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The 'Holy Grail' of gaming sells for $21,400 photo

If you are a retrophile such as myself, then I must ask you to please pick your jaw up off the floor after seeing the above headline and image. A fabled golden Nintendo World Championships 1990 (NWC) cart recently sold within a collection of 23 other games in an online auction for $21,400 -- it began on March 18th.

There are only 116 NWC carts in circulation today. Ninety of these cartridges were clad in the standard gray casing, but there were 26 special golden cartridges that were given away through a Nintendo Power contest that ran just before the 1990 championship tour. There were only two ways you could possibly get your meathooks on one of the 116 carts: become a finalist in the championships or be a winner in said contest. That's it.

As you can see, the odds of you or I getting our hands on one or, rather, even seeing one in person are ridiculously slim. The notority of these blessed game cartridges has made them the top pick for avid collector's all over the world and continues to be considered the most sought after piece of gaming history.

However, this auction holds a very unique and interesting tale. Hit the jump to continue reading and find out! 

The story behind the auction itself is almost as amazing as the rarity of the game it contains. It was started by a father who had lost his son in the Iraq war. The auction description states that his son passed away a few years ago and now he is deciding to sell some of his son's belongings. Ironically, he would've kept this collection for his daughter, but the NES they owned no longer works.

It is quite tragic for anyone to lose somebody they care for, regardless of the circumstances. Perhaps this auction was his son's final way of paying back his father and easing the pain.

Another thing to note, is that the auction began at a mere $24 -- one dollar per game seemed to be a fair price in the seller's eye. Can you imagine going to someone's yard sale and seeing the literal "Holy Grail" of gaming marked for one buck? I think I'd probably pass out just by seeing the friggin' thing.

Nonetheless, a unique treasure of gaming's past deserves an equally unique story to go along with it. See the auction for yourself.

[Thanks to our reader Mario for giving us a buzz on the Destructophone.]


Continue: More WHAAAAAAT? stories





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41 comments | showing # 1 to 41

Niero's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 12:57
Niero
That's pretty crazy. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a marketing hoax though, that would be disgusting
Jayeugene's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:00
Jayeugene
Agree @ Niero, i think that gold cart is worth even more than what was paid.
Lord_Satorious's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:04
Lord_Satorious
What an idiot. He posted an auction on something _other_ than eBay? Does he even know how more money he would have gotten had he listed the auction on eBay? Everyone would have known about gaming's 'Holy Grail' within hours of its posting, and collectors from everywhere would have scrambling to bid over each other just to get their greedy hands on it. I think it could've gone for much more, $21K for the rarest of rare video games isn't a lot as far as hobbies go.
galagabug 's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:08
galagabug
daaayaaamn.
i remember that contest. i think those pages of my nintendo power are still stuck together.
DryvBy's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:12
DryvBy
@Jayeugene

It's only worth that if someone is going to spend that. People spending $21,400 on a ton of "rare" games obviously have no sense (but a good amount of change). I want to email this guy and tell him that I'll buy them back from him for double, but since I live in South Africa, I will have someone pick it up and ship it to me. :P
Snaileb 's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:14
Snaileb
Galagabug, stuck together? My playboys do that...so..uh...

Fanboy? lol

(sorry)

It's ok... sometimes pages of my Game Informer get stuck together because of the awesomeness coming out this summer.
OutrageousToob's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:17
OutrageousToob
I remember that contest as well. A few years ago I was at a flea market and got a close up look at a 'grey' copy. THe seller knew the thing had quite a bit of value as it was going for $500; he had it propped up in a glass curio (along with several other rare, expensive, and odd gaming anomalies).

Who knows if anyone ever bought the thing.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:19
Mxyzptlk
Holy crap, welcome back Savant!
Savant's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:43
Savant
Whoever thought I was dead, think again. :) Thanks for the welcome back.

Life is still very hectic for me, but I couldn't resist to post this.I was blown away.
bleep's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 13:51
bleep
so....did his son become a finalist in the NWC ? or how did he get the game in the first place?
Namelessted's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 14:02
Namelessted
That blind fuck finally found his computer again. he must have gotten a lot of burn trying to connect to the innernet through his oven. Crazy story though. Why would the dude sell shit on anything but eBay and Craigslist? I didn't even think anything else even existed.
Mabec's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 14:31
Mabec
Where can i read more about this Holy Grail-copy? =)
KyleGamgee's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 14:50
KyleGamgee
That bid history seems fishy. Someone pumped up their bid from 12,000 or whatever to just under the winning bid by $100.
Danzuke's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 14:52
Danzuke
Why in the fuck would anyone sell that game in a lot with other crap? One sold on ebay alone a few months back for $15,000

