If you’re too lazy to construct the NES harmonica that surfaced a couple years ago, now’s your chance to cheat and buy one on eBay. As of now, there are seven bids on the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge harmonica with six days left, the high bid at $15.50. Not a bad price for an awesome addition to your coffee table of gaming. Here’s what the seller has to say:
This harmonica was constructed by using a Hohner Pocket Pal harmonica and building it into a Super Mario Bros 3 cartridge. As you can see in the picture, this appears to be a standard NES cartridge at first glance. Fool your friends by blowing into it and see the look on their faces when they realize it is a harmonica!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:34AM - By Benjamin Opal
Isn’t this how all rare collectible stories go? A woman in Haw River, N.C., dug out the old Nintendo Entertainment System and five games from her closet for sale on eBay. As she put it:
I HAVE HAD THIS STORED IN THE CLOSET FOR YEARS FOR MY KIDS TO PLAY BUT THE WAY THAT ELECTRONICS COME & GO AND CHANGE FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT THEY WANTED ALL OF THE NEW HOT ITEMS OF THEIR OWN NOW AND NOW IT’S TIME TO GET RID OF THINGS THAT ARE NO LONGER BEING USED OR WANTED.
Turns out, one of those games was Stadium Events, whose American NTSC version is one of the rarest NES games in existence. That the auction included the box and manual seriously sweetened the deal, as one BoingBoing commenter pegged the box at $9,000, the manual at $1,500 and the game for $2,000. Bidding closed at $13,105.
The Indianapolis Colts may have been the Super Bowl favorite in Las Vegas, but perhaps the bookies should’ve turned to the infinite wisdom of NES classic Tecmo Super Bowl, which accurately predicted a win from the New Orleans Saints. Knobbe.org, a home for Tecmo Super Bowl fans the world over, ran a simulation of the game and predicted a final score of 34 to 31 in overtime. It’s not quite the same as the Saints’ decisive 31-17 victory, but maybe if Payton Manning hadn’t thrown a pick to Tracy Porter with three minutes left, and the Colts had managed to score a touchdown, get the onside kick and score again, Tecmo’s outcome could’ve had a chance. In any case, the end result is the same: Extended Mardi Gras.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 4:22PM - By Lawrence Sonntag
An interview in the Asahi Simbun with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled some interesting bits of information regarding the next Legend of Zelda title on the Wii and a successor to the Nintendo DS handheld.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 6:35PM - By Lawrence Sonntag
Speculation has been rampant since EA Canada Community Manager Alain Quinto tweeted that EA Sports would announce an entirely new game in January. Some guessed that the new title would be a WWE or baseball game. The current rumor is that the game in question is much more novel than previously suspected.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 5:35PM - By Benjamin Opal
No need for alarm, Nintendo’s next console is most likely not called the Nintendo Zii, and hasn’t been trademarked as such. SiliconEra, which loves to dig up this stuff, found a Nintendo trademark for “Zii” in Japan, and speculated that this was perhaps the name for a high-definition Nintendo Wii, noting that three years is a bit late for something as simple as name protection. But after doing some digging, Engadget found that this is likely just a renewal of a trademark request from 2006. Also, trademarks from Nintendo were found for Bii, Cii, Oii and Yii. Why the Big N didn’t go the extra mile and trademark Xii, Uii, Iii and Nii is beyond me, and my Mii.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 6:44PM - By Jared Newman
Nintendo Power pulled the lid off Mega Man 10, and, well, it looks like every other Mega Man you remember from childhood. Purists won’t like some of the features Capcom has lined up for this WiiWare release, such as the ability to select other characters (Protoman is mentioned, and a third character is being kept secret for now) and a story that requires Mega Man to assemble a vaccine-making device that cures robots of Robotenza. It’s not said whether Dr. Wily is involved, but come on.
Friday, December 4, 2009 12:13PM - By Jared Newman
From the department of wise decisions (and, technically, Famitsu) comes word that the Phoenix Wright series will come to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Good call. The entirety of the Nintendo DS series is spent tapping on a touch screen, so this well-received wacky lawyer drama will be a perfect fit on Apple’s devices. Only the first game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, is planned for release on the iPhone, but the sequels and spin-offs (there are four of them) could follow. There’s no word yet on pricing or actual release dates. This is great news for iPhone gamers, but it spells trouble for Nintendo.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:04AM - By Jared Newman
How was Mario created? It’s common knowledge that his hat-and-moustache appearance were due to graphical limitations that made it hard to otherwise distinguish facial features. But what was at the root of Mario’s origins? Why was the character, originally dubbed Jumpman, created to begin with? Money.
