Korean Samsung Sega Products [UPDATED + PICS]

[molotovwars]

Molotovwars, I'm curious, did you just forget to update your location on your profile, or are you going to be splitting your time between Maryland and Korea? And is Korea expensive like Japan? How difficult is the language?

I have now updated my location, heh. I'll be here for the next 2 years maybe.

Korean is much more affordable than Japan. I'm sure you could spend just as much on every meal and many other daily things, but it is quite easy to live on not very much. I grocery shop at some small place near my house, but I know there are markets where prices are even a little bit lower, and there are some whole sale markets as well. Clothing can be cheap, especially knock-offs, but I haven't really gone shopping.

The language is okay. I took Japanese for several semesters in college, which I guess has helped with some of the Korean grammar. Pronunciation can be a bit difficult, certainly more difficult than Japanese. The writing system is excellent however. Very efficient and easy to learn to read and write. Also, one you can read and your pronunciation improves, every word has one pronunciation based exactly on how it is written - ie unlike in English where the pronunciation of a word may be very different from how it is spelled.

Today I will go to the same place I went last week to buy games. I am bringing a Korean friend with me so I can negotiate and make some requests. I'll do a better job with pictures.

[molotovwars]

I asked about the Daewoo systems today but he said all of that stuff was too old and most people threw them out. My friend he said something about people with collections that saved them, but my friend doesn't know a lot about games, so I couldn't grasp if that meant like actual game collectors or just other people. He said maybe if I ask around Yongsan, we'll see.

So here is the stuff I picked up today

Super Game 270 - This is one of the Korean exclusive games listed at www.guardiana.net
The guy doesn't have box-art for this game so I've contacted him to get it added.


This picture is fun. Can you make out what it says? Made in Japan. This game was one of the ones manufactured during the ban on Japanese products, so its fitting that its Japanese origin was crossed out with black pen. Also interesting because everything about it is clearly Korean (and the game has proper artwork and serial number information so its not just some run off the mill bootleg), but although the container was made in Korea, some part of it was made in Japan.


Complete Super Famicom copy of Captain Commando. There is pretty large selection of Super Famicom stuff, in time I'll go through it.


Pocket Monsters Hack for the Mega Drive. Its either from Japan or China, probably China. The game is a platformer that is actually quite fun to play. The hit detection sucks, but the game was well made in the sense that even if you die over and over you want to keep trying. It isn't a frustrating ordeal, more like, "oh damn, okay I can do that better."

When I bought this he asked if I was interested in others. We both knew it was a bootleg and not from Korea, so I wonder what stuff he'll have if I inquire. Maybe I can get some of those cool Famicom hacks of new games like Phantom Hourglass.

Also, I might be getting a Samsung Saturn next week. Fingers crossed. And lastly more copies of Uzu Keobukseon should be on the horizon.

[Barracuda]

I love the Mega Drive games! I'm amazed that they actually have boxes.

[molotovwars]

I was looking through some cartridges and I found some variations that you guys might find interesting.

The two games I am going to use for my examples are Toe Jam & Earl and Toe Jam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron.

In Korea, Toe Jam & Earl was renamed 홀이와 뚱이 aka Skinny and Fat. 홀 comes from 홀쭉하다 (be skinny) and 뚱 comes from 뚱뚱하다 (be fat).

These first three images are of the first Toe Jam & Earl game.


In the first picture notice the old Samsung logo on the bottom right of the cartridge. It is written in Korean, 삼성전자 - Samsung Electronics. The name Samsung translates (from Korean, as well as the original Chinese characters) to three stars. Notice the 3 star logo to the left of the writing in Korean. It is named such because the core Samsung Group was formed by three multinational businesses now known as Samsung Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung C&T.


The back of the cartridge has no Samsung markings.


Also, on the front of the cartrige (on the top) it says 수퍼겜보이 (Super Game Boy) as the name of the system. Below the name is number that identifies the game, GM 8027JG. I think would call it a catalog number.

Now, lets take a look at Toe Jam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron.


This cartridge now carries the new Samsung logo and in English.


