Nintendo Powerfest '94

[M.Buster2184]

Hey everyone. I didn't see a post on this so I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone was interested. Seems somebody plopped down the money to buy a Nintendo Powerfest cart. Kinda cool, an insane amount of money, and well beyond my means, but still interesting.

http://kotaku.com/5927182/after-74-emails-27-months-and-six-phone-calls-a-sack-of-cash-buys-one-of-the-rarest-nintendo-cartridges?utm_campaign=socialflow_kotaku_facebook&utm_source=kotaku_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow


There's a link to the buyer's blog, going into further detail his ordeal in tracking down the game.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

How the hecks does one video game sell for this much?

[wiggyx]

Because there are people out there with money to burn. Rather than spend that sack of cash helping out the homeless or whatever, why not buy a chunk of plastic and silicon that has been deemed to be worth thousands of dollars? Makes good sense to me :|

[InboRenge]

Because there are people out there with money to burn. Rather than spend that sack of cash helping out the homeless or whatever, why not buy a chunk of plastic and silicon that has been deemed to be worth thousands of dollars? Makes good sense to me :|

Why buy video games at all when you can use the money to help the homeless? In fact, why play video games, you could spend the time helping the homeless! see how bad that argument is?

[wiggyx]

Why buy video games at all when you can use the money to help the homeless? In fact, why play video games, you could spend the time helping the homeless! see how bad that argument is?

No, not at all.

The money spent on that single item is absolutely absurd and it's about as useful as a door stop unlike a car or home or anything else that's in that price range. Spending 50 bucks here and there on this hobby is a far cry from tens of thousands of dollars for a few plastic cartridges. If our government spent that kind of money on something so useless I'd be pretty miffed. It's just a giant waste. With all the financial problems that this country is facing, I find it offensive and short-sighted when someone with that sort of disposable cash just, well, dispose of it. Hopefully the guy that he purchased it from is a philanthropist.

Also, I donate a chunk of change to a couple of local causes every month. I have a little extra to give, so I do.

The more money you have, the more responsibility and accountability you have. With that said, the guy who bought the stupid thing may very well give millions to charity every year, so maybe I should suspend my judgement.

[badinsults]

Maybe the person who sold the game will use it on the homeless?

[SparTonberry]

Hit the homeless with it? (I don't know why, but it's probably big and heavy.)
Run impromptu tournaments with it for his own amusement? :D

[Kiddo]

Hit the homeless with it? (I don't know why, but it's probably big and heavy.)
Run impromptu tournaments with it for his own amusement? :D

Nintendo Hobofest 94? Sounds like a genius concept to me.

Anyway, interesting read. I wish I was a teenager in the 90's so I could've possibly participated in this type of event...

Keeping my fingers crossed for ROMs. Very, very crossed.

[Bojay1997]

Oddly, the local news station in San Diego just spent about 2 minutes talking about this story during their Sunday morning news. They even had a shot of the cartridge casing. I guess news stations really love stories like this.

[M.Buster2184]

I don't know if it irritates me that someone would spend that much money on a single cart, or that part of me is jealous. Granted I could never afford anything like that, though not sure I would but it even if I could.

[The 1 2 P]

The guy wanted it and didn't go broke buying it so I don't see the problem. I wish I had that kind of money to spend on one game but Im not there yet.

[MoxManiac]

I'd definitely buy a repro of this.

I participated in this event in as a kid and took 2nd place in my region. I was so incredibly close to winning a trip to california, but choked and died in Mario, which crippled my score. I'm still burnt up about that.

2nd place prize was a crappy fake leather jacket with the powerfest logo. :/

[Emperor Megas]

The money spent on that single item is absolutely absurd and it's about as useful as a door stop unlike a car or home or anything else that's in that price range. Spending 50 bucks here and there on this hobby is a far cry from tens of thousands of dollars for a few plastic cartridges. If our government spent that kind of money on something so useless I'd be pretty miffed. It's just a giant waste. With all the financial problems that this country is facing, I find it offensive and short-sighted when someone with that sort of disposable cash just, well, dispose of it. Hopefully the guy that he purchased it from is a philanthropist.

