If you pay attention to many gaming blogs, you probably heard about the recent sale of one of the most valuable console games known to collectors.  Even though the Nintendo World Championship cartridges are one of the most well-know games to collectors (see The Rarest and Most Valuable NES Games), the 1991 Nintendo Campus Challenge cartridge is said to be a one-of-a-kind item (other copies were said to be destroyed) and was out to rival the NWC Gold cartridge (of which there are 26 in existance)  for the spot of the highest-valued cartridge.

The Gold Nintendo World Championship Cartridge has sold for as much as $21,400 and the recent owner of the Campus Challenge cartridge, was hoping that the increased scarcity would help push its value above that of the Gold NWC.   Earlier this month, the Nintendo Campus Challenge cartridge closed for $20,100 on eBay — a very respectible price, but just shy of taking the title of the Holy Grail of console game collecting.

The collector that just parted ways with the Nintendo Campus Challenge cartridge is no stranger to the racketboy community as he has helped out with the Rare & Valuable Games series.  JJ Hendricks was kind enough to take some time out to talk about his journey as a collector and the story behind this sale.

RB: Tell us briefly about yourself and business and what got you started in rare video game collecting/investing
JJ: I’m 28 years old and own two video games businesses.  JJGames.com, a retailer of used video games, and VideoGamePriceCharts.com, a site showing the used prices and pricing history for about 14,000 games.   My interest in rare video games started while I was running VGPC and saw how many rare games there are and how much people were willing to pay for them.  I also had an opportunity to talk with lots of game collectors through the two websites and learn about the hobby.

RB: For those that aren’t familiar with the cartridge, tell us a bit about its back-story.
JJ: The Nintendo Campus cartridge was created by Nintendo for a video game competition like the Nintendo World Championships in 1990, but this one would tour college campuses and spring break hot spots.  The cartridges had three games on them, Super Mario 3, PinBot, and Dr. Mario and a time limit of about 6 minutes.  You tried to get the most points on all three games within the allotted time.  After the event the games were all supposed to be destroyed but this one was found at an ex-Nintendo employee’s garage sale in 2006.

RB: If you don’t mind saying, how did you go about acquiring the cartridge and how much did you pay for it?
JJ: I bought this cartridge from a big video game collector named Jason, or known online as DreamTR.  We were talking about the Nintendo World Championships Gold cartridge I purchased.  He mentioned that he owned this cartridge and I asked him, mostly as a joke, if he would be willing to sell it too.  He told me he would sell the cartridge, much to my surprise.  The price we agreed to was $14,000.

RB: What were your intentions for purchasing it?
JJ: I thought it would be a great game to have in my collection, but mostly I thought it was a great deal.  I paid $17,500 for NWC Gold about a month before and there are 12 of those.  There is only one known copy of Campus Challenge 91 so I thought it would probably be worth quite a bit more than $14K.  I figured I would own it for a while and then sell it some time down the road.

I also contacted the owner of the 92 Campus Challenge and 94 Powerfest cartridges and we discussed doing some joint events where all four of the Nintendo competition cartridges would be available to play for the first time ever.   We talked about it and contacted a few video game conventions but nothing ever materialized.

RB: Did you do anything interesting with the cartridge while you owned it?
JJ: Nothing really out of the ordinary for fear that I would damage it.  I played it several times myself and then kept it in a safe deposit box.  I own five of the reproduction cartridges though and I hosted a tournament at my office to recreate both Nintendo World Championships and Nintendo Campus Challenge.  I owned both of the real cartridges at the time, but we played the reproductions at the actual event.

RB: What type of precautions did you take with the cartridge while owning it?
JJ: I stored the cartridge in a safe deposit box to make sure it was secure.  I didn’t feel comfortable having a game worth that much just lying around my house with the rest of my game collection.

RB: Was there any drama involved with the acquisition and then the resale of the cartridge?
JJ: The purchase of Nintendo Campus Challenge was very straight forward.  It took about 24 hours to negotiate the payment and shipping terms.  I decided to pay on installment so I sent two payments for the game and Jason shipped it after the final payment was completed.  It arrived in great shape the next day.

When I listed the game for sale I decided to sell it on eBay with no reserve and as a $0.99 starting bid.  This was a bit nerve racking at the very end because the price was $8,500 until about two minutes before the auction completed.  Then there were 10 bids placed in those last two minutes and the price on eBay jumped up to $20,100.  I went from losing $6,000 on the game to making $6,000 in the course of two minutes.

RB: Are you still holding onto any other rare games at the moment?
JJ: I still own Nintendo World Championships Gold.  That is definitely the most expensive game I still own.

RB: Do you have more ambitions for investing in more rare games in the future or is it more trouble than its worth?
JJ: I will probably buy more rare games in the future, but it depends on the prices.  My guess is collectors will start to realize that the items they have are worth a lot and great deals will be harder to come by.  I think it is really fun to own a bit of gaming history, to be able to play a classic game, and still be doing it as an investment.  You can’t play with stocks or mutual funds so games are definitely much more fun to invest in.

