NES vs Atari rarity

[candiru]

Ok, maybe this is a silly question, but how do the A,B,C ratings for NES carts compare to the 1-10 ratings used on AtariAge? I've gotten pretty familiar with the AA rating system and it gives me a pretty good feel for how rare the game is.

 

With a few exceptions I don't really think an A+ NES game is as rare as a 10 on AtariAge. I've found a fair amount of A,A-,and B+ NES games but nothing above an Atari 6 in the wild. Maybe this is just because the NES is newer and there are still more carts in circulation?

 

Anybody got any thoughts or opinions?

[King Atari]

I don't think many (if any) NES carts are as a rare as a 2600 cart rated a 10. I've seen plenty of NES carts that are considered to be quite rare multiple times.

[candiru]

I don't think many (if any) NES carts are as a rare as a 2600 cart rated a 10. I've seen plenty of NES carts that are considered to be quite rare multiple times.

 

Seems like there was some Nintendo world Competition cart or something like that which is super rare. That's the main reason I mentioned exceptions.

 

To ask another question, would an "A-" NES cart be equivalent to a 6 or 7 rated Atari 2600 cart? That's the kind of comparison I was hoping someone could help me out with.

[MegaManFan]

Seems like there was some Nintendo world Competition cart or something like that which is super rare.  That's the main reason I mentioned exceptions.

 

To ask another question, would an "A-" NES cart be equivalent to a 6 or 7 rated Atari 2600 cart?  That's the kind of comparison I was hoping someone could help me out with.

 

Look at it this way:

 

F's and D's are basically 1-2 on the AA scale. Combat, Home Run, Defender.

C's move up the scale slightly. 3, sometimes a 4.

Any B- you get for $5 or less is hella good. I'd say that's a 5.

B and B+ I'd both say are six, although a few of the latter MIGHT be 7.

A- are 7 or 8. Like Boing! and Crazy Climber you can still find them in the wild once in a blue moon, but everybody's looking for them so you gotta be damn lucky. On eBay you may pay through the nose.

There's no NES game other than Nintendo World Championship, World Class Stadium Events and Bubble Bath Babes that I would consider a 10, but a lot of the other A's are 9's. Some command big bucks, but occasionally you can get one cheap from someone who doesn't know what they have - particularly titles by American Video or Wisdom Tree (which are often crap games anyway).

[TheRedEye]

I don't think the scales are comparable at all. If you're going by the 2600's 1-10 scale, the only 10 the NES has is the gold NWC cart (26 produced, less than half that found).

 

Compare that to Video Life, which had less than 20 produced.

[MegaManFan]

I don't think the scales are comparable at all. If you're going by the 2600's 1-10 scale, the only 10 the NES has is the gold NWC cart (26 produced, less than half that found).

 

Compare that to Video Life, which had less than 20 produced.

 

As I said there are very few true "10's" but I did list NWC as one. I also think World Class Stadium Events qualifies because in a country of over 250 million people, less than 5000 exist. There are probably more Quadruns out there (a reported print run of 10K).

[zanic]

I would agree that they are not comparable. It’s apples and oranges. I have found the rarer NES titles to be far more common than rare Atari games. Maybe something like Atari rarity 7 = A/A+. But that’s just my experience.

[MegaManFan]

I would agree that they are not comparable. It’s apples and oranges. I have found the rarer NES titles to be far more common than rare Atari games. Maybe something like Atari rarity 7 = A/A+. But that’s just my experience.

 

I don't know, I saw a half dozen Glibs at PC4 and not a single World Class Stadium Events.

[zanic]

Ok... I'll give ya that. But from my experience that is more the exception than the rule. World Class Stadium Events is impossible to find. Maybe it's that the Nintendo list has a greater variance than the Atari list. I've got a ton of A-'s and some A's for Nintendo, but nothing above a 6 in 2600 despite having more 2600 games.

[MegaManFan]

Ok... I'll give ya that. But from my experience that is more the exception than the rule. World Class Stadium Events is impossible to find. Maybe it's that the Nintendo list has a greater variance than the Atari list. I've got a ton of A-'s and some A's for Nintendo, but nothing above a 6 in 2600 despite having more 2600 games.

