Italian 10 ANNIV Distribution Cartridge

[YoshiMoshi]

FYI

It has surfaced folks https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Distribuzione-10ANNI-Pokemon-Day-2006-Evento-Distribution-NFR-/112609639925?hash=item1a380ebdf5:g:xGwAAOSw4kVZtSKo by our favorite sealer! Uploading images for archival purposes. Haven't seen photos of this ever, perhaps the first photos ever of this ROM!

It appears the forums have reorganized a bit.

[Deoxyz]

FYI to anyone who has the temptation to buy this cart, the rom is in possession of private collectors, and we know the nature of these GBA devcarts mean they can be rewritten (thus possible repros) if you've found the software needed to do so. Never trust a loose devcart. Also, the price is way too expensive (worth much less than 1k imo), when even with asinine overpriced roms, I could theoretically obtain the French, German, Italian, and Spanish variants of both the 10A and Aura Mew roms all together for slightly less than what the seller is asking for this single cart.

But anyway, I guess it's a good time to post these images, which I've kept private for a long time.

Spoiler

German

Spoiler

French

Spoiler

Italian

Spoiler

Spanish

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Deoxyz
swaped enlarged images for the original resolution screenshots due to anti-aliasing

[theSLAYER]

53 minutes ago, Deoxyz said:

FYI to anyone who has the temptation to buy this cart, the rom is in possession of private collectors, and we know the nature of these GBA devcarts mean they can be potentially rewritten(thus possible repros) if you've obtained the software needed to do so(though I still have yet to be successful at doing so). Also, the price is way too expensive(worth less than 1k imo), when even with asinine overpriced roms, I could theoretically obtain the French, German, Italian, and Spanish variants of both the 10A and Aura Mew roms all together for slightly more than what the seller is asking for this single cart.

But anyway, I guess it's a good time to post these images, which I've kept private for a long time.

  Hide contents

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did you merely change the text, or did you managed to change the language option for distribution?

[Deoxyz]

@theSLAYER There's no language option. Someone gave me those images, as I don't own the non-English variants.

[theSLAYER]

3 minutes ago, Deoxyz said:

@theSLAYER There's no language option. Someone gave me those images, as I don't own the non-English variants.

Alrighty, just checking

[Sabresite]

Meh, we have the ROM. Not worth it for a possible repro.

[Guest]

I agree, don't buy this. Not worth it at all.

[InsaneNutter]

It would be nice to see all these variants out there, however I totally agree it's not worth the asking price, even if it happened to be reduced by 50%.

If anyone is seriously considering buying the above and has the money to put down for something like that then I would re enforce what @Deoxyz has said and maybe message him and have a chat.

Edited October 24, 2017 by InsaneNutter
typo

[YoshiMoshi]

Somebody bought it!

[Deoxyz]

I replaced the images in my first post with the original, non-enlarged screenshots due to anti-aliasing and for archival accuracy.

[Sabresite]

2 hours ago, YoshiMoshi said:

Somebody bought it!

Poor them. 

[HaxAras]

3 hours ago, YoshiMoshi said:

Somebody bought it!

What does it matter? Unless it gets paid for, it could just be a troll. Or the seller is just "buying" it with a separate account to make it look like they're actually worth that much or people are willing to pay that much. 

Edited October 26, 2017 by HaxAras

[Deoxyz]

Just now, HaxAras said:

Or the seller is just "buying" it with a separate account to make it look like they're actually worth that much or people are willing to pay that much. 

Exactly what I was thinking. Sounds about right considering that's fairly common to up the value of rarities.

I find it hard to believe someone paid 2k this quickly, when other GBA carts have sat at lower prices for weeks.

[Guest]

Imho, this one was clearly a repro as all the European originals come with a jailed GBAs and security tape. Seller's excuse was he needs the GBA for playing, but the extra hard to remove security tape would have made it darn sticky. Also, it doesn't make sense destroying a piece of history like that, especially if he's asking so much money. With a bit of common sense it's clear that a fake repro was sold here. And I suspect it's the same infamous person from Italy that we already know.

