back to article Rare NES title takes $43,000 at auction

The seller said it was a "priceless" item, and while bidding didn't quite reach infinity, one lucky bidder has now agreed to buy a "one of a kind" copy of Bandai's 1986 videogame Family Fitness Stadium Events for $41,300 (£27,102). Developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the game was released in Europe in 1988, …

COMMENTS

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  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    $29.95 was a rip-off

    Let alone $43K

  2. Neil 6

    Rare?

    There are 6 for sale on ebay right now

    The original Akalabeth, now that has got to be worth some serious money.

  3. Si 1

    Rarity

    The PAL version of the game isn't actually rare, so there are often plenty of copies of that on eBay. The US version wasn't on the shelves for very long because Nintendo bought the rights to the game from Bandai and released their own version of it, along with the Nintendo Power Pad (the original DDR pad).

    The actual rarity of this game is disputed, some claim it was only on sale in one shop for a limited amount of time, but generally the ones claiming this are the people who own the game and want to protect their investment! There have been quite a few reports of people buying this game from all over the US, so the claims of only one shop selling it seem to be false. After this auction, I would expect to see quite a few copies make their way onto eBay and we will start to get a better idea of just how rare the game really is.

    Since it was taken off the market prematurely there could even be a pallet full of copies of this game sat in a warehouse somewhere. It has happened before with other Nintendo games previously considered rare.

  4. Ben Rosenthal

    R@RE

    L@@K

    what a fucking massive plum! Money and sense ratio well out of sync!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    $29.95

    probably still only got $29.95 after you deduct eBay and Paypal fees!

  6. LinkOfHyrule

    I remember

    I remember paying 50 or 60 quid back in the day for some really sh!te NES and SNES games but this takes the hobnobs!

    $43,000 was paid , probably by some nerd, so that it can stay forever, unopened in his closet, at his mothers house. Man, just think of all the hookers and blow he could of brought with that kind of cash! Mate, you are wasting your life!

  7. Andus McCoatover

    Floppy disks, then...

    (IT bit sorted, natch)

    I had a copy of "DOOM" I bought for about £20 a couple of decades ago, I think. Five x 31/4" disks unreadable on any of my machines, as I suspect the 0's and 1's seem to have done the fruit-fly manoeuvre*, and got too close together, having natural (animal) magnetism. Dammit.

    *Wish the damn disks had been more 'floppy' than them damn flies...

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Headmaster

      Youths!

      Uhm a 3 1/4" disk really wasn't a "floppy" since it was enclosed in a hard shell.

      You want to go back down memory lane, look at 5 1/4" and 8" floppies.

      1. John Gaunt

        3-1/4" - Floppy Disk

        The 3-1/4" disk(ette) is indeed a floppy disk. The floppy medium is encased in a hard shell.

        I remember people BITD calling them hard disks.

      2. John Gaunt

        3.5", 3-1/4", Whatever . . .

        LOL. Now you have me calling 3.5" floppies 3-1/4" floppies.

  8. TeeCee Gold badge
    Stop

    Has the money changed hands yet?

    Or is this yet another example of the eBay trolls taking the piss out of some arsehat who's made the fatal error of describing his tat as "priceless"?

    1. Stevie

      Bah!

      That'd be my guess.

  9. Chimpofdoom!
    Pint

    Ah the trusty ol' NES...

    Might have to get it back out of the attic and play some Duck hunt or some Zelda

    1. LinkOfHyrule
      Thumb Up

      Duck hunt, the orignal first person (first duck) shooter!

      Better get out that old piece o' sh!t 80's CRT from the loft too then, as that zapper won't work on flat screens!

      You cant beat a good old duck hunting sesh, shame you cant shoot that sarcastic dog though when he laughs at you! Oh and I really loved how the NES has a grey, black and red colour scheme - everything back then was black, grey and red, so mid-late 80's! Funnily, the Atari 2600 was woodgrain just like the late 70's was! If woodgrain comes back into fashion I look forward to playing on my mahogany Playstation 4!

      1. Stevie

        Hah!

        You *could* shoot the dog on the arcade version. It would reappear from stage right on crutches and lecture you on the correct target of choice.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This guy needs my old man standing behind him!

    Like they say, "One born every minute!" or as my old always said, and it still haunts me now when I get my cards out, "If you like, it's your money son."...argghh Dad!! ( Cards back in wallet... )

    1. Hedley Phillips

      You must be my long lost borther!

      Dads are great aren't they.

      Even started saying this to my own kids now.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Andus/Ian

    AFAICR there were only two different 3" based form factors, Amstrad 3" and the 3.5" that everyone else used. I'm fairly certain there's never been a 31/4".

    Amusingly my local camera shop still has a few new 3" floppies for sale!

    1. LinkOfHyrule

      I think

      I think there was/are some synthesizers and other pieces of music kit that use/used the unpopular 3 inch format for storage. Possibly even some video or early digital stills cams used it too, hence maybe why the camera shop still stocks them.

  12. firefly
    Happy

    AVGN?

    Who else thinks that the Angry Video Game Nerd has bought this and that we should expect a review soon?

    1. LinkOfHyrule

      I love the AVGN

      But I doubt he's got the cash. He's got a power pad though (he wears it as a cape in one video I believe) and he probably owns the non-rare version of the game.

  13. Blubster

    A fool

    and their money are soon parted....

  14. luas_dublin
    Pirate

    timing

    Wonder if the timing of this sale is related to this one from a few weeks back?

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370330327400

    ORIGINAL NINTENDO GAME SYSTEM LOT/ CONTROLLER/ 5 GAMES (which included stadium events) , which went for $13k making it a bargain by comparison.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    R

    Tape loading error, 0:1

  16. andy gibson

    not as rare

    As my copy of Great Giana Sisters for the Spectrum.

    And as for "floppy" disks around the 3" size, Amstrad didn't help with their really hard cased 3" disks, or the 3" Quikdisks, which were 2.8"!

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