Mabec: you can read more about it here
http://www.thebbps.com/blog/2006/11/17/nwc-gold-cart/
Mabec's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 14:56
Mabec
Thanks, i also found this:
http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/nes/nwc/nwc.html
spokensilence18's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 15:05
spokensilence18
It seems someone else is selling a copy of Nintendo World Championships, although it's not a gold cartridge. I wonder if anyone would be interested in it for $2,000.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1990-Nintendo-Championship-Game-Cartridge-RARE_W0QQitemZ160107851726QQihZ006QQcategoryZ62053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
BluDesign's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 15:09
BluDesign
@Mabec

Wikipedia.
Clockwork's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 16:02
Clockwork
To be honest, I've never heard of it...And apparently neither has the father. He must of had one hell of a surprise when the auction went up to 21,000 bucks.
sandman's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 16:27
sandman
good to see you back mike
ekoala2002's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 16:46
ekoala2002
What a find
Ninjajuice66's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 16:59
Ninjajuice66
Isn't that the rarest game cart ever?
skankerzero's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 17:52
skankerzero
I wonder what developers could get for game demos that never saw light of day in retail...

Lord knows I've worked on many tech demos that fans would love to play.
DryvBy's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/18/2007 20:16
DryvBy
Ok, the more I think of this, the more I just laugh. Who here would spend good hard earned money on this? Sure, it's rare, but it's not like you're going to play it, you're friends are only going to be impressed long enough to a) move onto something else or b) steal it. Some people are just foolish.

Mazel Tov.
kariomart's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/19/2007 11:25
kariomart
Does anybody know what the actual game is?
Lord_Satorious's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/19/2007 17:58
Lord_Satorious
DryvBy, people have spent more money on equally stupid things. Stamps, coins, old cars, et cetera. They'll use none of it because it's too valuable. It's called a collection hobby, the point is to collect the things you like. Some people like the really rare and expensive stuff within that hobby. Within collecting video games, is this old gold NES cartridge. So if you want the rarest of the rare, that's the cart to find.
fearian's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/23/2007 17:37
fearian
how much would an original gold zelda cardridge sell for? with all the packaging and manual.

*stares at possible ££££ on shelf*
MurderDolls's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/29/2008 06:10
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MurderDolls's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/23/2008 16:48
MurderDolls
MurderDolls's Avatar - Comment posted on 07/24/2008 19:42
MurderDolls
Oyunlar's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/23/2008 19:29
Oyunlar
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MurderDolls's Avatar - Comment posted on 09/18/2008 23:08
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Invisiblebears's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/16/2009 15:18
Invisiblebears
I just posted my gray cart on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320385130192
wuppi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/22/2009 06:43
wuppi
wuppi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/24/2009 06:34
wuppi
dontwasteyourmoney's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/28/2009 04:15
dontwasteyourmoney
Be careful of buying a Nintendo World Championships Golds because one can be easily faked. There are two flaws making this possible.

First, the are not numbered and the carts cannot be told apart from another. This makes it very difficult to prove the original owner and its ownership history.

Second, the only mark on the cart is printed on cheap non-glossed sticker paper with a 360 dpi Xerox printer. Worse yet, the sticker isn't machine cut, nor shaped by exacto knife. It is cut with original scissors by hand. Then sloppily slapped on.

If you have no soul, you can mint your own. You will also walk in the very same steps Nintendo did.

1) Get a gray cart(stay with me here) and remove the circuit board. They are 100% identical.

2) Take a Zelda cart and remove the inside and wash off the sticker. Cut a small sqaure in the upper left hand corner in the same position as the gray. Smooth it out.

3)Place the gray board in the gold and put in the screws. Since the corner is gone and the right size, the dip switch will face out nicely.

4) Scan the Nintendo World Championships logo in and match to size of any gold cart you've seen in Photoshop. Print in 360 dpi on ordinary non-gloseed sticker paper. Best if you have a color inkjets could do the trick.

5) Cut with plain scissors and place by on the front as a gold would.

BAM! You have yourself a gold.

Once again, DO NOT DO THIS. THIS IS FRAUD. This is to prove the golds are not a wise investment. However, some dishonest joker will see a gray for 6,000 turning it into a 17,500 sell will take the risk. Take caution.

Why would Nintendo make it so easy. The golds were a promotion and an afterthought and they used what they had at the time, the official grays.

Be safe and be careful what you buy. You might be purchasing a gray in disguise...
val2000's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/24/2009 22:37
val2000
No hox. I've played the game. My brother was the Portland Oregon Champion in 1990. We went to the finals in Florida. It was pretty sweet. I just went online today to see how much the game was worth. Expected maybe a grand. Holy crap. Wasn't expecting $20K!!
BobbysWorld's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/03/2009 08:36
BobbysWorld
I think what Dontwasteyourmoney is saying is the Gold catridges are risky because they can be easily duplicated. He is also saying the grays were the original cartidges and after the contest was over they gutted 26 grays and put them in Zelda cases.

I know the Nintendo Championships very well. Was the Champion from Portland Mike Stricklett?

Now they orginally were supposed to be at Universal Studios Orlando Florida then they moved the finals to Universal Studios Hollywood. Check it out on Youtube.
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