New games that sat on the shelf the longest?

[S1500]

We've heard stories and legends.

But what holds the record?

 

My first assumption would be a K-Mart that would have NES games still on the shelf, even in the 2000s. But what is the record for new video game merchandise that has sat on the shelf for the longest period of time? So long that entire video game generations passed by, and those lowly games just sat there.

 

Let's hear some crazy stories. Obviously newly-constructed K-Marts, etc won't have merch made before the building was made. Well, just assumption.

[+Psionic]

I remember seeing a few NES and original Game Boy games in the late 90's in a few department stores that were going out of business. They must have been sitting in some back corner of the stockroom for ages.

 

I think I remember Cassidy Nolen saying something a while back about some NOS Avalon Hill games for Atari 2600 showing up in a Zayre/Ames store in recent years.

[8th lutz]

I remembered a store in an mail in kenosha,wi that had nes games in 2002! That mail nolonger exists. That store also had a sega cd system, genesis games that first came out in the early 90's. The store also had snes games and systems , 32x games and systems, early game gear games, and early game boy games.

[Uzumaki]

Bionic Commando for NES (ripped wrapper, crushed box, rattles), spotted at a Kmart in south side Saginaw back in 2004. It was on clearance sale of ... wait... $45!!! I checked with the self serve scanner and it confirmed $45.00

 

I let it gather dust. I haven't seen it since then.

[Scumdogg]

Bionic Commando for NES (ripped wrapper, crushed box, rattles), spotted at a Kmart in south side Saginaw back in 2004. It was on clearance sale of ... wait... $45!!! I checked with the self serve scanner and it confirmed $45.00

 

I let it gather dust. I haven't seen it since then.

 

 

That story is both amazing and unsurprising, all at the same time.

[A Sprite]

Can't match the NES, but -

 

2004.

 

Gettysburg, PA.

 

Snes.

 

Shaq-Fu.

 

Rows of it. Surrounded by Gamecube and PS2.

 

$60.

[+RangerG]

A nearby independent game dealer still has a few original Gameboy games that he says he has been trying to sell since the late 80s. There are just a few titles and they are not good ones (I remember French translator being one).

[King_Salamon]

Several 2600 titles at a KMart in the mid 90's... only reason why they left them out was the 7800 was still sitting there.

 

Ultimately, the best overstock I ever saw was at a pawn shop/clearance store in the late 80's.... literally hundreds of copies of the Xonox games were there. From the 2600 to Coleco to even the Vic 20 versions of Xonox games were there. Prices were awesome.. I think I paid $2 for each of them.

[BassGuitari]

There was a controller and AV cables for Atari Jaguar at the local Walmart until about five years ago, when my brother bought them. The controller was $20, iirc.

[Scumdogg]

I was looking at my game shelves tonight and thinking about this topic, i'd totally forgotten buying Ecco the Dolphin, Samurai Shodown, and Silpheed for my Sega CD about four years ago at a local Wal-Mart. I don't know how they were still there...all still shrinkwrapped and sitting in the electronics clearance aisle, a mere $4 each.

[+RandomPerson]

Right now at my local Zellers there is STILL 2 or 3 copies of SNES Madden '94 and about 4 or 5 SEGA Saturn Memory Cards.

[Ghost Soldier]

I picked up a AC adapter for the N64 less than a year ago at Toys R Us. Paid a mere 2.50 for it.

[+Psionic]

Right now at my local Zellers there is STILL 2 or 3 copies of SNES Madden '94 and about 4 or 5 SEGA Saturn Memory Cards.

No 2600 games? LOL

[Zwackery]

Not the longest shelf time compared to other messages in this topic, but an interesting tidbit of information.

 

I have this Atari catalog "poster" on my office door: http://www.atariage.com/catalog_page.html?...p;currentPage=3

 

Last week, one of my film students came by, and he noticed the Atari and started asking me about it. He's an international student from India, and he said that the Atari 2600 was a really hot system from his youth (he had the "Vader" 2600), that kids would skip school to play Atari, and that he got into big trouble one time because he stole money from his grandfather to buy a game (turns out it was Keystone Kapers). He then mentioned buying some other games new in the store, and because of his age (he's right around 21/22), I asked him what store and where. He said that back in his hometown in India, new Atari products were being sold through a Sony import store as late as 1992.

[Uzumaki]

That story is both amazing and unsurprising, all at the same time.

 

One of the 10,001 reasons Kmart filed for bankruptcy. Sloppy inventory management.