Note from racketboy: Special thanks goes to Radarscope1 (check out his blog, Word Games) for putting most of this guide together! The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console that they don’t know much about yet.

The Nintendo Entertainment System is one of the most iconic video game consoles of all time and was the machine that got many 80s kids hooked on this interactive medium. There’s a lot of ground to cover when talking about this landmark console, but hopefully we cover the most important points here.

Historical Impact

• Nintendo’s first home console, launched in Japan as the Family Computer, or Famicom, in 1983 and as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the rest of the world statrting in 1985 . Before the Famicom/NES, Nintendo’s success in video games was mostly limited to a handful of hit arcade games, such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., and the Game & Watch handheld LCD games.
• Many of Nintendo’s biggest franchises began life on the NES, including the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus, as well as Mother (aka Earthbound in the West) and Nintendo Wars (aka Advance Wars).
• Many long-running third-party franchises also started on the NES, including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, Mega Man, and Contra.
• The popularity of the NES is often credited with reviving the North American video game market after the “crash” of the early 1980s.
• The NES dominated the video game market in North America and Japan from the mid-1980s to the early 90s, stomping ut nearly all competitors during the 8-bit era. Nintendo leveraged that market share by pressuring third party game companies into contracts that limited how many games they could release in a year and required that Nintendo manufacture the cartridges for a fee.
• The NES was the first home console to use a cross-shaped d-pad on its controller, a design that has since been imitated and used on nearly every console and portable gaming device since. Before the NES controller was released, home console control inputs were a wide variety of hit-and-miss designs. After the NES, most console controllers more or less followed and iterrated on the d-pad design. The d-pad was taken directly from Nintendo’s portable Game and Watch LCD games, which had a design that also eventually inspired the Nintendo DS.
• The NES saw the first passwords and battery back-ups that allowed for game saves.
• The NES introduced many gamers who didn’t have access to PCs to role-playing games. Nintendo’s huge give-away of Dragon Quest (called Dragon Warrior in the west) via Nintendo Power was especially key in getting players to try an RPG. Final Fantasy, the Ultima games, the Legend of Zelda and Crystalis also played a role in expanding the genre.

Strengths

• Large Game Library: The system has a huge and varied library, with a very good ratio of quality games. The NES/Famicom saw new releases for 11 years, from 1983 to 1994. There were more than 750 games released in the North American market.
• Lots of Timeless Classics: Nintendo is one of the medium’s all-time top developers, and the first-party games produced for the NES stand the test of time and are worth playing today. Games such as Super Mario Bros., SMB 2, SMB 3, Punch-Out, the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Dr. Mario, Kirby’s Adventure, and Kid Icarus hold up not just because of nostalgia, but because they are solid games.
• Inexpensive Game Cartridges: Most of the best games are available for low prices today. The console’s huge install base and popularity means nearly every highly-regarded game sold in high enough numbers to warrant fairly large print runs. For the collector, there’s perhaps no better place to start. Game cartridges and hardware are easy to find at relatively cheap prices. Yard sales, thrift stores, resale game stores, eBay and nearly every gaming forum out there will offer you a chance to score NES games, controllers and consoles.
• Nifty Selection of of Accessories: There are also plenty of peripherals for collectors to focus on, though many of them are somewhat silly and superfluous. There’s no denying the nostalgic cache of R.O.B. the Robot or a Zapper, though.
• Strong Selection of Platfomers: If you’re a fan of platformers, the NES is your system. The huge library of platformers includes several series with multiple releases on the console such as Adventure Island, Mega Man, Castlevania, Wizards & Warriors and, of course, Mario. Stand alone gems include Metal Storm, Kirby’s Adventure, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Legacy of the Wizard, Kid Icarus, Gargoyle’s Quest II, Faxanadu, Bionic Commando and Batman.
• Strong Youth & Casual Appeal: This is a great console for kids and casual gamers. The Super Mario games, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Tecmo Bowl, Duck Hunt, Super Off-Road and lisenced games like Duck Tales make the NES a hit at parties.
• Iconic & Nostalgic. It seems that no matter what territory you live in or how old you are, if you have an NES in your home you can bet people will notice it when they come over. They’ll want to fire it up and have a go whether or not they’re a hard core gamer or haven’t touched a controller in years.

