Nintendo Quest (2015) - full transcript

It was the brainchild

of now the world's biggest
video game company,

and with it, they redefined
an entire industry.

For a period of time there,
Nintendo was a word

used to describe
video games in general.

It was the Christmas
gift every kid wanted.

There was just a little
magical quality to Nintendo

that caught on
with the public.

And it took over
toy stores around the world.

- When I went to Toys R Us,

it was an aisle,
two aisles long.



This side was all Nintendo,
this side was all Nintendo,

and you went down there,
and it was like...

The Nintendo
Entertainment System, or NES,

gave kids a new way
to play games

and challenged them
with every title.

With the NES,
a lot of the titles

you played to the end,

and you didn't just play
for three or four days.

You played for weeks,
sometimes months.

And although the NES
wasn't the only game in town...

The NES essentially
received the baton

from the arcade era
and ran with it.

...they did it
with characters

that became
pop-culture icons...



You know, so when
you see a Mario,

like people are dressed up
as Mario for Halloween,

you just see it
in so many different places,

and everybody instantly
knows what that is.

...and games that were dubbed
immediate classics.

Every game they came out with

really had a level of success
to one degree or another.

I can't say that
about everybody.

I can certainly say it
about Nintendo.

But this video game
console didn't fade

when it left store shelves.
It's still around,

with a fan base of millions
across the world

and continues to impact
a lot of people,

like this modern-day
treasure hunter

from London, Ontario, Canada,

who loves Nintendo so much
that he started a quest

to get all 678 original
NES games in person

within 30 days.

Nintendo's such a part of him

that he's willing to crisscross
the country in search

of these Holy Grail-like
artifacts.

A journey like that

with someone
pursuing their dream

is bound to change anyone

and become
the stuff of legend.

It's what he's calling
his Nintendo quest.

So let me tell you
a little secret.

That guy hunting those games,
that's Jay,

and we've been friends
for a really long time,

and he's always dreamt of owning
a complete NES collection,

so I dared him to do it
and only gave him 30 days

and told him he couldn't use
the Internet in any way,

'cause as a collector,
that's really cool to me,

but as a filmmaker,
that's the kind of thing

I want to see captured,
because following Jay around,

we'll get to talk to other
members of our community,

like competitive gamers
and personalities

and the other
die-hard collectors,

and all of those people
will get a chance to weigh in

on what makes the NES
so resilient

and amazingly popular
30 years later.

I mean, no piece of technology
lasts 30 years.

We never use phones, cars,
or computers that long,

so what makes the NES
the exception to the rule?

Well, we're gonna find out,

but first let's learn
a little bit more about Jay,

'cause clearly, he's a fan.

Jay's been my best friend
for more than 30 years.

He's got a great dog
named Spencer...

a hell
of a Star Wars collection...

Huge fan of Star Wars.

This side here
is my favorite.

These were kind of throwbacks
to the original packaging.

And an impressive
library of games.

So this is...

pretty much most
of my collection here.

"Mighty Final Fight."

Really, really personal favorite
of mine here is "Stack-Up."

I don't know if it's
my favorite NES game,

but it's pretty close,
"Balloon Fight."

There are precisely three things
he's passionate about:

Star Wars, rock 'n' roll,
and video games.

If I remember correctly,
he always lined his haircut up

to be what Dave Grohl
was wearing at the time.

He's just your friend
just to be your friend.

It does not matter what you do
or what you say.

Jay's the perfect guy
to take on this adventure,

because as the manager
of a video game store,

he has years
of retail experience

that will help him
out in the wild,

not to mention
he's been collecting

every kind
of video game merchandise

for over 30 years.

And you called me
on my phone,

and you're like,
"Okay, I dare you.

I dare you. We'll go out,

and I dare you to get
every single Nintendo game."

And you're like,
"How 'bout this?

How 'bout we do it
in a month?

We'll do it in 30 days."

I'm like,
"Well, Rob, that's cool,

but I could just
go on eBay,

you know, and I could buy
someone's private collection,

probably get 300 of the games
out of the way in one click."

You're like,
"Let's do it old-school, man.

Let's go,
and we'll hit the street."

And I'm like,
"That's a really good idea."

So here's
what Jay's up against.

He's got 30 days
to get all 678

officially North American
released Nintendo games.

Thankfully that does not
include contest carts

like "Nintendo World
Championships,"

but it does include
"Stadium Events"

and "Little Samson,"

and he's gotta pay
for every single game himself

with no help from friends
or the film production.

Did we mention
he can't use the Internet

to aid him
in any capacity?

And he's gotta start
from scratch,

regardless of what's
in his current collection.

One more thing. Jay's loaded
a special app on his tablet,

and it's really cool,
because it ranks

all the games by rarity,
but more importantly,

it sorts
all his purchases, too,

so out of the 678 games,

he knows which
ones he has,

but he also knows which ones
he has to find.

We don't know
exactly where we're going.

We don't know exactly
what we're gonna hit there.

We don't know exactly
who we're gonna talk to,

or what we're gonna find.

There's the thinnest
of plans out there,

and no doubt there's gonna be
100 challenges along the way,

and I'm sure it's gonna have
a transformative effect on Jay.

Oh, he'll be
a different person.

First off,
that he's venturing away.

Like, he's
a real homebody.

Some way, somehow,
he'll succeed

at what he wants
to do with this.

I really wanted
to stress on Jay

the sense of history that he
and I had with each other,

but also our combined history
with the NES,

and there was one place
that really summed this up

and shows
how seriously we took

and still take
that game system.

This, of course,
is my treehouse...

- Wow.
- But for a very brief period,

it was something else.

This was the original
NES Club.

Or clubhouse.

- Clubhouse. There you go.
- Yeah.

Look how small it is.

We had our first
Nintendo Club in here.

Yeah.

Let's take a trip
down memory lane.

Of course you want
to see us up here. Ohh.

- Stunt work, right?
- Here we go.

Ohh. Getting old.

All right.
Large and in charge.

All right, Winnie-the-Pooh,
you're in?

- Good.
- All right, so...

what were we thinking?!

Where are we gonna put a TV
in this place now?

Well, in the corner,
obviously.

I hope-- I really hope
this doesn't collapse,

'cause that would really suck.

This journey
is going to be incredible.

I'm going to literally
go across the country.

I'm gonna get to see
all these amazing game stores,

all these different types
of people.

Regardless of whether
he gets all the games,

it's just gonna be
this massive game loving.

It's just gonna be fun.

I think the collecting
of the games,

I think, will be
the easier part for him.

I think that he'll
be right into it.

I think he'll be focused.

Again, I'll say it, man.
Life is too short

to be doing something that you
don't want to do every day.

There's no cheat codes.
There's no Game Genie.

There's no extra lives.
There's none of that stuff.

He's got 30 days
to figure this game out

and beat it,
and that's it,

and the big boss
at the end of the game

is the ticking clock.

If he doesn't beat that,
he loses a chance at a dream.

While Jay gets ready

for the biggest challenge
of his entire life,

let's take a look back
at the NES

and the company
that introduced it,

because after all, Nintendo
managed to revolutionize

the entire industry
and change the world.

So here's Nintendo
history 101,

the abridged
two-minute version.

...the two-minute version.

Nintendo may be
a global company today,

but this wasn't
always the case.

They started in Japan in 1889
making Hanafuda cards,

something like
the playing cards we use today.

This was their staple,

and they did it well enough
that by the 1950s,

Disney offered them
a licensing deal.

This was a major
turning point,

because with
the Disney license,

Nintendo first came
and saw the power

of the family-centric
demographic.

So with
their increase in profits,

they tried making a toy,
the Ultra Hand,

and that, too,
was a huge success.

By the 1970s, electronic toys
were the big trend,

and Nintendo cashed in
on light-zapper technology

with electronic
shooting galleries.

When the coin-operated
arcade era hit,

Nintendo conquered that market,
too, with game cabinets

like "Radar Scope"
and "Donkey Kong."

And of course video game
consoles for the home

was the next big wave,
and Nintendo's Famicom,

a name that bridges
family and computer,

was launched in Japan
in 1983.

Hefty price tag, you say?

"Ha ha ha," says Nintendo,

as the Famicom sweeps
90 % of Japan's market

with revolutionary controllers,
appealing characters,

and innovative gameplay.

Soon after, though,
the video game industry crashed

and threatened to thwart
Nintendo's Famicom plan

for a North American launch.

Because video games were
so uncool in North America,

Nintendo had to redesign
their console

and fool retailers
into carrying it,

so they made it
look completely different,

much more like a VCR,

and packaged it with a robot
and a light zapper

to give it
a toylike feel.

Despite the naysayers,
the Famicom,

which was renamed the Nintendo
Entertainment System,

or NES for short,

launched to massive success

without ever using
the words "video," "game,"

or "console" to sell it.

This has been
Nintendo History 101.

What's all this mean?

Well, at a glance,

Nintendo's focus
on family-friendly games

and universally
appealing themes is timeless.

Regardless of trends
or technological breakthroughs,

the Nintendo experience
is always challenging

and fun for everyone.

Let's do this.

So gonna go see Murray
and Shannon right now.

It's the first stop.

Holy moley.
What's up, guys?

Mario and Luigi. How are you?

