REDUCED - SIGNED Mortal Kombat II (Sega Genesis)- by Cage/Sub-Zero/etc.

[Retro STrife]

UPDATE (01/29/17):

Well, the experiment continues... This item is still going on ebay and I've now dropped the price down to $49, with a $69 BIN. To me, this particular item is more of a curiosity than a "must sell" item, so I've been taking it slow with the price drops while I gauge interest. At the start, I had it auction-style at $99 and there seemed to be some interested people in it, so figured I'd update you guys here as I go along. Thanks, here's the new link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322406580648?

OLD POST:

Here's an autographed Mortal Kombat II, complete for Sega Genesis, up for auction on ebay. It is signed by Daniel Pesina, the martial artist/actor who played Johnny Cage and all the ninjas (Scorpion, Reptile, Sub-Zero, Smoke, etc.) in Mortal Kombat I & II. The auction gives more details about it. Personally, I've never seen any signed MK games on ebay, and my guess is that Pesina would be the most sought after signature of any MK actors or designers, especially because of the number of characters he played.

Side note, regarding autographed games... in the '90s, with the influx of FMV style games and developers using digitized actors in games (like MK did), there was a whole era of games where real actors were used in video games. Nowadays, there might be a few noteworthy voice actors to sign a game for you (say, for example, David Hayter as Solid Snake), and certainly game designer signatures on marquee games are always a big deal.. but has there ever been a bigger in-game actor than Daniel Pesina in Mortal Kombat I & II? Probably, but can't think of one off the top of my head...

But I digress, here's the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SIGNED-Mortal-Kombat-II-2-Sega-Genesis-Daniel-Pesina-Johnny-Cage-AUTOGRAPHED-/322304170163?

Edited January 29, 2017 by Retro STrife

[Shawn]

You might want to fix the pic with Daniel as it cuts his head off and it could be anyone in the pic to the uninformed. Very cool item.

[Retro STrife]

You might want to fix the pic with Daniel as it cuts his head off and it could be anyone in the pic to the uninformed. Very cool item.

 

 

Thanks. Yeah, I went back and forth on that. I cropped the top half of everyone's heads off, mainly out of respect for Daniel. As a fan of his and a lover of all things video games, it felt wrong to use a photo that he took with me in order to boost the sale. I state this reason in the auction and also promise to send the full photo to the winner of the auction.

 

But... am I overreacting and the full photo is fine? I'd be very happy to get other's input on that.

[atari181]

I am interested in the item. MK is on the top of my list when it comes to the Genesis. I as a bidder, would want to see the picture of Daniel Pesina before I would ever bid.

[Retro STrife]

Thanks guys. A very fair point. I guess I have to consider potential buyers too, and be fair to them. As a result, I have edited the auction to include a less cropped photo, so that it is clearly Daniel Pesina. I will provide the fully uncropped photo to the winner of the auction, as well, so that they can use it as proof of authenticity. If you compare the boxed game on the left in the Pesina photo and the one for sale, you will see that they match.

[Shawn]

Thanks guys. A very fair point. I guess I have to consider potential buyers too, and be fair to them. As a result, I have edited the auction to include a less cropped photo, so that it is clearly Daniel Pesina. I will provide the fully uncropped photo to the winner of the auction, as well, so that they can use it as proof of authenticity. If you compare the boxed game on the left in the Pesina photo and the one for sale, you will see that they match.

 

They guy takes zillions of photos with fans. I doubt he cares one bit.

[icemanxp300]

You must mean he was Johnny cage in the video games? Like he was made into the video game character?

 

I was very confused because when I looked him up he looked nothing like the movie and research shows Linden Ashby and Chris Conrad played Johnny cage in the Movies.

[Retro STrife]

You must mean he was Johnny cage in the video games? Like he was made into the video game character?

 

I was very confused because when I looked him up he looked nothing like the movie and research shows Linden Ashby and Chris Conrad played Johnny cage in the Movies.

 

 

Good question. Sorry, I thought the use of real actors in the early Mortal Kombat games was common knowledge, but it's probably something I should clarify. (By the way, I do answer your question within the auction itself and in the photos, so check there too.) But, for the uninitiated, let me fill in the details:

 

Each character in Mortal Kombat 1, 2, and 3 is played by a real actor. The developers filmed real actors performing fighting moves and then put those actors into the game, by turning those film clips into digitized sprites in order to create the characters within the game. So, when you play as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat II, you are not playing as a graphic that some programmer and artist created--instead, you are literally playing as Daniel Pesina digitized into the game. When you press Punch in MK2, it literally tells the game "play the video clip of Daniel Pesina punching." So when two characters fight in MK2, it is actually just a series of video clips with real actors fighting each other. Very cool when you think about it. Now, certainly computerized effects are added for special moves and to enhance the action, but the point is that it is indeed real actors digitized into the games. Daniel Pesina was the main star in the MK 1 & 2 games. It is not his "likeness" in graphic form; instead, it is actually him inserted into the game. (Side note: the MK movies used completely different actors than the ones in the MK games.)