Weaknesses

• Control Deck Hardware Reliability: The original Control Deck — the front-loading “toaster” hardware that accounts for the vast majority of NES’s — can be finicky and hard to operate due to flaws in the design. To appeal to a North American market that had soured on the video game “fad” in the early 1980s, Nintendo redesigned the top-loading Famicom to look and feel more like a VCR than a traditional game console. The design used an odd connection method that didn’t truly lock the cartridges into a receiving end, and even caused the connectors to bend over time. Corroded connectors are also a problem. Luckily, this can be fixed fairly easily and cheaply by replacing the 72-pin connector inside the unit and simply cleaning the cartridges.
• Inflated Collectors Prices on Complete Games: Nostalgia can have its price. Because the NES is so highly collectible, complete-in-box copies of games are usually ridiculously over-priced on auction sites like eBay. Games that carry recognizable names today such Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. 3 or Metroid can sell for $20 or $30 or more for complete copies. These games are often advertised as “rare” but are far from it. Most of the truly rare NES games are quirky titles like Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom or Bubble Bath Babes, and are the type of games only hard-core collectors would seek. Collectors who are interested in simply owning and playing the best and most well-known NES titles shouldn’t be deceived by sales of supposedly “rare” games.
• Inferior Arcade Ports: While plenty of early 80s arcade ports on the NES are good, some arcade conversions from later in the NES lifecycle are pretty inferior ports. The NES lived a long life, and by the late 1980s and early ’90s many arcade games were being programmed on 16-bit architecture with more memory. Though still a leading machine in the home market, the NES couldn’t keep up with some titles like Strider, Smash TV, Double Dragon II, or Bad Dudes. However this also means that some games such as Contra, Gradius and Bionic Commando were altered to better fit the hardware, with the results surpassing the cabinet-bound originals in many gamers’ eyes.
• Cardboard Boxes for Games: Game packaging for the NES was also not meant to last, so finding boxes in mint condition can be difficult.

Game Library

• Games That Defined The History of the NES – If you want to survey the games that made the Nintendo Entertainment System the dominant force of the 8-bit generation, take a look at this guide.
• The Cheapest NES Games Worth Your Time – If you want to build up a quality NES library with the least amount of cash, check out this guide.
• The Best Undiscovered NES Games – There are plenty of good NES games that most people haven’t tried yet. Check these games out to broaden your horizons.
• The Rarest & Most Valuable NES Games – The NES has some of the most collectible games of all time — including the Holy Grail of game collecting, the Nintendo World Championship Gold Cart.
• The Games That Pushed the Limits of the NES – If you want to show off the NES’s technical capabilities, look at these games first. It’s quite impressive to see what some creative programming can do.

Technical Details

• The CPU in the Famicom and North American NES is an 8-bit processor made by Ricoh, the RP2A03, which runs at a 1.79 MHz. The PAL version of the NES used a variant CPU that is identical except it runs at slower 1.66 MHz. This CPU was based on the MOS Technology 6502, a widely used processor introduced in the mid 1970s that powered a string of influential computing and gaming devices like the Apple I, Apple II, BBC Micro, the Commodore VIC-20 and the Atari 400 and 800. A custom PPU was also made by Ricoh. The NES can display 48 colors and 5 shades of gray. It has a resolution of 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.
• The NES uses five-channel sound with one waveform assigned to each. There are two “square” waves, a “triangle” wave, and two other channels available for sound effects, often just static bursts. All sound is mono, which while limited could be put to very good use by quality composers. The Japanese Famicom had expansion slots allowing some cartridges to use extra sound chips(originally a function of the Famicom Disk System, which connected via the cart slot). This wasn’t included in the NES, meaning a handful of games came to the West with inferior sound compared to their Eastern counterparts.
• The NES Control Deck released in North America and PAL territories was capable of outputting both RF and composite video. The original Japanese Famicom was RF-only. The second-generation “A/V Famicom,” released in 1993, had composite-only audio and video output. Curiously, the North American version of this remodeled NES (the top-loading NES 2) was only capable of RF video.