- What's up, buddy? How are you?
- How are you, man?

Shannon, how are you, love?

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you.

Huge.

This is our toy room
down here.

And you can show me.

You can tell me about each game
if you wanna do that.

- They don't know these ones.
- Well, then--

These are ones
we haven't let 'em see.

Then little Murray
can tell me about them.

So we got
"Swords and Serpents."

I've never actually
ever seen this one,

- so that's pretty cool.
- No?

- No.
- Good start.

All right, so this is special,

because these are my favorite,
the black-box ones, right?

Number one is "Golf,"
so that's the record.

Seeing Murray and
Shannon's kids dressed up

as Mario and Luigi
was the perfect start

to this Nintendo challenge,

but it also helped
that Jay managed to get

a stack of games
for next to nothing.

The biggest score out of that
was this.

- Oh, absolutely. "Kirby"?
- What's that?

- "Kirby."
- Definitely.

Why is that--
why is that rare?

This is one--

Why is that the biggest score?

Well, it's a licensed--
or not a licensed.

It's a first-party
Nintendo game,

which are always expensive.

Again, it's not necessarily
one of the rarest,

but it's one I'm glad
that I'm knocking off the list.

Yo, yo.

- Come on in, man.
- Let me in.

- What's going on?
- What's up?

We got a call earlier
in the day from Skylar,

who said he only had
a few carts, or NES cartridges,

left to offer Jay
due to a trade he made

with another friend of ours.

Still, every game
is a necessity,

and Jay couldn't afford
to pass anything up.

You know,
I'll throw that one in.

We'll go, say,
five bucks a game? 20 bucks?

- No.
- No?

No, I was thinking more like
less than a dollar each.

- Less than a dollar each?
- Yeah.

Uh...

maybe like 10?
What are they selling for?

They're selling for,
like, five bucks.

I got "Dodge Ball" here, man.
Remember that game?

I'll give you
10 bucks for these.

- 10 bucks?
- That's fine.

Separated at birth.

- What? Are we?
- I don't think so.

Everyone used to say
we were brothers in high school.

I'm the one who got
the less chromosome, though.

What?

Yeah. Well, I told you
I had all...

Where the
did you get this?

I told you
I had all the Contra.

What were we just
talking about in the car?

Hey, look at my hand.

I think that there
is embedded into this

a personal challenge
to expand your horizons,

expand your perspective
on things.

I hope that it equips Jay
with some extra tools

for just getting out there,
being accessible,

just having the motivation
to achieve some of your dreams.

I've never even seen those.

Never even seen them,
so there you go.

I don't know. It's--
how can you top that?

Just one more shot
of that beauty.

Just keep topping it, dude.

Let's just keep
this momentum going.

NES superfans can name
dozens of great games

and go on and on about what
makes each of them special.

I mean, you can't say that

about every console library
out there.

Even people that have
never played a game

can probably name one or two
or at least recognize characters

from NES franchises
like Mario or Zelda,

but how does that happen?
What has allowed them

to transcend
into pop culture icon status?

What makes them
stand the test of time?

Well, one person
that might know

is a well-respected
game designer, James Portnow.

You see some of the best
examples of game design

in the 2-D games
that you have on the Nintendo,

and I don't think
that that--

I think that play
is timeless,

and it doesn't matter
about the graphics.

In the NES era,

there was no... shame.

There's no embarrassment
about their--

like, think
about Mario, right?

Mario is a crazy thing.

Here's a plumber dude
with a moustache

jumping on turtles
and mushrooms.

Um...

that would never
get green-lit.

If that was
a new title today,

if you pitched
that in some office,

you would never
get that green-lit today.

That era of games
relied on imagination, right?

They couldn't put
everything in.

They couldn't
make it photorealistic.

And so in a lot of ways,

they gave you the bones
of the narrative, right,

but let you live
that experience through play

and tell yourself
your own story

through how you experienced
that game.

And to me,
that was a powerful thing.

And so we try
to shy away

from all the zany,
uninhibited, joyous things

that we did
in the NES era,

and I think there's a desire
to see that again, too.

Well, I didn't
get much sleep.

Yeah, feels like
30-day Christmas Eve,

30 Christmas Eves
in a row.

- That's right.
- Um...

I'm excited.
I can't wait to see Syd.

Yeah, you're good.

- There's poop.
- Stop.

Syd Bolton
is Canada's

top video game collector,

with over 15,000 games
in his collection

only 90 minutes away
in Brantford, Ontario.

He's the curator
of the Personal Computer Museum

and has written
a great book

on collecting
all things Dragon's Lair.

I played
my old Atari 2600,

but there was something
about "Super Mario Brothers"

and how the quality
was so good,

the gameplay
was great,

the music
was wonderful,

that really, for me,
it was video game magic.

Whether you loved it
or hated it,

the licensing deal
that Nintendo set forward

really, really set,
you know, the tone

for the industry going forward,
and it made a huge difference

in the quality of the games
that we got to play at home.

I normally never,
ever, ever sell stuff

out of my own collection ever
for any reason.

Like, people have asked--

you know, just recently someone
was a real Pokémon fan,

and he was asking me
about buying,

you know,
one of my Pokémon games,

and I'm like, "No,
I don't sell any of my stuff."

But, I mean,
I suppose I have the--

I mean, you have limited options
as to what you can do, right?

I don't. I could probably find
another one somewhere sometime.

Come on, Syd.
Let's make a deal.

All right.

- Whew. Yeah.
- Indeed.

All right, thanks, man.

Great. Cool.
You need to go to the bank.

I do. I need to go
to the bank, yeah.

He's gonna have to look
for some of these titles

under every nook
and cranny around.

It's gonna be tough,
but a lot of fun.

Syd, amazing guy,

and he never,
ever, ever sells out

of the private collection,
so I feel quite honored,

not only that that was a game
that I've wanted since forever,

but that it's from Syd's
private collection.

Like, that's--
that's amazing.

Jay now switches his focus to the retail shops.

Emotions are high,
and anxiety starts to set in,

as Jay needs to haggle
as much as possible.

This is something he hates and has limited experience doing.

What are we looking at
right here, Nintendo stuff?

Can't remember...

- Yeah.
- Okay?

Yeah.

Oh, I gotta get 'em all,
so I'm looking to get

the best price
in bulk that I can.

So what do you--

you usually have, like,
a sign here. I can't remember.

Yeah.

That's way too much money.

That's way
too much money.

There's no-- I'm not paying that
for those. There's no way.

Well, there's sticker price,
and then there's the cash price.

Yeah, I know,
so we'll talk about that.

I just want to get
an idea right now

of what we're looking at.

That was almost
the best deal we got.

Negotiation-wise,
how do you think that went?

Good. You helped me there,
so it was nice,

- but you didn't do it for me...
- Right.

So I think it's
just gonna get better.

That was my first store,
right, so I mean...

- Yeah.
- So I'm glad we did it.

Wait till you see this stuff.

Wait till we record this stuff
that we got in there.

- Whoo.
- Okay, now this is a store

that I have had pegged.
I know what he's got.

I know what his prices are,
and then I find this.

- Okay?
- Up until yesterday...

I've never seen it.

And I've never seen
that before.

Again, this.

I think tomorrow's

gonna be another great day
quantity-wise.

One of the most memorable
and haunting elements

of the NES experience
is the music.

It's yet another detail

that Nintendo did better
than anyone else.

The music,
like a soundtrack to a movie,

helps us define the experience
and gives each game

a unique quality,
even helping to create

an emotional bond
with its players.

When you had
only three channels of audio

plus a fourth channel
for white noise,

think about that.

Think about Mario and Zelda

and only being limited
to that space.

So everything
had to be so melodic.

I'd say the music
of the NES era was a lot--

it seems like
it was a lot more fun.

Probably, like, the best music
hands down on that system,

the "Dr. Mario" stuff. Ohh.

I just love it.

Any of the Konami games,

they really put a lot of effort
into their music.

If you want to talk about
the iconic of the iconic,

take anything from Zelda.

"Legend of Zelda" is like...

Each level would have its own
melodic type of tune going,

and when you get it
over and over--

I mean, you play these games
for hours and hours,

and you're hearing,
you're getting pounded

by this-- this music
in these games.

They were
very talented composers.

They made songs
that go in a big circle,

so it goes through
a few parts,

and you might not even notice
that it's repeating.

The Mario Brothers, of course
everyone knows that one.

- How's that go?
- Like the...

It's that melody.
It's that hook.

All stuff
that we know the most

is things that you
can easily hum,

that stick in your mind.

It's the melody
that's the most important thing.

People'll be humming "Mario"

in hundreds of years
from now, you know?

It's that iconic.

I've found a bunch
of places

that have a lot
of common games

for really, really,
really reasonable prices.

So now I'm focusing on getting the rare ones for decent prices.

Once I get those
out of the way,

I'm gonna start worrying
about buying the bulk stuff.

With 678 titles
in the NES library,

the games have
wildly different prices.

Some cartridges
cost a buck,

tons can be had
for under 20,

but a few can fetch hundreds
or thousands of dollars.

Now, the cost element aside,
Jay's real challenge

is simply gonna be tracking down
some of these games.

He was keeping a close eye
on 20 of the rarest ones,

because in the end,
if he can't find them,

then he can't buy them.