[theSLAYER]

3 hours ago, Purin said:

Imho, this one was clearly a repro as all the European originals come with a jailed GBAs and security tape. Seller's excuse was he needs the GBA for playing, but the extra hard to remove security tape would have made it darn sticky. Also, it doesn't make sense destroying a piece of history like that, especially if he's asking so much money. With a bit of common sense it's clear that a fake repro was sold here. And I suspect it's the same infamous person from Italy that we already know.

As much as its a repro, it's not like the data for this Italian 10anniv is public right?

[Guest]

The rom may not be public as of today, but it has been in collector's hands for years, as proven above by Deoxyz.
Of course the seller used this situation to his advantage, as unreleased stuff usually sells for more. But it's still way overpriced, even if it was original. All the other original stuff was sold on eBay between $500 and $1000 including a GBA lockbox with all the security seals and lot stickers intact.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

This whole thing is so ridiculous and I agree. 
I sense the same criminal energy we already know about. It's likely a repro as already mentioned.
Even if we assume that the story is real... the fact about the lame excuse why the cartridge was supposedly removed from the GBA system and also the fact that the label on the cartridge was heavily damaged... which if the story is true would even mean he forcefully damaged it by himself. Combined with the shameless unwillingness to consider a devaluation in the calculation of the price proposal is so disgusting. This is one of the highest prices I've ever seen.

At this point I wouldn't trust anything that comes from Italy, because it's so obvious that it can only be from one source.
The whole style how the article is written and everything speaks for itself, it's so obvious where it comes from.
Be careful if you ever consider to buy such a cartridge...

[Sabresite]

People can do whatever they want.  They are free to buy carts and sell them, or dump them, and sell the ROMs.  The problem I have is with lying.  Saying things like, "I can't because I have an agreement," then selling it.

[Guest]

Yeah, Lying is bad but let's not forget that the most controversial thing about it is that these are stolen items. The only reason why people can sell and buy these cartridges on eBay is because Nintendo doesn't seem to care about it and no one seems to report these offers to eBay. In case you didn't know, selling stolen property is against eBay's guidelines: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/stolen.html

Admitted, it's ironic that I say this because I love these items as much as everyone here, but let's be honest about it... It's kinda weird to talk like it's the most normal thing in the world that people make money with stolen items and at the same time judging about what's immoral... am I the only person who thinks like that? 

Personally I don't have an issue with whoever decided to take these cartridges privately, morally I think it's not ok but as a fan who loves Pokémon I rather want to see these cartridges in the hands of people who value these things instead of them getting terminated or whatever would happen with them otherwise. (I doubt that Nintendo archives them all...)

And I do understand that someone don't want to give away rare things like this for free...

But the moment someone becomes greedy and wants to make A LOT of money with it... and with a lot I mean more than justified... things are getting really dirty and then it's all about money and the question is if someone just got his hands on the cartridges because it means easy money. 

Considering that these could be repros makes it even worse... speaking of criminal energy...

I just hope that people have enough common sense to make the right choice. 

[theSLAYER]

22 minutes ago, ajxpk said:

Yeah, Lying is bad but let's not forget that the most controversial thing about it is that these are stolen items. The only reason why people can sell and buy these cartridges on eBay is because Nintendo doesn't seem to care about it and eBay and no one seems to report these offers to eBay. In case you didn't know, selling stolen property is against eBay's guidelines: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/stolen.html

Admitted, it's ironic that I say this because I love these items as much as everyone here, but let's be honest about it... It's kinda weird to talk like it's the most normal thing in the world that people make money with stolen items and at the same time judging about what's immoral... am I the only person who thinks like that? 

Personally I don't have an issue with whoever decided to take these cartridges privately, morally I think it's not ok but as a fan who loves Pokémon I rather want to see these cartridges in the hands of people who value these things instead of them getting terminated or whatever would happen with them otherwise. (I doubt that Nintendo archives them all...)

And I do understand that someone don't want to give away rare things like this for free...