Hardware Variations

	Family Computer (Famicom) Nintendo’s 1983 original entry into the console market in its home territory, nicknamed the Famicom. Bright colors and top-loading design were typical console designs of the early 80s. Early versions had hard-wired controllers with a built-in microphone on the second controller. Later versions had detachable controllers. Shop for Famicom on eBay
	NES Control Deck The 1985 gray box known to U.S. and European gamers. Designed to look and feel more like a VCR than a typical game console. Despite its design flaws, many enthusiasts prefer it over the NES 2. Shop for NES Control Deck on eBay Shop for NES Control Deck on Amazon.com
	Famicom Disk System Japan-only peripheral released in 1986. Using double-sided re-writable disks as media, the FDS allowed for larger games and saved data. It made games like Metroid and the Legend of Zelda possible. It featured limited FM synthesis sound capabilities, but the band used to power the disk drive was known to break. Though the device never came west, American and European gamers still got to play most of the games introduced in the FDS as they were released as cartridges with battery back-ups. It runs on C batteries or external AC power. Shop for Famicom Disk System on eBay
	Sharp Twin Famicom Made by Sharp and officially licensed by Nintendo, this 1986 Japan-only model combined the Famicom and the FDS into a single machine. The two devices were essentially placed side-by-side in a combined casing. A switch toggles between the two devices and prevents using both at the same time. The machine features composite video out. It came in two colors, red with black detail and black with red detail. A second iteration of the Twin Famicom had a slightly different casing that was black with gray detail, and featured controllers with built-in turbo and longer cords. Shop for Sharp Twin Famicom on eBay
	AV Famicom Released in 1993 in Japan, this updated version of the Famicom was sleeker and had composite video output (with no option for RF output). The LED power light was also removed. Shop for AV Famicom on eBay
	NES 2 The Western version of the A/V Famicom was a big improvement in one area — reliability — because it scraped the “toaster” design of the NES cartridge connection in favor of the more proven top-loading design. But this version also removed the composite video output option, which had become much more widely adopted by the 1990s, and only allowed for RF video output. Like the A/V Famicom, there is no LED power light. Most accessories and peripherals work with the NES 2. Shop for NES 2 on eBay Shop for NES 2 on Amazon.com
	The Clones A few years ago, a number of NES hardware clones started popping up online. They offered a cheap an easy way to get a real machine to play old NES cartridges and have decent AV output, but unfortunately, game compatibility hasn’t been the greatest. Back in 2007, we did a round-up of NES clones and compared them to the Nintendo originals in terms of both price and quality. It’s also worth mentioning that some of these NES clones also play SNES or Genesis carts as well. Shop for NES Clones on eBay Shop for NES Clones on Amazon.com
	Portable Clones After creating a cheap chipset to emulate the NES hardware for various clones, the next logical step would be to make it smaller for a portable setup. Granted, having huge NES cartridges sticking out of the back of a portable device isn’t the most practical thing in the world, but these items do appeal to certain retro gaming enthusiasts. Shop for Portable NES Clones on eBay Shop for Portable NES Clones on Amazon.com

What To Look For When Buying

There’s the older, iconic Control Deck and the newer NES 2. For most, the Control Deck is the way to go. The NES 2 is highly sought after because of higher reliability and collectability factors, but can be expensive, especially if you’re buying online. The extra cost and inferior connections of the NES 2 are big negatives. On a purely aesthetic note, the NES “game paks” weren’t designed for the shorter form factor of a top-loading console, and so the carts look a bit odd sticking up out of the top of the machine (which is also the reason for the rounded cover on the slot, which you don’t see on the A/V Famicom). The older models can be finicky, but if you replace the 72 pin connector they will likely work perfectly. You can do this repair yourself, and most retro gaming shops worth their salt will be able to do it for you for a few bucks. The new connectors usually cost $8 to $10 bucks, much less than the cost of an NES 2 on eBay. The Control Decks can be cleaned fairly easily as well, which will improve reliability.

The best advice for buying an NES is to be sure you can test it yourself before purchasing if you’re paying any real amount of money for it. Make sure you don’t get a bunch of black screens and blinking power lights when trying to turn it on. If that’s the case the connection is likely shot. Also try to test the tray that holds the games and make sure it has a good amount of spring to it and isn’t worn out, as this can lead to poor connections. A good trick for getting a finicky game to play is to pop it up, and gently wiggle it back toward you slightly, enough so that it just barely clears the plastic edge below when you push it down. Blowing in the cart will only do so much good – you’re better off cleaning with some 90% rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. If you need to blow dust out do it at an angle so you’re not just blowing the dust — and your saliva — down into the cart.

Accessories

The NES had dozens of accessories, some truly useful and others truly odd. Here are some of the highlights, starting with the peripherals that are most worth your time and money.

