If you wanted to see what is probably the most expensive video game on the planet, take a look at the gold NES cartridge above. A copy of that game, called Nintendo World Championships, was recently purchased by a collector for the tune of $17,500 USD. The games were special made for a contest held by Nintendo, modeled after The Wizard, and only about a hundred of the grey and twenty-six of the gold cartridges were ever made. The collector, JJ Hendricks, posted a detailed retelling of the events that led up to him paying a large sum of money to put a framed cartridge on his wall.
While it seems excessive, I can kind of relate. When I was in middle school, I had quite the collection of Super Soakers. I was so proud of them, I had even built a shelf in my room to display them all. As with any collection, it started with getting one as a present, then another, and another. Pretty soon, I was begging to get new ones as gifts and saving up every penny I could get my grubby little hands on to buy more and more. I think I had at least seven or eight of them, including the pride of my collection, the Super Soaker SS 200, with two reservoirs and extra pressurizing tank, it was a sight to behold. If I remember right, I spent at least 40 dollars on it, which in early 90′s money is quite a lot of scratch, not $17K, but still a lot.
How I Got Nintendo World Championships Gold [VGPC via Kotaku]