In case you haven’t heard or seen the headlines in gaming news, a prototype version of the original The Legend of Zelda game was up on eBay for auction this past week, with a listing price of $150,000. Well, it’s sold, and went for a record-making amount for a Nintendo game collectible.
The seller received just over a third of his asking price for the game, letting it go at $55,000. Tom Curtin, the seller, has explained to Examiner.com why he’s okay with letting the title go for less than what he’d asked:
“I care about the collecting community and giving it a good home was important,” he said. “I feel as though that was accomplished. It was also important getting prototype video game collecting into the news. It is amazing what is out there in released and unreleased protos.” Also, “Do I think it’s worth more? Yes. There was no way I was taking less than the previous world record.”
The seller is also under a non-disclosure with the buyer, who remains anonymous, but Curtis has said that he’s happy to have owned the game at one point, and has expressed his deep thanks to everyone who works to maintain the legacy of rare pieces of Nintendo history such as prototype cartridges.