 

And the ironic thing is that I own at least a couple dozen 7's and up on Atari's scale, but I don't have Cheetahmen II, NWC, WCSE, Bubble Bath Babes, et cetera. I guess it's all relative to where you live and where you shop (and I admit I shop a little more for Atari than NES, although lately it's shifting a bit).

[TheRedEye]

Ok... I'll give ya that. But from my experience that is more the exception than the rule. World Class Stadium Events is impossible to find. Maybe it's that the Nintendo list has a greater variance than the Atari list. I've got a ton of A-'s and some A's for Nintendo, but nothing above a 6 in 2600 despite having more 2600 games.

 

And the ironic thing is that I own at least a couple dozen 7's and up on Atari's scale, but I don't have Cheetahmen II, NWC, WCSE, Bubble Bath Babes, et cetera. I guess it's all relative to where you live and where you shop (and I admit I shop a little more for Atari than NES, although lately it's shifting a bit).

 

Well, I've actually got a production number for you: there were 2,000 copies of Stadium Events produced. They were sold for three months, and whatever was left over (number unknown) was recalled and destroyed.

 

As far as stuff you haven't found yet: You're NEVER going to find a Cheetahmen II "in the wild," as the only medium that even sold it was catered only to collectors. I've heard the remaining stock (several hundreds) was donated to charity, though, so they might start popping up. Stadium Events is a possibility, and a whole ton of those bastards are turning up now that people know what they are. As far as Panesians go...my theory is that a lot of these are still out there, and little by little we'll start seeing more of these for sale on ebay.

[Nintendo Penguin]

I found this to be a pretty interesting thread. I too, like the 1-10 scale better than the Mike Etler list, but when it came time to assign rarity over a VG, I found it wasn't that easy. Some of the "A's" on the Etler list don't deserve to be more than a 5 on the rarity scale. Until someone steps up and says that under 100 = 10, 5000= 8, and so on, this will always be arbitrary.

[MegaManFan]

Well, I've actually got a production number for you: there were 2,000 copies of Stadium Events produced. They were sold for three months, and whatever was left over (number unknown) was recalled and destroyed.

 

Wow, that's even less than I thought. If it's not an AtariAge 10, it's sure as hell a 9. I think it's more like a 9.5 - I'm sure there are more than 2000 Waterworlds out there.

 

As far as stuff you haven't found yet: You're NEVER going to find a Cheetahmen II "in the wild," as the only medium that even sold it was catered only to collectors. I've heard the remaining stock (several hundreds) was donated to charity, though, so they might start popping up. Stadium Events is a possibility, and a whole ton of those bastards are turning up now that people know what they are. As far as Panesians go...my theory is that a lot of these are still out there, and little by little we'll start seeing more of these for sale on ebay.

 

Actually I thought Cheetamen II was originally supposed to be sold direct to rental places, along with whatever "100 in 1" title they were producing as well that was to sell for $250 (the high price justified by the amount of games, no matter how crappy they were) - but either way I agree with you, the odds I'll find one in the wild are almost SHIT - but a guy can always hope.

[TheRedEye]

Actually, Cheetahmen's an interesting story. The game is technically unreleased! The games were manufactured for Active Enterprises, but never paid for. The manufacturers finally gave in and blew their inventory out for dirt cheap to Mike Etler back in like 1996, who resold them. When he went back to purchase the rest, they had all been given to charity.

 

So...there's a few hundred brand new Cheetahmen II carts still out there.

[MegaManFan]

Actually, Cheetahmen's an interesting story. The game is technically unreleased! The games were manufactured for Active Enterprises, but never paid for. The manufacturers finally gave in and blew their inventory out for dirt cheap to Mike Etler back in like 1996, who resold them. When he went back to purchase the rest, they had all been given to charity.

 

So...there's a few hundred brand new Cheetahmen II carts still out there.

 

Wow. Kind of ironic too that Mike Etler is the one who ended up with them. I wonder if he kept any small part of that stash for himself or not..

[Nintendo Penguin]

I knew about Cheetamen II not being technically released.... but I had no idea Mike Etler was the one who ended up them.