But the moment someone becomes greedy and wants to make A LOT of money with it... and with a lot I mean more than justified... things are getting really dirty and then it's all about money and the question is if someone just got his hands on the cartridges because it means easy money. 

Considering that these could be repros makes it even worse... speaking of criminal energy...

I just hope that people have enough common sense to make he right choice. 

Going along that train of thought, isn't that the same scenario as stolen artifacts and paintings?
It being stolen doesn't seem to matter. As long as it can be proven to be authentic and has value to collectors, it'll naturally fetch a high price.

This is where my analogy is going to diverge. When it comes to data, the best we'll get is an exact copy.
We can argue its a clone because it wasn't in a brace (which I wholly admit, that's a hella suspicious),
but maybe it was purchased precisely because, 'meh, it may be a clone, but as long as its an exact clone and it does its job, this is the best I'll be able to get'.
[furthermore, the data was probably cloned at a developers lab anyway, so its not like its unique code..]

Plus, maybe the seller needs the money? We'll never know.
If I had 10 of the same cart, and maybe financial crisis and need short term cash, I'll probably sell the remaining 9 at high price,
and take whatever reasonable offer I can get.
(of course, this scenario is different because I'm supposedly not cloning, but it is still stolen property, so..)

I never thought it was possible, to hate stolen possession and would love wanting to possess one at the same time, until now.
I ultimately agree, that I would rather it be in the hands of a collector that will value it, as opposed to some trash bin or scrap metal

 

edit:
Though, buying it from someone else and claiming "I'll never sell these", then proceeds to sell it, is a pretty scummy move.
But then again, I have a somewhat negative view of society (as a whole), and think this is somewhat a common practice.
As long as you can't get sued or can avoid being liable, some people will do anything and take the calculated risk.
Once again, maybe hard times? You could have an agreement to not sell, but you-re real damn broke and bills stacking higher than your salary.
It's a win-win for buyer and seller, but definitely screwed over the first seller (possibly former employee).

This is a way too low-note to end a post, and I'm dreading it.

[HaxAras]

27 minutes ago, ajxpk said:

Yeah, Lying is bad but let's not forget that the most controversial thing about it is that these are stolen items. The only reason why people can sell and buy these cartridges on eBay is because Nintendo doesn't seem to care about it and no one seems to report these offers to eBay. In case you didn't know, selling stolen property is against eBay's guidelines: https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/stolen.html

Admitted, it's ironic that I say this because I love these items as much as everyone here, but let's be honest about it... It's kinda weird to talk like it's the most normal thing in the world that people make money with stolen items and at the same time judging about what's immoral... am I the only person who thinks like that? 

Personally I don't have an issue with whoever decided to take these cartridges privately, morally I think it's not ok but as a fan who loves Pokémon I rather want to see these cartridges in the hands of people who value these things instead of them getting terminated or whatever would happen with them otherwise. (I doubt that Nintendo archives them all...)

And I do understand that someone don't want to give away rare things like this for free...

But the moment someone becomes greedy and wants to make A LOT of money with it... and with a lot I mean more than justified... things are getting really dirty and then it's all about money and the question is if someone just got his hands on the cartridges because it means easy money. 

Considering that these could be repros makes it even worse... speaking of criminal energy...

I just hope that people have enough common sense to make the right choice. 

I don't understand why people make such a big deal about this "stolen property" BS. These items were going to be thrown in the trash over 10 years ago. Nintendo doesn't care. 

There are countless dev carts and prototype games and development units, etc. that are in the hands of collectors. Why does everybody here seem to take the biggest stance against GBA carts that were liberated from the trash can over 10 years ago?

The insanely high prices are good for one thing at least. It's obviously my bias as a collector. But I'd much rather these be in the hands of serious collectors where they can be properly preserved. Vs. Some everyday person who just wants one to have one. 

[theSLAYER]

In any case, its not like we're vigilantes and/or upstanding citizens.
While "reporting it" is possible, I really can't be bothered.
To an extent, people have the freedom to do what they want. Buy and sell or whatever. Report of whatever. In any case, it's not really my place do judge or decide.

