from the 64-Nintendos-is-all-anyone-ought-to-need dept.
A Sealed, Never-Opened Nintendo 64 Goes For $250,000:
A Sealed, Never-Opened Nintendo 64 Goes For $250,000 [...] — Here's What They Sold For In 1996
Can you really put a price on nostalgia? According to one eBay listing, yes, you can, and it's valued at a cool quarter of a million dollars — that is, if to you nostalgia takes the form of a factory-sealed, launch edition, Nintendo 64 game console. If that sounds about right, you're in good company. The Nintendo 64 continues to be well-loved for its memorable games, unusual controller design, and 3D graphics. But when the console launched in 1996 — in June in Japan, and in September in North America (via GameTyrant) — things weren't all fun and games for Nintendo.
The home entertainment company was up against fierce competition from other fifth-generation consoles, namely the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. These rival consoles both beat Nintendo's fifth generation foray to market, and they used CD drives to run their games while Nintendo 64's disc drive — the 64DD — was an add-on to the cartridge-based console and only ever released in Japan (via Giant Bomb). What's worse, when the Nintendo 64 finally did launch in the U.S., there were only two games available — "Super Mario 64" and "Pilotwings 64" — and only a dozen by end of the calendar year (via Archive64).
Despite the uphill battle, Nintendo had a hit on its hands. This was partially due to a price drop from $250 to $199, which helped the console sell 350,000 copies in the first three days[...] . It was a massive holiday hit, and things were just getting underway for this beloved console.
A few things set the Nintendo 64 apart from its competition when it launched. As the name implies, it had a 64-bit CPU, while the Playstation and Saturn were 32-bit consoles. The practical differences are debatable, but the bigger number helped position the Nintendo 64 as a superior system from a marketing perspective. It also came in a variety of colors, and later went on to introduce the first force feedback device for home gaming consoles in the form of the Rumble Pak (per Goomba Stomp). Additionally, it was the only one of the three systems to support four players, making for a more social — and arguably memorable — gaming experience.
Is anybody here a former - or current(!) - Nintendo 64 user? What are your memories of the console and the games. Super Mario 64 has become a legend since its release over 25 years ago.
(Score: 5, Informative) by SomeGuy on Tuesday December 20, @01:06PM (4 children)
Clicked the eBeh link, and the listing is not sold. It is just some idiot asking $250,000.00. That does not mean it will ever sell for that much.
Although what will happen is the seller will accept an offer of $100 or such, the listing will change to "sold", but eBay will continue displaying $250,000.00 as the sold price. Then everyone will expect used discolored smashed broken consoles nothing like this one they fished out of a hot attic will sell for the same amount. Happens all the damn time on ePeh.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Tuesday December 20, @03:13PM (2 children)
I actually have trouble with language use (non-native speaker). Is "to go for" used in conjunction with a trade? Or is it: the Nintendo (its owner) tries to acieve 250,000?
(Score: 2) by progo on Tuesday December 20, @04:48PM
Someone who possesses this one unopened unit now is offering it for sale on Ebay for $250k. This person is likely completely unaffiliated with Nintendo.
Normally "___ goes for ___" in a HEADLINE means that a buyer bought it for this price. This headline is misleading. According to the Ebay listing, no one has accepted the item for sale at that price yet.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday December 20, @07:12PM
A better way of describing this $250,000 figure is as an "asking price".
The phrase "goes for" suggests that it its often sells for this price, or has just recently sold for that price. In this case, it seems that no such sale has been finished yet, so it's too early to say what the correct price is.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday December 21, @10:24AM
I specifically followed the link because it looked suspicious, and found out, as you point out, that it's just someone dreaming of getting 250k for it. 'ees dreamin'.
I can advertise any worthless thing, e.g. a Trump NFT, for 250k on eBay, but that doesn't mean anyone will pay that much for it.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday December 20, @01:12PM (1 child)
I wouldn't ever pay $250k for one. It doesn't look like anyone is either since the auction, as of when I write this, have not sold. That said buying old tech like that in a shrink-wrapped box is like Schrödingers-console, it might be dead or alive and you won't know until you unbox it and test it or plug it in. You could have $250k worth of magic-smoke at that point. But it will probably be working. That said it's a weird collectors item, a thing built to be played with should now sit unboxed on a pillar for your admiration? After all it's the box you'll be admiring cause you can't even see the console or the content of the box. Or does the seller hope some youtube influencer buys it and do an unboxing video?
That said Super Mario 64 was a big step up for the franchise. Good game. Just not worth $250k for a cartridge of it.
(Score: 2) by progo on Tuesday December 20, @04:52PM
Well, you could x-ray the box and that would tell you something -- but not much.
If it's not checked for leaky caps, repaired, powered up and running software, it might as well not exist. It's not worth $250k in any condition IMO.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday December 20, @07:27PM (4 children)
My brother and I pooled pocket money to buy a second-hand N64 from a friend-of-a-friend in the late 90s, mainly to be able to play Ocarina of Time. Being familiar with Zelda games on the SNES and Game Boy, it took us a while to get comfortable with the 3D environment. The platform also served as our introduction to MarioKart, and also Perfect Dark. I'm confused by the number of people that go misty-eyed for Goldeneye, but don't know anything about the second game Rare made with that engine.
Our kids are growing up with a selection of old consoles that my wife and I never quite parted with. The middle child is havinh fun running aimlessly around Mario 64 levels, or tentatively dipping their toes into Ocarina of Time. I've also started bringing some of the collection in to work as an end-of-term activity: a retro gaming session (or MarioKart tournament) seems to go down well with the students once assignments and exams are out of the way.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday December 21, @03:00AM (3 children)
Blasphemy.
Goldeneye 64 was the first FPS on console that actually got it right, paving the way for everything that came after. Not only did it have an amazing single player campaign, the 4-person multi-player was a blast. Lots of options to modify the rules, physics, weapons etc too that were unlocked through gameplay. Screams of "cheat!" when someone chose Oddjob as a character in multi-player, as his head was just below the default aiming height. Dual-wielding rocket-launchers. Setting handicaps to insane levels to draw novices into the game. Good times.
For those who remember sneaking a peek at the other players' quarter of the screen to work out where on the map they are (and hunt them down), there is a game on Switch (and probably other platforms) that you should check out. It's called Screen Cheat - all of the players are invisible and you can only work out where each other is by looking at your opponents' quarter of the screen to determine their location.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday December 22, @05:46AM (2 children)
All that rings true, but I spent more time doing all those in Perfect Dark. I'm confused at the number of people that refuse to play Perfect Dark, despite having:
Despite all that, people insisted (a few years back) that I go buy a Goldeneye cartridge rather than have a go at Perfect Dark. If I had a second N64, I might set up both side by side to try to make the point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22, @05:58AM
I suck at N64 games, but Perfect Dark was confusing as hell to play in multiplayer. If I emulated it and boosted the resolution, I think it would be better.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Wednesday December 28, @05:44AM
My recollection (a friend had Perfect Dark) was the the PD maps tended to be a bit more chaotic and harder to orient oneself within (too many different colours, too many confusing spaces), and the additional detail that they tried to pack in had a noticeable effect on frame rate. Goldeneye's frame rate could suffer from time to time, but I seem to remember Perfect Dark's frame rate being slightly worse.
Much like the original Starfox, it was a game that pushed the limits of the hardware just a little too far and would've probably been much better on the next generation of systems.