And at the top
of Jay's list

is a game called
"Stadium Events."

This game goes
for thousands of dollars.

But other Top 20 items
of note

are "Little Samson,"
"Bonk's Adventure,"

"Panic Restaurant,"
and "Stack-Up."

And here are the games
Jay's already secured.

Now over 200 games
under his belt,

Jay's forced to go

outside his hometown
of London, Ontario,

so we're gonna head to Toronto
two hours away

and visit
the legendary A & C Games,

which got its start
as a convenience store

until the brothers
that operate it

made it a paradise
for retro gamers everywhere.

Wow.

Now this
is really impressive.

We have the biggest selection,

and we pride ourself
on great customer service.

We're just a couple guys

that grew up with Nintendo
and playing games,

and we're living our dream,

and we're here to always be able
to have fun with our customers.

They have one more in there
that I've never seen,

and they're kind of
upselling me a little bit, too,

because they've never seen it,
and that's "Bubble Bobble 2."

So far, it's by far
the highest priced

or the highest ticketed game
I've seen.

So I'm really kind of
struggling with that.

I want to buy it from you guys.

I know you've already given me
really great deals here.

Yeah.

I'm gonna take a chance

and try and negotiate
with you guys.

You can tell me if it's
way too low or what you think...

- Okay.
- And hopefully we'll meet

in the middle somewhere.

It's for the cause,
brothers.

Okay, we're gonna
help your budget.

For the cause.

I got it
at an exceptional price,

and I'm not gonna tell you
what I paid for it,

but I didn't pay sticker price.

Those guys are
absolutely incredible in there,

willing to help out,
willing to negotiate.

So far, by far
the best store we've been to.

I'm nervous.
I'll tell you that.

And I think you know
I'm pretty nervous.

No more comfort zone.

It's gonna be
heading into the States,

uncharted territory.

And I just hope all the people
we meet along the way

are, you know, half as nice
as everything so far.

* I was a stranger,
and you are a stranger *

* And we were both
stranger than most *

* And the ghost that pursued us
would always elude us *

* And burn us
until we were toast *

* It was fun being toast
for a while *

* We'd smile whenever
the poison would flow *

* Oh, drinking
and dreaming... *

I think everybody likes the idea
of working in a game store,

just 'cause if it's your hobby,
it's a job where you're

surrounded by your hobby,
and it's really interesting.

You got nothing else?
Ain't got nothing in the back?

- No hidden gems?
- Unfortunately no.

No "Stadium Events"?

The first store,
the guy was great,

willing to work with me,
knew my quest,

knew what I needed
to get out of there.

Looking at
the "Wacky Races,"

couple of the more common ones you have here.

The "Wacky Races" right there.

The rest of the people honestly
were a bunch of dicks.

The one guy even had to call
the owner of the shop,

and the high-price games
I wanted,

they weren't willing
to budge a cent.

And their big excuse
was 'cause,

you know, they don't
make them anymore. No.

If he's not coming down
on the prices, I'm not doing it.

That's why I'm saying
get these at least thrown in.

It's hundreds too much,
though, for that, so...

No?

Okay. Fair enough, man.

- Put these back. We're good.
- Okay.

There was definitely some
tension when he was like,

"No, we're not budging,"

and then you didn't
even ask on some games.

It turns me off as soon as--
if they're not gonna work

with me, I'm not
gonna work with them.

I'm not gonna give
those people my business,

because the game I wanted
was a nine out of 12.

It's not that rare,
and we're gonna find it again.

It's not like
a "Stadium Events."

If that's the case,
that's a different story.

My gut says that you

might have to change
that tactic at some point.

Well, I guess
we'll see going on.

All right, my friend.
I think I've got a few.

I kind of just want
to see where you're at...

- Okay.
- For pricing.

That will definitely determine
what I'm doing

with more
of the common stuff.

Yeah, these here,

I can probably do
10 apiece on them.

And probably, like,
buck apiece on these.

So what are we
looking at then

for, like, common stuff?

Is that the kind of price
we're looking at?

Yeah, we could
do common for you

probably like, buck and a half,
buck for most of 'em.

Sports titles, probably give you
for 50 cents, you know.

Okay, so that definitely
changes everything.

That's a much better deal
than we've had so far.

- Okay. Yeah.
- Thanks, dude. Appreciate it.

- How's that change things?
- So now we're really gonna

have to move if time's a factor,
'cause there's a ton here.

This is by far the best deal
we've got so far.

I'd be an absolute fool
not to take it, so...

- Yeah, so we got 78.
- 78.

- 78 off the list, yeah.
- So that brings us over 300...

- Yep.
- In five days.

That's very good.

You know what?
It's 12:42 on day six.

- Day six.
- Turning into day seven.

And here we are in Pittsburgh
talking to a couple people,

and then we
have an opportunity

to talk about acquiring
"Stadium Events."

Something worth addressing.
We're gonna call--

we're gonna call Josh Jones,

who has a copy for sale,

and he also messaged us,

and he says he has a lot
of other NES games for sale

that we probably
don't have, so...

Let's call him up,
throw it on speakerphone

so we can hear
what he says,

maybe get his story of how
he got "Stadium Events."

Let's do that.

Hi. Is Josh there, please?

Yeah. This is him.

Hey, Josh,
it's Jay from the NES Club.

How are you, man?

What's up, dude?
I'm good.

So we have a mutual friend
in Todd Rogers there,

and he says you have a few games
you're looking to sell,

one of them
might be "Stadium Events."

Yeah.

So "Stadium Events"
was produced by Bandai.

It was a track-and-field type
game that used the Power Pad,

Bandai's own Power Pad.

Got released very briefly.

Nintendo said, "No,

we basically want
that game as our own,"

rebranded it
"World Class Track Meet,"

and bundled it
with the Power Pad.

So "Stadium Events"
is very rare,

because there
wasn't many produced,

and there wasn't many
that got actually shipped in.

As you can see, I brought
an eBay auction here.

This one is the NTSC,
mint in box,

for $77,000,

which is...

pretty expensive
if you ask me,

but this
is an extreme example,

but this gives you
the idea of the rarity

and the crazy eBay prices.

And the thing is

there have been lots
like this sold on eBay.

It's really nice.
There's no tears.

There's no cracks.

- Now this is--
- It's all original.

This is just the cart,
right, the NTSC cart?

- Yeah.
- There's no book.

There's no box
obviously with it.

Yeah. Trust me,

- I wish I had all that, but...
- Right.

So let me get this straight.

100 % let me hear what you're
gonna sell it to me for.

100 % would not go lower
than $4,050.

What about--
what about 35?

No.

Come on, man. Listen.
You gotta take--

Trust me,
If I would have got it

for the 50 bucks,

I'd let you have it
for $2,000.

All right.

Um...

You think about
it. I mean...

Yeah, I'm gonna definitely
have to think about it.

Just got off the phone
with Josh Jones,

who's in Florida,

who's a really good friend
with Todd Rogers.

He has "Stadium Events."

Here's the kicker.

He wants
quite a bit for it,

a tad more
than what it's worth.

Well, that's not everything,

and that's
what the challenge was.

But it's always
come down to--

and it's always been me
saying those two.

I'm in a spot right now
where there's no negotiations...

- That's just it.
- And I can't blame the guy,

because I wouldn't either.

This is like the game
of all video games to get.

Within reason.
You know what I mean.

Like this is one
of the Holy Grails, so...

So do you get it where you
still have funds left over

and you negotiate
the remaining games,

or do you get it
when you're against the wall

and it's the only game left and
you might not have the money?

What's your heart
telling you right now?

To do it.

Hey, buddy.

Hey, Josh.
What's up, man?

Not much.

Um...

so I think we're gonna
get Todd coming down the 29th?

The 31st of August.

Um...

are you okay
to give him the cart then?

First-- yeah,
I'll probably--

I'll see him before--
let's see here.

Gonna have to try
to meet up somewhere,

because-- let's see.

Well, yeah,
he's coming the 31st,

so, yeah, I would need him
to bring the cart with him,

and if that's the case,
then you have a deal.

You said $4,050.

Yeah, that's exactly--

I'm not gonna make
one penny off you.

Thanks, Josh.
Talk to you soon, brother.

- Bye-bye. Thanks a lot, man.
- Okay.

- You guys be safe.
- Yep. Bye-bye.

How's it feel to...

What are you thinking?

Oh, I don't know, man.
I'm like--

my voice is gone.

Um...

You gonna be able
to sleep tonight?

Got a second wind
from that?

Yeah.

I probably won't sleep tonight.

That was...

I wasn't expecting
that tonight.

I mean, from the beginning
of this journey,

we thought we had
everything mapped out

and this is how it would go,
and everything has just been

completely different
than what we've seen.

It's done.

What are the top three
that we still gotta get?

Okay, so "Little Samson"
is number one.

"Bonk's Adventure"
is number two.

"Panic Restaurant"
is number three.

All right.

"Jetsons" is
in the top five for sure.

I think I'm gonna be able
to work with Darrin.

He seems pretty reasonable,

and I'll just say this
for the record.

He only had one
that was above.

Everything else is far below
what it's worth in that app...

- Right.
- So already, I'm ahead.

