I usually don't mind if the editions I buy are portuguese or from different countries. Sometimes it is best for me to find a foreign version of a rare game for a cheaper price as much as the language of the game remains in english. However, not always that is possible. Some games are one-country exclusives and I have to search for the in the original place they were released.
And that's the case of the portuguese purple versions of master system. These editions were released much later, when Mega Drive took the place of the older 8bit console in worldwide markets. Ecofilmes, the official distributor in Portugal, released the latest version of Master System (III Compact) which was officially released in Brazil by the hand of Tec Toy. Following Brazil's example of keeping a very successfull console still alive and for a cheaper price in the market, Ecofilmes decided to release their own edition of 16 Tec Toy games, some of wich are in fact unavailable elsewhere in the world besides Brazil, Portugal and Spain. So far I was able to get 13 of those 16 games as well as the console itself. The public attention was already concentrated on Mega Drive by the time these games came out and by that time not many people wouldn't be willing to buy an old console despite its cheap price. Basically, it is not easy to spot these games even in Portugal. Many of them have already left the country directly into foreign collectors' homes.
Hi, I´m an huge Master-System collector from Germany and I own 14 of these Portuguese purple games. The 16th game Taz in Escape from Mars was probably never published because so far no one onw it. The only image of this game is on the back of the packaging of the Master System III. Now my question. Can you please send me or to the forum of the sega8bit.com fansite good pictures from all sides of the packaging of the Master System III? That would be great, because so far only fuzzy images of the packaging of the Master System III from Portugal exist. You'd make so many Master System fans happy. If yes, I can give you my email address.
ReplyDeleteHi, I´m an huge Master-System collector from Germany an I own 14 of these Portuguese purple games. The 16th game Taz in Escape from Mars was probably never published because it has no one. The single image of the game is on the back of the package of the Master System III. Now to my question. Can you please send to me or the forum of the fansite sega8bit.com pictures of all sides of the packaging of the Master System III? So far, unfortunately, there are only fuzzy images of the packaging of the Master System III from Portugal. You'd make so many Master System fans happy. If yes, I can tell you my email address.
ReplyDeleteHi, can you confirm me if the instruction manuals have printed "EcoFilmes" somewhere (or if they say "Tectoy")? What about the covers of the games, do they have printed "EcoFilmes" somewhere? And the box of the Master System III, does it have "EcoFilmes" printed somewhere?
ReplyDeleteHi. I can't check my games at the moment, but I know for sure that the covers and the console's box do say "imported and distributed by Ecofilmes". As for the manuals, I can't check but I believe these are the original manuals released in Brazil and even come with the Tectoy number of the copy so they shouldn't mention anything about Ecofilmes.
DeleteThank you very much for your response.
DeleteAbout the manuals, according to the post about Purple Portuguese MS games in the Blogspot of SegaCollect, most (but not all) of this games have a different manual than the original Brazil manual (changes in the artwork and texts). But you are right when you say that they all have a sticker with a number on them, like Tectoy used to do.
This leaves me wondering if EcoFilmes ordered Tectoy to print different manuals for the Portuguese market.
I'm also wondering if the Portuguese game covers were printed in Portugal by EcoFilmes or if they were ordered to Tectoy and printed in Brazil for the Portuguese market.
Anyway, thanks for your help. If in the future you manage to confirm if some of the manuals have printed "EcoFilmes", please tell me.
P.S.: just a curiosity, don't know if you already know or not, Portuguese 'My Hero' and 'Transbot' have different cart stickers than the Brazil ones.
Ecofilmes did a lot of crazy things, some of which were not positive, especially towards the end of life of the consoles after newer systems were released. The reason why there should be changes to the manuals (I can't confirm this) is probably related to the differences between Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese languages. I believe these came directly from Brazil. The game boxes are also original from TecToy.
DeleteConsidering Ecofilmes imported Genesis games and printed brand new covers to match with the Mega Drive ones, I believe they're the ones responsible for printing the master system covers as well. Basically, you were being scammed by buying a Mega Drive game with a supposedly European cover and cart that comes with a Genesis cart instead. It's easy to tell because translation stickers and the sega warranty stickers are printed on the cover instead of being actual stickers.