It's been a long time since I posted but I used to be a very active member of this forum for many years. I'm sure there are some of you reading this who remember me from "back in the day".
I am posting to say hello to old friends but also for another reason.
So I will finish my greeting first. How's it going CDinteractive.co.uk-ers? If any old hats remember this old dog then please respond to this thread it would great to hear from you. Alan? Do you still visit this website? Trev? Bas, of course. Borman and Luigiblood? Those two have gotten same fame in the retro video gaming community now especially Luigiblood. I should remember more but that's all that comes to mind right now.
Unfortunately I have sold and lost nearly all of my CD-i collection which I now really truly and deeply regret. For some reason during a part of my life I decided I would no longer collect for CD-i and I got a bit hostile* (not the right word that I'm looking for) towards the system and really wanted to remove it from my game collection. Especially the useless non-gaming softwares like Compton's Encylcopedia. Having culled my CD-i collection so ruthlessly I lost many treasured items such as - my boxed DVS player (I can't even remember the model number now), the 21TCDI30 (is that correct?) SCART TV and CD-i combo, Gamester joypad, nearly all my professional discs and many games including Cyber Soldier Sharaku. BTW That last one is the reason I'm posting today.
I now only have several CD-i discs in my collection that I have held onto they are - Making the Grade by 3T Productions for BP (British Petroleum) and a professional software disc called "Energy Technologies". I know Alan wanted to buy that last one from me but I purposely told him I lost it. Sorry Alan but I don't want to give that up it's my only professional disc you already got my Cyber Soldier Sharaku for a shockingly low price too. And that's all I have remaining that is my entire CD-i collection. Both are very rare but I had so much more, I think I will try and rebuild my collection and try to obtain some of what I had before but only the most sought after stuff. If anyone can help me out, a fellow loyal CD-i collector I would greatly appreciate it. I know that I have done a lot for CD-i gaming community so I would be deserving of such help but obviously I can't expect that will happen.
So that's where I'm at with CD-i. I have been focusing on other parts of my retro video games collection, mostly Super Nintendo which I have been a fan and player of my entire life since I first got the console at about 7 years old. Retro games have rocketed in value since I've last posted here and the retro gaming hobby has grown exponentially that it's now mainstream which sucks in a lot of ways but it's good in a lot of ways too.
Now down to business, the reason why I'm posting here today. Cyber Soldier Sharaku the only know Japanese CD-i game exclusive that the gaming community has found. Refresh my memory wasn't there more Japanese CD-i games that haven't been found yet? One was "Golgo 13" was there any others?
Back to CSS.. In the interests of game preservation and have been doing some archaeological internet digging to try and recover the ROM image. Back in the day I uploaded the image of this game to "sendshare" and I put the link in my signature hopefully for people see, visit and download. So I'm here to ask, does anyone have a copy of the disc image to Cyber Soldier Sharaku? Did anyone click the link under my signature, download the ROM and store it on their hard drives? Surely somebody did, they had to! How can CD-i gamers call themselves fans if they didn't take the opportunity to download the ROM image when I made it available back in the day?
I no longer have access to the ROM image because several years ago my computer got infected with the Deja Vu IFLA ransomware virus. It encrypted all the files on my hard drive and tried to blackmail me to pay for the de-encryption key to be able to recover my files. Of course I didn't pay those scumbags, there would be no way of knowing if they would have sent me the key if I paid anyway. Oh in case you haven't put it together yet - I lost the image to Cyber Soldier Sharaku to this virus: it got encrypted as an IFLA file. I have not been able to find any software that can rescue my files that's free. I am against paying for DejaVu de-encryption software as this could have been made by the crooks who invented the ransomware in the first place. Paying for de-encryption they would be profiting from the ransomware virus which in my eyes makes them just as bad as the crooks who tried to blackmail me to pay for my data.
So I do have the ROM image but it is encrypted as an IFLA file which I cant de-encrypt and therefore can't release to the public. My intention is game preservation, this game will be lost to time if we can't find this ROM file. Because Alan has the original copy I know he will never dump the game because he is one of those people who is against dumping ROMs being obsessed with copyrights or some such things when I'm positive the developer or publisher isn't going to care even if they did find out somehow.
So I am appealing to all the CD-i fans of old, anyone who downloaded the ROM image I made available on sendshare please contact me so we can get this ROM out there to be released onto a ROM download site. That way people can download it and it will be preserved forever as it's spread around the world to CD-i gamers and video game ROM collectors and preservationists.
I'm not a regular poster here anymore so you may not be able to make contact with me through this website. It usually takes a long time for people to see posts here due to how infrequently people visit so I might forget to check this after a week or so. In that case there is another way to contact me and that is through the contact form on my website which I will talk about now.
I now am the webmaster / administrator of Retro Game News, the latest new retro video game news website dedicated to being a news resource for retro computer and video gamers around the world.
The website address is https://retrogame.news/
Please support the website and visit regularly to keep up to date with the latest developments in retro video and computer gaming news. The website has only started less than a month ago but I already have more than a dozen news blog articles and several other sections of the website. In the future there will be an online webstore where you will be able to purchase brand new retro video gaming hardware and software. I'm still in the process of obtaining stock for the shop.
To contact me please use the contact form on the website by clicking on the "Contact Us" link from the homepage top bar underneath the website logo. Retro Game News provides news and information about all retro gaming systems from Atari 2600 up to Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3. It does not provide any resource for any newer systems than that as I do not consider any newer system being classified as retro. While we cover all retro systems we do have a niche that we focus on. You will find that a lot of posts and information are mainly about Super Nintendo related stuff, as well as homebrew, unreleased and lost or obscure games. Which is one reason why I'm currently so interested in obtaining the disc image of Cyber Soldier Sharaku.
Retro Game News also has YouTube channel which includes footage of CSS as well as Making the Grade (due to it's rarity and obscurity) and some footage of early prototype versions of The Dig (1995) on PC. Now you probably have a good idea of the kind of content we provide the retro gaming community with.
Please support us with our quest in providing the retro video and computer gaming community with:
- the latest (and not late) retro gaming news
- information regarding retro video and computer games and gaming, unreleased games, lost games, homebrew games and new releases on retro consoles and systems.
- digital assets such as ROM images and/or information on where to obtain them
- other digital assets such as photos, videos, reviews on retro video and computer games
- a place where retro gamers can discuss and comment on the events going on in the world retro video and computer gaming
- a place where retro gamers can shop for new and used hardware and software that is relevant and useful for retro video and computer gaming
- visiting https://retrogame.news/ regularly to keep up to date with the latest goings on in the retro gaming community
- commenting on news blog articles that are posted at Retro Game News
- clicking on any advertisements that you see on the website
- visiting the Retro Game News YouTube channel to see footage related to retro video and computer gaming
- subscribing to the RGN YouTube channel, liking the videos and posting comments on the videos
- purchasing retro video and computer gaming products from the websites store once it's setup, functional and we start taking orders
- making donations through the https://gravatar.com/wanderlustboldlyf386ed096f of cryptocurrency or regular currency
Best Regards
- RGN Admin (formerly known here as Shroo-man)
https://retrogame.news/
Retro Game News YouTube Channel
RGN Admin Gravatar Profile Page