The back of the cartridge is Samsung branded and I also notice that it says Made in Japan (in addition to Container Made In Korea). As you saw in my previous post the "Made in Japan" was crossed out (maybe in the factory?), but here it is not. I don't know the details of the Korean ban on Japanese products, but it seems important that the container was made in Korea even if (maybe) the contents came from Japan. There is also a chance that the first Toe Jam & Earl game was made completely in Korea (or at least the "Made in Japan" was ommitted).


Lastly, take a look at the system name on the newer cartridge. Now the system is being called 수퍼 알라딘보이 (Super Aladdin Boy). The catalog number is GM93048JG. Above the Super Aladdin Boy logo there is now some new text that was not present on the older cartridge. It says L9402-RP25. The Korean before that apparently is the name of some Performance & Ethics committee, and thus L9402-RP25 corresponds to some sort of age rating system. The only thing I have on hand to compare is Sonic the Hedgehog which has the rating GL9502-RP50.

Interesting stuff. Next time I'll post some pictures of the Sonic the Hedgehog box art. I like it a lot.

[molotovwars]

Here is the Sonic the Hedgehog box art. I think it is unique to Korea. Correct me if you've seen it before.

In Korea Sonic the Hedgehog was renamed "바람돌이 소닉." It translates to something along the lines of Windy Boy Sonic, but in this case the word I've written as windy has some relation to speed, so maybe something like Fast 'Boy' Sonic.





This last picture is a close up of the game information I guess. Its on all of the official Korean releases. Its got the Korean name, then the original English name, then maybe some catalog number and lastly what I was told had to do with the rating system.


I also picked up a cart-only copy of Ristar today, more to actually play. I have a copy in the states, but I never actually got a chance to play it. I think this may be a bootleg of some sort but I thought the art was neat.

[Breetai]

Korean is much more affordable than Japan. I'm sure you could spend just as much on every meal and many other daily things, but it is quite easy to live on not very much. I grocery shop at some small place near my house, but I know there are markets where prices are even a little bit lower, and there are some whole sale markets as well. Clothing can be cheap, especially knock-offs, but I haven't really gone shopping.

The language is okay. I took Japanese for several semesters in college, which I guess has helped with some of the Korean grammar. Pronunciation can be a bit difficult, certainly more difficult than Japanese. The writing system is excellent however. Very efficient and easy to learn to read and write. Also, one you can read and your pronunciation improves, every word has one pronunciation based exactly on how it is written - ie unlike in English where the pronunciation of a word may be very different from how it is spelled.

I'll just hop in to confirm that this is absolutely true from my experience (going on 4 years in Japan and 1 year in Korea).

BTW, REALLY cool thread! I wish I'd been more into retro collecting when I was in Korea. This brings back memories, in kind of a strange way.

[BocoDragon]

So what's the story on Super Famicom there? Was there an official release of the machine there, or are all those SFC carts you've seen imports? If there was an official release, was Nintendo, a Japanese company, allowed to release it themselves, or was it another Korea-washing by a local company? If so did they have a machine identical to the Japanese version?

I'm moving there at some point, and while Korean oddities are very intreguing, it's more of a "ghetto region" for classic console gaming than America is, thanks to the Japan ban. I'd love to be able to shop for Japanese SFC carts (or identical Korean versions) while I'm there.

[molotovwars]

So what's the story on Super Famicom there? Was there an official release of the machine there, or are all those SFC carts you've seen imports? If there was an official release, was Nintendo, a Japanese company, allowed to release it themselves, or was it another Korea-washing by a local company? If so did they have a machine identical to the Japanese version?

I'm moving there at some point, and while Korean oddities are very intreguing, it's more of a "ghetto region" for classic console gaming than America is, thanks to the Japan ban. I'd love to be able to shop for Japanese SFC carts (or identical Korean versions) while I'm there.

Hyundai did the distribution for Nintendo. I have seen some Korean SNES systems as well as some Korean SNES games. Most of the games in Korea are Japanese imports though. The Korean versions have the same cartridge style as SFC carts.

I see Japanese versions of a lot of big name titles, Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, etc. A surprising number of games are boxed as well, even though so much stuff in Korea got thrown out.

[Kron]

What does the Korean Dreamcast box look like? Same as the white Asian release since its beyond the '98 relationship with Samsung?

[molotovwars]

I don't think there is a Korean Dreamcast. There are no Korean Dreamcast games. Everything I've seen for Dreamcast has been Japanese.