As a fellow person with messed up teeth. your self confidence & courage in being able to put yourself out here on video is inspiring. As well as all the hard work you all are doing at VGHF! Merry Christmas
Is it? They aren't the only company to have transitioned from software-only to also making hardware. Heck, not even the only one to do it successfully(Hi, Microsoft). If you limit it to console hardware, even Sega and Nintendo made games before they made consoles.
Holy crap i can't believe you guys tracked this down, I'm losing my mind here. That photo of Ed's stash is like looking at the lost treasures of El Dorado
That list of sushi terms is kind of fascinating. Some of them are pretty different from the words I'm familiar with in Japanese for the same things. Like, the usual word for soy sauce in Japanese is /shōyu/, while /murasaki/ means the color purple. Maybe this is some sort of sushi bar jargon? /Zuke/ (or /tsuke/) generally means pickle, but apparently /zuke maguro/ is tuna specifically soaked in soy sauce (originally to make it keep longer) and is used as a sushi topping. Not one you find in the States too often! I had to look up "agari", because the usual word for tea is /o-cha/. Apparently agari is a particular type of green tea traditionally served at the end of a meal of sushi as a palate cleanser. Again, not a part of sushi culture that really made it across the Pacific (though the article I read said that a lot of places will serve it free of charge if you ask). Hikarimono (literally, "sparkly thing") turns out to be a category of fish that includes mackerel and herring. The definition of "gari" looks like a mistake. Gari is the sweet pickled ginger (not radish), sometimes colored pink, that is frequently served alongside sushi. There are radish pickles in Japanese cuisine but none of them are called gari AFAICT. I thought "gyoku" might also be a mistake. The usual word for egg in Japanese is /tamago/, however, the kanji for /tama/ can also be read as /gyoku/ (kanji is weird like that) and so maybe whoever transcribed the text goofed. But I've found a list of sushi terminology that says that "gyoku" means egg omelette. Still, I've only ever seen that called tamago, both in the US and Japan, so maybe/maybe not. The same article also listed /murasaki/ as sushi bar slang for soy sauce. The funky numbering (pin, ryan, geta, dari) is also apparently a thing. The article I found confirming this also says that menoji means five, and ends with "and so on" which is pretty helpful since this is completely different from either of the normal numbering systems in Japanese and has no pattern that I can discern. So I guess they succeeded. I learned some things about sushi!
Incredibile find. I find it fascinating that the localisation people (person?) Decided to add more foreign character to the game instead of renoving it like it was customary at the time for US releases.
Reminds me of how much marketing and branding for Tetris' earliest releases at this same time focused super hard on its Russian origin (when there was almost no evidence thereof in the source material), but at least in that case, Russian video games weren't and aren't a common thing.
Yes, that's what I was thinking. So many localized games at that time ruthlessly scrubbed any Japanese culture. Even to extremes, like redrawing a ton of art in River City Ransom to make it look more like a US city. (And heaven forbid the name Kunio-Kun sully the eyes of sensitive American kids! 😝) It's nice to see someone tried to do the opposite.
Thank you for all the work you do to preserve gaming history. There are so many prototypes that would be forgotten and fascinating stories that would never be told without your efforts and all the help from supporters. ❤
Unreleased games and prototypes are so fascinating to me! For the past year, I've been doing some digging and documentation of Sweet Home's prototype rom! I've discovered A LOT of awesome stuff and differences from the final release of the game!
This is so cool! I remember reading about Super Sushi Pinball in Console Wars, and it has always been in the back of my mind ever since. I never thought I would ever be able to play it myself online. Kind of disappointing that the boards aren’t themed around sushi like I imagined though…
What you said about "someone" made this, is so true. You can feel that they put personal effort into this and it wasn't just some quick gimmick. Glad that at least now due to your efforts, their work can be seen and appreciated!
Imagine how much of the early history of this medium is straight up gone, lost to time. How much more would we know if this good work was being done 10, 20, even 30 years ago.... We'll never know, but we also won't have to ask that exact same question, with a 40 or 50 on it in the decades to come. Thanks to the VGHF.
Hi frank Im' been lurking around since the early days on lost Levels website. Thanks you & the team, for the involvement on making all these thing possible. Merry christmas!
