It would appear that someone recently managed to get their hands on an early copy of Super Mario Party for Nintendo Switch, immediately jumping onto eBay and selling it for $7,100. Where to begin?
Yes, despite the game not being out until 5th October, one lucky person claimed to have found a working cartridge for the game sitting near an airport. On their eBay listing - which has now ended and is unavailable to view properly - the person describes the cartridge as being "in decent shape", noting that it is "slightly damaged" but works just fine.
To prove that the cartridge is indeed real, the eBay seller shared a series of videos to show the cartridge being used. As you can see, the user appears to be using a Joy-Con to move characters in the game, suggesting that the cartridge is working as described.
As mentioned above, the listing went on to generate a whopping $7,100, with 81 bids taking place to reach that total. We're just as intrigued as the next person on how the cartridge ended up in an airport (interestingly, the seller's location was listed as Seattle, Washington - which isn't too far away from Nintendo of America's Redmond HQ) but we can't see why anyone would pay such a substantial sum for a game which is officially out in just ten days.
Either way, we hope the buyer is happy with their purchase and that they don't decide to spoil everything about the game online before release. Now then, Team Nintendo Life is just heading out to our local airport for... reasons.
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[source youtube.com, via nintendosoup.com]
Comments 113
That guy just wrote Nintendo a check for $7,100.
Jesus shoe-shining, marmalade-sipping Christ.
Some people just have money to burn I guess. Wish I had money to burn when they could use that money to put themselves in a self induced coma for 11 days and pay $60 when they wake......
Just DON'T Buy from him !
Gosh....
Waiting until 5 October 2018 is Easy Peasy to do.
Wouldn't be suprised if it was Nintendo that bought it
Whoever plopped down that much cash for a game that will be public in 10 days is an absolute moron...
Gee I hope they get to enjoy spoiling the content and posting YouTube videos about it for the whole 8-5 days they'll have the game before the official release.
It's entirely possible that whoever bought it, bought it for the purpose of dumping and sharing the game illegally online.
Wouldn't this listing have been against eBay's terms of service or something? It breaks street date.
Great... now this will promotes more thieves.
But does it have more than three boards?
Surely you can't be so impatient to play a freakin' Mario Party game that you'd pay thousands of dollars to get it only 10 days before release? If it was Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey before release then I'd understand a bit more, but Mario Party? Seriously?
Out in ten days, with no box, slightly damaged... I don't see why buy it. Maybe they didn't end up paying anyway.
I can understand (stupidly rich) people dropping that amount of money for an early copy of the new Zelda or proper Mario game (you know, the proper 3D platforming adventures), but for Mario Party? No disrespect, I love the Mario Party series, but it's hardly something you'd benefit from having an early copy; there's no story to speak of, & you'd be limited playing locally until nearer the proper release date.
@ilikeike apologies, I was busy typing and you just beat me to exactly the same thought =0p
Who the hell needs to play Mario Party that badly?
What makes it even more hilarious is that the cartridge is in appalling shape and doesn't even come with a cover/case.
If anything, you would risk damaging your cartridge slot by inserting that Into the Switch.
The irony is that they couldn't wait just a few days to play a Mario Party game, a series whose gameplay is pretty much defined by waiting.
Why not wait a few days, buy it new and sealed and at a standard price?
No? ....okay then ebay
Can't Nintendo sue the seller since it is essentially stolen property?
Some people have more money than brains.
I can’t even get myself to pay $60 for Super Mario Party.
The sheer stupidity on display from the bidders is staggering.
The seller struck gold, but it really shouldn't have worked out like that.
It could possibly be the person who bought it is the one who lost it in the first place, maybe he needed to get the game back because their job was worth more to them than the money (possibly a Nintendo employee)
It's not about the money...
@Banjos_Backpack I think someone's selling it and that's the highest bid at the moment?
It's strange either way
There's two kinds of people. There's people who give $7,100 to charity, and people who give $7,100 to play a video game early.
Any other user from my homeland would make a pun on scalpers with "scalpitare", which is Italian for "pawing", referring to the patience, or lack thereof, when it comes to day one breaches, but I couldn't. Because, you know, it'd be a bit of a bilingual joke and... you know, nevermind.
@TJWorks @justin233
Sad but true...
If they actually pay.....
but still why would anybody let that go over 60 bucks?
Probably got it from his uncle who works at Nintendo...
This is just sad, on both parties.
Somebody is going to jail!
Reggie can afford $7,100. Tell ya what. I bet it's the last time he leaves a game in the airport lol!
I want to punch the buyer in the face for wasting money in the dumbest way
@Yosher Parties... was that an intentional pun?
