I don't think the "mistranslation" idea makes much sense if as seems to be teh base the information was all coming from magazines of the time, it's not like he'd be the one translating the titles or getting anyone else to do it. Mistranslation in the sense of mistranscribed/"wrote it down wrong" would fit more so, but even then it still has an issue of meaning there must be a game with a very similar name.
Edit: Return of Donkey Kong basically confirms the Funco list is just a copy. The game appears there and disapears at the same time as beebiss, just like with Play-it-Agains list but with a 3 month delay.
I really think it's worth looking into that too, as there's no reason that game should have appeared if it was last shown in March 1988.
A handwriting error has been suggested awhile back and I very much do think that could have been the case, but we can't prove it unfortunately. I easily think the word "baseball" can accidentally become "beebiss" if the handwriting was sloppy enough. This also doesn't just mean Yakyuu Ban, as I keep pointing out there were a ton of baseball NES games in 1989. However, I really can't explain the Yeah Yeahs.
What's worth looking into? The Return of Donkey Kong?
I don't think the "mistranslation" idea makes much sense if as seems to be teh base the information was all coming from magazines of the time, it's not like he'd be the one translating the titles or getting anyone else to do it. Mistranslation in the sense of mistranscribed/"wrote it down wrong" would fit more so, but even then it still has an issue of meaning there must be a game with a very similar name.
Edit: Return of Donkey Kong basically confirms the Funco list is just a copy. The game appears there and disapears at the same time as beebiss, just like with Play-it-Agains list but with a 3 month delay.
I really think it's worth looking into that too, as there's no reason that game should have appeared if it was last shown in March 1988.
A handwriting error has been suggested awhile back and I very much do think that could have been the case, but we can't prove it unfortunately. I easily think the word "baseball" can accidentally become "beebiss" if the handwriting was sloppy enough. This also doesn't just mean Yakyuu Ban, as I keep pointing out there were a ton of baseball NES games in 1989. However, I really can't explain the Yeah Yeahs.
What's worth looking into? The Return of Donkey Kong?
The Yeah Yeah part I kind of touched on, but I keep going back to Yakyuu Ban. Assuming they intended it to be a baseball game, which as you mentioned would explain Beebiss, then it may literally have just be Yeah! Baseball or some variation. The only real issue would be assuming the "I" was originally an exclamation mark, and that's not even a real leap. None of these can be proven but this has far fewer leaps in logic, and to be frank there is no real counterargument. Unless we just clutch on this idea of a "trap" or a false listing, the simplest answer and the one that has basically no holes in the theory is that it's a mistranslation. Also keep in mind, several localized games had titles a step away from their actual Japanese titles, so again "Yak-Yuu" becoming "Yeah Yeah" and baseball being poorly written as Beebiss isn't even a leap in logic, it's barely a skip.
And I know I sound like a broken record with this...but it removes any "why?" questions because all this requires is that some game, somewhere, had a genuinely similar title (and we have an actual candidate) while these other ideas about jokes and traps involve convoluted schemes and intricate plans for no gain whatsoever. This requires no further logic then someone misunderstood someone saying something or wrote something wrong. Both of which make infinitely more sense and require no further explanation. There is no why here. There is a "what?" but that's more about narrowing down the possible candidates for the actual title.
A handwriting error has been suggested awhile back and I very much do think that could have been the case, but we can't prove it unfortunately. I easily think the word "baseball" can accidentally become "beebiss" if the handwriting was sloppy enough. This also doesn't just mean Yakyuu Ban, as I keep pointing out there were a ton of baseball NES games in 1989. However, I really can't explain the Yeah Yeahs.
What's worth looking into? The Return of Donkey Kong?
The Yeah Yeah part I kind of touched on, but I keep going back to Yakyuu Ban. Assuming they intended it to be a baseball game, which as you mentioned would explain Beebiss, then it may literally have just be Yeah! Baseball or some variation. The only real issue would be assuming the "I" was originally an exclamation mark, and that's not even a real leap. None of these can be proven but this has far fewer leaps in logic, and to be frank there is no real counterargument. Unless we just clutch on this idea of a "trap" or a false listing, the simplest answer and the one that has basically no holes in the theory is that it's a mistranslation. Also keep in mind, several localized games had titles a step away from their actual Japanese titles, so again "Yak-Yuu" becoming "Yeah Yeah" and baseball being poorly written as Beebiss isn't even a leap in logic, it's barely a skip.