I dunno, I can imagine NoA refusing to make this game despite passing their tests. given how some games had their Japaneseness completely localized out they probably weren't super keen about reminding consumers that they were buying a foreign product from a foreign company.
Those numbers for strider don't make any sense. That game is broken as hell (I paused on that quality sheet from Nintendo that accidentally got taken home) Also, thank you so much for your hard work! These videos are great
Every speedrun of this game must contain at least three servings of onigiri between levels. Proper form as dictated by the closing cutscene will be evaluated by a team of spectators
Excellent story & find. But watching this video I noticed another game in that lot check paper: Zeta Gundam from Bandai. Now the VGHF has to find the prototype of Zeta Gundam: Hot Scramble's unreleased English localization!
Close the parentheses at the end of the URL, that's just what RUclips does to that link and I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Added instructions so others know too, thanks for pointing it out!
Was sushi even popular in the 80s? Sure, it's mega-popular now, and re-theming a game to make it sushi-themed would probably work today. But in the 80s? I dunno, it seems like that would make things worse.
the 80's is when sushi started becoming popular in America, kids here may not have eaten sushi but they would have at least known about it and knew it was something very Japanese.
I followed your articles in Lost Levels for years, still occasionally go back and reread some of them. This is my first time watching one of your videos, and it's very nice to finally put a face to the name. Warm greetings from Argentina, and kudos to you for your amazing work, Mr. Cifaldi!
Can you please do a video around the office space? Show off the magazines and go through what you have there? Please 😁 -From a video game magazine junkie (formerly)
Speaking of Imagesoft, it's funny how one of their releases can serve as an almost direct bridge between Pre and post-PlayStation Sony, and let's not forget. It was Sony who made the Super Nintendo sound chip so in a way, this game being found is more monumental than it might seem, another point in the bridge Oh yeah, before I forget. Game in question was Jelly Boy 2, western release for it was dropped
I really appreciate what you and this organization does and stands for. I'm tight on money right now but when I'm sitting more comfortably I'll be sure to contribute.
This game is adorable. While it is mostly just a port of a mediocre pinball game, this effort was worth it for the sprite animation of the statue of liberty making sushi alone.
I remember CGQ+ Chris talk about how this sounded interesting when he came upon a small ad for it in a gaming magazine, but never saw the light of day.
I'd like to know more about that Nintendo internal check list. What are the 2 different averages for? Are there more of those papers somewhere? Who decided on an added sushi theme and why? Great video and excellent journalism.
As always, I find your work to be astoundingly refreshing and IMPORTANT. Thank you for all you do. I love this video, everything about it; the pace, the important documentation of lost video game history, and the way it goes through all sorts of aspects of the ways games were made(or often not).
You'd have thought they'd save that text crawl for the manual of the final product, or at least make it skippable lmao. I can't imagine having to sit through all that every time I wanted to play.
Had never heard of this one! Pretty sure I started reading EGM too late to see any ads for it. Major props for doing what y'all are for game preservation, definitely going to fire this one up when I get a minute.
Thanks so much for your work finding rare materials and archiving them. This was a great little story. 🙂 Out of curiosity, do you ever work with Retromags? I'd imagine you'd have some of the issues they're missing.
Having orthodontic work done, be nice please.
Was too busy staring into your beautiful eyes to notice
As a fellow person with messed up teeth. your self confidence & courage in being able to put yourself out here on video is inspiring. As well as all the hard work you all are doing at VGHF! Merry Christmas
It's ok bb we still heart u
I think it's the first time I have seen you (insert credit listener), and I don't see any issues. Really enjoying your videos 😄
Didn't even notice my dude
Incredible work, thank you for preserving these materials. I had no idea the archive was so interesting and had such one-of-a-kind materials in it.
Releasing the ROM to us as well is true gigachad behavior
Agreed 100%
We did! Check the description.
Oh yup I saw, I'm saying you are gigachads for having done so 💪 @@GameHistoryOrg
Whoops, misread your comment, sorry! (A bunch of folks missed that we did!)
Extremely cool that you found this one. But yeesh, I'd have loved to look through that basement myself.
Every time I think I'm done looking out for NES roms I'm proved wrong lol
The link to the rom is broken :)
Funny Sony was making games before making a console 😅
Is it? They aren't the only company to have transitioned from software-only to also making hardware. Heck, not even the only one to do it successfully(Hi, Microsoft).