The decent-priced games

weren't
the whole story though.

Darrin,
the owner of Warp Zone,

also made it known to us
that a rival collector

had been waiting for his
large shipment of NES titles

and that he had been planning
to scoop up the best games

before Jay could arrive,

and it seems
he succeeded.

Moreover, this rival
Lex Luthor-like game collector

was still there, and he had
been lurking in the background,

watching our every single move
during Jay's hunt.

One of the five

we were talking about
earlier was there.

There was a copy
of "The Jetsons."

And unfortunately

we were there
a little bit too late.

One of the regulars there
scooped it up

at about 9:00 or 10:00 a.m.
this morning.

We were there
about two hours later.

"Jetsons" was a game
I've been looking for

since I was maybe nine or 10.

I mean, I have been collecting
since I was little,

and seeing that
and knowing that you guys

are gonna have
a lot of opportunities

to find games like this,
I figured, "Okay,

it's no skin off
of your guys' back, in theory."

What was great is that
we did talk to him,

'cause he was in there
when we were filming,

and he said,
"You know what?

If you guys really,
really, really want it,

we'll cancel
the transaction,

and I'll give it to you
for what I paid for it."

Now, I'm
a collector obviously,

and this guy
was a fellow collector,

and I just wouldn't
feel right doing that.

Why? He's got the rest
of his life to get it.

- You've got 30 days.
- Yeah, but--

- He knew you were coming in...
- Yeah. Yeah.

And he knew what you
were gonna do,

and he still scooped it up.

That's not
my personality, man.

But we talk a little
collector etiquette, right?

Yeah. I have it.

I wanted to jump
on an opportunity

as soon as I saw it.

I think karma
in any form is there.

I mean, collecting karma,
that's a good terminology.

I've never
heard it before, so...

To be honest,
you guys got games I wanted,

so you guys
are the villains.

You know,
collectors are collectors.

They're gonna do
what they gotta do

to get their collection
complete, too,

just like I'm doing
what I have to do.

I mean, I've been doing
this my entire life,

so I don't think
it's different,

in other words, with what I've
done over the past 22 years.

Think ahead. Come on.

This whole
"Jetsons" saga with J.D.

was leaving
a bad taste in my mouth,

but that didn't keep
Jay down.

Jay had a plan,
and while it was a long shot,

it might just nab him "Jetsons"
by the end of the day.

So the "Jetsons"
saga continues.

We should have
been in Cincinnati,

possibly even on our way
to Indianapolis,

but here we are still
in Columbus. What happened?

What happened was
pretty straightforward.

We had a few shops
we still wanted to hit,

and instead of Jay
just worrying

about the games that
he needed, we also found out

about a couple games left
on J.D.'s game list,

and we just happened
to find one.

And we were looking for games
for me in my quest,

and we came upon that little guy
right there, "Snow Brothers."

Now, I've already
collected this

pretty early
in the journey.

Rob thought it would be
a great idea

to pick it up so we can use it
for trading, and guess what?

It's about to pay off.

The saga
is almost complete.

"Jetsons" has returned
to the table.

Out in the wild today,
we found a Capcom classic,

"Snow Brothers,"
and we used it for trade

with J.D. here
to get "The Jetsons" back

and a couple of titles
for Rob as well.

So with that...

Okay.

To you...

for these three titles.

J.D. was sad to see
"Jetsons" go so soon,

but he knows he got a great
game in "Snow Brothers."

On a side note,
he asked us

to make him as villainous
as possible in the film,

but even what
we've shown you

doesn't do his evil deeds
and dastardly schemes justice.

If you're a collector,
you better watch your back

for a guy
named J.D. Lowe.

He's pure evil.

Yeah, I got a phone message
from a number I know well

and listened
to the message,

and it was Josh.

Basically...

really, really wants to be
involved with the film.

- Uh-huh.
- Um...

I don't know if it might be
a cancellation of the deal,

but he also said
to sweeten the deal

that he has "Little Samson."

"Little Sampson" is
the side-scrolling platformer

reminiscent
of the Mega Man series,

but like "Jetsons,"

published by Taito
late in the NES run.

As Jay said before,

this is in his top three games
to get and one that he's

been personally hunting for
for years

Hi.
Is Josh there, please?

Yeah, this is him.

Hey, Josh.
It's Jay calling you back.

- How are you, man?
- Oh, hey, man.

What I was saying is if you
want to send me a list

of the stuff you're--

yeah, maybe the more rare stuff
you're looking for?

'Cause like I said,

I got at least probably
500 Nintendo games here.

The one you did mention

on the voice message there
was "Little Samson."

Um...

what are you looking at
for that cart?

I mean, like, you know,
like, that one,

like if I were to throw it
on eBay or something,

I would probably put
around, you know, 650 or 700

and just wait
for the right person.

"Little Samson,"
I have seen

actually a couple
through my treks.

Um...

I've seen one
pretty high, about eight,

which was way overpriced,

and I've seen one
as low as 300,

so I'm looking at spending
about 300, 300 to 400 bucks.

Yeah, that might be-- yeah.

Well, I mean,
you have to understand, man,

I mean, that's not a small
chunk of change I'm paying,

especially with
the budget I have, so...

- Yeah.
- And, you know,

we obviously appreciate it
and all that.

The "Little Samson,"
I'm gonna have to think about.

I'm not saying no
at this point,

but I'm definitely
gonna have to think about it.

I don't really know
what to think about it,

to be honest,
Rob. It's--

he wants to be involved.
He wants us to come to Florida.

We're not gonna go
to Florida, right?

I mean, it's just
not in the route.

It's not
in the budget, so...

at the end of the day, I mean,
there's no legal contract.

There's no eBay contract
or anything obviously,

so if he pulls out,
he pulls out.

I can't do anything
about that, so...

The next few days
went by fast,

but that doesn't mean
it was uneventful.

First we hit Cincinnati.

So for the last few days

of this leg of the journey,

I'm really
putting on the brakes.

What's going on, man?

Good. You all right?
- How are you?

- Yeah, yeah. How you doing?
- Oh, I'm doing all right.

Ooh, yeah,
"Donkey Kong 3."

That's the first time
I think we've seen that.

There's that
"Tom Sawyer" again.

We should probably--
need to get that, I think.

"Kiwi Kraze," I think
that's a rare one.

I'm gonna quickly
just look these up,

maybe the "Dragon Warrior,"
and I'm pretty much done here.

Despite his plans
to slow down,

Jay snagged
well over 30 games

at the Game Swap stores
we encountered in Ohio,

but they were all
fairly uncommon titles,

so that was cause to celebrate
NES Club style at an arcade.

But the late night fun
didn't erase

the early morning trip
to Indianapolis.

I'm not seeing much.

This might be the first time
we've actually

not purchased anything.
Up until now,

I've picked up at least
something from each store.

But I think
I have all these.

It's the last stop
on the first road trip,

the Gibraltar Trade Center.
This is a huge stop for Jay,

because when he
gets back home,

he will lose
several days to hunt

due to an increased
work schedule,

so he's gotta make the most
of this last opportunity.

Yeah,
there's a couple of--

there's actually
about four or five bins here,

so take a couple minutes
to go through.

I'm guessing these
are the uncommon ones.

So "Dusty Diamond,"
that's one of the 20.

So that's--

don't worry
about that.

Works fine.
We tested it.

Actually all the stuff
I got in here is uncommon,

so I'm really glad
we spent the last day

and went to Detroit.

Gonna be a lot
of organizing the collection.

I just want to make sure
everything's accounted for.

Definitely want to start
cleaning a lot of them,

'cause, ugh.
Germophobe.

To help understand
and maybe appreciate

what Jay's going through
on his quest,

I thought
it would be great to speak

to some other collectors
in the Nintendo community

and get their take
on the collecting process

and how they approach finding
the items they want

with the money they have.

The first thing I need
to identify when I go

through the door is where
is the classic gaming section.

Where do you have
your Intellivision games,

your Atari 2600 games,
your NES games?

It's hard when you
actually find the item,

because then if it's
not up to your standards,

it's a little disappointing.

Someone comes in here and says
to me, "Hey, I have a...

rare title,

first thing that,
you know--

the hairs on the back
of my neck stand up.

"All right,
let's go see this thing."

Of course, you know,
you got the "Stadium Events"

and all those ones
that are just, you know,

"Forget it.
It's out of the question."

If the price point
is right, it's mine.

I'm taking it with me.

It's coming home
with me that day.

If something big that I've
been looking for forever

is sitting
right in front of me

and even if it's, like, $20
over the price it should be,

if it's, you know,
the correct item,

it's in perfect condition,
you know, go ahead, and do it.

If I saw
a "Stadium Events,"

I wouldn't be one that could
even think about buying it,

even if there was a line
of people waiting for it

and I had it in my hands.
It's just too expensive.

I just couldn't live
with myself for--

my wife would probably
kick me out of the house.

Depending on the funds.

Right now,
I'm on top of the world.

Talk to me a year ago,
eh, price meant everything,

because I didn't
have any money.

Collecting takes a long time
to get to the point

where you want to-- you know,
have your collection

exactly where
you want it to be.

What's that?

Get it all in your mouth.
There you go.

Well, I've learned you never
know really what to expect.

