TOKYO — Here’s something you don’t see every day: A whole pile of 22-year-old games in brand-new shape.
These Famicom Disk System games, including Super Mario Bros. 2, Metroid, and Volleyball, were sitting in a consignment shop down a small alley near the Akihabara train station. They’re actually quite cheaply priced: Down the street at retrogame superstore Super Potato, a used copy of Super Mario Bros. 2 costs about three times as much.
So how did these get here? I can hazard a guess. Back when I was living in Japan in 2003, two things happened around the same time. First, Nintendo discontinued repairing the Famicom Disk System, the drive belt on which often broke down. Second, a whole pile of new, sealed disk games started appearing in Osaka’s classic game stores. My guess is that Nintendo, getting out of the Disk System business, divested itself of a treasure trove full of merchandise that had been sitting around the repair center.
Our Akihabara reseller must also have gotten his hands on a stack of them. Whatever happened, these are a pretty good deal and a rare sight to see these days.
Photo: Chris Kohler/Wired.com