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View topic - Proof that Super Battletank didn't release in 1994
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 Proof that Super Battletank didn't release in 1994
 Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:57 pm
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I posted this on the discord as i got a little excited about it but i was told it would fit here instead and i have to agree, so. (Garry Kitchen's) Super Battletank was a big multiplatform Tank simulator from the early 90's and seemingly it came to the major platforms of the time: Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES, Game Boy and obviously the Game Gear.
But the thing about the game gear version is even though the game itself claims to be copyright 1994 and seemed to be a 1994 release in general, but the only copies i can seem to find are Majesco repressings, which seemed to happen cc 2001, and whilst every other game is a repressing, i can't find any evidence of the 1994 release of "Super Battletank GG" outside of an advertisement in page 26 of this Game Players magazine. But if you look at the boxart of the 1994 version in the ad, it features completely different boxart and sports the SEGA VRC age rating system instead of the ESRB, and i have yet to find a version of this game that looks like this or even has, say a 1994 appropriate ESRB rating like "K-A" (as could have been possible in 1994), the only copies i can find are these majesco copies, and the ESRB rating on those (according to Logopedia and the ESRB themselves state that they changed the design of the ESRB lettering from the "Stencil/Pixel Graffiti" look to the modern black letter design) and looking at the logopedia collection of ratings, the one on the cover of Super Battletank features an E for Everyone rating that most lines up with the one used from 1999-2002, about the time these pressings happened. and as far as i know, the oldest mention of this release of super battletank outside of that 1994 ad is a May 2001 blurb on page26 of GamePro and as that article mentions (despite several CIB/Sealed items online containing Ames stickers) the system and games were exclusive to Toys-R-Us and the Toys-R-Us website, if you use the wayback machine to go to the website, you'll be redirected to Amazon, seems that they had a partnership at this time, other majesco games and the revised game gear have listings and some games have reviews dating as early as 2000, so those could have been released earlier than when GamePro stated, but it could also be that those listings prior to 2001 were for original sega pressings, but even if so if we look at Super Battletank's Amazon Page VIA the wayback machine it shows an out of stock listing that has no reviews, a strangely worded title "Ggear Battle Tank" and a stock picture saying "New Item, Image Coming Soon" so it seems the game was as far as we know first available sometime in the summer of 2001, and with the evidence of the ESRB change it couldn't have come out any earlier than 1999, this possibly makes Super Battletank the final officially released US Game Gear title and likely one of the last official sega 8 bit titles ever released. Interestingly enough the back of the majesco game gear box shows 2 seemingly unreleased titles, "Ten Pin Bowling" and "Frogger", the former was actually a game boy color title, meaning that its entirely likely at least 3 games were planned for release, but only super battletank made it. interesting... |
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 2:34 am
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EGM reviewed Super Battletank in one of the late 1994 issues.
But that only means it was developed in 1994, not necessarily released. (they have definitely reviewed other games that never made it to retail, just the most recent to that time Sega game I can think of is they reviewed Star Quest for the Genesis, the supposedly finished USA version of Star Cruiser MD that still has not yet been posted on the Internet) It had long ago been rumored that Absolute Entertainment was bankrupted by a massive overproduction order for Goofy's Hysterical History Tour on the Genesis. That was stated many years ago by Frank Cifaldi, who has claimed responsibility for uploading the infamous Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors on Sega CD, stating that "Goofy killed Desert Bus". The timing of these games puts them together. |
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2024 9:04 am
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yeah, my guess is majesco didnt exactly want to go all in on the game gear in 2001, so they just got a few unreleased titles and 1 game boy color game and only released one game, No Doubt battletank was finished in 1994 it just released in 2001, think the database should edit that date. |
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 8:00 pm
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| i was told by maxim that everything should be an attachment, so In a few minutes i will compile everything as an attatchment | |
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 8:57 pm
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here are some attatched images that will help those to read this better
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 8:59 pm
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| i have a copy myself, but when i sent my majesco system for repairs i sent the game along with it, i will try to see if i can date the chips on monday, maybe this will help narrow down a month or something. | |
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MADNESS
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 9:58 pm
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heres some additional details that muddy up a definitive date via amazon, for one thing theres 2 copies of battletank on amazon with different ASINs
The first one being: B00005BW0Q (aka the first one) The second one being: B000A7IGBI the interesting thing i found is that the first instance of B00005BW0Q on archive.org is August 2001, it has no manufacturer listed and is out of stock, making me think that it was evidence of being a new page, but then i found out ceasars palace actually has seperate url captures from 2001-2005, and not only did it still have no manufacturer or image by 2003. But sometime between jan-july 2005 it finally added a manufacturer [MAJESCO] and seemingly an image but also an incorrect release date of 2003???? so its likely battletank could be older than August 2001 and seemed like a new game to random users as late as 2005, but then comes the Copy.... the oldest capture for B000A7IGBI (the copy) is from 2007, keep that on the back of your mind, and the manufacturer is listed as Sega instead of majesco. (Still likely not the 1994 release as it uses seemingly the same image/image of the same 2001 era release). but if you go to the amazon pages for these two copies, the one that dates back to 2001 is listed as released in Jan 2007, and the one that dates back to 2007 is listed as released in Jan 2000... Seems like amazon isn't really helping us out in dating this game... but an additional update that brings better news is i found an even older mention of the Majesco Game Gear on amazon here https://web.archive.org/web/20010405023936/http://www.amazon.com:80/exec/obidos/... so chances are that many of these pressings date back to April 2001 (image will also be provided as an attatchment) although Maxim has shown me forum posts from this site that date the revision's release as early as Oct 2000! So i do emplore anyone who was alive in 2000-2001 in North America, when did you first see this game? 
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Additional dates for game gear repressings as a whole
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2024 10:16 pm
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oops i almost forgot the reviews for some titles, The Game Gear system itself from majesco has 1 capture from August 2001, but reviews date as early as Feb 2001.
Sonic Spinball even has a review from Nov 2000, it could be for the original title as amazon as we know tends to change their pages sometimes but that does make a speculative date of Nov 2000 confirmed... And since theres a post on this site found by Maxim from someone who is said to be reliable that claims the system was out as early as Oct 2000, and we add on top of that a Feb 1999 mention of majesco reviving the GG and Saturn, that does mean we have these dates for everything majesco did for the game gear. Feb 1999 (Majesco's repressings are announced for the next year for the Saturn, Pico and Game Gear on Electronic Gaming Monthly issue 115, page 32. Super Battletank isnt mentioned but Frogger is) Oct 2000? - Sept 2001 (Majesco releases the new revision of the Game Gear, with a different colored shell and start button and possible battery and screen improvements over other 2110G models [although i dont think anyone has tested that], and then majesco releases the unreleased Super Battletank to stores and Amazon during this timeframe, the previously mentioned Frogger does not seem to appear but it and majesco's game boy color bowling title "Ten Pin Bowling" appear on the back of the box) 2001? - 2003? (The system is discontinued around this time, and according to an atariage user, systems were 10$ each at toys r us by 2003) if anyone has anymore information please post here! 
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