There's been so many times
we've thought

this was gonna go one way,
and it goes the other way.

Where, "Oh,
that will never happen,"

and it happens.

Definitely
my negotiating skills,

which I had zero of before.

I've never done that.

I hope at least
I've got better in that.

I think I have.

I like to know
the story for each cart,

like what-- what happened
to this poor thing,

why it's in this condition.

It's like someone set
a sandwich on it and kind of--

I can't even get that off.
I don't even know if it's blood.

I didn't want
to touch it. Eww.

Any thoughts
to flying anywhere?

No, not really.

Why's that?

Just have no interest
in doing that.

Why?

Just suffering
from anxiety,

as I do.

I mean, I've started to have,

over the last few years,

an anxiety being in cars.

For some reason, being--

it's really weird.
Being in...

like, the middle
of an intersection

at a stop sign.

I don't know if it's
I feel claustrophobic,

but it's almost a feeling
of, like, wanting to pass out.

I don't know.
It's strange.

And I'm afraid,
to be quite honest

that that in itself
is getting out of control.

I can't imagine being
in a tube in the air that high.

I don't know, man.

There's one other subject

that gives Jay
anxiety attacks,

and as best friends
for over 30 years,

we've only
talked about it once.

My dad was--
it was a different story.

We didn't get along
at all ever.

His dad
was his dad, but--

um...

Bob never understood,

and he wouldn't sit down
and try and play a game

or anything like that,
which was too bad.

He wanted me
to be something that I wasn't.

And when I showed him
who I was,

you know, I loved music,
I loved video games,

I love Star Wars,

he didn't want
anything to do with that,

and he made
it quite clear.

I remember getting up,

and he was walking
back and forth upstairs.

He's just like,
"I don't feel good.

I don't feel good.
I don't feel good."

And, you know,

my dad always
had 101 excuses

why he didn't
want to work.

Right? There was always
something why he couldn't work,

always
in and out of jobs.

And so I get up,

and, you know,
say a few choice words,

like, you know,
"You're just faking it," or whatever.

And I remember
going back to sleep,

and then I heard,
like, "bam," downstairs,

just like-- it was
probably the loudest noise

I've ever heard in
my life.

And then my mom
just screaming.

And so the rest of that
is like--

like a slow-motion
kind of experience.

So I rush down.
He's laying there on the floor.

We didn't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

So it was January.
It was freezing cold.

I ran outside
in my bare feet.

I ran to--
our neighbor was a nurse.

I went and got her.

I went and got Norm.

I don't know why I got Norm,
but I did.

And so rushed back.

And Norm tried to revive him,
and that was it.

He just wasn't coming back.
He was gone.

And I just had
such a relief, man,

that it was over,
you know,

that I--
we were free,

that my mom
and I were free.

'Cause he was a--
he was a tyrant.

He was awful.

He's the worst person
I've ever met in my life.

It was hard,

because he lost his Nan,
who he loved dearly,

and then Pop
and then his dad,

so...

he doesn't
handle that well.

Like, God forbid
I should ever get really sick.

I don't know
what he'd do.

No, I've had
a bad day today.

Why is that?

Oh, stuff with work

and personal stuff.

Uh-huh.

Um...

negotiations of "Stadium Events"
have taken a bit of a turn.

I'm not too excited
about it.

What's happened?

Got the guy's number.

Ah, now basically,
I'm supposed to send the money.

Um...

supposed
to send the money

without having received
the game.

"If I give it to Todd
with no money up front

and something happens,
I'm out the game and the money,

so what about me?"
Question mark.

"Again, another reason
that you guys should come here.

It's the most important part
of the film

and the most important game
in the film,

and you're not even going
to be here to get it.

Either way,
I don't know you.

Plus, you live
in another country,

so if you guys tamper with it
and something goes wrong,

what am I going to do
with a damaged game?"

And I write, "Josh,

we've already found one fake
on our journey so far,

and I'm not accusing you
of that by any means.

If you send the game with Todd
and it checks out,

he will bring you
the money as planned.

That's the only way
this will work.

If you don't trust it,
I understand.

Todd is your friend.

He's not gonna let
anything happen to it.

Trust me, man.
I want this game."

What's going on?

We sent a bunch of messages
back and forth today,

and we're kind of
at a standstill here,

so what are you thinking?

Yeah, well,

the thing
I'm worried about is...

like, on my side,
what I was saying is,

I mean, I know it's real.

You know, 'cause, I mean,

the link that I sent you,
on the eBay link,

I mean, you can see the board
and everything on there,

all the numbers.

I mean, I do understand
your point, man.

I do, but I
can't send $4,000

to someone I don't know,

and it's obviously-- like I said to you in the Facebook message,

it's not a-- you know,
it's not personal, and I'm not

calling you a bootlegger
or anything like that.

Just this is the most expensive
game I've ever bought.

I just want you
to see the game

and tell me
that everything looks right.

I know, Josh, and, dude, I--
believe me, man, if--

I'm a gamer, and you're a gamer,
and it's not personal, man,

but we're talking 4,000
and jpegs on the Internet.

You know,
I can't just go on that, man.

And there's no legal
binding document.

There's no eBay or,
you know, anything--

Amazon
or anything like that.

This is coming
from guy-to-guy kind of thing.

I mean, well, yeah, I mean,
I've bought, you know, three,

and only got one real one
in my hands, you know,

so, like, I mean, yeah,

this game has probably
given me--

So you've had a few--
you've had a few fakes, then?

No fakes.
I'm saying as far as, like--

yeah, I've never had
a fake one,

like April Fools
or any--

I've never had any kind of
"Stadium Events" in my hands

besides this real one here.

I'm saying I paid for
other ones and never got 'em,

like the stories I was telling you the last time we talked.

Well...

I've never had
another "Stadium Events."

Brother,
you just said it, man.

Then you know
exactly how I feel.

I think it's kind of--

we've kind of both
made up our minds here, man.

We should probably
just put it to rest, I think,

and just move on
from there.

I mean, yeah, if that's
what you wanna do, man.

I mean, I was gonna say,
you know,

you know, talking to you
again about it or whatever,

I mean, you know...

Yeah, well...

Been talking
for a few hours.

Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know.

We'll see where it goes.

I mean,
if things drastically change,

send me a message.
I'll think about it.

But as of right now,
we'll just--

we'll call it off, man.

Okay. I hear you, man.

Okay?

- Dude, it's--
- All right, then.

It's been a pleasure,
man, honestly.

I wish you well.

Yeah, all right, man.

- Okay. Take care.
- Gotcha.

Every single game
is gonna have a story to it.

Um...

this is the game
I want the most,

and it's not the story
I want for it.

One of the ways the NES legacy
continues to live on today

is through
competitive gaming.

Regional, national,
and global competitions

still use titles
from the NES library

to draw in world-class gamers
who vie for that top spot.

To hear their thoughts,
we talked to John Pompa

and Mason Cramer,
a pair of competitive gamers,

to hear the difference
on playing for fun

and going
for that top spot,

the kind of attributes
you need to go pro,

and of course
to talk to them

about the biggest competitive
gaming championship in history.

For me and the majority
of the ones that I talk to

or, you know, play with,

they're more challenging.

John Pompa holds
over 20 world records,

with more than a handful
on titles from the NES library.

You can put everything
you have into these new games.

You know,
the new Batman game,

it'll look amazing,
you know,

but it's done in a half-hour
or an hour.

You know, you go out,
you beat the game,

and there's really
no replay value.

In 2008, "The Guinness Book
of World Records"

published their first
"Gamer's Edition"

and has since published
the volume annually in January,

thus giving
the gaming community

and competitive gamers
somewhere to get their name

and scores in print.

When I found out
I was in the "Guinness Book,"

I called everybody I knew.

I called my mom, and I said,
"Mom, I did it."

I called my sister.
I called all my friends,

and I was really
pumped, man.

Mason Cramer also holds
some legendary records,

most notably high score
with one life

on "Super Mario Bros. 3,"

arguably the most popular
NES title of all time.

You can get good
at a certain type of game,

but it-- the real test
of a master

is their ability to learn

and to adapt to new play styles
and new techniques.

I think that NWC represents

a sort of high watermark
in competitive gaming,

the most people that have
ever been in a contest,

the most competitors
who have ever entered.

Everyone wanted
a slice of NWC.

The Nintendo
World Championships,

sometimes referred
to as NWC,

represents a fever pitch
of the NES era.

It was every kid's dream
to be a part

of this glitzy
Hollywood production

that brought players
from all over the country

together to win
cash and prizes,

all just for playing
Nintendo games.

Getting in "The Guinness
Book of World Records"

pales in comparison
to beating out

a million other people
at NWC the way Thor did.

And the NWC was something

conceived and executed
in an epic scale.

Even pictures
can't do it justice.

It was just so cool.

This followed the release
of "The Wizard."

So there was already
kind of a build-up

in this Nintendo culture
out there,

where everybody was like, "Hey,
I wanna be a part of that."

The numbers that I got
were there were

1.1 million entrants
for the contest,

and there has
never been anything

remotely similar to the scale
ever attempted again.

'Cause it shouldn't be
23 years later

that there's still
nothing like it.

It's day 19,

and Jay's headed back
to A & C Games in Toronto.