If you limit it to console hardware, even Sega and Nintendo made games before they made consoles.
@@CptJistuce I guess so
Sony's first game (as far as I know) is Striz B.H. in 1984, which was actually made for their own SMC 777 computer.
@@UltimateRandomGamer cool
Seriously, Frank? Calling a screen of a woman in a bikini "An undressed woman"? How soy could you get?
Super Sushi Pinball is hands-down the BEST sushi-themed pinball game ever developed for the NES.
That's a bold claim. The competition was grueling in that era.
@@nickwest932 IKR, there had been a grand total of one sushi themed game vying for NES release.
Hands down !
What about Nigiri Knockers?
@@quiet451 Nigiri Knockers is trash and everyone knows that.
Holy crap i can't believe you guys tracked this down, I'm losing my mind here. That photo of Ed's stash is like looking at the lost treasures of El Dorado
It blows my mind how after all these years we're still finding new NES games. Cheers!
That list of sushi terms is kind of fascinating. Some of them are pretty different from the words I'm familiar with in Japanese for the same things. Like, the usual word for soy sauce in Japanese is /shōyu/, while /murasaki/ means the color purple. Maybe this is some sort of sushi bar jargon?
/Zuke/ (or /tsuke/) generally means pickle, but apparently /zuke maguro/ is tuna specifically soaked in soy sauce (originally to make it keep longer) and is used as a sushi topping. Not one you find in the States too often!
I had to look up "agari", because the usual word for tea is /o-cha/. Apparently agari is a particular type of green tea traditionally served at the end of a meal of sushi as a palate cleanser. Again, not a part of sushi culture that really made it across the Pacific (though the article I read said that a lot of places will serve it free of charge if you ask).
Hikarimono (literally, "sparkly thing") turns out to be a category of fish that includes mackerel and herring.
The definition of "gari" looks like a mistake. Gari is the sweet pickled ginger (not radish), sometimes colored pink, that is frequently served alongside sushi. There are radish pickles in Japanese cuisine but none of them are called gari AFAICT.
I thought "gyoku" might also be a mistake. The usual word for egg in Japanese is /tamago/, however, the kanji for /tama/ can also be read as /gyoku/ (kanji is weird like that) and so maybe whoever transcribed the text goofed. But I've found a list of sushi terminology that says that "gyoku" means egg omelette. Still, I've only ever seen that called tamago, both in the US and Japan, so maybe/maybe not. The same article also listed /murasaki/ as sushi bar slang for soy sauce.
The funky numbering (pin, ryan, geta, dari) is also apparently a thing. The article I found confirming this also says that menoji means five, and ends with "and so on" which is pretty helpful since this is completely different from either of the normal numbering systems in Japanese and has no pattern that I can discern.
So I guess they succeeded. I learned some things about sushi!
Incredibile find. I find it fascinating that the localisation people (person?) Decided to add more foreign character to the game instead of renoving it like it was customary at the time for US releases.
Reminds me of how much marketing and branding for Tetris' earliest releases at this same time focused super hard on its Russian origin (when there was almost no evidence thereof in the source material), but at least in that case, Russian video games weren't and aren't a common thing.
Yes, that's what I was thinking. So many localized games at that time ruthlessly scrubbed any Japanese culture. Even to extremes, like redrawing a ton of art in River City Ransom to make it look more like a US city. (And heaven forbid the name Kunio-Kun sully the eyes of sensitive American kids! 😝) It's nice to see someone tried to do the opposite.
Great job Frank, from all of us old Lost Levels members! We're behind you all the way!
Thank you for all the work you do to preserve gaming history. There are so many prototypes that would be forgotten and fascinating stories that would never be told without your efforts and all the help from supporters. ❤
Unreleased games and prototypes are so fascinating to me!
For the past year, I've been doing some digging and documentation of Sweet Home's prototype rom! I've discovered A LOT of awesome stuff and differences from the final release of the game!