 

I asked him what store and where. He said that back in his hometown in India, new Atari products were being sold through a Sony import store as late as 1992.

 

Sony store sold Atari stuff? Why not call them Playstation Zero? PS0

[AtticGamer]

Quake and other games for Saturn.

James Pond 2 for GBA is still there (I'll buy it someday), and The Scorpion King for GCN and other games lasted long.

[joeybastard]

Toys R Us in Massapequa, NY had 2 94 Maddens for the Genny as of a couple of weeks ago. This store has always been good for leftovers because it's been there forever. there's a shelf off to the side of their "GameZone" that just has crushed dusty crap. I bought Karate for the VCS there in about 1994. Of course after I tried it, I wish I wish I hadn't.

[Goochman]

An Evans chain around me went bankrupt around '97 or so - I stopped by to see what the liquidators where selling - I almost fell down when I saw 2 mint 1050 disk drives in their boxes never opened and a few 1010's as well with their original price tags of $199. Everything was 50% off so at first they wanted $100 not knowing that these babies got lost in the back room around 1986. I was able to talk them down to $50 for the disk drive. Had to with the mint box and everything - was like XMas '86 all over again

[Video]

I don't remember when SPOT (the red dot for 7up commercials) came out for the GB (original DMG) but I'm pretty sure Faceball 2000 came out in either 1990, or 91, don't rememeber which.

 

Well, back in 2004, we finely got our superwalmart here. And I was going to the old walmart that was clearing out all their old stock, and they still had some of the Faceball 2k games. I thought about buying a few copys of it, at $5, that would have been pretty cool. But I let it pass, I already had my copy of faceball from years earlier, and most of my friends wouldn't touch a gameboy for nothing any more anyways.

[Zonie]

Not the longest shelf time compared to other messages in this topic, but an interesting tidbit of information.

 

I have this Atari catalog "poster" on my office door: http://www.atariage.com/catalog_page.html?...p;currentPage=3

 

Last week, one of my film students came by, and he noticed the Atari and started asking me about it. He's an international student from India, and he said that the Atari 2600 was a really hot system from his youth (he had the "Vader" 2600), that kids would skip school to play Atari, and that he got into big trouble one time because he stole money from his grandfather to buy a game (turns out it was Keystone Kapers). He then mentioned buying some other games new in the store, and because of his age (he's right around 21/22), I asked him what store and where. He said that back in his hometown in India, new Atari products were being sold through a Sony import store as late as 1992.

 

I dumpster dove for about 100+ of those posters when I was a kid. I heard they had them at a store in the mall. when I got there, they had just thrown them out because they got new ones in. I still have some of them.

[Asaki]

He said that back in his hometown in India, new Atari products were being sold through a Sony import store as late as 1992.

 

It was probably a bit later than 1992, I found some silver boxed 2600 games at a dollar store. Can't remember exactly which games I got that day, but I know I snatched up Pole Position and Dig Dug I think the other ones might've been Gravitar, Venture, Galaxian, and...maybe one more. I only really played the first two, so that's why I don't remember when I got the rest

[Zwackery]

Sony store sold Atari stuff? Why not call them Playstation Zero? PS0

 

When I lived in Japan, there was a shop called "Sony A-One Plaza" in the centralized shopping district in the city where I was. It was run by Sony, but it was full of products imported from a bunch of other countries, the most prevalent being the US.

[+doctorclu]

When I first really got interested in the Atari Jaguar, it was waaaayyy after the prime of the Jag.

 

In 1999 I called around to the major stores to get them to check their inventories. Only a KayBee Toy Store had a Jaguar, and they had three of them. Bought two for a friend and I, and was going to buy the last, but that got snatched up.

 

In 2005 I decided I had to have a joystick for the Jag. I called all the companies, many were long gone. But one I called and said "Ok, don't laugh, I heard your company made a joystick for the Atari Jaguar" The guy thought for a second and said, "Ummm, believe it or not we found the demo model just the other week in a closet when we were doing inventory."

 

We agreed on $30 for the Super Mas Pro Stick and been a great stick ever since.

[bdog_147]

Right now at my local Zellers there is STILL 2 or 3 copies of SNES Madden '94 and about 4 or 5 SEGA Saturn Memory Cards.

 

A Zellers here had a couple of SNES systems and a few games in 2001 or 2002. I should have bought it. They wanted like 70 bucks for the system and I thought it was a ripoff...Was it?