	The Zapper It’s a light gun, for your NES. Released in 1984 in Japan (as the Beam Gun) and at launch in the West. Earlier versions of the Zapper were two shades of gray, like the NES Control Deck, but was eventually changed to light gray and traffic-cone orange. Works with 18 games, including favorites like Duck Hunt, Wild Gunman and Hogan’s Alley. But don’t miss oddities like Gumshoe or Chiller. Shop for NES Zapper on eBay Shop for NES Zapper on Amazon.com
	Four Score First-party adapter allowing four players to play more than 30 supported games, including Super Off Road, Bomberman II, and Super Spike V-Ball. Also can be used for turbo or as an extension cord. Released late in hardware cycle, in 1990. Shop for Four Score on eBay Shop for Four Score on Amazon.com
	Generation NEX Wireless Controllers While most of the other items in this guide were actually released in the 8-bit era, Messiah released these wireless controllers to market with their Generation NEX clone console. The design of the controller is a bit more inspired by the NES Max (see below) than the standard NES controllers. Shop for Generation NEX Wireless Controllers on eBay Shop for Generation NEX Wireless Controllers on Amazon.com
	NES Advantage Nintendo’s own arcade-style joystick for the NES, released in 1987. Well-built and supported by any game that supports a standard controller, the Advantage is mostly worth picking up, especially considering the arcade-style gameplay of many NES titles. But be warned that the stick does not “click” like modern arcade sticks, so it doesn’t have the most precise feel. Your mileage may vary, but the Advantage is not expensive or hard to find so it’s worth checking out. Can be used by two players thanks to dual plugs and a switch to toggle between players. Also features turbo. It’s also worth mentioning the Messiah also made a larger and wireless version of the NES Advantage that works with their Generation NEX clone or any other NES system if you have the RF recievers. Shop for NES Advantage on eBay Shop for NES Advantage on Amazon.com
	Game Genie Hack nearly every game in the NES library by finding codes for free online. The Game Genie is an unlicensed NES accessory made by Codemasters and Galoob, and even prompted a lawsuit by Nintendo (which Nintendo lost). It was designed to work with the toaster-style Control Deck and requires a now hard-to-find adaptor to work well with the NES 2. If you’re into these kinds of hacks on retro machines, the Game Genie is worth a look. Shop for Game Genie on eBay Shop for Game Genie on Amazon.com
	NES Max First-party gamepad featuring a sliding thumb pad in place of a d-pad. At first glace this appears to offer smoother, analog input, but in reality there’s nothing more than an 8-way digital pad underneath. It is the only Nintendo-made gamepad with dedicated turbo buttons. Some people like this pad quite a bit, but it’s a matter of preference. Shop for NES Max on eBay Shop for NES Max on Amazon.com
	Power Pad Floor-mat style controller with 12 “buttons” made by Bandai and released in 1986. Used for five supported games(10 in Japan) such as World Class Track Meet. Most players cheated by slapping the pad with their hands rather than doing any real running. A lot of gamers remember this accessory because it eventualy came packed in with the NES. The Power Pad likely won’t be worth it for most players today, but it is a noteworthy pre-cursor to games like Dance Dance Revolution. Shop for Power Pad on eBay Shop for Power Pad on Amazon.com
	R.O.B. The Robitic Operating Buddy is an iconic NES accessory, but its usefulness is limited to just two games and not very good ones at that: Gyromite and Stack-Up. R.O.B. was part of Nintendo’s attempt to make the NES look like something more than a mere toy (it’s a robot – it has to be advanced, right?), but the device was awkward to use and frankly not nearly as fun as it looked on the front the NES box in 1985. Fun for collectors, but not necessary for those looking to simply explore the NES library. Shop for R.O.B. on eBay Shop for R.O.B. on Amazon.com
	Power Glove Another attempt to take the NES to the next level, and another failed device that wasn’t supported with software. The Power Glove was released in 1989 and supported only two games, Super Spike V-Ball and Bad Street Brawler. The glove is functional but limited. It uses a series of ultra-sonic speakers, microphones, and conductive ink. Interesting as a piece of consumer electronics and pop culture history(”It’s so bad!”), but not worth much to the average player of NES titles. Shop for Power Glove on eBay Shop for Power Glove on Amazon.com
	U-Force Another ill-fated motion controller. Shaped something like a laptop with two infrared panels, it purported to allow hands-free control of any NES game. Seeing as how Project Natal is considered cutting edge tech 20 years later, you can probably guess how well this one worked. For collectors only. Shop for U-Force on eBay
	NES Satellite Like the Four Score, except wireless. Except you have to plug your regular controllers into a port that sends infra-red signals to a receiver plugged into the NES Control Deck. Made by Nintendo and actually predates the Four Score by a year(1989). Perfect for gamers who sit more than 50 feet from their televisions. Shop for NES Satellite on eBay

Emulation

Even without owning the machine, it’s still possible to play the greats using Nintendo’s Virtual Console. But that’s just the beginning. Due to its popularity, there are a variety of ways to emulate NES games, for computers, consoles, and handhelds. Just take your pick:

• Nester is an open-source NES emulator for Windows, which has recently had its source code uploaded on Sourceforge.net so public work can continue. It was originally designed in 1999 by Darren Ranalli, and released for public use in 2000. Large sections of the emulator were also written by Matthew Comte, and the project was intentionally designed for stability and ease of transfer to other formats. It was coded in C++. NesterJ is an unofficial version with expanded featuers.
• NESticle was a DOS-based emulator designed by Icer Addis, cofounder of Bloodlust Software. Built using C++ and released in 1997 for DOS and Windows 95, it was a freeware product that caught on rapidly and was one of the first really popular NES emulators. Unfortunately for everyone, Addis’ servers were hacked and the source code was stolen in 1998. Addis decided to stop work on the program, and discontinued work on the emulator. NESticle was also well known for using a bloody, disembodied hand for a pointer, and an image of testicles for its Windows icon.
• FCE Ultra is an incredibly widespread emulator for the NES, and functions in DOS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux X, while also being ported to the PSP, GP2X, and home consoles like the Nintendo Gamecube. Officially updates were stopped in 2004, but several modified versions have since appeared. In 2006 these were combined to form FCEUX, which is still being updated. The emulator offers save states, the ability to take screen shots, TCP/IP connectivity, and even a Game Genie Encoder.
• Nestopia is another open source emulator. While originally put out for Windows, it has since found its way to Mac and Linux operating systems. It includes save states, the ability to “rewind,” controller emulation(including the Power Pad), built in Game Genie, netplay, the ability to record gameplay, and even accurate emulation of videos. It is still active.
• Other emulators include It Might Be NES for the PlayStation, nesDS for Nintendo DS, iNES for iPod, Newtendo for the Apple Newton, NesterDC for the Dreamcast, and many more.

