In 1990, Nintendo held its inaugural World Championship competition. Based off of the fictional competition from The Wizard, this tournament brought together gamers from around the country to fight for high scores and wonderful prizes. The legacy of this event was the World Championship Cartridges that were used in the contest and given away as prizes. These carts are highly sought after and extremely valuable, selling for thousands of dollars on Ebay.

Four years later, Nintendo held a second World Championship event. This event, called Nintendo PowerFest 1994, was similar to the original competition. Gamers would gather at regional tournaments, usually held in WalMarts and shopping malls, and compete for the high score. The winners of the regional competitions moved on to the PowerFest finals which were held at Sea World in San Diego. The winner of this exciting competition would receive a brand new Ford Mustang, and a ton of neat Nintendo swag. If that wasn't exciting enough, the MC of the finals competition was none other than television personality and host of GamePro TV, JD Roth.

Much like the original World Championships, PowerFest entrants played three different games, although this time they were all SNES titles. The three games were Super Mario Lost Levels, Mario Kart, and Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball. To win, players would have 6 minutes to complete the first level in Lost Levels, finish 5 laps in Mario Kart, and then hit as many home runs as possible in Griffey Baseball.

The cartridges that were used in the PowerFest competitions were much different from regular SNES carts. The cart itself was much larger than usual, more than half the size of the SNES itself. There is also a cord in the back of the card that allowed the cart to network with other carts.

Unlike the original NES World Championships, the PowerFest finalists didn't receive a copy of the competition cartridge. In fact, all of the cartridges were scrapped for parts after the event. The competition wasn't as successful as the original World Championships, which meant that this was the last event of its kind.

Memory of the event faded into obscurity until one lucky gamer happened upon a copy of the mythical cartridge at a former Nintendo employee's yard sale. Word of the discovery soon spread and a collector bought the PowerFest cart for an unknown amount. Recently, the new owner attempted to put the item up for auction on Ebay. The opening bid was a hefty $50,000! (For the impatient bidder, there was a buy it now option for a cool $250,000. It seems pretty high, but you got a sweet Star Fox jacket as a bonus.) Had this sold, it would have been without a doubt the most valuable video game of all time, dwarfing all others. The game did not sell, and the owner is still looking to move the item. If you happen to have an extra 50 grand burning a hole in your pocket, this could be an worthwhile purchase.

Further Reading: A report of the event from an actual competitor

The Ebay auction for the PowerFest cart itself
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