Strangest Damage to Retro Video Game Items?
What's the strangest damage you've seen to a game, system or peripheral you've picked up or simply seen at a flea market or garage sale?
- NES controller with what appear to be human bite marks all around the edges of the casing, and the rubber Start and Select buttons seemingly bitten off
- Pro Wrestling for NES with dried, rock-hard macaroni and cheese stuck to the back of the cart
- Super Mario Bros 3 McDonald's Happy Meal Toys. The toys appeared clean at first glance, but upon closer inspection they had ketchup in all of their cracks. I can only assume a toddler was given these along with a handful of ketchup packets.
- Super Mario Bros / Duck Hunt held together with scotch tape. Someone pried open the casing without unscrewing it, leaving plastic stuck around the screw posts, but the rest of the casing torn off.
- Nam 1975 for Neo Geo -- the cleavage and sexy parts of the woman was covered up with black marker on the cartridge, booklet and case. I guess this is a thing they do in China before sending through customs?
- NES controller with what appear to be human bite marks all around the edges of the casing, and the rubber Start and Select buttons seemingly bitten off
- Pro Wrestling for NES with dried, rock-hard macaroni and cheese stuck to the back of the cart
- Super Mario Bros 3 McDonald's Happy Meal Toys. The toys appeared clean at first glance, but upon closer inspection they had ketchup in all of their cracks. I can only assume a toddler was given these along with a handful of ketchup packets.
- Super Mario Bros / Duck Hunt held together with scotch tape. Someone pried open the casing without unscrewing it, leaving plastic stuck around the screw posts, but the rest of the casing torn off.
- Nam 1975 for Neo Geo -- the cleavage and sexy parts of the woman was covered up with black marker on the cartridge, booklet and case. I guess this is a thing they do in China before sending through customs?
Comments
Strangest Damage to Old Gaming Related Items?
I believe that's what he means
Most copies of Nam 1975 were censored with the black marker for sale in North America I believe. This was done after the games were already produced and they couldn't just print new artwork, manuals, and labels so they censored what they had by hand individually.
I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.
He went to test it but the cart. couldn't quite lodge into the Game Boy Colour slot properly
He takes the game out, looks at the pins of the game and there is half a hazelnut lodged inside the game slot!
Originally posted by: Shell Dante
Most copies of Nam 1975 were censored with the black marker for sale in North America I believe. This was done after the games were already produced and they couldn't just print new artwork, manuals, and labels so they censored what they had by hand individually.
That is completely wrong. There was no censorship done to NAM-1975 in North America. Censored copies were sold in middle eastern and similar countries where exposed skin on women is illegal, even on product packaging. There was a large accumulation of unsold stock from those countries, which included NAM-1975, Blue's Journey, Magician Lord, Ninja Combat and many other launch titles. That unsold stock eventually became new old stock sold through online sellers in North America during the early 2000s. These days the supply has been really drying up, now all that's left for inexpensive Neo Geo AES games is common Japanese fighters.
- NES controller with what appear to be human bite marks all around the edges of the casing, and the rubber Start and Select buttons seemingly bitten off
I've had several of these come through over the years. I find them all the time at yard sales (mostly in MA where I was living at the time). I think this is more common a phenomena than we realize.
Also for some reason, I think it was Hollywood Video, liked to tape the instructions of games to the cardboard boxes.
To me, just about any damage is strange. Even as a very young kid, I took really good care of my games, and could never understand why anyone else wouldn't. But to be honest, the damage that surprises me the most is major scratches on disc based games. WHO LETS THIS HAPPEN? It's so easy to put a disc back in its case when you are done. How lazy can some people be to leave discs lying around to get scratched up?
You'd be surprised. Some people have a VERY utilitiarian attitude when it comes to their entertainment media. I've known people that have stacks of discs just sitting in piles on their entertainment center, and the only time they go back in the case is when they're selling them off.
To me, just about any damage is strange. Even as a very young kid, I took really good care of my games, and could never understand why anyone else wouldn't. But to be honest, the damage that surprises me the most is major scratches on disc based games. WHO LETS THIS HAPPEN? It's so easy to put a disc back in its case when you are done. How lazy can some people be to leave discs lying around to get scratched up?
You'd be surprised. Some people have a VERY utilitiarian attitude when it comes to their entertainment media. I've known people that have stacks of discs just sitting in piles on their entertainment center, and the only time they go back in the case is when they're selling them off.
No, it doesn't surprise me anymore because I've seen it enough. But that doesn't change the fact that I can't understand such a lazy mentality. I'll never understand it because I simply don't think that way.
To me, just about any damage is strange. Even as a very young kid, I took really good care of my games, and could never understand why anyone else wouldn't. But to be honest, the damage that surprises me the most is major scratches on disc based games. WHO LETS THIS HAPPEN? It's so easy to put a disc back in its case when you are done. How lazy can some people be to leave discs lying around to get scratched up?
Same here. I always take good care of the games I've purchased, but the damage I've seen on games I've gotten from eBay are startling. I have trouble wrapping my head around how someone can be so lackadaisical about that.
My John Madden Football is nearly cut in half by a knife or box cutter or something. Still works though.
Also, I'm pretty confident I contributed to some of the bite marks in the wild. I loved to chew on anything and everything when I was little.
To me, just about any damage is strange. Even as a very young kid, I took really good care of my games, and could never understand why anyone else wouldn't. But to be honest, the damage that surprises me the most is major scratches on disc based games. WHO LETS THIS HAPPEN? It's so easy to put a disc back in its case when you are done. How lazy can some people be to leave discs lying around to get scratched up?
When the NES was getting a bit old in the mid to late 90s, I was the only one who kept using it often, so I guess others disregarded it as an old piece of junk. Well one day my brother for no reason whatsoever took a bite out of the Zapper's connector. Since then I've had troubles connecting it to the NES... I ended up cutting some of the torn plastic to make it easier. So perhaps a bunch of these things happened, by the time we were 16-17 all you needed was some booze or drugs and nostalgia to damage old games or controllers...