Action 52 in 1 near mint condition

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08-12-2012, 03:16 PM
N.Saibot

4 Attachment(s)

Action 52 in 1 near mint condition

I've got Action 52 in 1 for the Mega Drive / Genesis. It is in a near perfect condition, with a clamshell box. The only thing preventing me from saying it's in perfect mint condition is the label of the cart, which is starting to peel off very slightly on the left and right upper corner. The rest is really as good as it gets.

I do not have a manual for the game.

I tested the game on a modded Mega Drive with region set to NTSC-US. It worked and no problems were noticed (other than the games being shitty).

Here are some pictures. One was taken with a lightflash and has more detail, the other was taken in fading sunlight this evening, just to show there is no mark or damage at the upper left corner of the box, obscured by the lightflash on the first pic.

Attachment 5273

Attachment 5274

Attachment 5278

Attachment 5279

As you can see, the game is called Super 52 in 1 on the front cover, however there is an Action 52 in 1 logo on the side of the box.

Edit: After receiving no offers at all, the game has been put up on ebay. The link to the auction can be found at post #15

I can ship to worldwide from Germany, as long as you pay the shipment.
08-12-2012, 04:47 PM
goldenband

Not trying to threadcrap here, but: I'm pretty sure this is actually a bootleg version of Action 52, possibly made by Supervision. I own the original version of Action 52, and it uses a non-standard cart shell somewhat similar to an Accolade cart -- it looks like the cart being held in the Cheetahman's claw.

Here are a couple threads on NA that discuss the "Super 52-in-1" release:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=61105

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=70380

A few of our posters who are well-versed in pirate games, e.g. Azathoth, would probably know more.
08-12-2012, 05:42 PM
N.Saibot

Damn, I tried to research if my copy is somehow non-legit. Didn't find any information about it though, just pictures and descriptions, no price range.

[Edit:] Price update.
08-12-2012, 05:47 PM
Moirai

why anybody would a bootleg version of action 52 is beyond me... Still, that is a very interesting oddity of a cart. It's probably pretty rare too.
08-12-2012, 05:50 PM
N.Saibot

I didn't find it on ebay, just the real Action 52 carts. As usual, ebayers were being greedy and let the game start at $70-80 just for the cart.

Maybe this version is so rare, it's even MORE expensive than the real Action 52 ; )

[Edit]: Also, I can imagine a few reasons for bootleging it. The original doesn't come in a clamshell and might be not PAL compatible. This version is.
08-13-2012, 02:52 AM
N.Saibot

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldenband

Not trying to threadcrap here, but: I'm pretty sure this is actually a bootleg version of Action 52, possibly made by Supervision. I own the original version of Action 52, and it uses a non-standard cart shell somewhat similar to an Accolade cart -- it looks like the cart being held in the Cheetahman's claw.

Here are a couple threads on NA that discuss the "Super 52-in-1" release:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=61105

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=70380

A few of our posters who are well-versed in pirate games, e.g. Azathoth, would probably know more.

I've looked into the links provided in the first nintendoage thread and the guy (spoonman) is wrong, what he thinks about is some other multicart. What I have matches up with an Action 52 ROM for the Genesis. I've also gone through the trouble of testing almost all of the games and watching videos on youtube about it, etc. It's all the same.
08-13-2012, 04:14 AM
goldenband

1 Attachment(s)

I'm sure the games on the cart are the same, but I still think your copy is a pirate. For one, I don't think there was ever an "official" release of Action 52 outside the US -- it made a huge point of emphasizing "Made in the USA!" -- and the original release came with a fairly thick manual.

The Spoonman post is a red herring -- don't pay that one any mind; there are other posters who have the right idea.

What does the back of your box look like? Is there Chinese writing, like this?

Attachment 5277
08-13-2012, 04:24 AM
N.Saibot

Well yes, my copy is a pirate. Then again, what is the original Action 52? It is not licensed and doesn't use the official cart mold either. It's also a kind of pirate.

