Rarest Nintendo game of all time is up for auction, current bid sits at $130,000

One of the rarest Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games of all time is currently up for auction, with the current bid over at auction house Goldwin sitting on a whopping $130,000. The game in question is the 1990 Nintendo World Championships cartridge, created by Nintendo America and given out to 26 lucky readers of the Nintendo Power magazine.

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Yeah, with only 26 produced, this gold-colored cartridge is legendary - and the one going up for auction comes from Patrick King of Cheyenne, who can be found in Nintendo Power #18 from 1990. The game and cartridge were created to commemorate the 1990 Nintendo World Championships and contain specialized time-limited versions of Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, Tetris, and other games. The visible dip switch on the front allows the time to be adjusted.

Nintendo created 350 gray-colored cartridges for the time-trial speedrunning competition. However, these limited gold versions are highly sought after - making this a rare piece of videogame history that rarely shows up in this form.

The last time one showed up - a decade ago - it sold for $100,088 on eBay.

Although this copy earned a 4.0 grade by CGC, grading out of a possible 10.0, this is to be expected as Nintendo mailed out the cartridge to winners by sticking it on copies of the magazine and destroying the label. Also, there's no box, cover, or official case.

The timing for the auction is spot on, as Nintendo just released Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition for the Nintendo Switch. This new retro game pays homage to and commemorates the 1990 Nintendo World Championships by focusing on time trials with over 150 speed-running challenges. It features classic games from the 8-bit NES, such as Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Metroid.