Penn & Teller Smoke & Mirrors Sega CD

[LeonIncognito]

Hello,

This isn't a request thread, I'm just very curious the unreleased Sega CD game Penn & Teller Smoke & Mirrors ("Desert Bus") seems to be nowhere on the internet. The game was completed, but not published. Official review copies exist in the wild. But I've checked absolutely everywhere and can't find this game. A single dead torrent on one website is all I could find.

Why do we think that is? Do Penn & Teller have lawyers that go beyond the big companies?

 

[bjork]

Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors (Apr 30, 1995 prototype)

A prototype of the unreleased Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD.

hiddenpalace.org

here you go, chief

[edit - also to answer the question, I don't know the story of what actually happened, but I'd guess the combination of a niche comedy duo and the relative failure that was the Sega CD combined to make an executive pump the brakes on this]

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I didn't even know the game existed until the AVGN brought it up during his Desert Bus episode. That (combined with the relative obscurity of the SEGA CD itself), has probably not made it an archival priority.

Been damn curious about it for ages, though.

 

[LeonIncognito]

Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors (Apr 30, 1995 prototype)

A prototype of the unreleased Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD.

hiddenpalace.org

here you go, chief

[edit - also to answer the question, I don't know the story of what actually happened, but I'd guess the combination of a niche comedy duo and the relative failure that was the Sega CD combined to make an executive pump the brakes on this]

Thanks!

Yeah, I was looking for this under Unreleased or Prototype on multiple sites and got nothing.

 

[bjork]

Fwiw: I do not recommend solo attempts at Desert Bus. You're either going to have to not pee for eight hours or risk losing a run whenever the need becomes too great. I thought I could just run real quick and go, lost a run four hours in.

 

[LeonIncognito]

I saw Penn & Teller live last year. They're still at it, still got it.

 

[Sumea]

 

[Bakuma1997]

As many others, the only reason i learned this was a thing was due to AVGN's video, to be fair the game made something good of, there is a charity

 

[Sumea]

My anecdote here is there is actually another Penn and Teller game, focused on PSVR and using their "game" as tool to prank people. It's title is: "Penn & Teller VR: F U, U, U, & U". I did not purchase it myself, yet, but I did think to myself that they kept with the art after all these years. While not great games, they are some of the best "outsider art" in video game sphere, something where the clear non video gamers still through their understanding of other media and their own medium get it, and make parody of it and the criticisms it gets.

As far as finding it... I do not remember obtaining a image file myself that hard. I am sure penn and teller are not striking it down, and likely are more glad there is life for that title in sense. Most likely reason is that most romsites go by established ROM collections to which prototypes etc. are "extra". If you find the right place you find the ISO/BIN+CUE.