Gate Of Thunder Japanese Manual "Sample" Text On Last Page?

[ATTRACTS]

Just curious,
I received a copy of Gate of Thunder today from a Japanese seller and the last page of the manual has a big red "SAMPLE" stamp on it,
I know in music, "promo" cd's used to be given out (usually marked with a hole punch in the bar code)..is the same sort of thing? There are no other marks
on the casing or booklet/cd.

[BIL]

I'm not near my stuff at the moment, so I can't check my GOT... but that reminds me of the brand new Japanese copy of MDK (PS1) I recently got free with an order. Has a small "NOT FOR SALE" blurb on the cover art, that I can't see in scans online (it's part of the artwork itself, not a stamp or sticker). Would never suspect it was anything but a random NOS copy otherwise.

[MintyTheCat]

Just curious,
I received a copy of Gate of Thunder today from a Japanese seller and the last page of the manual has a big red "SAMPLE" stamp on it,
I know in music, "promo" cd's used to be given out (usually marked with a hole punch in the bar code)..is the same sort of thing? There are no other marks
on the casing or booklet/cd.

As I recall there is no "SAMPLE" on the manual at all. I will pull my GOT manual out later and take a photo for you.

I have received books and CDs over the years with that sort of thing on them. Less of an issue on a book but perhaps an issue on a game. You may have a rare pre-release version though.

[MintyTheCat]

I have put it here for you:

http://www.filedropper.com/gotman

[Skykid]

When I used to work in an import retail game store in the late 90s, we got a ton of stuff with similar stamps and labels. They're meant for reviewers. Sometimes the "sample" would be printed on the inner ring of the CD, especially on PS1 stuff. Think I still have a few games with these imprints. Klonoa and Mr Driller spring to mind. Apart from that they're identical to the retail version.

[MintyTheCat]

When I used to work in an import retail game store in the late 90s, we got a ton of stuff with similar stamps and labels. They're meant for reviewers. Sometimes the "sample" would be printed on the inner ring of the CD, especially on PS1 stuff. Think I still have a few games with these imprints. Klonoa and Mr Driller spring to mind. Apart from that they're identical to the retail version.

I can see why they had to do it to stop people making a quick buck but it is a bit unfortunate to deface an item. In those days though none of it was valuable and rare - that came later.

I was looking at my pile of stuff to sell off and found someone had written in Japanese in one of the copies of R-Type that I have for the PCE I thought about trying to remove it but to be honest I would most likely cause more damage.

Worse than all of this is the carts and pads you used to find with bite marks in them - some really rough kids I always treated my stuff with the up most of respect.

Did you work in London or Brighton, Skykid? I think I may know which shop you worked in. There was a really good one back in the 90s until the early 2000s in London and they had a chain around London, might have been CEX before they got rid of all the NeoGeo and PCE stuff.
Does anyone remember Raven Games?

[ATTRACTS]

When I used to work in an import retail game store in the late 90s, we got a ton of stuff with similar stamps and labels. They're meant for reviewers. Sometimes the "sample" would be printed on the inner ring of the CD, especially on PS1 stuff. Think I still have a few games with these imprints. Klonoa and Mr Driller spring to mind. Apart from that they're identical to the retail version.

Yeah, I was thinking it was either a promo copy or something for a review situation. I played through it last night to make sure the game was actually the full game and it was. Just a happy little oddity for the collection. Thanks everyone for the info

[Skykid]

When I used to work in an import retail game store in the late 90s, we got a ton of stuff with similar stamps and labels. They're meant for reviewers. Sometimes the "sample" would be printed on the inner ring of the CD, especially on PS1 stuff. Think I still have a few games with these imprints. Klonoa and Mr Driller spring to mind. Apart from that they're identical to the retail version.

I can see why they had to do it to stop people making a quick buck but it is a bit unfortunate to deface an item. In those days though none of it was valuable and rare - that came later.

I was looking at my pile of stuff to sell off and found someone had written in Japanese in one of the copies of R-Type that I have for the PCE I thought about trying to remove it but to be honest I would most likely cause more damage.

Worse than all of this is the carts and pads you used to find with bite marks in them - some really rough kids I always treated my stuff with the up most of respect.

Did you work in London or Brighton, Skykid? I think I may know which shop you worked in. There was a really good one back in the 90s until the early 2000s in London and they had a chain around London, might have been CEX before they got rid of all the NeoGeo and PCE stuff.
Does anyone remember Raven Games?

I was in CEX, Rathbone, London, during its glory years. Raven was started by an ex-CEX employee so we all knew it well.

Those games with sample imprints certainly weren't "defaced" - most were barely visible and neatly done, as is the Japanese way.

These days review copies are much worse, either being a loose disc with a yellow sign across it, sent in a thin jewel case as Sony did with the PS3, or a specially faded cover, as is Microsoft's style. Only Nintendo used to provide actual retail stuff.

[MintyTheCat]

Which was the CEX that had the downstairs with that display cabinet show casing the Super Grafx and all the PCE stuff?

I was last there in 2001 I think it was or 2002.

Times have most certainly changed in central London.

Raven I always found to be more expensive but not like Telegames

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've got a JPN PSX version of Dezaemon Kids! retail game disc along with the 102 user made Dezaemon Plus games on the 2nd disc + double-sized jewel case that has a "For Sample Use Only!" sticker on the outer front jewel case. Interesting preview copy as it is (but it's the full retail version that was sold in Japan upon it's initial release upon further closer inspection). So it'd be worth more than a plain-vanilla retail PSX Dezaemon Kids! version indeed. The real question is: How much?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[TransatlanticFoe]

I have a Japanese release of an obscure UK band (realistic completionist goals!) that has "sample" scrawled on the CD and the barcode on the spine card is scrubbed out in black marker. So yeah, seems to be the Japanese way of marking retail copies as promotional items.

[Skykid]

I've got a JPN PSX version of Dezaemon Kids! retail game disc along with the 102 user made Dezaemon Plus games on the 2nd disc + double-sized jewel case that has a "For Sample Use Only!" sticker on the outer front jewel case. Interesting preview copy as it is (but it's the full retail version that was sold in Japan upon it's initial release upon further closer inspection). So it'd be worth more than a plain-vanilla retail PSX Dezaemon Kids! version indeed. The real question is: How much?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Not necessarily. Some people consider promos to be lesser valuable than originals, while some folks actively seek promo copies of games. It depends on the audience really, but I don't think promo versions of games have any guaranteed additional value unless they have some original content (some do).