Also, I donate a chunk of change to a couple of local causes every month. I have a little extra to give, so I do.

The more money you have, the more responsibility and accountability you have. With that said, the guy who bought the stupid thing may very well give millions to charity every year, so maybe I should suspend my judgement. Think of it this way. What's the difference between him purchasing a game for that money, and that money sitting in a bank account like it was a few hours before he withdrew it? Well, I mean besides it drawing interest and being used to grant loans to business and home buyers, ect. (and I'm sure that the funds went back into the banking system after the buyer received them, so same difference).

When I was younger I used to think the way you do about things like this, then it hit me that the world keeps on turning regardless to someone purchasing (relatively) expensive items or not. No one spends everything on charitable things, and there's nothing wrong with that. If we're to criticize one person for doing it with $17,000, we also have to knock someone who does it with $17.00. There's really not much of a difference, principally. The government comparison doesn't really work because the point of government is to maintain infrastructure, defend its citizens, and lend assistance its downtrodden (though conservatives may disagree with the latter). Not spend on lavish collectibles.

The fair chunk of the money spent by people will be appropriated and recycled back into the system. It'll pay people's wadges when spent on goods and services, there will be tax revenue which will benefit everyone, ect.. Then when the game is sold, again, the cycle will start all over again. If you're going to criticize people for not being more altruistic, you would start with the people who don't spend their money at all, and horde it. There are a lot more of them than people who purchase $17,000 games, believe me.

[rbudrick]

I'd definitely buy a repro of this.

I participated in this event in as a kid and took 2nd place in my region. I was so incredibly close to winning a trip to california, but choked and died in Mario, which crippled my score. I'm still burnt up about that.

2nd place prize was a crappy fake leather jacket with the powerfest logo. :/

Pics! I'd love to see the jacket.

-Rob

[wiggyx]

Think of it this way. What's the difference between him purchasing a game for that money, and that money sitting in a bank account like it was a few hours before he withdrew it? Well, I mean besides it drawing interest and being used to grant loans to business and home buyers, ect. (and I'm sure that the funds went back into the banking system after the buyer received them, so same difference).

When I was younger I used to think the way you do about things like this, then it hit me that the world keeps on turning regardless to someone purchasing (relatively) expensive items or not. No one spends everything on charitable things, and there's nothing wrong with that. If we're to criticize one person for doing it with $17,000, we also have to knock someone who does it with $17.00. There's really not much of a difference, principally. The government comparison doesn't really work because the point of government is to maintain infrastructure, defend its citizens, and lend assistance its downtrodden (though conservatives may disagree with the latter). Not spend on lavish collectibles.

The fair chunk of the money spent by people will be appropriated and recycled back into the system. It'll pay people's wadges when spent on goods and services, there will be tax revenue which will benefit everyone, ect.. Then when the game is sold, again, the cycle will start all over again. If you're going to criticize people for not being more altruistic, you would start with the people who don't spend their money at all, and horde it. There are a lot more of them than people who purchase $17,000 games, believe me.



We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. We could turn this into a big socioeconomic debate, but this really isn't the place for it.

[The Adventurer]

How the hecks does one video game sell for this much?

Because it is a rare artifact? You're not buying a game, you're buying a rare piece of history.

Its the same reason any historic item commands top dollar; from a Ford Model T to Action Comics #1.

[badinsults]

Because it is a rare artifact? You're not buying a game, you're buying a rare piece of history.

Its the same reason any historic item commands top dollar; from a Ford Model T to Action Comics #1.

Except that one thing is the basis for modern vehicles, the other is the basis of comic books, while the former is an obscure video game used for a relatively obscure competition.

Sort of an apples to oranges comparision here. The only reason this thing is so high is because two people didn't know how to barter and bought it at an insane price.