In 1990, Nintendo went on a 29-city tour across the United States. They wanted to find the best video game players in the country. It was one of the first big "esports" events ever held.
The Table of Contents
How did the contest work?
Players had to play three games on the NES in exactly 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Their scores from all three games were added together to get a final total.
- Super Mario Bros.: Players had to collect 50 coins as fast as possible.
- Rad Racer: Players had to finish a race.
- Tetris: Players played until their time ran out to get as many points as they could.
The Famous "Gray" and "Gold" Cartridges
The games were on special cartridges that were never sold in stores. Today, they are some of the rarest items in the world.
- Gray Carts: Given to the 90 finalists. These can sell for $20,000 to $100,000 today.
- Gold Carts: Only 26 were made for a magazine contest. These are worth even more, sometimes selling for over $180,000.
Fun Fact: A rare Nintendo World Championships cartridge was found at the bottom of a Safeway grocery bag. This cartridge was later sold for a large amount of money, according to a report by Ars Technicaa report by Ars Technica. Damn talk about winning the lottery.
What happened to the winners?
The champions won huge prizes, like a $10,000 savings bond, a new car, and a gold Mario trophy. The most famous winner was Thor Aackerlund, who won the 12–17 age group and became a gaming legend.
Hidden Facts & Rare Secrets
How the Timer Worked: Tiny Secret Switches
According to the data the nwc cartridges worked like small computers. Inside, they had tiny switches called DIP switches. The staff could flip these switches to set the timer, which was usually set for 6 minutes and 21 seconds. In used todays market, these switches are an easy indicator between a real and a fake cartridge.
Did you hear about the "Secret" The 1991 Campus Challenge
After the success of the 1990 contest, Nintendo organized a much smaller event a year later across 60 college campuses. The games used in this tournament were both Super Nintendo titles, F-Zero and Super Mario World. From what I’ve found in my reasearch their is only one copy that exists today, according to a Racketboy post I found.
The "Missing" Games on the Switch
If you’ve played the Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition on your Switch, you might notice that two games are missing: Tetris and Rad Racer. Nintendo doesn’t own the rights to these games anymore, so they couldn’t add them to the new version.
Can you play the NWC today?
Yes! In 2024, Nintendo released Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition for the Nintendo Switch. It has over 150 speedrun challenges from 13 classic games so you can see if you have what it takes to be a champion.
At The Old School Game Vault, we buy rare games. Some of the super-rare titles we look for include Bubble Bath Babes, Cheetahmen II, Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak, Little Samon, and The Legend of Zelda. We also seek collector's items, such as Nintendo World Championship cartridges.
