Donkey Kong Country Competition Cart hits eBay

by Dan Dormer { Oct 19th 2007 at 8:29PM }

So you fancy yourself a video game collector? Do you own the Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge pictured above, manufactured specifically for the Blockbuster World Videogame Championship II in 1995? Probably not, since according to the auction notes, only "2500 copies" were ever made. There's currently just over two days left, and bidding for this piece of history has already exceeded $175. Expect the sniping to commence closer to the actual auction ending, because most gamers (at least those who play Counter-Strike or Halo 3) seem to be pretty good at it.

Tags: auction, history, Nintendo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DangerMouse @ Oct 19th 2007 8:32PM

expect some fake bids since it's listed on a popular news site.

blooh (TIDF - Nipple Ring) @ Oct 19th 2007 8:34PM

my friend was in that competition :)

Darrell @ Oct 19th 2007 8:42PM

Really? I just thought those who play Halo 3 were good at overrating mediocrity.

Gamerextrordinaire @ Oct 19th 2007 8:46PM

You've never met a Wii fan, apparently...

DemonGSides @ Oct 19th 2007 9:06PM

And you've obviously never seen any major video game, which has been overhyped, which would be all of them.

the_game_master @ Oct 19th 2007 8:42PM

"Mortal Kombat, on Sega Genesis, is the best video game ever."
- - "I disagree, it's a very good game, but i think Donkey Kong is the best game ever."
"Donkey Kong sucks."

LaughingTarget @ Oct 19th 2007 8:52PM

DKC is good, just not good enough to pay more than $40 for.

Rob Accomando @ Oct 19th 2007 8:52PM

what? No Box & Booklet???

Will @ Oct 19th 2007 11:04PM

Actually, it does include the box. Look at the auction.

Rob Accomando @ Oct 20th 2007 9:55AM

Thanks, didn't read that. :)

Dio @ Oct 19th 2007 8:59PM

Cool, now where are the other 2499 copies?

Renato de Sousa @ Oct 19th 2007 9:14PM

I like that the photo shows the "Resale/Rental of the game pak is prohibited!" notice.

Rob Accomando @ Oct 19th 2007 9:18PM

I wonder if some snitch contacted if they would take it down. I wouldn't do that... just curious.

Rob Accomando @ Oct 19th 2007 9:18PM

err, "contacted Ebay", that is.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 19th 2007 9:26PM

I was in the Blockbuster World Championships II. I was 12. I was the store champion in Pasadena, California. I got 2 free rentals per month for the next year. I stayed on top of my game from 1995 - 1996.

OH HELL YES I WANT THIS. If this was on eBay 6 months ago I'd be bidding $300, but right now I'm broke as hell. Shucks.

Noshino @ Oct 19th 2007 9:36PM

Rubang, since you were on the championship, what was it about? I played the game, but I don't know what kind of championship could there be based on it...speed run?

CV_Otaku @ Oct 19th 2007 10:42PM

Noshino - I was in the competition back in the day. Basically, they just replaced a bunch of the stuff in the game with bananas. And then they threw more bananas in there. You goal was to collect as many bananas as possible within the alotted time.

I came in second at my local store. I was first for quite a while until some banana-collecting god played and destroyed my total.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 20th 2007 12:11AM

Most bananas in 5 minutes. However, you get 10 bananas for every enemy you kill, and I think 50 bananas for every secret and maybe 100 or so for passing a level. So it's best to pass as many levels as you can in 5 minutes while hopping on enemies and getting secrets but actually avoiding bananas.

I was also in the FIRST Blockbuster World Videogame Championships in 1994. That year it was 3 games: NBA Jam, Judge Dredd, and TMNT: Tournament Fighter. They had some really awkward multiplication system to try to make the scores of all 3 games equal. Who plays platforming shooters like Judge Dredd for points though? I forget where I placed that year. I remember seeing my name on their list though, so it was somewhere between 2 and 10? You had to play all 3 games and you could pick SNES or Genesis. I had to rock the SNES for the L/R turbo. I can't play no NBA Jam with a C button!

Anyway, since I lost that year, my 11 year old ass was filled with such rage that I trained for a whole year and came back and rocked that store in 1995! I can't wait to write my memoirs. So kickass. I also went to the Nintendo Powerfest 1994 and played Goof Troop before it came out, but I was so late I missed all the tournaments, and the Nintendo staffers felt so bad they gave me a free shirt (Nintendo Powerfest '94 on the front, PLAY IT LOUD on the back) that was 8291057 sizes too big back then and actually fits me fine now.

