News:

Printed Amstrad Addict magazine announced, check it out here!

Main Menu
avatar_ukmarkh

CHASE HQ II - THE WAIT IS OVER

Started by ukmarkh, 19:58, 03 October 10

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

andycadley

I'd love to believe this is real and £200 would be a bit of a bargain for the community, given how long we've all waited, but everything about the auction screams dodgy. I've sent the seller a question asking for more images, but I don't expect them to be forthcoming.

ukmarkh

#26
I've spoken with Martyn (Retro Gamer writer), he knows James, the chap who actually owns the the Chase HQ cart, and apparantly James isn't the guy selling the game.

'Hi Martyn, it is not my one. I will be very interested to see how much it sells for! James'.

Martyn has suggested we all club together and buy this game as a community, instead of turning this into a bidding war? Of course, only if we can judge the authenticity of the game.

Personally, I still think this is someones sick idea of a prank.  :-\


Xyphoe

Quote from: ukmarkh on 11:10, 05 October 10
I've spoken with Martyn (Retro Gamer writer), he knows James, the chap who actually owns the the Chase HQ cart, and apparantly James isn't the guy selling the game.

'Hi Martyn, it is not my one. I will be very interested to see how much it sells for! James'.

Martyn has suggested we all club together and buy this game as a community, instead of turning this into a bidding war? Of course, only if we can judge the authenticity of the game.

Personally, I still think this is someones sick idea of a prank.  :-\

Well there you go ... why is this Ebay seller using one of James's pics then?

He hasn't replied to my email yet either.

DODGY AS FOOK!

Unless I get an amazing reply from him, we see some new photos on the auction or he allows the winner to pay in cash in person collection - then AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. Avoid like the GALACTIC PLAGUE! LOL  :laugh:

I might have gone for it and would have happily allowed the ROM to be dumped ASAP (providing we get around the 'breaking open the cart' issue which I think we found a resolution for, before James disappeared). But we'll see how things pan out the next few days....

ukmarkh

Quote from: Xyphoe on 11:46, 05 October 10
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. Avoid like the GALACTIC PLAGUE! LOL  :laugh:

LMAO  :laugh:

jbaudrand


TFM

TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

dragon

The cartridge is removed from ebay

?.

andycadley

Also, the seller is "no longer a registered user". So, looks likely that it was the scam most of us suspected.
Shame to some extent, but not overly surprising.

Xyphoe

Yikes!

You're right ... the seller is definitely no longer registered.

I was toying with reporting the auction as a fraud pending on their reply or if the listing gets updated with new pics, but it's likely they're a serial fraudster. IP's and behaviour gets logged and cross referenced all the time between Ebay and PayPal at least, if they've been done before they have have various clever ways of determining they've returned.

....however.... I actually received a reply from him today that made it look in a bit more of a positive light as he agreed to accept payment/collection in person and testing on their GX4000! But was kinda soured by some bullshit about not being able to take more pics at the moment (come on! Who doesn't have a mobile phone that takes pics at least!). I was going to probe further, and thinking of driving down ... but I guess not now :(

The other possibility is that someone made them a huge offer (via email) which he couldn't refused, so closed the auction and account, and sold the item.

fano

Anyway , we still have no dump  :(
"NOP" is the perfect program : short , fast and (known) bug free

Follow Easter Egg products on Facebook !

jbaudrand

:/ (don't know the whole story): why is it so rare? is it a prototype? or because nobody bought it

Xyphoe

Quote from: jbaudrand on 06:54, 06 October 10
:/ (don't know the whole story): why is it so rare? is it a prototype? or because nobody bought it

Hi - take a read on my site here - http://gx4000.co.uk/gamebase/games.php?game=specialcriminalinvestigations

ukmarkh

#37
The chap selling the cart, replied to my email. He said I could go down on Saturday and take a look, lives in Gillingham, Kent. I was all set to go down for the weekend  :-[  I'm confused now, why would someone go through all this trouble?

James has been in touch, and also confirmed that the Chase HQ II cart is a hoax! Maybe we should all club together and just make James an offer he can't refuse on the Cart he owns?

I'm willing to put £25

And Xyphoe... are you anywhere near B'ham? Saw your CPC collection, and thought he's as amstrad crazy as me, be great to meet up for a pint.



arnoldemu

Quote from: Xyphoe on 00:21, 06 October 10

....however.... I actually received a reply from him today that made it look in a bit more of a positive light as he agreed to accept payment/collection in person and testing on their GX4000! But was kinda soured by some bullshit about not being able to take more pics at the moment (come on! Who doesn't have a mobile phone that takes pics at least!). I was going to probe further, and thinking of driving down ... but I guess not now :(

I have a mobile that takes pics. But to get the pics I have to use a transfer cable.
So this argument is not fair.

I do also have a digital camera, which I can transfer pictures from.

So yes, it is not good that they didn't provide pictures,of course they could have tried a bit more in the description to verify it.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

arnoldemu

Quote from: ukmarkh on 09:28, 06 October 10

I'm willing to put £25
I'd be happy to put £10.

Or, if he doesn't want to sell, could we pay him some money as a thankyou for letting us dump it?

So, without a dump the only option open is for somebody to code a version of it?
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

ukmarkh

Ok, I've asked Martyn to ask James 'how much for the cart'?

