Pied Piper Search Thread

jessiray said:
I'd feel a lot more comfortable possibly reaching out to Keju or someone else in the Japanese fandom with a known copy and seeing if they'd feel comfortable extracting the files.
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At this point, this feels like the most viable way to get access to the game, the unfortunate part is that it is uncommon even in Japan. Is there just the one copy that we know exists? Also something to consider eventually is what if the battery in the phone dies and it is no longer able to boot up? Do they sell the batteries in places still?
 
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Honestly, I'd just be glad to get my mitts on a compatible phone that had similar games on it (not even PP) to see if I could learn the dumping process. Some people have had luck with the Final Fantasy and Sonic Mobile games and I would want to know their methodology well before tampering with a known copy. They're rare at this point and I'd hate for anyone to lose theirs.

Aidan Uzuki said:
At this point, this feels like the most viable way to get access to the game, the unfortunate part is that it is uncommon even in Japan. Is there just the one copy that we know exists? Also something to consider eventually is what if the battery in the phone dies and it is no longer able to boot up? Do they sell the batteries in places still?
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I'm not an early 2k phone expert, but I'm EXTREMELY worried about the cmos on these at this point
 
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Oooh I'm late to finding this thread. I've always had moments in my server where we go "Yeahh we're gonna go find Pied Piper" and quickly give up haha.
Sorry I haven't the entire thread so I don't know if this has been mentioned, Watte (goes by @Watte_Tv on Twitter) has said he's played Pied Piper before a while ago and owned a phone with the game on it but it encountered hardware issues. I can't remember if he still owns the phone, though considering he's a collector I'd think he must.
I believe last time I spoke to him he said he tried to get it sorted but couldn't get anywhere. I was wondering that if the game were downloaded onto the phone's memory it could be retrieved through some convoluted method of soldering onto the board and having some program that could read the data from it.
Anyway that's all I got to add if it's anything new at all. Interested to see if this goes somewhere :D
 
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I think I found a more comprehensive list of compatible phones of the time.
 

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Aidan Uzuki said:
I think I found a more comprehensive list of compatible phones of the time.
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So I dug around a bit, and just by picking a model at random, I found a listing on eBay for the Sharp 802SH for $44.99 + shipping (does not include a charger but does have the battery): https://www.ebay.com/itm/166018715379

This is the text from your screenshot of the archived page:
Pied Piper(アプリ)対応機種一覧
703N, 703SH, 703SHf, 802N, 802SH, 803T, 804SH, 902SH, 902T, 903SH, 903T, J-SH53, V501SH, V501T, V502T, V601SH, V601T, V602SH, V602T, V603SH, V603T, V604T
©2007 NBGI

This is a PDF of various cell phone models released in Japan in May 2008, uploaded by user edgezero: https://www.scribd.com/doc/39881529/tekigou

Document Information​

This document lists mobile phone models released by various manufacturers in Japan in May 2008. It separates the models into categories for NTT DoCoMo FOMA, WCDMA, and SoftBank 3G networks. For each manufacturer, it lists the phone model names and numbers. Key phone models are noted as having particular features like "HIGH SPEED" or special editions.​

Original Description:​

​

Original Title:​

tekigou​

Copyright:​

Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)​

Available Formats​

Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd​

And here's another site that lists very detailed specs for various phones, including the model I found on eBay:

mobilofant.com - Softbank mobile devices

Softbank mobile devices.
mobilofant.com mobilofant.com

mobilofant.com - Softbank 802SH

Softbank 802SH capabilities and properties.
mobilofant.com mobilofant.com

And a search for Vodafone on Mercari via Buyee:

Not sure how much this helps, if at all, but figured I'd at least link what I happened to find.
 
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Made an account because I've been lurking this thread for years cause it's one of the first things that pops up when I do my occasional search online for whether Pied Piper has gotten archived yet.

I am going to Japan for about 18 days in February and it's already on my itinerary to hit at least a dozen thrift and retro tech stores for various PlayStation region locked games for my collection. Pied Piper is also on the list of what I want to try and track down while there. This includes *possibly* looking into trying to download it on a compatible phone while there. Any tips?
 
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MissScarletTanager said:
Made an account because I've been lurking this thread for years cause it's one of the first things that pops up when I do my occasional search online for whether Pied Piper has gotten archived yet.

I am going to Japan for about 18 days in February and it's already on my itinerary to hit at least a dozen thrift and retro tech stores for various PlayStation region locked games for my collection. Pied Piper is also on the list of what I want to try and track down while there. This includes *possibly* looking into trying to download it on a compatible phone while there. Any tips?
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Safe travels! I don't believe that Pied Piper is still available to download, or I imagine that Japanese fans would have done so already. Are you hoping to locate an old phone that has it installed? Earlier in this thread we tracked down lists of various models that were compatible, but it seems like it'd be a real challenge to find one that's still working, still has a functional battery, and just so happens to have Pied Piper installed. It'd definitely be extremely impressive if you did manage to locate it, though!! Do you know anyone who works at any of the stores you plan to visit who may be able to help you track something down prior to your trip? Good luck!!!
 
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