Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Second part of the best game ever made.
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comradesean
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Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Post by comradesean »

So I was able to use Jordan Mechner's Making of Prince of Persia to determine the street date of the first title, but it unfortunately cut off several months before the release of Shadow and the Flame.

I've scoured information from a lot of old new groups and i've discovered the following information.
- PoP2 was originally leaked to bulletinboards by the group Untouchables on April 26th, 1993.
- A very short review hit newsgroups the next day, April 27th.
- For the next month there are many posts both talking about owning and playing the game and people confused at how others have the game saying they can't find the game in stores. [Throughout this month, no one specifically states it's not out yet.]
- Several posts state stores were giving them a street date of May 28th 1993.
- On May 29 1993, There is one post selling a brand new copy of PoP2.
- The earliest physical copy I have found so far has the disks timestamped April 30th, 1993.

It might appear open and shut, but can anyone here shed some light on these events? Where did this original leak come from? Was it a actual release or a leak of an unfinished copy? I've noticed that there's both 1.0 and Initial Release versions available on popuw.com. What's the difference between these two and where did they both originate from?

My goal is to figure out when exactly the game hit retail store shelves, but ultimately it's to figure out which version of the game that was.
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Norbert
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Re: Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Post by Norbert »

Hi Sean.
comradesean wrote:So I was able [...] to determine the street date of the first title, [...]
Which, in case anyone reading along is curious, is October 3rd, 1989. At least, for the Apple ][. The DOS version, we're not sure. See this post and the rest of that thread.
comradesean wrote:[...] but it unfortunately cut off several months before the release of [PoP2].
I can't help you there, but you could check Andrew's signature (bottom page) which links to "The Ultimate Collection". It contains PoP2 versions IR, demo 1.0, 1.0, demo 1.1 and 1.1. (The file dates - unreliable, because they can be modified manually - are IR:May 7, 1993; demo 1.0:Apr 21, 1993; 1.0:Jun 28, 1993; demo 1.1:Aug 2, 1998; 1.1:Aug 25, 1998.)
comradesean wrote:What's the difference between these two [...]?
There's a document about PoP2 DAT Differences. See also the related thread, which contains some additional information.

You could try asking Mechner, but most likely he won't get back to you.
http://www.jordanmechner.com/contact/
https://twitter.com/jmechner
comradesean
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Re: Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Post by comradesean »

IBM release went gold on March 29th, 1990 and hit shelves April 22, 1990 from what I've discovered.

So I did some comparisons and, as I suspected, the "Initial Release" is the warez version that was leaked by Untouchables and 1.0 is the same as my disks that are timestamped April 30th, 1993.

Does anyone know why Initial Release is called as such? Does anyone know where it came from? Know if it was ever sold in stores?
This is the last part of the puzzle that makes no sense to me. If I can verify that Initial Release is just a leaked version that never hit store shelves then I believe the May 28th, 1993 date can be the definitive release date.
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Re: Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Post by David »

comradesean wrote:I've scoured information from a lot of old new groups and i've discovered the following information.
Interesting!
Links to sources would be good, though.

I don't think the Initial Release is finished, because the first ruins level is just too easy:
When you enter the ruins, the level door behind you won't close and you can enter it.

But then, in v1.1, guards walk into pits, and we know *that* was released... :)
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Re: Original releases and dates for PoP and PoP2

Post by wolfulve »

With respect to the three versions of POP 2 Shadow and Flame (IR, 1.0 and 1.1), has anyone determined what version was officially sold in the stores in the actual boxes for the first release? Was it the IR release or was it the 1.0 release. I have read conflicting information. IR = initial release could be construed to mean that was indeed the first official release. Other information indicates IR version was a pre-release, not a formal release for sale in the stores.
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