Racketboy Featured NES Emulation Guides

• NesterDC for Dreamcast
• NESDS for Nintendo DS

Affordability

• The NES consoles themselves can be a bit high in price considering how many sold originally. They can sell for between $40 and $70 depending on the condition (like with a new 72-pin connector) and the items included.
• NES games can range from dirt cheap to extremely expensive, depending on the rarity and quality of the game. However, if you are going for pure value, you can find even the rarest games for a reasonable price if you only care about the cartridge.

Note from racketboy:  You can definitely tell when Fastbilly1 is passionate about a topic…. This time he shares his thoughts and research of an oft-overlooked component of the Nintendo Entertainment Systems, the Select Button.

Often it is shoved to the side, disregarded, or the target of outright hatred.  Many gamers do not believe it is useful and many more have never cared to think about it.  That little button, often right in the middle of the controller, called select always gets a “bad rap.”  Well being that I am currently on a NES kick I decided I would attempt to dispel some of the misguided hate toward this controller oddity.  The following is a list of games in which I have found that the select button is used (be it in the Menu or in the game).  It is not a complete list but I think it is enough to finally put to rest the statement that the button is completely useless.   Whether or not it still need’s to be on controllers apart from the NES is a whole other topic altogether.

I would like to remind everyone that this is not a definitive list and may possibly have factually inaccuracies.  If you have any comments or wish to add or correct, please comment.  This is mostly US NES games, if you have information for Japanese or European only releases I would love to hear them.   A large chunk of the information was obtained from the files hosted by the good folks at ReproductionDocs.com.  If you ever need an old manual, they are the best source for them in the world.

In-Game Use:

• A Boy and His Blob – Change Jelly Bean Types (Jelly Beans are used to transform the blob)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street – Change between Dreamwarriors (as the teenagers it is not used)
• Adventures of Lolo 1-3 – Used to start room over
• Airwolf – Decrease your speed
• Alien 3 – Select Weapon
• Alpha Mission – Select Weapon
• Amagon – To transform into Megagon (if you have the Mega-Key)
• Metroid – Selects missiles
• Batman -Pause (start cycles weapons)
• Captain American and the Avengers – Pause (start cycles through characters)
• Captain Comic – Allows you to teleport (only if you have the Magic Wand)
• Captain Skyhawk – Used in conjunction with left or right to barrel roll
• Castlevania II: Simons Quest – Hard pause (start brings up your inventory)
• Castlevania III – Menu use and to transform into a Spirit
• Caveman Games – Restarts event (only when already paused)
• Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers – Display stats
• Cobra Command – Display Subscreen
• Cobra Triangle – Activates flashing powerup
• Crystalis – Display Subscreen
• Cybernoid – Weapon select
• Darkwing Duck – Select Special Gas
• Days of Thunder – Pauses game (start button is unused)
• Dick Tracy – Get out of car and cycle weapons
• Double Dragon III – Change Weapons/Fighters
• Dr Chaos – Cycle Weapons while in the Warp Zones and Hallways
• Dragons Lair – Used on Menu and to pause
• Dynowarz – Satellite Attack (screen clearer)
• Elite – Activate Powerup
• Family Feud – Buzzes In
• Faxanadu – Displays the Item Screen
• Final Fantasy – Displays the Character Order screen
• Flight of the Intruder – When in the map, will allow you to skip waypoints
• Flying Dragon – Skip dialogue
• Friday the 13th – Select option while exploring
• Gauntlet II – Pauses the game (Start also pauses)
• Home Alone 2 – Select weapon
• Jack Nicklaus Greatest 18 holes – To check the money chart in a skins game
• Jurassic Park – Change Dart Types
• Kart Fighter – Switches buttons from punches to kicks (and vice versa)
• Kickle Cubicle – Kills stuck character and Menu Use
• Kid Icarus – Switch weapons
• Kings Knight – Used in conjunction with the reset button to enable Continue mode
• Kirby’s Adventure – Exhale enemy ability
• Legacy of the Wizard – Item select
• Maniac Mansion – Every thing
• Metal Gear – Brings up the Mode Selection menu and Menu Use
• Metroid – Activate missiles
• Mike Tyson’s Punchout/Punchout – Faster shoulder rub (recover health between rounds)
• Monopoly – Bring up Main Menu (start pauses)
• M.U.L.E. – Pauses Game
• NFL Football – Scrolls down lists
• Nightshade – Brings up Icon Menu
• Operation Wolf – Speed of cursor (in controller mode)
• PinBot – Bumps the cabinet to the right
• Puzzle – Toggles Music and Helpfile
• Pyramid – Toggles Music
• Rygar – Pauses Game (start brings up menu)
• Shadowgate – Displays hints
• Shingen the Ruler – Change parameters for the condition of the territory
• Solstice – Brings up select menu
• Strider – Changes “tricks”
• Super Glove Ball – Hold Down to clear a wall.  Hit to fire bullets
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Switch weapons
• Tetris (Nintendo) – Hides next block
• The Addams Family – To control Thing
• The Black Bass – Take the fish off the hook
• The Blue Marlin – To see Menu
• The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout – Pauses the game (start also pauses)
• The Flintstones – Use special items
• The Goonies II – Pauses the game (start switches to the auxiliary scene)
• The Legend of Zelda – Menu use and hard pause (start brought up the item screen)
• The Mafat Conspiracy – Menu use and to skip dialogues
• The Punisher – Select functions
• The Simpsons: Bart vs the Space Mutants – Switch items
• The Simpsons: Bart vs the World – Exit Minigame
• Wayne Gretzky Hockey – Menu use and to change players
• Wizard and Warriors – Use items or magic
• Wolverine – Extend Claws and/or Call Havoc
• Wrath of the Black Manta – Display Ninpo attacks
• Zen Intergalactic Ninja – Use health item