Last time he was here,
he focused on the rare games.

This time, he knows he can't
leave any game behind,

and since time
is of the essence,

Jay's employed the film's
producer Mike Froussios

to help him track
the day's acquisitions.

So far, that was
the most intense negotiation,

and it's the most money
I've spent in one spot.

It was a good almost hour
negotiations there.

You know, all these games
I got here, just crazy.

Well, I'm gonna log in

the 20 extra we got
from The Basement.

We'll do a count,
see where we're at there.

The tally,
ladies and gentlemen,

is 554.

"Bubble Bobble 2"
has been replaced.

"Stack-Up"
is now the most rare.

But already
behind a few days to hunt

since the last road trip,
we had to keep pushing,

so we hit one more spot that,
to our surprise,

offered a very uncommon
kind of treasure,

near-mint-condition
NES game boxes.

This was very expensive.

Um...

but when are you ever
gonna see stuff like this?

It's kind of those things
I wrestle with,

where it's like
once in a--

that's a once-in-a-lifetime
thing.

For some,
it's hard to understand

why Jay would risk any of
his budget just on the boxes,

especially when
he doesn't necessarily

even have the games
to accompany them.

The answer
is simple, though.

The boxes
are pieces of art.

Like the games,
condition is critical,

and it's the design

that makes them memorable
and sought-after.

Someone who has
an understanding of box art

is illustrator Marc Ericksen.

Marc's responsible
for the artwork

on games
like Tengen's "Tetris,"

"Guerilla War,"
"Bad Dudes," "Strider,"

and infamously, "Mega Man 2."

They would play a beta version
of the game for me,

and I meant physically
they would play it,

because I'm not a gamer.

I'm just an illustrator.

Over a period
of about 30 or 40 minutes,

we would just arrive
at what they wanted me to do.

The famous
"Mega Man 2" incident

was about the only thing
that sticks in my mind,

where they just led me
in the wrong direction

and had me do a piece of art
that wasn't correct.

Amazingly the people
that hired me to do the art

and the art director,

neither one of 'em
knew the game,

and we ran the beta version
as I described to you,

and nobody could see the little
character well enough

to know he had
a cannon for an arm,

and long story short,
you know, they told me

to put a pistol in there,
and that's what I did.

To have the gaming stuff,

for me, is huge,

because I realize
there's this base of fans

who love this art,
and it-- just to say

it's very gratifying to me
is an understatement.

As we march towards
the inevitable future

of digital-only games,
the entire notion of boxes,

carts, or manuals
are disappearing,

along with any real sense
of their history.

These are cool items

that document
historical information.

You don't have to worry
about uploading your updates

and whatever else.

You just--
you plug it in.

Maybe the screen blinks, but--

you have to blow
on the cartridge or whatever,

but it's just there's
something that's, you know--

it's just
it's more charming about it.

But when you actually,
physically look at a cartridge

and you can see
the picture of the game,

you know which game it is,

you can trade it
with your friends or something.

It's so much different
than when it's invisible.

Why do kids nowadays want
to play on the original console

and have a piece of this?

Multiple reasons.
Because they weren't there.

Because they want to understand
where it came from.

If someone were to show me

a library of NES games
in a file on their computer,

I'm not impressed.

If someone were
to show me the artifacts,

that's what matters.

Anyone can take a picture.

Anyone can have
a digital file of it,

but the games physically
are an artifact,

something to be preserved,
put in a plastic case.

Day 21 means it's time
for the second road trip.

This time, we drive
12 hours the first day

to end up in St. Louis.

From there,
we hit Dallas,

Austin, Houston,
and then on the way back home,

we meet up with a pair
of private collectors

in Oklahoma City, and Bedford,
Indiana, respectively.

Believe me when I say this trip
features a lot of driving.

And like Jay predicted,
there was a lot

of running in and out of stores
to see if they had

the few select titles
that he still needed.

Here are some
of the highlights

in the first few days
of the trip.

Got-- I don't know.

Maybe about 10 more games,

and we met Jason,
who's the owner of the store.

He showed us
his personal collection,

which was the best collection

I've ever seen.
He's cool, too. He's like,

"I buy the game to have it,
and then I do the upgrades,

and if I see one
with a better label

or a better box,
I upgrade that as well."

We were on the road
all of day 22,

but day 23
saw us in Dallas,

where we met up with
video game media personality

Patrick Scott Patterson,
who's the kind of guy

with his pulse
on the world of gaming,

and he brought with him
a mysterious bag of games.

Reach into the bag...

It's a game show now.
All right.

- And pull out--
- There's not a scorpion

- in here, is there?
- No, there's not a scorpion

or a snake.
Let's see what happens here.

All right.

So the first one we got
is "Strider."

- So "Strider," I have.
- Okay.

- "Strider," I do have.
- Okay.

Come on.
No Whammies.

"Three Stooges,"

which I do have.

- Ah, man.
- I do have.

Holy-- look at that.

Nope, don't have that one.

Just feel like
I just got kicked.

And I pulled out
"Panic Restaurant"

by Taito,
which I didn't have,

so, man, I almost fell over
when I pulled that one out.

Okay...

Expensive.

I didn't like that.

So, yeah, 50 bucks

for "Donkey Kong"
and "Might & Magic."

I'm not too happy
with that.

Well, 'cause they were there
at this point.

I don't know how many more
of these I wanna hit,

to be completely honest.

I can't afford to be doing

50 bucks for two games
now at this point.

And, I mean, like I said before
we started this whole thing,

like, that's not a rare game,
but it's expensive,

so I don't know.

Don't feel too good
about this one.

If we didn't have
those two collectors

in the works, that would be
a different story.

I think maybe
we should call those guys

and see what's up,
see what they have,

see what kind
of deals we can get.

That's what I want to do.

I don't know.
I just felt like...

I'm sick giving
the cash out.

Like, I felt really ill.

It's kind of funny
how Jay mentions

he's starting to feel sick
about making purchases

and then moments later
pulls me aside,

and he has to be back home
a day earlier for work.

I'm not sure if it was

a miscommunication
issue or not,

but I'm sure
the two are related.

And now I've got
to reconfigure

the rest of the trip
in my head

as we're about to pick up
Todd Rogers from the airport.

What's up?
Can I get your autograph?

How are you, man?

He's the man,
you know, Mr. Nintendo.

- I'm excited.
- Oh, I'm excited.

Todd Rogers
is the world's first pro gamer.

He was paid
by several companies

to play games because
of his incredible skills

at deconstructing
and mastering them.

He was also
an employee of Nintendo

and holds thousands
of gaming records.

Why don't you show me
some of the games

you have the world record on.

Well, I have one
on "Zaxxon," "Yar's Revenge,"

"Starmaster,"
"Star Voyager" "Skiing,"

I guess games on every one
of these rows.

"Q bert," "Pitfall!,"
"Laser Blast," "Kangaroo,"

"E.T.,"
"Chopper Command,"

- That it?
- And of course the favorite,

"Drag Strip," imported.

When Nintendo came out,
man, they had--

I mean,
their graphics were incredible.

The gameplay was great.
The controller was easy to hold.

I mean, you know, they had--
they put a lot of thought

and effort into listening
to what the public wanted.

Working for Nintendo
was really, really cool,

because there were
a lot of open-minded people

that work for that company.

They wanted to bring
the entertainment to the home.

They wanted you, the consumer,
to play as a collective

or as a group rather
than just "singulative."

With Todd part of the team
for the day

and Jay's honorary mentor,
we traveled south

a stone's throw away
from the Gulf of Mexico

to check out a brand-new
Game Over video game store.

- Hello.
- Hi.

- Oh, the air's on.
- Got some there,

and they got
this rack over here.

- Okay.
- Take a look at this.

Hmm.

Yeah,
there's a few here.

Which ones?

"Cool World,"

"Gargoyle's Quest."

So that one I need is 89.

That one I need is 49.

So offer 'em 50.

Just like that?

- "Will you take 50 bucks?"
- Just like that.

What's the worst they
can do, say no?

Okay, we got
a huge wall here.

Okay, so it's
the last store.

Found a couple
of real rare ones.

Just go through
it real quick.

"Gargoyle's Quest"
by Capcom,

"Toxic Crusader,"
"Cool World,"

but the big one we got

was the "Turtles:
Tournament Fighter."

Oh, I wish
we could do this every day.

- Yeah. It's a lot of fun.
- I mean, it's a blast.

I mean, it definitely
beats the hub--

the droll
of everyday boredom.

I mean, this is really cool.

But just because Jay

was done hunting games
for the day

doesn't mean we were done
hanging out with Todd.

That night,
we had a blast at dinner.

Todd called Twin Galaxies
founder Walter Day,

who then allowed Todd
to unveil and present us

with our own Twin Galaxies
video game trading card.

And of course
we got to play some games.

I can only speculate for Jay,

but our time with the legendary
Todd Rogers was unforgettable.

We're going
to a collector's house,

who reached out to us,

who has about 500 NES games.

The only thing is he doesn't
know there's a film crew,

so we'll see how that goes.

Hopefully he's got
some of those titles.

I was sitting at 605,

so I'm doing well.