I imagine the buyer is banking on the collectable value this cartridge will have in the future, it'll be one of those weird ones. the mario party that fell off a plane or something like that
If the guy bought it and he’s happy leave him alone and let him be happy with his purchase. Maybe he just wants to party early
Most likely this seller will never get paid. Either the buyer never comes through, or he does get paid, and buyer files a chargeback later on.
@TheOpponent Except Nintendo likely won't see a penny of that money!
If this had been a rare special edition or a game that was due out months from now, I'd KIND OF get this. But that much for a game that's out in only a few days?
...Someone must REALLY like Mario Party and has some money to burn.
Oh yeah I was the one who bought that copy
(Eez joke, please don't crucify me)
Hopefully Ninty bought their property back from this moron then got the bank to cancel the payment as it’s stolen property.
Seriously though somebody must have been REALLY desperate (and rich) if they had to resort to buying a run-down cartridge of a game that comes out in less than a fortnight.
I'd understand if it was a good, or at least a decent game, but Mario party? That's just sad.
Hopefully the seller gets the full amount.
Cya
Raziel-chan
Nobody forgot it, they let it.
The "seller" is one from inside, Nintendo bought the cartridge back,
The "seller" posted same photos and videos, and everyone talks from now on and for the next 10 days for Super Mario Party.
That's what I think.
Man if only I could just plop $7100 down to play games early I would have life made.
I love how people will complain about piracy even in an article like this...
@sikthvash No need for apologies, it's funny how we had almost the exact same thoughts on the subject! We even used the same examples as well.
@Banjos_Backpack Haha sorry, I replied before I had coffee, the sarcasm is more obvious now that I'm fully awake
And a mischievous winking emoji is an essential for any NintendoLife post!
The headline for this incident very well could otherwise have read: "Good Samaritan Who Found Unreleased Nintendo Switch Game At Airport Returns It To Nintendo, Declines Reward". Geeze humanity.. try being THAT person once in a while, not deviant money-sucking lifeless scavs!
@ryancraddock I'm guessing the buyer had like one star and this guy never sees a dime. Good luck on the final value fee.
@TJWorks Or people who believe some ACTUALLY paid and people who are smarter than that.
I could throw a much better party than that for $7,100.
@DHX Why would anyone do that? Nintendo, as pretty much any company ever, is a deviant money-sucking lifeless scav of a company, we're nothing but dollar signs to them. That'd be just stupid.
Cya
Raziel-chan
Just because it's been purchased doesn't mean it's been paid for. Could just be a few trolls bumping the price up to boycott the sale. Happens all the time on the bay. Guaranteed the seller won't get that cash.
@Yosheel it's a Mario party game though. There isnt anything to spoil.
Holy mother of fruit baskets, that's insane.
That game card looks like a dog chewed on it or something. Ridiculous.
Not that I can confirm, but if it's an early copy of the game is it possible that it can be exploited?
Something like that might be valuable to a hacker.
Hey I really wanted that copy of Mario party! Can't believe it's been posted on here now everyone will be round my house wanting a turn!
If it’s a prototype and distinguishable in any way from a retail card, it’s a wise investment. I highly doubt someone paid that money just to play Mario Party early. It’s a potential collector’s item that could be quite valuable some day.
I agree with @bimmy-lee. It’s someone looking for a rare, collectors item. I don’t think the finder had the right to sell it though. Should it be returned to Nintendo?
I could hold so many real life parties for that money :/
Geeze, pay me just $380 and I'll sell you the full copy i have over night (I may get fired, but who cares, I'm fixing to get a better job anyway)
(hint, I have a second job i use to pay for my kids tuitions at a used game mega chain hint, hint)
Slow news day ? the seller won't see the cash, the winning bid was a joke.
@617Sqn I just knew this story was to good to be true. Stupidity on planet earth never seems to amaze me but this story took it to far.
@AlexSora89 I appreciate your bilingual joke 🙌
Didn't know that random transactions on ebay are newsworthy nowadays.
Well to whom it may concern, I recently purchased a controller adapter on ebay.
Troll bids, nothing to see here
@Not_Soos I swear it wasn't and now I feel bad for making an accidental pun. XD
Does nobody realise how many auction sales don't get fulfilled? As if anyone would actually pay that. Be relisted in a day or so.
Well the news source that starts putting stuff online in the next few days.... They are the ones who bought the game for $7 grand!
Probably will recover that money though YouTube videos.... Get lots of people to watch it.
.... And I just want to know more about the game, like maps and such
I can't even get myself to pay the Tax when i buy a Switch game which is two dollars more in NJ tax is expensive and high here btw people so Damnnn that guy who bought it threw away $7.100 dollars just for a stupid dumb part game no offense Mario Lol is just ridiculous and hilarious.I bet he's hitting himself in the head Lol and regretting buying it for that crazy amount of money cause it sucks or isn't that even good just okay Hahahahahahahaha won't get a good rating at all when it does come out.