Here's a list of baseball games for the NES. Baseball Simulator 1.000 could also explain the 1.
Edit: I remember awhile back I thought Baseball Stars was a good candidate because it appeared on the list after Beebiss was gone and was about the same price as Beebiss.
The Yeah Yeah part I kind of touched on, but I keep going back to Yakyuu Ban. Assuming they intended it to be a baseball game, which as you mentioned would explain Beebiss, then it may literally have just be Yeah! Baseball or some variation. The only real issue would be assuming the "I" was originally an exclamation mark, and that's not even a real leap. None of these can be proven but this has far fewer leaps in logic, and to be frank there is no real counterargument. Unless we just clutch on this idea of a "trap" or a false listing, the simplest answer and the one that has basically no holes in the theory is that it's a mistranslation. Also keep in mind, several localized games had titles a step away from their actual Japanese titles, so again "Yak-Yuu" becoming "Yeah Yeah" and baseball being poorly written as Beebiss isn't even a leap in logic, it's barely a skip.
My main problem with the "Yakyuu" theory is that "yakyuu" itself means "baseball". So I could see an argument that Yakyuu can become Yeah Yeah, or I could see a stretch where Yakyuu became Beebiss. But probably not both in the same translation.
The Yeah Yeah part I kind of touched on, but I keep going back to Yakyuu Ban. Assuming they intended it to be a baseball game, which as you mentioned would explain Beebiss, then it may literally have just be Yeah! Baseball or some variation. The only real issue would be assuming the "I" was originally an exclamation mark, and that's not even a real leap. None of these can be proven but this has far fewer leaps in logic, and to be frank there is no real counterargument. Unless we just clutch on this idea of a "trap" or a false listing, the simplest answer and the one that has basically no holes in the theory is that it's a mistranslation. Also keep in mind, several localized games had titles a step away from their actual Japanese titles, so again "Yak-Yuu" becoming "Yeah Yeah" and baseball being poorly written as Beebiss isn't even a leap in logic, it's barely a skip.
My main problem with the "Yakyuu" theory is that "yakyuu" itself means "baseball". So I could see an argument that Yakyuu can become Yeah Yeah, or I could see a stretch where Yakyuu became Beebiss. But probably not both in the same translation.
Well, that's assuming the person doing the translation even knew what yakyuu meant. Which they almost certainly wouldn't, which is why it would be a mistranslation to begin with. Someone saw the title, and made a startling leap in logic about the spelling and pronunciation.
My main problem with the "Yakyuu" theory is that "yakyuu" itself means "baseball". So I could see an argument that Yakyuu can become Yeah Yeah, or I could see a stretch where Yakyuu became Beebiss. But probably not both in the same translation.
Well, that's assuming the person doing the translation even knew what yakyuu meant. Which they almost certainly wouldn't, which is why it would be a mistranslation to begin with. Someone saw the title, and made a startling leap in logic about the spelling and pronunciation.
Well wouldn't they have to know to figure out it was a baseball game? Let's remember this game never came to America (I don't know if there was a European release), wouldn't they need to know it's a baseball game to mis-write baseball? I guess they could have seen Japanese box art but I don't know that's weird because it becomes less about hearsay and more about someone somehow coming across a Japanese NES game and assuming there was going to be a US release.
I don't think the "mistranslation" idea makes much sense if as seems to be teh base the information was all coming from magazines of the time, it's not like he'd be the one translating the titles or getting anyone else to do it. Mistranslation in the sense of mistranscribed/"wrote it down wrong" would fit more so, but even then it still has an issue of meaning there must be a game with a very similar name.
Edit: Return of Donkey Kong basically confirms the Funco list is just a copy. The game appears there and disapears at the same time as beebiss, just like with Play-it-Agains list but with a 3 month delay.
I really think it's worth looking into that too, as there's no reason that game should have appeared if it was last shown in March 1988.
What's worth looking into? The Return of Donkey Kong?
Yes, the game "The Return of Donkey Kong" appearing on the list is itself a baffling mystery:
Return of Donkey Kong was announced/shown in Official Nintendo Player's Guide in 1987
It was shown again in Feb/March 1988 issue of Nintendo Fan Club
The game does not appear on Play it Again's list at the start of 1989s Video Games & Computer Entertainment issues
The game suddenly appears on the list in the June 1989 issue
The game disappears from the list in the October 1989 issue
Both of those dates also coincidentally happen to be the same months Beebiss appeared and disappeared from the list
Beebiss and Return of Donkey Kong are the only games to disapear from the list in the timeframe between June - December 1989 issue
There is absolutely no reason that we know of for the game suddenly appearing on the list in June 1989, as the last showing of it that we know of was over a year before. That it just so happens to show up and vanish at the same time as Beebiss means it therefore may have some relevance to the Beebiss situation. Perhaps there's a magazine or something similar somewhere that showed them both that we just haven't found yet.