He's-- yeah,
he said he had about 500,

so, I mean,
that's pretty good odds

that he's gonna have
some I need,

hopefully some of the big ones,
and we get a good deal.

Ready.

"Little Samson."

"Stadium Events,"
"Little Samson,"

"Bonk's Adventure."

- All right.
- Nice and cool.

What we're looking at over here,
regular Nintendo stuff.

- Mm-hmm.
- Super Nintendo, 64,

all organized.

On the table
behind us here...

are...

So this is everything
that I've got over $10,

Nintendo, Super, 64.

So what's for sale here?
What are we looking at?

Ah, pretty
much everything.

What's this one--
what's that going for?

I probably wouldn't sell
any of the reproduction stuff.

How much are your Zeldas,
the classic ones?

Those probably
aren't for sale.

- So dare I ask?
- I've never--

I've never given anybody
a price on it.

That's interesting.
Don't have that one.

- Oh, the dinosaur one.
- Yeah.

The Power Pad.

So this is for use
with "Stadium Events,"

amongst other games.

Got that for dirt cheap.

Uh...

And I got
"Color a Dinosaur,"

which is a really rare one,
so score there.

There's about 70 left
I have to get,

so what I'm starting
to think now

is some of the games
that I thought were--

I was gonna find everywhere

are some
of the harder ones to get,

like "Bases Loaded 4"
and that's-- that Corvette one.

I've never seen 'em.

So I don't know.
I'm getting pretty nervous

with one stop left.
Let's hope this goes through.

If not, we still have
a few days back home.

So this is almost--
almost my last hope here.

So I'm hoping
to clear out this guy,

get all the big rare ones,
all the commons I need,

and that'll be it.

Tod Curtis is a collector

who reached out to us
very early on about helping

Jay's insane endeavor.

My NES collection
encompasses

all the North American
released games,

both licensed
and unlicensed.

The prize pieces
of my collection at this time

are the "Nintendo World
Championship" cartridges,

the "Stadium Events"
that's complete in the box.

I'm afraid
I'm gonna be disappointed,

little bit like yesterday.

I'm afraid, like,
"Oh, I have everything,"

and then I'm gonna go in there,
and he's gonna have everything,

but, "Oh, not for sale.
Not for sale. Not for sale."

So I don't want
to get my hopes up,

so it's kind of a mixture
of emotions right now.

So I hear you're gonna show me
around your collection

and you might have
some stuff for sale here.

Yeah. The collection
is in here.

Come on in.

Whoa.

Yeah, you got
a few things there.

It's kind of the-- the rare
stuff is in this display case.

You have two
"Nintendo World Championships."

That's right.

That's pretty greedy,
don't you think?

No, I'm just kidding.

And, okay, so we have-- I see
four "Stadium Events" here.

- Well...
- So one's sealed, right?

Well, one's complete
in the box.

- Okay.
- It's out of the box.

So really,
there's only two.

So these are all the carts

kind of separate
from their boxes.

- Right.
- On this side,

we have all the boxes,
the inserts,

everything to go along
with that, the manuals.

- Wow.
- Makes sense.

I'm not gonna
pull anything out.

I'm just gonna look
through it right now.

Is he okay to pull stuff out
that he needs?

Don't know if I wanna do that.
I'm gonna look at it first...

- Whatever you want.
- And then we'll see.

We'll go from there.

I just want to talk to you
for a few minutes off camera...

- Okay.
- Before we go any further here.

Okay, so give us a sec here.

I was hoping for one
of the big ones. At this point,

I would almost rather
just take the money I have

and just get those

instead of getting
these lesser-known titles

for the sake of 70 being--
70 games being the difference.

Like there's no "Samson."

There's no "Bonk."
There's no "Stadium Events."

Uh...

really,
"Stadium Events,"

"Little Samson,"
or "Bonk's."

Those are really
what I'm interested in.

At this point, because
the difference of games

I need to complete
is so small...

Uh-huh...

for me personally, I would
rather get one of the big ones

instead of getting
a lot of the smaller ones.

- Mm-hmm.
- That's just me.

Right or wrong, that's how
I want to do things, so...

Well, you know,
the "Little Samson"

was one of the last ones
I bought in a box like that,

so I know there's one
in that box.

So if there's one
on the shelf...

Like that?

Yeah.

Holy shit.

You say,
"Bonk's Adventure"?

That one's in the box.

- Jeez.
- You got it.

Just a reminder.
"Little Samson" is number two

in terms of rarity and price

on the NES list
for the retail games.

Jay's only other offer
was through Josh Jones,

a deal that fell apart.

"Bonk's Adventure"
is number three

in terms of rarity
and price for Jay.

And dare I ask
about the other one?

- Which other one?
- "Stadium Events."

Unbelievably,

Tod has two copies
of "Stadium Events,"

one complete with
its original box and manual

and one with just its box,

though there's
a slight tear on the back.

The price
for "Stadium Events"

is usually astronomical
on its own,

but when you throw in the box
or the box and manual,

you're talking
some serious cash.

I mean, I'm going to sell,
more than likely,

- one of the two...
- Mm-hmm.

But it would have
to go with its box.

I can't break it
from its box.

Okay, so that's a totally
different beast on its own.

Okay.
So these two are for sale.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. I'm gonna
go over here.

Do you want to hang on
to these for now?

- Put 'em wherever you want.
- Okay. Put 'em over here.

- Carry 'em around.
- So Jay went back to the bins,

and was able to pull out
30 games or so,

some rare, some common,
but all titles he needed.

Jay and Tod were able to
work out a deal for those games

as well as "Little Samson"
and "Bonk's Adventure."

So sure enough,
he pulls out "Bonk."

Heart attack one.

I'm, like, shaking
holding the cart.

And then he had
"Little Samson." That was...

unbelievable.

And, like, the deals
keep getting better,

but he gave those two carts for
me at such a reasonable price,

I almost felt bad.

And then I picked up
about 30 others.

The stack
of everything total

was way less than
what I was expecting to spend.

I'm just-- I don't know.

That guy was awesome.

It's day 28,

and we're all happy
to be back in Canada

after another long drive
and to be out of the van,

except for one of us,

who is racing to the vet

with a little bit
of an emergency.

Jay's taking his dog Spencer
in to see if he's all right.

He's not been doing well,

throwing up and really
acting out of character,

so it's a bit
of a cause for concern.

Hope for Jay's sake
that everything works out.

Don't know
how it's gonna affect

the rest of the challenge,
of course.

All we can do is
see what's going on,

get some more information,

and try to regroup
and finish strong.

Let the record show--

see if I can get this
all loaded up here.

5:14, day one,

so day 30,
he has until 5:14.

I'm getting a text message
from Schemes.

5:14 on day 30,

so he's gonna have
that whole last day

up until 5:14 p.m.

All right,
this is it.

Day 30, the very last day,
and I'm gonna check out

the three local shops
that I frequent,

and that's all
I can do, man,

so hopefully
there's good stuff in there.

- Hey.
- Hey, what's up, man?

Hey, how you doing?

Back again,
one last time.

I hear you.

Okay, here we go.

"Barnstorming."

Oh, we're back again.

- What's up, man?
- Third visit?

- What's that?
- This is your third--

The third-- this is
the final stop, the whole film.

All right. Well, I'm hoping we
can get a few out of this place.

"Nigel Mansell's
World Championship."

Damn it.

Sports games
really confuse me.

Think we got "Bigfoot."

Let's hope
we didn't get "Bigfoot."

So I'm just
reaching here now.

Not good, my friend.
Not good.

I don't know, buddy.
It's not looking too good.

You always gotta look.
You always gotta look.

Got 'em all, everything
except "Last Starfighter."

Scored.

"Classic Concentration."

Fourth one down.

- The bottom?
- Yeah.

One.

You guys got
anything rare in for NES

or anything in the back?

Oh, I like to hear that.
Are they all put out?

They are? Okay.

Okay.

I didn't really realize
what I was in for.

I mean, I knew it was
gonna be difficult,

but it was grueling.

Kind of disappointed.

Didn't really play out
like I wanted it to.

If I did get
"Stadium Events,"

everyone would
be like, "Well,

he didn't do it,
but holy cow.

He got this one.
He got the best one."

It's weird, man,
that something like this

can change you,
but it really has.

Ah, I'm gonna miss it.

- One?
- Yeah.

Ah, I feel like
I'm gonna puke.

So the anxiety
I was talking about...

What?

Everything
is, like, hurting.

It's that same fear,
you know--

I don't know if you guys
have this, but when...

when you're opening presents

and people watch you
open presents.

Do you get that?

I hate that.

Well, here we are.

I was someone who I think

let things get to me.

I let things
get me down too easily,

very negative,

saw things in a darker light,
if you will.

So I look at things

in a more positive,
positive way now.

I'm a lot happier.
I just feel--

I don't know.
I feel fulfilled.

This is all the carts

that I've collected
for the entire journey,

and this little stack here

actually represents
the ones that I was short,

so these are the ones
I did not collect.

I knew you were coming back
six to eight months later,

so I acquired them
on eBay,

which, believe me,
was not nearly as fun.

These here
was so impersonal.

There was no communication
with anybody.

It was just buy it now,
bid, buy it now, bid.

And then, you know,
two weeks later,

it's shipped to my door,

and all of a sudden,
I have "Gun-Nac."

It's not nearly as rewarding,
right, so...

These aren't all the games.
There's one--

there's still one game missing,

and it's the game
that means the most to me,

and I want this game
to have a story,

so we're hitting the road.

Oh, I'm gonna barf.

- Hello, my friend.
- Jay.

- How are you, man?
- How are you?

- Good. Good to see you.
- It's good to see you, too.

This is last
of the games, right?

678, this is it, yeah.

This is last one.
Let's go in.

As you can see,
here's the good stuff,

and I understand that this
is what you're looking for.

Yeah.

It's been--
it's been long, man.

This is pretty
emotional, so...

Well, take 'em,
and look at 'em.

See what you think.

I'm shaking.
Oh, my God.

You know,
it was a surprise to me

not only to have
one boxed "Stadium Events,"

but to have two,

and the second I had two,
I started looking

- for a home for the first.
- Yeah.

And I had no idea
when that would be,

and it turned out
it happened pretty quickly,

and I think that
the right person's getting it.

'Cause I know that you'll--
you'll enjoy it,

you'll care for it,
been on a long quest.

This is a great finale
to that quest.

I don't even know
what to say, dude.

- Like, thank you.
- You're welcome.

Glad I could help you out.

Oh, my God.

I think I'm gonna pass out,

seriously.

I was a little surprised

how nerve-wracked
he seemed to be.

You know, and I don't know
if it was because he thought

maybe he would
actually get down here,

and I would look at it and say,
"Never mind. I can't do this,"

and then, you know,
a whole trip,

all the way down here
is for nothing.

So I've been hearing
that the boxes

are pretty,
pretty rare as well.

The box is the hard--
hardest thing to find.

Yeah. Is there
a number on that?

Do you know,
like, how many there is or...?

- It's under 10.
- Is it?

You know, I can account
for maybe six.

But then to see him
with it actually in his hands,

you know,
he was shaking a little bit,

holding something, I think,
that maybe he thought

he would never hold or--
you know, and to know

that that was
going to be his own.

I thought that was
really exciting.

You know,
it was exciting for me.

He understands why

"Stadium Events"
is important

and what it would mean
to his collection,

so I was just glad to--
in all honesty,

to see him finish his journey.

So I failed
the 30-day challenge,

but I don't know.

I guess that didn't matter
after a while,

because I-- I wanted to complete
the collection this way.

You have to want it
bad enough...

to give up
a lot in your life.

And that sounds--
ahem-- ridiculous,

because we're talking
about Nintendo games.

But really,
if you want it bad enough,

you'll-- you'll get it.

After saving every penny
for the last eight months

and making the most expensive
purchase of his life,

Jay's quest
has finally come to an end.

It's something
I think about a lot, okay,

and it's a Dave Grohl story,

but when he talks
about becoming a musician,

he talks about his mom,
who was a music teacher.

His dad was a politician.

And he knew right away
he wanted to play music,

so he was, like,
13, 14 years old,

15, I think.

And he went to his mom,
and he said, "Mom...

I'm gonna, you know,
jump in a van with these guys,

and we're gonna tour around,
and I'm gonna play music,

and I'm not gonna
go to school anymore,

because this is
what I have to do."

You know what she said?

"Go for it."

And I just wonder...

I mean,

why all parents
aren't like that.

I mean, if he had
fallen on his face,

they would still be there
to pick him up,

because that's
their responsibility.

But for them to even say,

"Go for it.
Yeah, leave school."

And he always
jokes about it.

It's like, "This is what happens
when you drop out of school,"

and I love that line.
It's hilarious,

because it's like
there's so many rules

that everyone
brings you up

thinking that
that's the way things are.

No matter what happens
in this world...

you can never deny
what you feel inside.

You can never...

doubt yourself, because...

those are true feelings,

and nobody
can take that away from you.

People can tell you
you're wrong,

but you know deep down inside
what's right.

You love--
you love what you love,

and that's just the way it is,
and you have to go with that.

And one
of the things Jay loves most

is video games.
He journeyed far beyond

the comfort of his home
in London, Ontario,

in pursuit
of his number-one passion

and in the process,
made history.

And while he now has a complete
collection of retail NES games,

the challenge became
so much more than that.

He got to meet
dozens of other people

that share his passion and
helped Jay grow as a person.

When everyone said
he was crazy to do it,

he went out and did it anyway,
and like owning

the only boxed copy
of "Stadium Events" in Canada,

no one can take that
away from him.

I dared Jay,
and now I'm daring you.

Chase your dreams,
and do the impossible.

Go on the quest
of a lifetime,

because the adventures
that await you are priceless.

So what do you
want to do next summer?

* A long time has passed

* And a lot has changed

* Never will you
forget these days *

* Some days we sit alone,
we sing a song *

* At first,
you were weak *

* But then you
became strong *

* Remember the smiles,
remember the days *

* Remember the nights
where you stayed up late *

* Remember the times
when we went so far *

* Remember the tunes

* Baby, drive my car

* Remember the hours

* Remember when we played

* Remember Cleveland
and the Hall of Fame *

* Remember the nights
when you crawled around *

* Remember the feeling
when you make that sound *

* The sound, oh, yeah

* The feeling
when you make that sound... *

You know
what the Konami code is?

Of course.
Who doesn't, man?

Up, up, down, down, left, right,
left, right, B, A, start.

Up, up, down,
down, left, right,

left, right,
B, A, select, start.

I did the two-player version.

Up, up,
down, down, left, right,

left, right,
B, A, select, start.

Up, up, down, down,

left, right, B, A...

I have a buddy who always
punches that in for me.

Left, left, down, right,

right, down--
no, I don't know that code.

Nintendo gave us
these all, like, lithographs

of basically
early sketches of Mario

by Shigeru Miyamoto,

so these are some
of the early sketches

he would have done
for "Donkey Kong."

The NES saved
the video game industry

after it collapsed
in '82, '83,

so if not for Nintendo,
there wouldn't be anything here.

They were the first console
to deliver what I think

is something close to the arcade
experience in your home.

So 1985 is a good year
to launch a system,

a console system that begins
to include the graphics.

Four or five years old,

and my dad got me
a Nintendo Entertainment System,

and right after
I blew out the candles,

right after the cake,
right away,

"Let's go hook it up."

Ah, we didn't have
a lot of money back then,

and got my NES Action Set
for Christmas.

We only had one game.

Throughout my childhood,
I only had one game.

It was the game that it
came with, "Mario/Duck Hunt."

Still to this day,
it's my favorite game.

First thing
that's come to mind

is just hanging out
with my brother,

playing "Super Mario Bros. 3"
in the basement,

like handing it back and forth
every death or every level,

depending on what you did.

You know, I was gonna run out,

I was gonna beg my parents,
and I was gonna get it.

And to this day, I've never been
let down by Nintendo Power.

When I found out that my parents
were hiding one in the garage,

you know, just knowing
it was in the garage in a box

and you want
to play it,

but you have
to wait till Christmas,

that's the memory
I have about the NES.

The NES is what stood
the test of time,

and as soon
as this interview is over,

I'll be picking up a console
without a doubt.

You can guarantee it.

The NES library
is way beyond

any library for any machine
I've ever seen.

There's just
no competition.

I think it's
their commitment to quality.

I think they really--
they won't put out a game

unless they really feel like
it's connecting with the gamers.

When I got home from school
and did my homework,

there was a two- to three-hour
point in the day

where I could escape and I could be in control of the world.

I could be the hero,
and the goals were achievable.

I had control.

Well, the first day
I had my NES,

I was sitting there
in my bathrobe.

My dad was in his bathrobe,
which, you know--

we actually
have a photograph,

and I'm sitting
on the end of my bed,

and my dad's sitting there,
shooting at "Hogan's Alley."

And it just kind
of blew my mind

that that was probably
the first game

my dad ever played
in his whole entire life,

and he was doing it
on Christmas Day with me,

and I'll never forget it.
And those are the things that--

those are the things
that bring back,

and it's like a story,
and really it has--

really sometimes it has nothing
to do with the games, you know?

It's the story
behind the games.

I remember going
to Sears

when the NES came out

and filling out an application
for a credit card

so I could get the $25 gift card
and go buy the NES.

I had to have it.

13 years ago,
I was 210 pounds,

plus size 18, 20,

and I was walking
past an arcade,

and I discovered
"Dance Dance Revolution,"

and I decided
to play it.

I instantly died
within 10 steps,

and some kid
chuckled from the side.

"You suck,"
and it hurt my feelings,

and I remember
I went home that day,

'cause I really had an instant
connection with the game,

and when I went home,
I was upset.

I looked
at all my previous awards

that I had from playing sports
in the past,

and I looked
at my old pictures,

and I didn't recognize

the reflection I saw
in the mirror anymore,

this person
who was now 210 pounds,

that used to be 120.

And I made a commitment
that moment

that I was going
to master the game.

How could I not be envious

of Jay's 30-day adventure
to find 700 old games?

And plus, everybody
seems to have

a little bit
of archeologist in them,

you know, some of the--
going and being the Indiana--

Indiana Jay.
Indiana Jay on the road

to finding all those--
all those lost, forgotten,

hidden,
mystical games

that who knows where
they're gonna show up.