1.) 1990
Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition (NES; NTSC-U)
Copies Produced: 26
Estimated Price: $10,000+
As interesting as it would have been to close this list with a surprise, in the topic of Video Game Holy Grails, there’s no doing so.
This literally golden game is not the world’s most rare, and its price may not even be the highest…but gamers everywhere know very well of its existence. And now, there is absolutely no denying: its desire is furious, its demand is unmatched, and the determination of gamers everywhere to possess this most holy of grails, is a dream-induced phenomenon.
Will you ever get one? Unlikely. Will you ever see one? I doubt it. Will some lucky gamer out there -one day- find one of the remaining carts in the wild? its going to happen.
The 1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold
Edition was the contest prize in one of Nintendo Power’s monthly promotions. One grand prize winner and twenty-five equally as fortunate runners-up were each sent a single copy. The game is virtually identical to the gray tournament edition above, containing the very same collection of timed games. This version simply has a full color logo, and most poetically, is gold.
What gives this game an incredible dynamic is that while so few copies exist, they were distributed to winners throughout all of North America. Many rare/prototype games and systems with this low of a production, had their entire allotment sent to or found in a single localized area. These cartridges we are speaking of could be anywhere…
Making your weekly rounds at the local thrift store, you search through a rack of some newly brought in gold Zelda carts. “Two dollars each? I’ll sell these on eBay.” You take them home, only there to discover that one of your “Zeldas” has a five-digit selling point.
Approaching a yard sale just about to pack up, you spy a lowly box of NES carts. Seeing your curiosity, the seller explains some of the games, “Mario, Zelda, oh, Donkey Kong - my favorite…” before making a dramatic revelation: “This was from a contest.” the seller will say, showing you a gold NWC cart. “its a fun game, you can have it.” Try to stay calm (i.e. don’t pee): you wouldn’t want to suggest the game is worth anything.
The 1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition has become the definition and idea of a Holy Grail. its every element seems to add to its energy, and in time, it will only become more costly and harder to acquire. Few people will ever truly complete their NES or Nintendo collections, with this game being the unattainable deity that it absolutely is.
So to the gamers, to the Nintendo fans, to the collectors, dreamers and purists, I wish you good luck. There are/were 26 of these carts out there. It may not be easy or happen tomorrow, next year, or in the next ten years, but for those who remain adamant, it could indeed actually happen. Somewhere and still to this day, the holy grail of game collecting awaits you.