Although Pokémon is one of the most popular franchises of all time, there are games in the series that only a few people in the world could play. One of them has now reportedly reappeared on eBay.
Which game is it? An interesting offer for Pokémon fans appeared on eBay. A seller is offering a Japanese developer test card for the Nintendo DS. According to a Japanese x-user, it is software for Pokémon Fishing Contest DS.
This is a special title in the series that was available only very limited in Japan and Taiwan in an amusement park. The auction starts at 7,999 Euros and currently has no bids. For the preservation of video games, this could be a great find, but with the high price, there is also a great risk.
Much more readily available is the spin-off Mystery Dungeon Team: Rescue Team DX:
An incredibly rare software
What kind of game is this? According to Bulbapedia, an internet encyclopedia for everything related to Pokémon, PokéPark Fishing Contest DS was a minigame that could be downloaded via Download Play on the DS. Download Play in this case is not an online store as we know today.
It allowed you to download games from other systems to play multiplayer games without having to own the cartridge itself. The best example is probably Mario Kart DS. These Download Play versions were only temporary on a DS, so you had to download them again if you wanted to play with a friend.
PokéPark Fishing Contest DS was first available only at the PokéPark amusement park from May 16, 2005, to August 31, 2005. After that, there were short phases in Japanese Pokémon Centers, at an event, or in Taiwan at a PokéPark in 2006.
In the game, you had to collect water Pokémon to improve your high score. The special thing about the game is, however, that it was supposedly not playable after 12 hours or after turning off your DS, and it is said to have essentially deleted itself from the system.
That is why the game
is also considered lost media, because it can no longer be (officially) played or obtained, and there are also no cartridges. At least that was the belief. The new eBay find would be a sensation, but there is still a significant risk.
You can see what the game looked like in this tweet:
It is unclear whether the software is actually included
Why is there a risk? Direct gameplay is not visible in the screenshots on eBay, so it is possible that not the entire game is included. According to the owner of the cartridge, it comes from private ownership and its origin is unclear. However, it works and shows upon insertion into a DS a communication program for high score leaderboards
.
As the Twitch streamer Professor Rex points out on x.com, the cartridge could be some kind of intermediate storage that should pass on the game or high scores. If the cartridge does not contain a full game, it would be less exciting for the community and a risk for such a high price.
From a game history perspective, such a discovery would be sensational, as it would mean finding an existing, official copy of a game that was considered permanently lost.
The auction is set to end in 2 days, and someone might have purchased it by then to find out what is included in the cartridge.
Many, much more common Pokémon titles are also sold on eBay or by other dealers for high sums. With their online subscription, Nintendo has at least made a more expensive GameCube title available. This also made MeinMMO editor Nikolas very happy: Everyone is talking about the new generation of Pokémon, but a much smaller announcement shows: we are moving in the right direction
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!