Oh my god you found it, you actually found it!! I played the heck out of the Japanese version
1:34 That Sonic's packin' a straight up dumptruck
Lol sonic the dumphog 🤣
My teeth r shot from years of throwing up. Its cool ur not alone by far.
i love how its just "here's some sushi history, we dont know why but here it is"
This is so cool! I remember reading about Super Sushi Pinball in Console Wars, and it has always been in the back of my mind ever since. I never thought I would ever be able to play it myself online. Kind of disappointing that the boards aren’t themed around sushi like I imagined though…
it's much cooler that they are not!
What you said about "someone" made this, is so true. You can feel that they put personal effort into this and it wasn't just some quick gimmick. Glad that at least now due to your efforts, their work can be seen and appreciated!
So sad Super Sushi Pinball wasn't officially released, but at least it is now preserved!
He didn't like California Raisins. I'll gather the torches.
That's fucking awesome, they even included the instruction how to use chopstick, what a mood!
Thanks for that, Boss.
Imagine how much of the early history of this medium is straight up gone, lost to time.
How much more would we know if this good work was being done 10, 20, even 30 years ago....
We'll never know, but we also won't have to ask that exact same question, with a 40 or 50 on it in the decades to come.
Thanks to the VGHF.
Hi frank Im' been lurking around since the early days on lost Levels website. Thanks you & the team, for the involvement on making all these thing possible. Merry christmas!
I dunno, I can imagine NoA refusing to make this game despite passing their tests. given how some games had their Japaneseness completely localized out they probably weren't super keen about reminding consumers that they were buying a foreign product from a foreign company.
Those numbers for strider don't make any sense. That game is broken as hell
(I paused on that quality sheet from Nintendo that accidentally got taken home)
Also, thank you so much for your hard work! These videos are great
Did you upload those prototype ROMs to the Internet Archive? I think you should.
Every speedrun of this game must contain at least three servings of onigiri between levels. Proper form as dictated by the closing cutscene will be evaluated by a team of spectators
Excellent story & find. But watching this video I noticed another game in that lot check paper: Zeta Gundam from Bandai. Now the VGHF has to find the prototype of Zeta Gundam: Hot Scramble's unreleased English localization!
It's basically super pinball on famicom
Hidden Palace link is dead..
Close the parentheses at the end of the URL, that's just what RUclips does to that link and I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Added instructions so others know too, thanks for pointing it out!
@@GameHistoryOrgCheers!
Great work, all involved!
Why do I feel like the guy who made this and the guy who made Ninja Baseball Batman met up and talked in a bar?
The link to the rom throws an ERROR. Where can we play this?
Just add a closed parenthesis to the end of the URL, RUclips's auto-link breaks it.
So they removed the woman on a sportscar and replaced it with a proto-wikihow instructional piece on how to use chopsticks LMFAO
That was the shit we Americans had to deal with.
@@ChristopherSobieniakI would have rather had the bikini clad woman.
Put the prototypes on Internet Archive
I remember CGQ talking about this game. Sushi is such a stupid food
Was sushi even popular in the 80s? Sure, it's mega-popular now, and re-theming a game to make it sushi-themed would probably work today. But in the 80s? I dunno, it seems like that would make things worse.
the 80's is when sushi started becoming popular in America, kids here may not have eaten sushi but they would have at least known about it and knew it was something very Japanese.
Were you not able to contact Blake Harris? It used to be that you only had to mention Console Wars on Twitter and he’d reply.
It's not so hard to believe Nintendo would reject game that has intro and ending that are totally unrelated to the actual gameplay...
Ahhh EGM. My entry to their RPG Maker contest was mentioned in an issue! Yay me!
That's awesome. I won letter art of the month once myself. I miss EGM. Those were the days.
Imagesoft... "Mickey Mania". Epic - "Super Rescue" was released in Japan and was widely pirated.
I wish more people cared for the history of videogames like you do lol
Holy crap i can't believe you guys tracked this down! EPIC IS EPIC ♥
I followed your articles in Lost Levels for years, still occasionally go back and reread some of them. This is my first time watching one of your videos, and it's very nice to finally put a face to the name. Warm greetings from Argentina, and kudos to you for your amazing work, Mr. Cifaldi!
Didn’t know Frank Cifaldi was to be found here. What a Christmas treat. ❤
a foundation? a charity? COMPLETIONIST....... no thank you
Merry Christmas, Frank. I bet you sleep in that magazine room. I know I would. :) -Matt
Please try and hunt down Electronic Arts' Shredfest from Monkey Do Productions aka the Road Rash team!