 

So that is the significance of this piece. If an actor from the Mortal Kombat movies signed the game, personally I think that would be boring because the connection is indirect--the movie actor had nothing to do with MK2 the game. But the significance of this one to me is that the connection is direct--Daniel Pesina stars as 6 characters in the game and he was the face of the franchise at the time, so his signature on the box is more meaningful to me.

 

For more on the making of Mortal Kombat, this video is a must-see and it will explain everything:

 

 

See the video at 1:15 for the most important part that explains what they do to film the actors and put them in the game. Hope this helps clear up the confusion; thanks for mentioning it.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Retro STrife

[Retro STrife]

Hoping to clear up any confusion, I've made a few updates to the auction, including embedding the "Making of" video from above. Did it just to clarify that Pesina is the in-game actor and not from the movies and not just his "likeness" being used or anything like that. Thanks guys.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Retro STrife

[+FujiSkunk]

Each character in Mortal Kombat 1, 2, and 3 is played by a real actor. The developers filmed real actors performing fighting moves and then put those actors into the game, by turning those film clips into digitized sprites in order to create the characters within the game...

 

Also worth noting is that for a while there Midway/WMS was on a serious "digitize ALL the games" kick. The "Mortal Kombat" and "NBA Jam" series are the ones everyone remembers, and others might recall Terminator 2 and Revolution X (the Aerosmith game). There was also an arcade Judge Dredd and the "High Impact" series of football games, all with real actors and other digitized bits. Of course they weren't the only ones making games out of digitized graphics, but Midway seemed to embrace the idea the most and then was the last to let it go.

[Retro STrife]

Just a reminder, the auction ends tomorrow night (Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time / 7:00 p.m. Pacific time, in the U.S.). I do ship worldwide. I made a few updates to the auction during the past week, including additional photos, so please check it out again if you had looked previously:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322304170163?

 

I'm curious to see how it turns out, since I haven't seen another copy like this ever on ebay before. I think it'd be a very cool showpiece for a Genesis collector or Mortal Kombat fan, especially with the verified autograph. I guess we'll see if the market agrees with me! Thanks for looking guys.

 

 

[cjameslv]

I'd be surprised if it gets a bid but I wish you luck with the sale!

[Retro STrife]

See the original post above, as I've reduced the price and posted an update.

[Shawn]

See the original post above, as I've reduced the price and posted an update.

 

Personally I'm thinking this is a $49.99 kinda item but what do I know.

[Retro STrife]

 

Personally I'm thinking this is a $49.99 kinda item but what do I know.

 

 

Could definitely be right; I do think it would sell if placed at that price. This has been sort of an "experiment" of mine. I'm not in any rush to sell it. It's more of a curiosity to me, since there's no data on what these types of gaming memorabilia are worth to people. As we know, it just takes two competing bidders and one unique item to turn something from a $2 thing into a $200 thing. So I started with an auction listing at $99 to see if bidding would happen and tried to promote the auction on a few forums I visit. (I don't usually promote my ebay listings, but the "experiment" was more meaningful if I got word out.) Then did BIN at $99. Now at $74 with BIN. People have viewed and watched it, so we'll see how it goes. But this particular listing is more about the curiosity for me than the money or final sale price.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Retro STrife

[Retro STrife]

 

Personally I'm thinking this is a $49.99 kinda item but what do I know.

 

 

Everything, Shawn, everything. I think you're on to something here. And in honor of that, I've relisted the game at $49.99 with free shipping. I've posted it as an auction, ending next Sunday, and we'll see how it goes. Here's the new link:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322406580648?

Edited January 29, 2017 by Retro STrife

[Shawn]

 

 

Everything, Shawn, everything. I think you're on to something here. And in honor of that, I've relisted the game at $49.99 with free shipping. I've posted it as an auction, ending next Sunday, and we'll see how it goes. Here's the new link:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322406580648?

 

And it sold for $70! Good for you!

[Retro STrife]

 

And it sold for $70! Good for you!

 

Thanks Shawn. Experiment complete...