Make no mistake, we've got endless love for chunky plastic cartridges and proper printed manuals (remember those?), but the convenience of digital games is hard to deny and over the last decade or so digital distribution has taken off to the point where often physical versions aren't even an option these days. Whether we like it or not, there will come a point when physical discs and cartridges simply aren’t manufactured anymore.

We've still got the classics on the shelf, though. We discussed yesterday how our most treasured items often aren’t worth much, but a mint copy of Majora's Mask is nothing compared to the truly eye-watering prices some retro games can fetch and with each passing year it's getting harder and harder to reclaim childhood favourites at reasonable prices.

To make ourselves feel better (or should that be worse?) we've gathered below a dozen of the priciest games you can buy for Nintendo hardware today. The older they are, the more expensive they get (obviously), so you'll find plenty of NES games below, but anything that originally came in a fragile cardboard box will invariably fetch more than the plastic equivalent.

To avoid a rabbit hole of test cartridges, prototypes and special carts manufactured in very limited amounts for contests and such, we've stuck to good old fashion full retail titles here - games you could have bought for $60 when they released originally, if you only knew. We've also eliminated Limited Editions and stuck to officially licensed games, so you won't find any of the naughty adult-only titles sold in special stores or via mail order, either.

To find out the most expensive Nintendo games going Price Charting was an invaluable resource and provided nearly all the figures below, with the CIB figure coming from the last documented copy sold on eBay. These games are presented in no particular order because prices are constantly fluctuating and estimates are just that - estimates.

So, let’s move over from the cheap shelving to the locked cabinet, press our collective noses to the glass and look longingly at rarities we’ll likely never get our grubby hands on...

And there you have it - a dozen of the priciest games for Nintendo obsessives like us to throw their cash at. Just bubbling under was Virtual Bowling for Virtual Boy; hardly the most in-demand game (or console), for sure, although the Virtual Boy always had an allure for us, maybe because us Europeans never had the migraine-inducing pleasure back in the day. We liked the game in our review, although $1300 might be pushing it.



Got any of these sitting in the cupboard? Planning on picking any of them up? Let us know your most valuable games and how you got your mitts on them below.

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