Rare 1987 Nintendo game 'Stadium Events' sells for over $35,000 on eBay

The game had a very limited release run and is prized by collectors

The game Stadium Events (eBay user menaceone)

A rare factory-sealed copy of the 1987 Nintendo videogame Stadium Events has sold for over $35,000 (£23,000) on eBay.

The game, published by Bandai, is the English version of a Japanese game called Running Stadium. It was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System console.

The North American NTSC version of Stadium Events is thought by collectors to be the rarest licenced game ever released for the NES platform.

The final sale price of $35,100 is roughly the average annual wage for a salaried worker in the UK.

The eBay auction page (eBay)

Much of the release’s rarity stems from the fact that a ‘fitness pad’ accessory used with the game was discontinued in its original form shortly after the game’s launch, leaving Stadium Events to be pulled from shelves.

As a result, very few copies of the title ever made it into hands of consumers, with the remainder either being destroyed or dumped.

Stadium Events was released in the US in 1987 and features a virtual Olympic-style track and field competition, with section such as the 100m dash, long jump, and hurdles.

A Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console (Public domain)

“I use[d] to work at Nintendo and I have had this since the early 90's,” the owner said in an answer to a question underneath the action.

The user told the Gamespot website that he had acquired the game after it was offered to him as a Nintendo employee at the end of its lifecycle.

He did not realise its value until 2011, he said, until he saw a news story about a copy of the game selling for $44,000 on the online auction site.

“I know I have that game,” he told his wife at the time.

The eBay user selling the item goes by the name of menaceone. Earlier, possibly insincere, bids that were later removed exceeded the $100,000 mark.