

it could be as simple as the "asian" games had a different printing specification due to the part of the world in which it was made?

....to me, that seems somewhat unlikely....i cant see any big company doing that - - but its more than possible, especially when you bear in mind the differences in the actual cartridges themselves etc

do you have other asian games DEFINITELY NOT ORIGINATING from this seller?

THAT would be interesting to see how they fair against JAP / PAL versions....

I have also done some research - digital printing came into effect in the year of 1993, which conincides with super shinobi 2 release of the same year...

but yeh - if you dont mind checking and reporting back your findings... that would be cool yo!

thanks

[ruimtemuis]

I have checked them as you said, and I must say, they look and feel the same to me.

I also checked the Super Shinobi II which you also bought from this seller if I understood correctly? If it is a fake, it is indeed a very good one, as I can't actually tell which of my two copies I bought from this seller. I already had one which I bought here in Japan, and bought another thinking it might be different in some way, as asian versions usually are. I remember being disappointed when I received it as it was identical to the one I already had.


I haven't found my Mazin Saga yet, but I will look for it later. I remember finding this one quite strange, as the paper sleeve is the japanese version, but the instruction manual is european. I think the japanese just decided to use whatever left-over material they had lying around for sale on the asian market. This does convince me that this seller's games are real however, as this would be a very strange thing to do if one was making fakes. When one knows the japanese, it also makes sense that they would do something like this.


I do have two Asian copies of Shining Force, one from this seller, and one which I bought in Singapore a few years back (definitely not from this seller), which is badly used, but I could try and compare the two. Unfortunately I don't have a european Shining Force to compare them with.


The seller I am referring to is Getdomain, however I don't see Golden Axe III in any of his listings. Where is this Golden Axe III the original poster was talking about?

[Mista_Ed]

^ cheers dood

[mrpj]

Where is this Golden Axe III the original poster was talking about?

The Golden Axe 3 seller is called empire1974. He actually has 2 listings, both the same. Here's one of them:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Apparently this seller has sold hundreds of GA3 and Shining Force over the years.