$40,000 Nintendo game!

[Skeithex]

Impressed by the story of the North Carolina eBay seller who stumbled upon an ultra-rare, $13,000 Nintendo game? So were we -- and so was Kansas reader Dave, who headed for his basement to see if there was video game gold lurking down there.

"We had quite a collection (185+ games) that has sat in our basement for over 20 years," Dave told Y! Games. "The games were on a list to be brought to Goodwill – in fact, within a month, Goodwill was going to have them."

To his astonishment, not only did he find a copy of the same game that just fetched over $13,000 on eBay -- highly sought-after collector's item Stadium Events -- it was in perfect condition, right down to the original shrinkwrapping and Richard Gordman pricetag. (A mere $29.99, if you're wondering.)

"Now I’m not much of a collector, but I know that having a factory seal is good," he said.

But he's only just now finding out quite how good.

As it turns out, the game's unopened condition makes Dave's copy of Stadium Events three times more valuable: he sold it on auction site eBay for a breathtaking $41,300. It's thought to be one of only two shrinkwrapped copies of the game still in existence.

Why had he never unwrapped it? He couldn’t see the point. Stadium Events needed a special floor mat controller to play, and Dave couldn't find one.

"The pads weren't available when we went to purchase it," he said. "We never got around to returning the game...lucky us!"

"Lucky us" indeed. Nintendo bought the rights to the floor mat controller in 1988, and recalled the few copies of Stadium Events that reached retailers. Fewer than 200 games are thought to have escaped destruction, and fewer than 20 are thought to still exist. Dave's procrastination earned him a $41,270 profit, which he and his wife plan to invest.

"After taxes and tithing, the rest of our part will be going to a retirement account that has been decimated by the dot-com bomb, 9/11, and the recent market problems. Not very sexy, but needed." He's also going to auction off the rest of his Nintendo paraphernalia.

source

[froggyboy604]

Makes you wonder why certain people are willing to pay so much for classic games.

[Skeithex]

Makes you wonder why certain people are willing to pay so much for classic games.

anyone who pays that much is a collector. Video game collecting is a decent hobby but I see little point in it.

[froggyboy604]

Makes you wonder why certain people are willing to pay so much for classic games.

anyone who pays that much is a collector. Video game collecting is a decent hobby but I see little point in it.

I suppose, but I am only willing to pay 100 bucks for a collectors video game. But, It has to comewith something cool like the Kingdom hearts Keyblade, or FF7 Cloud's swords.

[Skeithex]

Makes you wonder why certain people are willing to pay so much for classic games.

anyone who pays that much is a collector. Video game collecting is a decent hobby but I see little point in it.

I suppose, but I am only willing to pay 100 bucks for a collectors video game. But, It has to comewith something cool like the Kingdom hearts Keyblade, or FF7 Cloud's swords.

you wouldn't be getting a lot of collator games that way

But I wonder if the people who buy these games play them or keep them as is?

[froggyboy604]

anyone who pays that much is a collector. Video game collecting is a decent hobby but I see little point in it.

I suppose, but I am only willing to pay 100 bucks for a collectors video game. But, It has to comewith something cool like the Kingdom hearts Keyblade, or FF7 Cloud's swords.

you wouldn't be getting a lot of collator games that way

But I wonder if the people who buy these games play them or keep them as is?

I sometimes wonder if some Game Collectors actually play games since they are so busy looking on Ebay, flea markets, used games stores for games. Plus, they also fear damaging them.

It is like some people who collect Classic collectable cars. They keep it in the garage mostly and don't drive them regularly.

[Skeithex]

it be a shame if they didn't. But if they did not play them at least the game be perfectly preserved to the point where one day someone takes it apart and up loads the game data to something so everyone could play it.