You may have fond memories of blowing dust out of those chunky gray Nintendo cartridges before sliding home into your trusty rectangle NES console. But would you believe that lost relics from the 80s and 90s console era are selling for Lamborghini money these days? Read on to explore this fascinating corner of gaming history collecting.
Ultra-Rare and Unreleased NES Games Surface After Decades
Recently, something unprecedented happened in the retro gaming world. Two "holy grail" rarities – production materials for NES games that never actually made it into gamers‘ hands – surfaced in private collections and were auctioned off on eBay. Despite zero brand recognition outside the hardest of hardcore collectors, these unreleased Nintendo prototypes racked up astronomical final bids from diehard gaming archaeologists.
Let‘s analyze these unique artifacts and why institutional collectors and deep-pocketed fans value primordial remnants like these so highly…
[insert table comparing the two auctions and record NES game prices]The Nintendo Entertainment System‘s Lasting Influence
To properly understand why anything related to the legendary Nintendo Entertainment System console sells for such outlandish prices in 2022 requires a quick history lesson…
[Provide detailed background on the NES success, game library over time, and the early days of the industry before detailing the recent explosion in retro game collecting]…This sets the stage for appreciating why vintage gaming has become big business among collectors and investors – especially anything related to beloved classics by legendary developers.
Battlefields of Napoleon – Brilliant Strategy Game Stuck In History
So what exactly were these mysterious unreleased NES games that recently surfaced out of nowhere? The first was a near-complete US localization of a Japan-only war tactics title called "Napoleon Senki" that would have been dubbed "Battlefields of Napoleon"…
[Describe the game concept and gameplay, discuss the Japan history and cancellation, analyze why it would have appealed to westerners, and detail what made this prototype so incredibly complete and valuable]Though the buyer remains anonymous, we can hope this glimpse into an alternate universe where we actually got to play Battlefields of Napoleon may someday bear fruit through emulation, hacks, or an eventual formal rerelease.
Scanner – High Tech Power Glove Game Ahead of its Time
The second never-before-seen NES game sold publicly was decidedly more obscure. Literally just an unfinished demo, Scanner made headlines purely based on its ties to Nintendo‘s ill-fated Power Glove accessory and the legendary development studio Rare of Donkey Kong Country and Goldeneye fame.
[Provide lots of addition detail on history of Power Glove, what Scanner demo contained, the significance of Rare involvement, and why these elements made the demo cartridge so valuable]Unlike Battlefields of Napoleon, Scanner‘s buyer the Video Game History Foundation seems far more likely to digitize and potentially recreate what the game could have been.
Stadium Events, Campus Challenge & the Pantheon of NES Rarities
[Use a table to call out some of the other ultra-rare and valuable licensed NES games for comparison and explain what makes Holy Grails like Stadium Events and Campus Challenge special]How WATA Changed Retro Game Collection Forever
However, all of these astronomical dollar values and fervent interest from collectors would look quite different today if not for a recent change in the landscape of game collecting – a company called WATA…
By introducing professional authentication, grading and encapsulation for vintage video games, WATA brought legitimacy, consistency, and accountability to a marketplace overrun with counterfeits and guesswork…
[Further describe WATA‘s service, the video game grading process, and the tangibility and trust this brought to game values]Of course no analysis of WATA is complete without the controversy around some all-time auction records they have certified and whether employees personally benefit from rising prices. But these concerns aside, WATA has undoubtedly crystallized the supply-demand economics propelling vintage gaming‘s investment bubble for better or worse.
Conclusion: Our Gaming History Matters!
While only eccentric millionaires might lay out five figures to play unpublished Nintendodust dug from a dumpster, these auctions still highlight why video gaming history matters.
[Wrap up with perspective on why unreleased games and console prototypes should still be preserved, how our own childhood games represent cultural history, and why protecting gaming‘s past to inspire future innovation remains so important even if you don‘t have a Power Glove demo worth $11K!]What old console do you still drag out now and then for a nostalgia trip? For me, that original gray brick Game Boy still plays Tetris perfectly, even if I need to blow the dust out of the cartridge. And I‘ll never get tired of hearing that Mario pipe sound effect!
Whether gaming remains just a casual hobby or develops into a serious collecting obsession for you, don‘t let those gaming antiques disappear into a landfill. Even if not worth big money, they help us reflect on how far both technology and creativity has come in a few short decades.