Can you please do a video around the office space? Show off the magazines and go through what you have there? Please 😁 -From a video game magazine junkie (formerly)
God, I'm going to have nightmares of ballsack Sonic.
He looks AI generated but he is real and can hurt you
Speaking of Imagesoft, it's funny how one of their releases can serve as an almost direct bridge between
Pre and post-PlayStation Sony, and let's not forget. It was Sony who made the Super Nintendo sound chip
so in a way, this game being found is more monumental than it might seem, another point in the bridge
Oh yeah, before I forget. Game in question was Jelly Boy 2, western release for it was dropped
I really appreciate what you and this organization does and stands for. I'm tight on money right now but when I'm sitting more comfortably I'll be sure to contribute.
It would have been hilarious to actually see this game released, but I can see why they didn't.
The video of the gameplay doesn't look very exciting. Nevertheless, I would like to try it.
This game is adorable. While it is mostly just a port of a mediocre pinball game, this effort was worth it for the sprite animation of the statue of liberty making sushi alone.
Thanks bud, another video pinball game for the collection.
This is so cool! What a nice Christmas surprise!
Amazing as always!
I hate video games almost as much as I hate history foundations, but the man in this video is so handsome....
I remember CGQ+ Chris talk about how this sounded interesting when he came upon a small ad for it in a gaming magazine, but never saw the light of day.
When we were kids in the early 90s we were happy to get any game no matter how cheap. Even those Tiger handhelds.
Have AVGN review these please. He's the best..no one compares.
I'd like to know more about that Nintendo internal check list. What are the 2 different averages for? Are there more of those papers somewhere?
Who decided on an added sushi theme and why? Great video and excellent journalism.
As always, I find your work to be astoundingly refreshing and IMPORTANT. Thank you for all you do. I love this video, everything about it; the pace, the important documentation of lost video game history, and the way it goes through all sorts of aspects of the ways games were made(or often not).
I would love to know more about those internal quality reviews.
Thank you Ed.
You'd have thought they'd save that text crawl for the manual of the final product, or at least make it skippable lmao. I can't imagine having to sit through all that every time I wanted to play.
Don't normally hear the name Ed Semrad in a positive light.
Odd question I’ve got about a dozen gameboy advance prototypes. Do you want to buy them?
Link to the rom in the description doesn't work, Frank.
See the comment below the link: "(add an end parentheses to the above URL, RUclips's auto-link breaks it)"
Still doesn't help@@GameHistoryOrg
I legit think the teaching of Japanese culture to American kids in the late 1980s is amazing. I wish this would have come out.
1:28 This Sonic is going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life
Great video, will have to dig into your channel more!
Man, Sony did it well before the PlayStation...
I had the hardest time thinking of who you reminded me of. Then I remembered: Jacksfilms.
Best NES opening of all time 2:45 -- Statue of Liberty making some tuna sushi!
Anyone else remember TheRedEye? Great video!
i swear nintendo has more games than all the retro consoles back then
Fantastic work, all of you. Thanks for this, and for all the other days this month!
Insane level of detail on this one frank ty
What a fascinating story and peek into the Nintendo gaming industry!
I would’ve rented this sucker
Had never heard of this one! Pretty sure I started reading EGM too late to see any ads for it. Major props for doing what y'all are for game preservation, definitely going to fire this one up when I get a minute.
I have 14 sealed copies of Super sushi pinball this is nonsense
Thanks so much for your work finding rare materials and archiving them. This was a great little story. 🙂
Out of curiosity, do you ever work with Retromags? I'd imagine you'd have some of the issues they're missing.
Super Rescue isn't Flying Hero?
Enviromental detective please
Commenting for the algorithm
What about Super Rescue ?
I really appreciate the end section, explaining how you found or were given the sources. Very informative all on it's own.
Holy hot miso soup, Batman!
Amazing work. I am an instant fan. Just wish i had realized you were doing productions sooner. I'll be watching from now on! BRAVO!!
What an honor it would be to play a one of a kind prototype. Extraordinary! 😃
have not watched video yet but That issue of Black Enterprise Magazine leapt out at me immediately!
Please tell me you found Pit Fighter 2 in the basement
fascinating