Rubang out.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 20th 2007 8:06AM

Ya, I was in those, too. Begged my mom to rent me the games so I could practice them. Of course, I kept on thinking, "Damn, why do they have to pick two shitty games (Dredd and Tournament Fighter)?"

OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Oct 19th 2007 9:38PM

I remember that cart. You played that and NBA Jam on the SNES, or you played NBA Jam and Judge Dredd on the Genesis.

I went the Genesis route, and I actually won the local title at two different Blockbuster locations. 4 free game rentals a month for a year. :)

Howard-the-Duck @ Oct 19th 2007 9:46PM

I was in a DKC video game tournament, though it was just a small local thing hosted by the radio station, and it didn't use this cartridge. Basically it was a "collect the most bananas" contest. Some kid sat next to me and tallied how many bananas I got while I ran through the levels. Pretty lame.

The winner got a Huffy bike.

P. Reardon @ Oct 19th 2007 10:52PM

Geez, I entered this thing as an 8 year old kid, if it was in 1995. I'm sure I did awful too, but at the time, it was a thrill to "compete" in a competition. The game is just a timed and scored runthrough of the game, as far as you can get before the time runs out. I think I made it to the water level or something.

DCBlack @ Oct 19th 2007 10:55PM

I was in this competition at my local Blockbuster. I must've been 12 or younger at the time. From what I remember, it was pretty much about getting the farthest in the allotted time. I remember taking 1st place at the store, but someone else topped me.

Would be cool to have this, but I'm not paying that kind of a price.

MagiKarp @ Oct 20th 2007 12:28AM

Haha, rated KA. Remember those days? *nostalgic*

Word of the street(IDF-Digital Ruler). @ Oct 20th 2007 1:21AM

170$ sounds..Good if I had nay trust on ebay I would buy it I know a pair of suckers who would pay 1000$ at least for it.

Tulang @ Oct 20th 2007 2:55AM

I was in this stupid tournament too and I should have gone with the Genesis path cause then I would have gotten to play Judge Dredd.

Ryan @ Oct 20th 2007 2:21AM

Oh wow I was in that competition, my brother actually won it in the city we live in. He got like free game rentals per month for a year and a plaque that he actually hanged above his bed lol. I wonder if I can find that thing again..

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 20th 2007 3:34AM

Oh yeah, I forgot the plaque. I still have mine, and it GLOWS IN THE DARK. And I got some stickers that I put on stuff and lost, and a pin, which I still have attached to a sweater somewhere in the mess of my room.

badinsults @ Oct 20th 2007 3:28AM

This cart isn't really that uncommon. There is usually one auction every month or so. The Starfox Super Weekend cart is actually more rare. And it certainly doesn't compare in rarity to the Nintendo World Championship cart.

Ryan Hamilton @ Oct 20th 2007 2:50AM

I have it but in emulation

ShoryuKen @ Oct 20th 2007 9:07PM

I was in my local tournament and ranked second. My prize was 1 free rental and a shitload of Marvel trading cards. I wonder if the Judge Dredd SNES cart is floating around out there somewhere.

Dio @ Oct 20th 2007 1:17PM

Haha, it's $500 now. I wonder if a reader here who saw it before the writer is thinking "OHMYGODWHYDIDYOUPOSTTHIS I WANTED TO BUY EEEEET"

navstar @ Oct 21st 2007 8:38PM

So is the ROM different, or it just a different sticker on the cart?

Ryan Hamilton @ Oct 20th 2007 10:00PM

The differences are no map and each level comes one after the other and each level is timed. It was all about who could complete each level the fastest. So basically $500 dollars for this cart, because the game ads a timer lol. It doesn't even have a title screen either. The game just starts on the first level.

Screenshot

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/4650/dkccyr2.jpg

WiNG @ Oct 21st 2007 1:10AM

I remember that competition.

I got 3rd place in Sonic 3 for the state, but sucked at every other game.

alu @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:53PM

from TFA:

This is a scored timed version of Donkey Kong Country. A countdown clock and score indicator have been added to the top of the screen.
The goal of the game is to earn points. This is done by collecting bananas, defeating enemies, collecting balloons, finding KONG letters, and throwing barrels.
There is no world map. Ending one stage takes you straight to the beginning of the next. Additionally, the order of the stages has been changed around slightly.
As soon as the timer reaches zero, the game freezes. This as done so Blockbuster employees could write down the contestant's final score. The only way to restart the game is to cycle the Super Nintendo's power via the reset or power switches.

james @ Oct 31st 2007 7:59AM

I have one of these cartridges. I remember playing in the competition at Blockbuster when I was a kid, and then when they sold the cartridges in Nintendo Power my mom bought one for me as a Christmas present. I had no idea they were so rare.