Nintendo’s Most Wanted!

Video game collecting is really nothing new. There are numerous examples around the internet of huge Nintendo game collections that take up whole rooms, if not houses. This collection however will focus not on quantity but instead quality. This is a collection of the most uncommon Nintendo games that while many people haven’t heard of, serious collectors start drooling just thinking about.

It may be handy to cut this out and put it in your wallet for when you are out and about at garage sales and/or flea markets. It was recently reported that someone was able to buy a bunch of unreleased game prototypes for the original NES system at a garage sale for a few bucks - with the resulting auction expected to reach into the thousands at least. Please note that this list is by no means comprehensive and we would love to hear from you about glaring ommisions below. Well, enjoy!

Nintendo World Championships Gold: This was a limited-edition game that Nintendo put out for the NES in 1990 and is considred by many to be the ‘holy grail’ of Nintendo games. There are 116 copies in total with only 12 of these gold edition games known to exist somewhere out there, if they haven’t been destroyed that is — current value is between $20,000 - $30,000, with a recent auction price being $22,000 - for a non-gold edition!

Myriad 6-in-1: The 6-in-1 Myriad game has also become one of the more standout collector’s items from the NES. As the name suggests, it’s a collection of 6 games, which are of the quality you’d expect from an independent, unlicensed title (read: not good). The catridges themselves are individually numbered with the highest known number to date being 888 - so it is almost a certainty that less than 1,000 exist. That being said, the most recent auction that I could find (they are rare) had the loose game alone sell for just over $700.

Game & Watch Collection: One of the rarest Nintendo DS games ever, a promotional item that was only sent out to Club Nintendo members in Japan. While currently only going for around $100 at auction, in a few years copies that are still in their shrink-wrapped state will almost certainly be worth at least 10 times as much.

Kunio-kun no Dodge Ball Zenin Shuugou Tournament Special: Released in 1993 by Super Famicom as a limited edition for tournaments in Japan, this is certainly the most valuable and rare SNES game known. Given away only as a tournament prize - it currently fetches between $1000 - $1500.

Donkey Kong Country Competiton: Another SNES offering, these cartidges were used by Blockbuster Video in tournaments held within the store, and never receieved a true commercial release. (The cartridge is rumored to have a print run of only 2,500 copies) As typical with most video rental stores, a few cartridges made their way into the bargain bins for customers to purchase. Current value is around $700.

The Starfox Super Weekend and Donkey Kong Country Competiton: Another cartidge were only distributed to Blockbuster Video to be used in tournaments held within the store, and never saw commercial release. The winners of these tournaments would receive prizes such as jackets and sometimes even vacations. Once again, only about 2,500 copies are rumored to exist. While the main retail games may not be rare at all, there was a special package that is quite desirable and current value is around $400.

Stadium Events: (NES) With only about 2000 copies out there, this is the most rare of all the otherwise standard games. In fact, some suggest that as few as 200 copies still exist. This is due in no small part to the fact that just after its release, it was recalled. Upon its release, Nintendo decided to grant the game a first party production, recalling the scant initial cartridges that had been sent out. The game would later become “World Class Track Meet” and only a few of the original issuance remain. As a result, boxed copies of Stadium Events have sold for over $1000, and even loose cartridges are also now closing in on that amount.

Bubble Bath Babes: Going from the screenshot above (censored of course), this is a well, …umm … “mature” NES game. Of the puzzle (puzzling?) genre. Featuring an 8-bit rendered, unclothed female at the bottom of the screen it is easy to see why didn’t get the ‘OK’ from Nintendo, nor were stores eager to carry it. The actual copies in existence is anyone’s guess but this certainly seems like the game one is most likely to find at a garage sale or in a bargain bin somewhere. Of course, this game on eBay will net you at least $500.

Guitar Hero 3 - Canucklehead Edition: Our final entry, apart from being the most rare is also the most perplexing. It is a well used edition of Guitar Hero 3 that has been signed by someone known only as ‘Canucklehead’ who has absolutely nothing to do with the game and to be frank is plain terrible at it. The controller itself appears to have been decorated by a two-year-old (because it was) and shows obvious signs of misuse. It is difficult to put a price on this one-of-a-kind item however all offers over $1000 in the comments section below will be seriously entertained.