Last Edit: Jul 13, 2021 21:17:07 GMT by thevoiddragon
What's worth looking into? The Return of Donkey Kong?
Yes, the game "The Return of Donkey Kong" appearing on the list is itself a baffling mystery:
Return of Donkey Kong was announced/shown in Official Nintendo Player's Guide in 1987
It was shown again in Feb/March 1988 issue of Nintendo Fan Club
The game does not appear on Play it Again's list at the start of 1989s Video Games & Computer Entertainment issues
The game suddenly appears on the list in the June 1989 issue
The game disappears from the list in the October 1989 issue
Both of those dates also coincidentally happen to be the same months Beebiss appeared and disappeared from the list
Beebiss and Return of Donkey Kong are the only games to disapear from the list in the timeframe between June - December 1989 issue
There is absolutely no reason that we know of for the game suddenly appearing on the list in June 1989, as the last showing of it that we know of was over a year before. That it just so happens to show up and vanish at the same time as Beebiss means it therefore may have some relevance to the Beebiss situation. Perhaps there's a magazine or something similar somewhere that showed them both that we just haven't found yet.
That's a good lead. Maybe we should see what gaming magazines existed at the time? I think you're onto something here.
Yes, the game "The Return of Donkey Kong" appearing on the list is itself a baffling mystery:
Return of Donkey Kong was announced/shown in Official Nintendo Player's Guide in 1987
It was shown again in Feb/March 1988 issue of Nintendo Fan Club
The game does not appear on Play it Again's list at the start of 1989s Video Games & Computer Entertainment issues
The game suddenly appears on the list in the June 1989 issue
The game disappears from the list in the October 1989 issue
Both of those dates also coincidentally happen to be the same months Beebiss appeared and disappeared from the list
Beebiss and Return of Donkey Kong are the only games to disapear from the list in the timeframe between June - December 1989 issue
There is absolutely no reason that we know of for the game suddenly appearing on the list in June 1989, as the last showing of it that we know of was over a year before. That it just so happens to show up and vanish at the same time as Beebiss means it therefore may have some relevance to the Beebiss situation. Perhaps there's a magazine or something similar somewhere that showed them both that we just haven't found yet.
That's a good lead. Maybe we should see what gaming magazines existed at the time? I think you're onto something here.
It's even stranger when you consider the list keeps other games that then don't release for a much longer timespan (like, years) or even end up not releasing at all, while those two were added and removed at the same time within just a few months.
Post by stintergalactic on Jul 14, 2021 0:23:31 GMT
Now, nobody has been on Team False Listing more than me. But I will admit, the fact that YYBI appearances coincided with Return of Donkey Kong, does raise an eyebrow. It does make it seem like they could have been sourced from the same place.
We should really find all the magazines that reported on RoDK, and see if any of them mentions anything close to Beebiss.
Post by thevoiddragon on Jul 14, 2021 13:45:09 GMT
I'm quite surprised if in the 7 years since the wiki article or the year since this thread i'm the first to notice that strange connection to Return of Donkey Kong being in the list, really.
Could end up leading nowhere but like I said, just that being on the list like that is a mystery itself.
Last Edit: Jul 14, 2021 13:46:21 GMT by thevoiddragon
I'm quite surprised if in the 7 years since the wiki article or the year since this thread i'm the first to notice that strange connection to Return of Donkey Kong being in the list, really.
Could end up leading nowhere but like I said, just that being on the list like that is a mystery itself.
There's a chance the lost levels people noticed it, but maybe didn't make the same connection you made.
I'm quite surprised if in the 7 years since the wiki article or the year since this thread i'm the first to notice that strange connection to Return of Donkey Kong being in the list, really.
Could end up leading nowhere but like I said, just that being on the list like that is a mystery itself.
It's a pretty good channel that doesn't have as many subscribers as it should.
It's a shame that this search has stalled again. We just can't get in contact with the few remaining people who might shed some light here. I have a feeling, though, that the Robert Schwartz that I called and that we sent a letter to, actually IS the Robert Schwartz we've been looking for. I just don't think he wants to talk to us. Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