Anyhow, if I had that kind of disposable income (and assuming all my financial stakes for the following years are already planned for and not an issue),
I would likely end up buying it because:
1. I do not have a single GBA distribution cart, and I find it interesting to say the least
2. Even if its a repro, the code isn't public, so getting it for the sake of archiving is an added plus
3. Maybe if I was a youtuber or some popular person, do giveaways? Even if its a repro, it is still official code on official hardware, and not on a flashcart.
That will add to its viability of being legitimate. If you're wary, don't take part in the giveaway ;P
(and of course for the sake of transparency, I'll explain there's a possibility that is it a clone.
But also explain that there is no sure-fire way to differentiate a cloned dev cart from an actual distribution dev cart.
but the rom isn't public, so at the very least if its a clone, its done by someone with official hardware, so we'll never know)

Of course, I wouldn't buy it at that price. I would try to negotiate to lower it or something.
Whether would it be "worth it" is ultimately, still up to the buyer, since value is inherently subjective.

[Guest]

Me too. But when I see an disgusting offer like the one above I sometimes feel like I wouldn't be sad about it being reported.

Besides when I was trying to work together with our friend in Italy, I haven't been really treated well and was offered a rom for a ridiculous price of 1000$.
No cartridge btw... JUST a rom... and I never pay for research material. I always promise to keep everything to myself and if requested I don't even talk about it. Just saying no is ok. And It happens all the time and if they're not interested to learn about all the algorithms and secrets these roms are holding it's fine, not everyone is. But this person even tried to make money out of my research, I think it should say a lot about him and I can imagine that it wasn't the first time he did something like that. But come on... a thousand dollars for a rom? If it was lower I would even had considered paying if it's something really special.

Now since I know how similar these roms are I'm not that interested anymore as a Researcher, so I wouldn't pay a dime.
Besides, since everyone now is paranoid about the "fingerprints", you won't get an untouched rom from a repro anymore.
Everything you get now is most likely not in its original state and I really can't imagine that an original cartridge would ever be sold again.
So even as a collector I'm not interested anymore at this point. Regarding the cartridges, how do we know now what's a repro and what's not?
The whole situation about these distribution cartridges is completely messed up. IMO I'm not sure if we should bother about it much longer, except there is something completely new. I'm all with @Sabresite when it comes to this.

When it comes to preservation, there is not much difference between a hacked 10ANNIV rom or a 10ANNIV with data being removed.
You can bet there isn't any much apart of that. If we ever decide to fully analyze the rom we could make them ourvelves.
Each version is just slightly modified to support the respective language version, different UI language and text for the text boxes in the respective language...
Different OT Names... 10ANNIV for English and French versions, 10JAHRE for the German, 10ANIV for the Italian one and 10ANNI for the Spanish one.
The Pokemon name strings coming from the distribution rom as well, so they would have to be modified too.

I'm just happy that we have the 420 Mystry Mew completed.
That's why I was also willing to invest in it myself. In my opinion this is one of the greatest things we archived. 
And no wicked controversials like fishy stories. I really wished more things like this would happen

[theSLAYER]

36 minutes ago, ajxpk said:

When it comes to preservation, there is not much difference between a hacked 10ANNIV rom or a 10ANNIV with data being removed.

If its any consolation, it'll take a person with understanding of GBA and its code/disassembly to hack and change the distribution Pokemon of the 10ANNIV roms, (and from my experience, any other roms that are it's derivations).

I figured out where the OT were stored, tried to change only one byte, and the game wouldn't run.
It's checksum-ed somewhere (and I don't know where), so if you don't know what's the checksum method (maybe CRC16-CITT), and where does the region start and end, and where does it check against the checksum, it wouldn't load.

So the only notable difference that can be done, is the removal of the supposed "fingerprint".

Well its not hard to imagine that one would charge a $1,000 for a rom that is not public.
Not matter what you promise, once he sells it, it is possible it'll get leaked and he may never ever get a penny from that sale ever again (if he truly clones the game/rom etc etc).
So the $1,000 is like his final sale.