Hopefully he'll agree, If he doesn't want to sell the cart, then we're screwed as I've already exhausted all other options. We can work out the major details later, but once we've uploaded the game (Gettining ahead of myself here), who / where should the cart reside if we did manage to purchase it. 

So basically I've got a pledge from the following members, and will keep this list updated:

ukmarkh (Me) £25
Arnoldemu £10 

jbaudrand


AMSDOS

I thought that would mean the Weight is on before it's archived into NVG!  :laugh:

Sounds Dodge - somebodies idea to cash out, probably had fun in the past cashing out by advertising Empty boxes with interesting labels on them!
* Using the old Amstrad Languages :D   * with the Firmware :P
* I also like to problem solve code in BASIC :)   * And type-in Type-Ins! :D

Home Computing Weekly Programs
Popular Computing Weekly Programs
Your Computer Programs
Updated Other Program Links on Profile Page (Update April 16/15 phew!)
Programs for Turbo Pascal 3

andycadley

Quote from: ukmarkh on 10:52, 06 October 10
So basically I've got a pledge from the following members, and will keep this list updated:
I think it would be wise to find out whether it would be for sale and for how much before collecting pledges.

ukmarkh

Quote from: andycadley on 12:28, 06 October 10
I think it would be wise to find out whether it would be for sale and for how much before collecting pledges.

I agree, but the situation is difficult. I have to know if people consider it a viable option. If as stated earlier, the cart could be for sale... we have to be able to move quick and know how much to raise. It's a fools hope, but one I'm willing to make after such a long battle.

andycadley

Quote from: ukmarkh on 14:06, 06 October 10

I agree, but the situation is difficult. I have to know if people consider it a viable option. If as stated earlier, the cart could be for sale... we have to be able to move quick and know how much to raise. It's a fools hope, but one I'm willing to make after such a long battle.
If the cart were available and the price not exhorbitant, I'm sure it'd be a viable option. I'd very much like to see the cart preserved, but without knowing what sort of outlay we'd be talking about, it's difficult to know what that contribution should be.

TFM

In fact if somebody of you (not me, since I'm currently in USA) wants to buy such a cart and make a dump accessible for the community I'll spend 20 Euros or Pounds for that issue. But not for a fake. So in case somebody is able to pick it up in person, my 20 bucks go with you. I have no need to own the cart by myself btw.  ???  That's the best offer you get from me  8) ;) ;D
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Xyphoe

Quote from: arnoldemu on 09:41, 06 October 10
I have a mobile that takes pics. But to get the pics I have to use a transfer cable.
So this argument is not fair.

I do also have a digital camera, which I can transfer pictures from.

So yes, it is not good that they didn't provide pictures,of course they could have tried a bit more in the description to verify it.

Fair dues, but then you're not trying to sell a rare product that could fetch anywhere from £200 up to thousands! For such a rare game but that could have been in their possession for a long time why the rush to suddenly put up an auction without being able to take pics? Come on, it's not like we're stuck in the 1990's where we'd have to take camera film to be developed, then scan the picture in, etc. A mobile phone pic you don't have to connect it to your PC - send it as an attachment to a text message sent to an email address.

Xyphoe

Quote from: ukmarkh on 09:28, 06 October 10
And Xyphoe... are you anywhere near B'ham? Saw your CPC collection, and thought he's as amstrad crazy as me, be great to meet up for a pint.

I'm not far actually! Live in Nottingham :) But also quite regularly in Birmingham as that's where my band is from, so rehearse there most weeks. Def would be nice to have a pint with a fellow Amstrad nerd  :o :laugh: Actually would be nice to organise a UK CPC Meet at some point for everyone, that would be cool. There's a venue in Nottingham the other day asking me about holding a retro gaming event.

Xyphoe

Quote from: ukmarkh on 09:28, 06 October 10
James has been in touch, and also confirmed that the Chase HQ II cart is a hoax! Maybe we should all club together and just make James an offer he can't refuse on the Cart he owns?

Firstly just out of curiosity, how is James able to confirm it is a hoax? Well we know it is ... but just intrigued by that statement.


Anyway regarding buying the cart .... I think we would need a *substantial* amount of money before he would be willing to sell it. Then there's the issue if we do manage to club together ... what actually happens to the cart after? Who gets to hold on to it? Could get real messy  :-\

I say we re-pursue getting James to allow us to dump the cart under his supervision on his own time. Now ... before the CPC Zone forums went kaboom James was up for it in principal however had the following conditions -

* The cart cannot leave his supervision
* The cart cannot be 'broken open' to get to the ROM (which is the easiest way to dump)

Once a cart casing is broken open, one of the clips is permanently broke ... hence why (from a lot of experience!) the dodgy bootleg carts are either glued together again or feel loose.

BUT we came to a method where we could dump the cart without doing this, and someone in France had the hardware to do this and was happy to ship it to someone here in the UK (was this "Eliot"? Sorry I can't remember who but the name rings a bell).

I am more than willing, with explicit instructions on how to do it, to drive to James's and spend the day doing this.

The issue was James seemed to disappear from the forums by the time we got to the point in discussion on how to achieve this without damaging the cart, and the trail went cold.

Perhaps we should see first if he's still open for getting the cart dumped safely?
And if so ... what was the method for doing this....

Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod