Pokémon Fishing Contest DS cartridge listing sparks eBay hunt
An eBay listing from Germany has Pokémon fans probing whether a rare 2005 Nintendo DS download has survived on a test cartridge.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
A possible Pokémon Fishing Contest DS cartridge has appeared on eBay, sending collectors into full magnifying-glass mode over a Nintendo DS test cartridge listed by a seller in Germany.
UPI reported that fans online flagged the listing as a potential surviving physical copy of Pokémon Fishing Contest DS, a 2005 title that was not sold in stores and has no known playable copies still in circulation.
The eBay auction starts at $9,145.66, according to the listing. UPI reported that it had drawn no bids as of early Friday afternoon and is scheduled to end Sunday.
What is Pokémon Fishing Contest DS?
Pokémon Fishing Contest DS was a download-only Nintendo DS game offered at Pokémon Center stores in Japan from May through August 2005, according to IGN. The game was designed to disappear from the handheld once the system was turned off, which helps explain why collectors treat any possible trace of it as a big deal.
The listing describes the item as a physical development or test cartridge, according to UPI. The seller says it was obtained in a private lot and that no documents proving its history are available.
According to the seller’s description cited by UPI, the cartridge works when placed in a standard Nintendo DS. The seller says it starts up to a Japanese-language screen tied to a high-score ranking communication program.
That detail is the heart of the mystery. UPI reported that some Pokémon fans believe the Japanese text visible in the listing photos points toward the fishing game. Others have warned that the cartridge may contain only server-related code used to handle high scores, rather than the actual playable game.
Why the eBay listing is getting attention
For game preservation fans, the possible find sits in a particularly odd corner of Nintendo and Pokémon history. The game was available only for a short period, only in Japan, and only through a temporary download system.
The seller has not claimed full confirmation that the cartridge contains a complete playable version. According to the listing, compatibility with DSi and 3DS hardware has not been confirmed, and no additional functions beyond the initial boot test are guaranteed.
The listing also says the cartridge is being sold as a physical item in as-is condition, UPI reported. That means the buyer would be taking on the risk that the cartridge is not the lost game itself, or that it contains only part of the software tied to it.
For now, the listing remains a tantalizing maybe: a costly cartridge, a Japanese screen, a short-lived Pokémon download, and a fan base trying to work out whether a piece of 2005 Nintendo DS history has been hiding in plain sight.
This story draws on original reporting from UPI.