The link you posted doesn't work. I'm pretty sure there is no chinese writing on the back though. I will make another picture when I come home today.
08-13-2012, 04:57 AM
goldenband

Sorry about the broken link, just fixed it.
08-13-2012, 02:02 PM
N.Saibot

Actually, yes, that is how it looks like. My copy has more color though and on the side there is the Action 52 logo.
08-14-2012, 03:04 AM
N.Saibot

Now the rarity and value of this copy were clarified and I've made a price update in the first post.
08-19-2012, 03:06 PM
N.Saibot

It's already been a week and there still are no offers whatsoever, which is a surprise for me. Does the fact that this copy is a chinese one make it so much less intersting?

I'd like some feedback about how interesting people think this particular copy is. Because if there is only interest in the NTSC first-release Action 52 here, I'll just put it up on ebay, end of story. I thought I'm doing a favor to collectors here by opening this thread, but as it seems, no one is interested?
08-19-2012, 03:43 PM
Black_Tiger

Quote:

Originally Posted by N.Saibot

Well yes, my copy is a pirate. Then again, what is the original Action 52? It is not licensed and doesn't use the official cart mold either. It's also a kind of pirate.

It's the exact same as Pier Solar. People don't consider it kind of pirate and bootlegs of it wouldn't be sought after unless they were like $5 - $10. But even then, the market would only consist of people who actually buy pirate carts (not everyone) and those who would don't care about working over WaterMelon.
08-19-2012, 05:49 PM
N.Saibot

Pier Solar was not licensed by Sega, because Sega allowed them to do everything they wanted, as long as they are not mentioned. Any kind of licensing was declined. They discontinued the Mega Drive for a loong time already...

Action 52 wasn't licensed either, but afaik it came out while the Mega Drive was still supported. To me that means there is not much difference between that "original" Action 52 cart and the copy that I have.

Oh well, if it's not that interesting, I'll just put it up on ebay.
12-06-2012, 03:04 PM
N.Saibot

In case someone is actually interested, I'll pull a necromancer and resurrect this thread, by posting a link of my ebay auction. It took me longer than expected to get around to this, but now it's here on German ebay.
The shipment costs of 2 EUR are of course just meant for local buyers. I'll ship to wherever, but the cost will differ.
12-06-2012, 04:03 PM
MrSega

"Quality Mediocrity". That's Action 52 Mega Drive for you.

I really don't think its worth 30 Euros. Isn't that like $60?
12-07-2012, 04:40 AM
N.Saibot

No way are 30 EUR worth $60. It's more like $35 - $38.

Of course, the games are uninteresting. It's a collectors item, that's where the price comes from.

In the 90s there were a lot of chinese carts for the Famicom and it's clones, called 999 in 1 or 9999 in 1 or even 100...000 in 1. These games consisted of 4 - 6 original games, not that bad, but usually not the best ones. Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Clay Hunt, Tetris, Galaxian were the most prominent examples. I think the best game to be found on such carts was the first Contra. The number of games advertised was achieved by hacking the first few games to start from a different level or with a different color palette. Super Mario Bros. was hacked to start from within locked levels, that were too buggy or unfinished. So in the end you had the advertised number of menu entries, but still just 4 - 6 games for real.

Such compilations were quite popular, but obviously people felt cheated. Action 52 in 1 was an attempt to give the people what they wanted, without such tricks. 52 unrelated, original games, for real. Developed from the ground up, just for Action 52, so that no copyrights are infringed and in theory such a compilation would be licenseable. Too bad all the games turned out to be really primitive if not just bad.

I am not sure why Action 52 wasn't licensed by Nintendo, I can imagine no game was able to pass their quality control. Same compilation came out for the Mega Drive too, unlicensed as the original. It's whole worth is just the story behind it, the unbelievable background of x in 1 hacks for Famiclones that led to the idea 52 short action titles would make sense and spark buyers' interest.

And Cheetahmen are cool. In a cheesy, B-movie type of way.
12-07-2012, 06:29 PM
MrSega

Quote:

Originally Posted by N.Saibot

No way are 30 EUR worth $60. It's more like $35 - $38.

Of course, the games are uninteresting. It's a collectors item, that's where the price comes from.