Menu Use:

• 1942
• 3d World Runner – Enable 3d mode
• 8 Eyes
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• Bad Dudes
• Balloon Fight
• Bases Loaded 1-4
• Battletoads
• Burgertime
• Castlevania
• Championship Rally – Brings up Password Menu
• Contra
• Double Dragon
• Dr Mario
• Duck Hunt
• Excitebike
• Ghost N Goblins
• Gradius
• Golf
• Gyromite
• Heavy Barrel
• Hook
• Ice Climber
• Ice Hockey
• KungFu
• Mach Rider
• Marble Madness
• Mario Bros.
• Mikey Mousecapades – Used with Dpad for level select
• Mission Impossible
• Pictionary
• P.O.W.
• Pro Wrestling
• Qix
• Rad Racer – Enable 3d Mode
• Raid on Bungeling Bay
• RBI Baseball
• Renegade
• Ring King
• Robocop
• Rolling Thunder
• Stealth ATF
• Super Mario Bros
• Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt
• Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet
• Super Mario Bros 3
• Tetris (Tengen)
• Tetris 2
• The Legend of Zelda II: Adventures of Link
• The New Zealand Story
• Thundercade
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• WrestleMania: Steel Cage Challenge – Used to go to Next Menu
• Xevious
• Yoshi
• Zombie Nation – Select Difficulty (start actually starts the game)

Upon closer examination, I noticed that the advertisement wasn’t even for selling games; it was all about buying games — sealed games in particular. Considering we had just published the Rarest & Most Valuable Games guides for the classic Nintendo systems, I found this especially interesting. Also, since most of the actual games weren’t especially rare on their own, I was amazed by how much this store was willing to pay for sealed version of the game.

I suppose that, especially with those early NES games with the black boxes, it is hard enough to find complete copies of the games with the boxes in good condition, let alone have a copy that is still factory sealed.  (An eBay completed auction search for “NES Sealed” shows that others seem to agree)

However, think about one more thing: It would be one thing if this store was SELLING these sealed games for these prices, but since he is actually BUYING these games at these prices, he must think that they are actually worth significantly more if he is paying a magazine to run an ad and plan on selling them for a profit. Perhaps he doesn’t plan on selling them right away, but instead hoarding them and holding onto them in anticipation of rising values.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club

Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. For our first entry we featured the arcade hit Defender, one of the most challenging arcade titles around. We know we hit hard but we’re not quite ready to grant mercy just yet. This time around we’re offering up a much-neglected, oft-overlooked Nintendo classic, Kid Icarus.

History

Kid Icarus is the paternal twin of Metroid. Built on the same engine and released the same year on FDS floppy it was overtaken by Metroid in popularity and now, many years later, you can see what that popularity bought. Metroid has numerous sequels and updates while poor Kid Icarus has only a Gameboy follow-up and Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console rereleases.
Like Metroid, Kid Icarus allowed 3 saved games and used the extra FDS FM synth sound functions. When it was brought to the US it was switched to a password system and the music and sound effects were altered to fit the standard capabilities of the US NES. Unchanged is the challenge level. Harder than Metroid but easier than Defender, Kid Icarus is like many games of the early NES generation in that it is tough as nails.

