Planet Virtual Boy

Well....where to start

Merry Christmas everyone

It's close enough to Christmas..for me to announce something special.

I have acquired faceball, I have the ROM of the game. And I'm planning to release it for free.

That is the short story...now for the longer story and why I'm not releasing it with this posting.


I've been trying to acquire faceball for awhile now. Everyone talks about Dragon Hopper, but faceball is a ray-casting 3-d first person 'shooter' game. And, I've been wanting to play this game for years. I've wanted EVERYONE to play the game for years.

I talked to a guy that had the game..and he named a price. The price was ..let's just say..I was forced to taste what I ate that morning.

I didn't want to get a 2nd mortgage..I love my wife..and I want her to continue to love me. So, I explored my options. I talked to a very good friend of mine..Ben Stevens. And we came up with a deal. Ben would get the capital for the game, and in return..would receive the bulk of my virtual boy collection.

We sold all doubles (special thanx to foil lone wolf) to help with the financial hit. We received the game and with the help of mindstorm extracted the working rom from the game.


So, what now ? A copy of the rom is in safe hands..multiple hands. It will not be lost again and it will be released for free.

BUT.....

I know I will not get back the money from losing my collection. I did it for the community and I knew I would take a big loss. However, I would like to make some of the money back.

To do this, we plan to release the game in cart form first. The details are vague atm. With mindstorm and Tusk's help, we are planning to release the game in Feb. Morintari (a great 3-d artist) has joined the team on this game to make the artwork. Ben is making the instruction manual. We are planning to make this a very special release. One that's way overdue.

As for pricing..it will be more expensive then boundhigh. We are looking at 100 dollars per cart..but that's subject to change. We are also planning on releasing a 2nd cart.. A donators edition that will be very limited and numbered with different artwork and other specials included. All of this is subject to change..

This isn't a post to pre-order..or anything. After the carts are sold (or it looks like no more will sell hehe). I will be releasing the rom for free. If you can't afford the carts..just wait..you will be able to play the game :).

I'm sure there is more I was going to post..but it escapes me atm :). Have a good holiday guys...smile..and enjoy life.

-Eric (Bigmak)

I must own this cart but I do not want a box and manual, just the cart. $60?

After reading this I'm truly sppechless,and excited. This really is a great and generous thing for you to be doing and it really gos to show how great the VB community is.

I remember the days when the thought of Bound High getting dumped seemed impossible, and now a ROM of the long lost Faceball is preserved. We've really came a long way.

Merry Christmas, and thanks for doing this.

Wow what a great Christmas present!

BigMak your the big daddy! This is great thing your doing and the same goes to you other guys. Thanks very much, it is very much appreciated.

Put me down for a complete set. :)

What a fantastic news!! . Eric ,if you need donations to release the game please send me your paypal account.I'll try to sell all my doubles too. Merry Christmas !!

It is just great to see that all of these games finally make their way out of private collections to the surface for everyone to play.

I already told Eric that I will buy the complete set, not so much because I want this game so badly, but because I appreciate what he does for the community.

Now lets find that guy who owns Dragon Hopper!

That's fantastic news and a great Christmas present!
Thank you very much Eric (and your team) for release this game!

Well first of all I think it's great that you've gotten your hands on Faceball, one of the lost Virtual Boy games!

Second, I feel bad for you that you had to give up most of your VB collection to get it...

Third, I think reselling it for 100 dollars a piece seems a little greedy... But on the other hand of course you want to recoup your own losses.. I think if it was me I would release it for free then ask for donations or something, but I guess I still understand your side.

Fourth, I won't buy it myself because it's expensive and I've played Faceball 2000 on Super Nintendo and it sucked, it's probably going to suck on Virtual Boy too.

Now Dragon Hopper is another story, if that turned up I think I would pay 100, 150 dollars to get ahold of that...

So now my final thoughts are, will Faceball ever be released as a rom? After you made your money back? And, why wasn't Bound High sold this way at first? Maybe that didn't cost as much to get, I don't know.

Hrms.. well. I said I was going to release the rom..so yes..it will be released.

I don't understand why getting donations to release it is 'not greedy', and selling the carts is 'greedy'. I guess I wanted people who donated to get it released to actually have a piece of the game, and the people who donate more to have a special edition of the game.

I mean jeez..i don't know what else to do. If someone wants to write me a check for 5 figues..I guess i can release the rom and never make the game.