Wow, a pretty damaged cart of a game releasing in a week. Worth $7,000 today. Worth $2.37 next week. Amazing. This guy must work at Lehman.
I mean for that money you could buy an unopened imported copy of Mother 3......
More worrisome is, how are random Nintendo employees walking around with pre-production retail GameCards and losing them near airports. If they are running pre-release games for business purposes, isn't it significantly more likely they'd just be running it digitally? I mean how bad is Switch digital if even staff is provided digital?
From what I've seen, the game doesn't even have Birdo in it, so it's not even worth $60 let alone 7k+.
isn't it against the eBay user agreement policy to sell per-release software including video games.
hope the seller gets kicked off eBay and gets in trouble with Nintendo.
Must be nice having that much money to just throw around stupidly.
@nintendoPLAYROOM Especially if it takes 2-7 days to arrive lol.
I'm sorry but I love me some Nintendo and Mario Party games are always a blast to play, but in no way shape or form is any game in the series (especially one that's not been released yet) should ever go for $7100. And especially given the fact that the game is out in a matter of days.
This is great advertisement and a story for super mario party. This will be all over social media. This stunt and practice was done by Nintendo.
The idea worked
And I thought the new iphone was expensive
Wild guess the buyer may be a Youtuber who will get a big jump over other reviewers for those important views.
$7k is a small investment if said channel can grab all the attention.
Minus the delivery time (+-2 days) leaves you 8 days. Those are some expensive 8 days..
@The_Mysteron
Thank you for appreciating my lame bilingual shenanigans! ^^
Wow
@CptProtonX I would think any Youtuber big time enough to be able to profit from a $7000 video game will already be receiving a copy from Nintendo in advance, and would not be breaching embargo and jeopardizing their relationship with Nintendo otherwise.
Look at everyone assuming this $7100 bid is legitimate and will actually get paid.
I sure hope that seller gets into the legal trouble they deserve. Not only is it illegal to post videos of a game more than 24 hours before it's out without permission of the game's rights holders, but it's also illegal to keep an item of value after finding it without returning it to its rightful owner. If they just kept it they might have been able to say it wasn't worth anything but they sold it for $7100, which makes that how much it was worth. Also, the likelihood that they found it on the ground is highly unlikely; this person probably stole it from Nintendo or from a factory or distribution center. And even if it weren't all illegal, it's certainly immoral.
There is literally nothing to leak anymore but i guess everyone has their own reasons?
are people really that thick? 7 grand for a poor quality cartridge like that? for 7 grand you could have 100s of copies for that much, and you would think people would have more sense than that.
@MSTRDM i guess people are not patient to wait 8 days for a game to come out, it's like me being desperate to play fist of the north star on ps4 8 days early and there is no case and the disc is scratched and paying 7 grand for that too, madness.
just like they say... there's always a fool... and there are many of them that's how they earn money. with that said
nobody is asking the most important question.
what in holy hell did they do to that cartridge to break it like that!?
I just got back from the Gym, I'm tired and I still have to cook my meal... And man... I can't understand the reason behind this. Burning 7K for "damaged"game.
Now I'm tired and confused. Hahahahahahhahah
Don't get me wrong guys, I LOVE Mario games, but I am poor.
The cartridge looks in bad shape. More money than sense....
I've heard some people say they think a media outlet did it, so they could review and post about it, free from the embargo.
@Bunkerneath my thoughts exactly
No game is worth that much money. Just stupid
I betcha someone (probably the guy who dropped the game at the airport) at Nintendo pays him to get the game back just so no one can play the game early. To get $7000 from that is awesome though, now not only can he still get the game but a brand new Switch and a copy of Doom as well.
@RupeeClock
There's no street date for second hand items.
Do you guys not credit news tips any more or just not check for them?
@EmmatheBest What did you expect from a website full of piracy crybabies?
No idea if this particular auction is legit or not, but $1,700 wouldn't be that much to pay for an early copy. If you are a pirate.
Could Nintendo ban your account for this like when Pokemon Sun and Moon were leaked digitally?
@Dalarrun Couldn’t have put it better myself
I'm surprised somebody was willing to pay $60 for a modern day Mario Party game let alone $7,100.
@Silly_G with that much money you can buy 20 new Switch consoles , so potentially damaging the cartridge slot shouldn't be the main issue for the buyer
I'm not sure "finders keepers" would apply to this situation. There's usually a waiting period I'd imagine before a lost item can be fully claimed by the finder. Plus that's still technically R&D from Nintendo.
I thought you couldn't play this game in handheld mode?
@Bunkerneath my thoughts exactly
Looks like he was fighting a wild wolf to get that cart out of its fangs..
Sold for over $7,000???
Take THAT, Little Samson!
Totally insane!!
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