The twenty thousand dollar videogame

Features
By published

Our guide to rare games and what you should be collecting for the future

The holy grail
Here it is - the most desirable collectable videogame in the world. Yes, even more than a copy of GoldenEye for Xbox 360.

This grey NES cartridge was given out as prizes to 90 runners-up and so is extremely collectable for Nintendo enthusiasts.

Currently there's a limited edition reproduction of the cartridge going on eBay – we're not sure how valuable a reproduction cart is going to be, but there were apparently only 22 made in its initial production run, so we'll see. At the time of writing it's up to $51, but it could well go much higher. But if you see anything with Nintendo World Championship 1990 written on it at a boot sale, it's probably worth the risk of buying it, just in case.

But the story doesn't end there for the Nintendo World Championships cart. While there were 90 grey cartridges, there were a further 22 gold versions, which were given out to winners of a Nintendo Power competition. These are the holy grail - especially as some remain 'unfound'. They could be in your loft.

One MyEbid auction for a job lot of 24 NES carts containing the game ended at $21,400. Apparently the listing owner's son had died in Iraq, so he was selling off some of his things - and didn't know what he had. This surely puts the value of the cart at around $20,000 (£10,000), as there was nothing else of note in the titles for sale.

One definite, confirmed price came up recently when a collector named James Baker paid $15,000 for one of the gold cartridges. You've got to be pretty dedicated to spend $15,000 on a game. When UK games mag Edge asked him what his friends thought of his purchase, he told them: "The ones that aren’t into games, well, either I don’t tell them or when I tell them they think I’m nuts. But I don’t blame them."

Want to see what all teh fuss is about? Check out this footage of the game in action:

Want to start collecting?
If you're serious about collecting, then we've got some pointers for you. These are:

1) Always buy complete versions of games
That means box, instructions and disc/cart and especially any extras that came with it like music CDs or game maps.

2) Condition is king
A single crease or tear is enough to deter many would-be buyers from parting with their money, so make sure you keep your games in the best possible condition. Seriously, don't even open them, let alone play them. Sounds daft, but just remember that factory-sealed Mario 64 up there.

3) Don't buy re-releases
A Platinum version of Final Fantasy VII is less appealing than the original black version. That's just the way it is.

4) Go for the unique
Got something signed by the lead programmer? How many other people are going to have that?

Well, we're off to a car boot sale to have a rummage around. Don't even think about trying to beat us to that gold NES cartridge. Even if it is only Zelda.

Of course, if you do come across anything rare and exciting, do let us know in the forum. After all, there's bound to be plenty out there that nobody even knows about yet...

Justin Towell
Justin Towell
Freelance Writer

Justin was a GamesRadar+ staffer for 10 years but is now a freelance writer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.