Kid Icarus has some great atmosphere and an interesting theme inter-twined with elements of mythology. In Japan the game is called Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami, or in English, Legend of Light: The Mirror of Palutena, but the English name is almost more mood appropriate given the periodic Greek myth references. You, Pit the angel, set out to defeat Medusa to save the goddess Palutena.
Depending on the level the play area may scroll up (but never down, so don’t drop off the bottom of the screen and die), sideways, or room to room. As you extend your life, gain new equipment, and buy items you become better able to conquer what the game throws at you. And it’ll take practice and memorization just to make it past the first couple levels. But oh is victory sweet. There are multiple endings to boot, but we’ll leave that for you to figure out.

Recommended Ports

Now, Kid Icarus is actually pretty easy to get your hands on if you have a Game Boy Advance or a Wii, and it’s not exactly rare on the NES. This is a game worth owning and the price is pretty reasonable no matter what your path. As far as I know, the GBA version was only released in Japan, but GBA games are region-free and of course, you can emulate it. For those of you who have a Wii, Kid Icarus is also available as an inexpensive download on the Virtual Console service.

NES	GBA	Wii VC

Emulation for Kid Icarus

If you don’t have an NES, emulation is are very viable option. NES emulators are a dime a dozen and available for just about any platform. Most emulators will also let you use “save states” that will allow you to save your spot in the game instead of depending on the password system built into the game.

Another bonus for emulator users is that if you use the right emulator you can play the original Japanese Famicom Disk System version for the extra FM syth sounds. In addition to your normal Windows/Mac/Linux emulators, below are some NES emulation options. If you need assistance setting up any emulator, please post your question in the Emulation section of the forum

• Play NES Games on the Dreamcast with NesterDC
• Play NES Games on the Nintendo DS with nesDS
• Play Kid Icarus Emulated Online

How To Play / Controls

The controls in Kid Icarus are pretty straightforward, but Pit’s jumping can take a little getting used to. You press A to jump and B to shoot arrows. You hold up to aim up or climb ladders. As expected, the directional buttons move Pit around the stages. (Check out full Kid Icarus Manual)

• Left/Right: Run left/right
• Up: Climb up, aim weapon up
• Down: Duck, Climb down
• A Button: Jump
• B Button: Use weapon
• Start Button: Switch to sub-screen
• Select Button: Select items from sub-screen

Together Retro Goals & Discussion

Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. So play Kid Icarus and talk to us about your thoughts and play experiences in the forums. We want to know your tactics, your strategies, your successes and your failures. We want to know how you feel about being squawked at by the grim reaper while his little mini-mes try to take you out, how you showed Mr. Reaper who’s boss. Heck, if you want you can even rant about how much cooler the Eggplant Wizard is in the game than in the old Captain N cartoon.

• Kid Icarus General Discussion
• Post Your Kid Icarus High Scores / Progress
• Does Kid Icarus Deserve A Sequel? Why?

Additional Resources

• Wikipedia’s Kid Icarus Entry
• Gamespy’s Review of Kid Icarus
• Flying Omelette’s Kid Icarus Shrine

Adding some retro functionality to your Nintendo DS is always a good thing. This time we will be showing off NES emulation for all your favorite 8-bit Nintendo classics.

What Is The Best NES Emulator?

I was surprised to find that most of the emulation sites out there are pushing old NES emulators that are just slight modifications of their GBA counterparts. nesDS, on the other hand, customized the PocketNES code to take full advantage of the DS hardware and to improve performance and compatibility. It isn’t perfect, but I think you will find it quite suitable for most games.

Easy Installation

After some of my frustrating experiences getting some of my GP2X emulators to run, I was very happy with the simplicity of the nesDS installation. Assuming your homebrew cart doesn’t require patching, all you do is download the executable file and put it in a folder with some NES ROMs. (Actually, you don’t need folders, and your ROMs can be elsewhere, but folders usually help keep things organized)

For my CycloDS Evolution cartridge, I just copied over a folder (named “NES”) that had the executable and my ROMs on to MicroSD card, popped it in my DS Lite, and I was good to go. No configuration needed. (Configurations options are availible for tweaking, but I don’t bother)

If you need need installation assistance with older DS homebrew solutions, check out this wiki guide at PocketHeaven.

Video Tour of nesDS

To get a better feel for how nesDS handles, I’ve recorded a quick video that walks through some of the menus and shows a few popular games in action.

nesDS’s Best Features

• High compatibility
• Full speed for most games
• “Rewind” feature with R-trigger
• “Fast Mode” with L-trigger
• Save states

Complaints & Limitations

• Not a huge deal, but I can’t seem to navigate the menus with the D-pad and face buttons. It all seems to be touch-screen based. Since the menu options are small, you will need a stylus for best results.
• There is no DPCM sound (SMB3 drums, Kung Fu laughing, etc), unlike PocketNES.
• There is also no raw PCM sound (speech in Joshua, SCAT, Big Bird’s Hide and Speak), like PocketNES.

Download

• The Official nesDS Site
• Download Mirror from Racketboy