Culture
How a man got his hands on ten extremely rare Nintendo World Championships cartridges
Although e-sports have long been a part of video game culture since the early 70’s, competitions saw a large surge in popularity in 1989 when Universal Pictures produced The Wizard, a film about a trio of kids who make their way to a national Nintendo video game championship for a grand prize of $50,000. A year later, and Nintendo held its first World Championships, a video game competition that toured twenty-nine cities across the United States. The competition, which was inspired by The Wizard, was based on scoring points in three Nintendo Entertainment System games (Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris) within a time limit of 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Players had to collect 50 coins in Super Mario Bros., finish the first race in Rad Racer, and then accumulate as many points as possible in Tetris until time expired.
The event was a focal point in Nintendo’s rise to the top of the gaming market, and kids across North America practiced feverishly in hopes of heading to this event and winning it all. What all 90 competitors didn’t realize at the time, was that even the losers would walk away with something of greater value. The competition was based on a custom NES cartridge by the same name. Ninety of these copies exist as the official gray cartridge and were given out to finalists after the championships concluded. The other 26 catridges are gold and were given out as prizes in a separate contest held by Nintendo Power magazine. Considering how much of a nostalgic powerhouse the NES is, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the gold cartridge, described as the “holy grail” of console game collecting, recently sold for over $100,000 on eBay.
Back in 1997, a collector by the name of Jason Wilson was able to get his hands on ten copies of these carts – one of which cost him only $50. Daniel Ibbertson put together the video below explaining the story behind Wilson’s devious plot. To learn more about the event and these rare cartridges, I also recommend listening to episode 11 of the NXpress podcast which features Jeff Hansen, the winner of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships discussing his experience at the event and how he got his hands on a gold cartridge.
-
Features2 weeks ago
Why Don’t Developers Want to Release Games on Xbox?
-
Features1 week ago
Catch the Fall Vibes in Pokémon GO’s Latest Harvest Festival Event
-
Features4 weeks ago
October 19 is Rumored to Be a Game-Changing Day for Pokémon GO Players.
-
Features2 weeks ago
Understanding Reward Mechanics in Modern Gaming
-
Gaming News4 weeks ago
How to Unlock Mew in Pokémon Trading Card Game
-
Features3 weeks ago
Top 10 Cutest Video Game Characters, Ranked!
-
Greatest Nintendo Games4 weeks ago
Don’t Sleep On These Incredible Games on Nintendo Switch
-
Esports4 weeks ago
The Thrill of CS2 Case Openings: What You Need to Know
-
Game Reviews4 weeks ago
Every Realm in God of War: Ragnarok Explained
-
Guides4 weeks ago
Unlocking Discord on Xbox, PS5, Windows, and Mac
-
Features3 weeks ago
From Pixels to Prizes, The Evolution of Video Game Collectibles
-
Guides3 weeks ago
How to Improve Your Aim in Valorant?