Sealed Tengen Tetris

[SoulBlazer]

If the stories are true, tens of thousands of these ended up SOMEWHERE about Nintendo won their law suit aganist Tengen......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3608

Seems like overpriced so far.

[badinsults]

$36 is overpriced? I saw a loose copy on sale at a local store for $250 Canadian.

[SoulBlazer]

I just ment that if the stories are to be believed there were thousands upon thousands of sealed, unopened Tengen Tetris's in the stores when Nintendo got it's 'cease and deist' order on them, so all those games had to end up SOMEWHERE. I've never believed this game is as rare as many claim it to be.

[badinsults]

I always figured that after they were recalled, they were likely destroyed, as per the legal agreement. Wouldn't be the first time that Atari had destroyed thousands of games.

[digitalpress]

I always figured that after they were recalled, they were likely destroyed, as per the legal agreement. Wouldn't be the first time that Atari had destroyed thousands of games.

too true.

They're not super-rare, but it's a great collector's item, a wonderful conversation piece (if you know the story) and a HELL of a game. It's WELL WORTH $36.

[SoulBlazer]

I never heard about them being destroyed.

What would you say that a sealed copy is worth?

[CrazyImpmon]

From what I remember, Tengen made and released about 100,000 copies before Nintendo slapped Tengen and the court forced them to recall the games. There is no way to tell how many games were not returned and there has been no word on what happened to the unsold stocks. They were supposed to be destroyed as it was illegal.

At one time Funcoland was selling Tengen version for upward of $400 before they were banned from selling the game. Nowdays I don't expect to see a CIB selling over $50.

[SoulBlazer]

CIB?

I guess I'm just not a collector.

[Griking]

Are you kidding me? Funcoland was selling them for $400? I never heards that before.

If that was the case then how come other uber rare games like Stadium Events or the R-Rated are in their system for far less?

[CrazyImpmon]

I'd have to look up mid 90's magazine for Funcoland ads but I do remember Tetris were going for $400. I think that's the case because they were better than Nintendo version and there were a huge demand for the game after Tengen recalled the game. Other rare games you mentioned didn't get high price there because they were not popular. How many people can you say that really loves to play Power Pad based games?

[Starcade]

If someone has the time, I would like to hear the story behind the Tengen version of Tetris.

[ashbourn]

http://atarihq.com/tsr/special/tetrishist.html

Enjoy.

[Starcade]

That is a very interesting story, thank you for the link.

[SoulBlazer]

Yeah, I knew most of that story, but thanks for the link. Solid evidence for the first time on how many copies of the game actually exist.

And for once, Nintendo was not the bad guy. They did everything by the book and would have been happy with just the handheld rights. There's other cases in which Atari out and out lied in their battles.

These days, I think The Tetris Company has regained ALL the rights to Tetris, and Nintendo and other companies make contracts with them when they want to put out Tetris games.

Of course, the Tengen version of Tetris for the NES IS better. Nintendo made up with it with the handheld version, though -- the perfect travel game, and one of the few video games my Dad would play!

[Darth Vader]

CIB?

I guess I'm just not a collector.

C artridge
I nstructions
B ox

And if you can get a complete (CIB) Tengen Tetris for $50, that is pretty good, they usually hit $60-$75 on ebay. I suppose you could get one for less from a motivated seller.

Danny