In the 90s there were a lot of chinese carts for the Famicom and it's clones, called 999 in 1 or 9999 in 1 or even 100...000 in 1. These games consisted of 4 - 6 original games, not that bad, but usually not the best ones. Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Clay Hunt, Tetris, Galaxian were the most prominent examples. I think the best game to be found on such carts was the first Contra. The number of games advertised was achieved by hacking the first few games to start from a different level or with a different color palette. Super Mario Bros. was hacked to start from within locked levels, that were too buggy or unfinished. So in the end you had the advertised number of menu entries, but still just 4 - 6 games for real.

Such compilations were quite popular, but obviously people felt cheated. Action 52 in 1 was an attempt to give the people what they wanted, without such tricks. 52 unrelated, original games, for real. Developed from the ground up, just for Action 52, so that no copyrights are infringed and in theory such a compilation would be licenseable. Too bad all the games turned out to be really primitive if not just bad.

I am not sure why Action 52 wasn't licensed by Nintendo, I can imagine no game was able to pass their quality control. Same compilation came out for the Mega Drive too, unlicensed as the original. It's whole worth is just the story behind it, the unbelievable background of x in 1 hacks for Famiclones that led to the idea 52 short action titles would make sense and spark buyers' interest.

And Cheetahmen are cool. In a cheesy, B-movie type of way.

To be fair, Action 52 on NES was a abysmal quality product. None of the games were tested, 2 of them didn't work, the rest of them were just plain horrid and only 72 hours of development when into it.

The SEGA version is okay. It's passable but still a poor quality product.
12-08-2012, 04:42 AM
N.Saibot

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSega

To be fair, Action 52 on NES was a abysmal quality product. None of the games were tested, 2 of them didn't work, the rest of them were just plain horrid and only 72 hours of development when into it.

The SEGA version is okay. It's passable but still a poor quality product.

That's unimportant with things like that. The value of this cart comes from it's history, not the quality of the games. I hope no one actually thinks this compilation is a good deal, because they are getting 52 genuine interesting games :D
12-08-2012, 01:12 PM
Crazy Climber

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSega

To be fair, Action 52 on NES was a abysmal quality product. None of the games were tested, 2 of them didn't work, the rest of them were just plain horrid and only 72 hours of development when into it.

The SEGA version is okay. It's passable but still a poor quality product.

Woah, thats impressive it was devoloped in 72 hours, yeah, it's shitty but damn, only 72 hours? I'm impressed.
12-08-2012, 05:49 PM
MrSega

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Climber

Woah, thats impressive it was devoloped in 72 hours, yeah, it's shitty but damn, only 72 hours? I'm impressed.

3 Days on an Atari ST by 3 college tech students and a guy known for selling pirated NES carts.

It was developed inside an office in Miami in June of 1991. Raul Gomila wrote down each idea for each game which he concepted in less than 12 weeks and Mario Gonzalez coded and programmed each game.(Gomila is fillipino and couldn't spell very well.)Gomila hired Cronos Engineering,Inc a mom-and-pop software brand based in Boca Raton,FL for contracting,funding and branding of the game. "Cheetahman's" likeness,comic book,design,idea were all Vince Perri's and his alone.

Albert Hernandez and Javier Perez were the actual designers. They were both 19 year old Miami University students that had no experience in designing games and knew little about computer programming.

Since AE, wasn't licensed with Nintendo, they couldn't get ahold of an MSX or Apple IIGS which were both used as NES development kits. So they used a trashy,low powered, low memory Atari ST. Most of the music was stolen from the the ST game "The Music Studio"Attachment 5816 and plagiarized a sample from Rob Base and EZ-Rock's 1988 smash "It Takes Two".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf_LizgLvT0

The reason why the games were so bad is because they were designed in just 3 days. Programming,designing,coding was all rushed. No testing,debuging was conducted and Perri was more hellbent on getting the product out by September and wasted no time slapping a $200 price on it.

They didn't care about the quality. They couldn't give a shit about the games. They just wanted the money.

The Genesis version was outsourced to Farsight Studios(makers of "Color a Dinosaur") and was developed during a 13 week period in late 1992. The reason why this version was better, because FarSight actually had experienced programmers,more development time and better development kits(A Macintosh LCIII Pizza Box was used for this version since SEGA used its own special development kit for Genesis called "Teradrive") and also AE finally had the games tested with pressure by FarSight before shipping it on May 11,1993.