💾 Archived View for jsreed5.org › log › 2021 › 202104 › 20210407-caveat-emptor.gmi captured on 2024-06-16 at 13:16:00. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-04)
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A prototype disc of a video game I enjoy surfaced on eBay several days ago. There's been a lot of buzz recently about leaked prototypes, as an undertaking called Project Deluge has begun dumping and cataloging prototypes and internal copies of games in March of this year. There are two known prototypes of this game: one development build and one review copy that is identical to the retail release.
I decided to purchase the disc and see what it contained. It arrived very quickly, just four days after ordering. The known burned copies of prototypes for this game all use a specific type of DVD made by a specific company, and the disc matches that type. All signs point to it being a genuine internal copy, which itself makes the disc a noteworthy historical relic.
Upon dumping the disc, I discovered that the actual game data on it is byte-for-byte identical to the retail release. The only difference between the two versions is a 4 KB block of data at offset 0x7000, containing information such as the disc ID, burn date, and burning equipment. This region is zeroed out on retail discs, presumably because retail discs were pressed instead of burned.
It's possible that this disc was a test burn of the final game data, or someone simply wanted to make a backup of it somewhere. Either way, the disc is not really even a proper prototype, much less an previously-undiscovered prototype. But since it appears to be a genuine disc from the studio at the time, it still has historical relevance. I feel that I overpaid for the disc, given what it is, but I guess I won't complain about having it in my collection.
Lesson learned.
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[Last updated: 2021-10-28]