Hi fellow gaming fan! Did you see the recent headlines about two ultra-rare, unreleased NES games selling for over $10K each at auction? As someone who‘s followed Nintendo since the 1980s heyday, stories like these blow my mind.
These mystery games – one literally fished out of a dumpster! – represent catnip for collectors starved for never-before-seen retro discoveries. Yet their sales also hint at deeper trends accelerating vintage game values to astronomical levels.
In this guide, let‘s explore:
- What specifically tantalizes buyers about these unfinished games
- How failed accessories like Nintendo‘s Power Glove boost allure
- Whether speculation or preservation is fueling the collectible gaming bubble
Plus, I‘ll share data on some of the most coveted NES grails commanding absurd prices at auction…
The NES Reigns as a Nostalgic Icon of Gaming History
First, let‘s consider why collectors and gamers obsess over 30-year-old NES cartridges. Even if you didn‘t experience its 1980s reign, you recognize the NES as the iconic video game system.
With over 700 games released and nearly 62 million units sold, the Nintendo Entertainment System remains the best-selling console of its generation. It essentially resurrected the floundering games industry post-1983 crash while launching franchises like Super Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy that define gaming today.
Simply put, the NES marked a cultural watershed for interactive entertainment. So unearthing long-forgotten NES artifacts represents archaeology of gaming‘s modern origin story.
$100K+ For Unreleased Games Seen By No One… Until Now
Against this backdrop, the recent sales of developmental NES games Battlefields of Napoleon and Scanner become more understandable:
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| Game | Sale Price |
+------------------------------------------------+-------------+
| Battlefields of Napoleon (prototype + assets) | $28,877 USD |
+------------------------------------------------+-------------+
| Scanner (Power Glove demo) | $11,245 USD |
+------------------------------------------------+-------------+These titles intrigue buyers as literally unseeable new games – undisclosed after 25+ years and never digitally preserved. Battlefields emerges surprisingly intact, including packaging materials that enable recreation of the full intended product.
For archivists like the Video Game History Foundation (which acquired Scanner), such prototypes provide crucial missing links in gaming‘s evolutionary timeline. Studying this raw material illuminates how games incrementally transform from early concepts to completed visions.
So shepherding these rare artifacts into public archives helps retrace and preserve that hidden history.
Failed Power Glove Accessory Boosts Appeal
In Scanner‘s case, its association with the disastrous Power Glove controller further bolsters allure. The Power Glove began life as the ultimate 80s vision for virtual reality immersion. But with primitive motion tracking, it famously flopped – becoming a pop culture joke as an embarrassing low for industry-leading Nintendo.
Yet today, the Power Glove enjoys kitschy retro appeal because of this infamy. With only three games ever made to leverage the device, the emergence of a heretofore unknown fourth Power Glove game in Scanner activated feverish bidding. This kind of twisted nostalgia empowers these prototypes with lucrative mythic status.
Speculative Mania Threatens Sustainable Growth
On the other hand, cynics argue profit rather than preservation primarily motivates buyers – gamers hyped to "flip" these rare discoveries for personal gain in an irrationally exuberant bubble.
And according to experts like Wired writer Chris Kohler, prices do appear highly inflated beyond reasonable value:
+-----------------------------------------------------+-------------------+
| Game | Value Estimate |
+-----------------------------------------------------+-------------------+
| 1991 Stadium Events (rarest licensed NES game) | $13K ~ $18K |
+-----------------------------------------------------+-------------------+
| 1990 Nintendo World Championships (gray cartridge) | $8K ~ $13K |
+-----------------------------------------------------+-------------------+With unreleased games fetching double Stadium Event‘s value, speculation arguably overheats this niche collecting scene. But popularizing gaming history still enables wider appreciation and better incentives for systematic preservation.
So rather than dismiss "flippers" seeking personal gain, the mainstream industry should nurture this momentum by directly supporting museums, academics, and archivists – ensuring valuable artifacts remain accessible public resources.
Preservation Initiatives Demonstrate Clear Progress
And positives trends do show the gaming sector increasingly taking control:
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Grassroots groups like the VGHF continue dramatically expanding the historic record via installing physical exhibits and university courses.
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Mainstream console makers officially sanction legacy game emulation access, with Nintendo launching its Expansion Pack service last year.
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New blockchain certification of collectible games by WATA demonstrates promising paths to verify provenance and chain of ownership.
So responsible speculation may yet give way to sustainable stability.
Passion and Participation Sustain Generational Continuity
As an avid Nintendo fan since childhood, I find this growing mass appreciation for gaming history as not only validating, but part of a traditional human urge. Collecting and studying important cultural artifacts perseveres across eras as a means to transmit generational memory.
And much like obsessives who collect coins, stamps, or fine art, gaming collectors participate in this universal ritual – stewarding fragile relics from the past whose meaning accrues over decades. Derided as niche, these communities in fact sustain continuity and progress.
So while prices for gaming‘s rarest grails continue bubbling into the stratosphere, the history they represent must remain grounded for each new generation to interpret on its own evolving terms.
Let me know your thoughts on long-lost gaming treasures resurfacing to such lucrative acclaim! I‘m eager to discuss with fellow fans.