That’s all for now - happy hunting!

Rumor: Brawl in Fall For Europe

Poor, poor, Europe. Gaming there on a Wii must just be an abject lesson in frustration. As the rest of the world (read: Japan and the U.S.) gets to play games on time, Europe is stuck waiting ridiculously long amounts of time to get their game on. Remember the latest Paper Mario? It came out about six months later in Europe then it did in the U.S. It doesn’t look like this pattern is changing either despite the fact that Europe is getting Wii Fit and Mario Kart before the U.S. How can I say this when I just listed two of the hottest Wii commodities as coming out in Europe first?

Because the hottest Wii commodity appears to have been delayed in Europe yet again. That’s right I’m talking about Brawl, and it not coming out till sometime this Fall in Europe. The game already had a rumored release date of June but now, thanks to a quote from Nintendo’s American president Reggie Fils-Aime, it look like a Fall release date is more likely.

In responding to a question during an interview with 1Up.com about why Wii Fit and Mario Kart were being released in Europe earlier, Fils-Aime responded with, “Yeah, but they don’t get Smash Brothers until fall.” Casual intonations of arrogance aside this is bad news for Wii and Brawl fans in Europe. I know it’s only one game, but it’s the game and even getting Mario Kart and Wii Fit early doesn’t make up for that much of a delay. Also, how will this effect online play? Will there be problems when the Europeans finally join in on the fun so far down the road?

As with any rumor, keep in mind this is a rumor. I’m going to say that again, this is a rumor. Rumor. Got it?

Bring your Wii up-to-date, with this latest update! (3.2)

If your Wii is hooked up to the net, you may have noticed that the disk slot is illuminating a pretty blue light. Don’t worry, you Wii is not about to explode and its not suffering from hardware failure like your 360 most likely is, you just received a new update from Nintendo!

But don’t go jumping for joy just yet, it’s just a minor update and there is nothing to get excited about. Once you update your Wii and load a game into it, you will notice that on the Disk Channel there is a notification streaming across it. Thats your update, pretty bland huh? Oh well, make sure you keep your Wii up to date!

Virtual Console Games For 2-25-08

Kirby 64â„¢: The Crystal Shards: (Nintendo 64®, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Kirby’s first 3-D adventure is also his Nintendo 64 debut, and it finds the always-versatile hero battling a new enemy called Dark Matter. Dark Matter is after a distant land’s powerful crystal, but a young fairy named Ribbon attempts to save it by escaping with the gem to Dream Land. Now the crystal has been broken, and it’s scattered around the world. Take control of Kirby and help him journey across six worlds, battling a wide variety of enemies and challenging bosses, as he tries to collect all 100 pieces of the shattered crystal. Along the way, you’ll use Kirby’s trademark copying ability to use enemies’ strengths against them. Not only that, but try combining any two abilities to create a brand-new one that is usually stronger than the original. Throw in three exciting multiplayer minigames, and you’ve got a package of which even King Dedede would be proud. Fans of Kirby and action games with bright, colorful graphics should vacuum this one up.

Psychosis: (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a side-scrolling shooter played in a world created from the mind of a twisted demon. Your soul has suddenly wandered into that evil world that exists in every person’s heart. The only way out is to blast your way past the grotesque creatures that block your path in five “causes” (stages). You must face the dangers of this psychedelic world by making full use of three shot types and the satellite option. With power-ups, you can change your shots to a wide-coverage beam, a satellite-generated laser and more. Each shot type can be powered up to three levels. You can also block enemy fire by rotating the satellites to a desired position. How you use these features will be the key to successfully escaping this strange and surreal world.

Nintendo announces Pay to play program for the Wii

At GDC today, Nintendo announced a new pay to play program.

The program will be a new version of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Nintendo explained that, although Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will remain free, to have a greater experience you must pay to play. Games that use this new service will have a similar logo to the current Wi-Fi logo, except it will be orange and there will be text on the bottom reading, pay to play.

Nintendo didn’t go into details about the pay to play program, but hopefully it will be worth our money. Nintendo did state though, that you will not have to pay to get access to an entire game.

Is this good new or bad news? So far we can’t tell, but if Nintendo does this right, it could be great news!

Looks like we’re just gonna have to wait for some more info, we’ll keep you updated.