Tekken 5 for PS1 - bootleg of a prototype, or myth?
Dec 31, 2023 11:01:56 GMT
extremewreck2000 likes this
Post by deforestatedjerry on Dec 31, 2023 11:01:56 GMT
Here's an old mystery that's been long forgotten. If you like bootlegs and prototypes, this might be up your alley.
Back in 2004, EGM magazine, probably the most popular video game magazine at the time, had a small blurb in their October issue where a reader mailed them reporting on coming across a Tekken 5 bootleg in India. At the time, Tekken 5 was still in development for the PS2 and was a few months away from release, so the letter was more poking fun at how bootleggers make up numbered sequels that don't actually officially exist (at the time, anyway).
They actually printed the picture the reader sent in, but didn't really give it a proper response, instead commenting how they too somehow got a copy and were excited to play it only to find out it's instead Clay Fighter.
The mystery here is whether they were being serious and somehow procured the same bootleg and discovered its contents, or were they just making a simple joke. There was an unreleased Clay Fighter Extreme for PS1 which several magazines previewed in the mid-90's. A build of this finally got out a couple years back in one of Hidden Palace's Project Deluge releases. If this is actually a bootleg of a prototype of this game, I wouldn't doubt it's the same build, but there's really no telling, which adds to wanting to track this thing down if it really is ClayFighter.
This wouldn't be the first time a prototype from back in the day turns out it was floating around on a bootleg for all these years and no one knew. drx of Hidden Palace also released an early prototype of Crash Bandicoot 10 years ago or so, and only within the past few years someone posted on reddit showing they had a bootleg from the 90's that has the same build on the disc. There's other games like Resident Evil 2 and Tomb Raider that also have prototypes that got bootlegged back in the day. Plenty of prototypes such as the Sonic 2 "Simon Wai" beta also got onto the internet through being discovered as a bootlegged item. I'm just pointing this all out to highlight that yes, it's certainly plausible a prototype of a game got bootlegged back in the day and went under the radar for all this time time.
It's ambiguous if the Tekken 5 in that picture is being sold as a PS1 disc or a PS2 disc, since PS2 can play PS1 discs. Anyone able to identify what the game to the left of it is? I just assume PS1 for now.
Unfortunately many people who had these things back in the day consider them junk now and throw them out. I've searched high and low for auction sites and Facebook groups in India and can't find anywhere out of that country where anyone is selling these things anymore. South East Asian and Southern American countries (namely Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia) in addition to China seem to be where you can still find people now and then selling these things if you know where to look, but it's still not too common.
For the record, I've come across cheap Tekken 5 bootlegs for PS1 that actually were just a simple bootleg of Tekken 3 with all characters unlocked (I msgd a guy running a shop in Malaysia and had him test it for me live lol). If this were to be tracked down, it needs to be the specific bootleg in the image above. Otherwise it's likely going to just be a Tekken 3 bootleg.
In all likelihood I'm betting that disc is just a Tekken 3 bootleg and EGM was just making a joke, but part of me will never be fully convinced until this specific disc is tracked down. If anyone ever can find any leads, I'd love to see it!
Back in 2004, EGM magazine, probably the most popular video game magazine at the time, had a small blurb in their October issue where a reader mailed them reporting on coming across a Tekken 5 bootleg in India. At the time, Tekken 5 was still in development for the PS2 and was a few months away from release, so the letter was more poking fun at how bootleggers make up numbered sequels that don't actually officially exist (at the time, anyway).
They actually printed the picture the reader sent in, but didn't really give it a proper response, instead commenting how they too somehow got a copy and were excited to play it only to find out it's instead Clay Fighter.
The mystery here is whether they were being serious and somehow procured the same bootleg and discovered its contents, or were they just making a simple joke. There was an unreleased Clay Fighter Extreme for PS1 which several magazines previewed in the mid-90's. A build of this finally got out a couple years back in one of Hidden Palace's Project Deluge releases. If this is actually a bootleg of a prototype of this game, I wouldn't doubt it's the same build, but there's really no telling, which adds to wanting to track this thing down if it really is ClayFighter.
This wouldn't be the first time a prototype from back in the day turns out it was floating around on a bootleg for all these years and no one knew. drx of Hidden Palace also released an early prototype of Crash Bandicoot 10 years ago or so, and only within the past few years someone posted on reddit showing they had a bootleg from the 90's that has the same build on the disc. There's other games like Resident Evil 2 and Tomb Raider that also have prototypes that got bootlegged back in the day. Plenty of prototypes such as the Sonic 2 "Simon Wai" beta also got onto the internet through being discovered as a bootlegged item. I'm just pointing this all out to highlight that yes, it's certainly plausible a prototype of a game got bootlegged back in the day and went under the radar for all this time time.
It's ambiguous if the Tekken 5 in that picture is being sold as a PS1 disc or a PS2 disc, since PS2 can play PS1 discs. Anyone able to identify what the game to the left of it is? I just assume PS1 for now.
Unfortunately many people who had these things back in the day consider them junk now and throw them out. I've searched high and low for auction sites and Facebook groups in India and can't find anywhere out of that country where anyone is selling these things anymore. South East Asian and Southern American countries (namely Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia) in addition to China seem to be where you can still find people now and then selling these things if you know where to look, but it's still not too common.
For the record, I've come across cheap Tekken 5 bootlegs for PS1 that actually were just a simple bootleg of Tekken 3 with all characters unlocked (I msgd a guy running a shop in Malaysia and had him test it for me live lol). If this were to be tracked down, it needs to be the specific bootleg in the image above. Otherwise it's likely going to just be a Tekken 3 bootleg.
In all likelihood I'm betting that disc is just a Tekken 3 bootleg and EGM was just making a joke, but part of me will never be fully convinced until this specific disc is tracked down. If anyone ever can find any leads, I'd love to see it!
