Mir Space Station Gameboy Auctioned for $1,220
I came across lot no. 250 of The Space History Sale at Bonhams, which features a Gameboy console with Tetris and instruction manual, which features an unusual provenance; it has spent 196 days in space!
Sold on May 5th for $1,220 to an anonymous buyer, the gameboy, cartridge, and instruction manual feature Mir postmarks. Bonham’s describes it:
A space Nintendo, flown on Soyuz TM-17 to the Mir space station by cosmonaut Aleksandr A. Serebrov in 1993. This Game Boy spent 196 days in space and has orbited the Earth more than 3,000 times. Upon its departure from Mir, TM-17 accidentally ran into the space station, fortunately causing no major damage.
Tetris, one of the most famous computer games ever, was invented in the Soviet Union and is therefore a particularly apt pastime for a cosmonaut on Mir.
Together with SEREBROV’S autograph provenance note signed, in Russian, dated May 20, 1994, stating that “Like all cosmonauts, I love sport. My particular favorites are football and swimming. During flight, in rare minutes of leisure, I enjoyed playing Game Boy.”
An interesting piece of history!
Pokemon Platinum Confirmed for Japan Release
CoroCoro Mag recently revealed that the latest Poké-craze, Pokémon Platinum, would be released in the near future–a story that Nintendo Japan jumped on to confirm. But what will this mean for the Poké-fanatics? Apparently Pokémon Platinum will “serve as a companion to the two current-generation titles, Diamond and Pearl — much like Yellow, Crystal, and Emerald did for their respective generations.”
Kotaku quips that “we’ll likely be treated to new sprites for many the monsters, and a few tweaks to the story, but not many new entries into the ol’ Pokédex. Perhaps that expansion will come in the franchise’s next generation, Pokémon Ununbium and Cadmium.”
Ancient Gamecube outsold Sony’s PS3
Check out this graph of Nintendo Gamecube sales versus Sony PS3 sales from the NPD, a firm that tracks North American console sales:
In the first 10 months, the PS3 sold 1,742,000 units compared with the Gamecub, which sold 2,120,000 in the same period. This means that the more expensive and less profitable PS3 might signal Sony’s final attempt at making console video games…. or so we hope!
Resident Evil IV for Wii Hits Stores!
The Wii port of the Gamecube version of Resident Evil IV, which consists of modification of the game to fit the new console, has arrived in stores. This means that the controls have been remade to fit the demands of a wiimote, and that the game now features widescreen support. However, the most interesting thing about Resident Evil 4 for the Wii is that the graphics are almost exactly identical to those of the Gamecube edition. Take a look at this screenshot:
Anyways, the Wii version of the game is only $30 (read: cheap), so you might want to check it out, just to see how it feels to go on a zombie-killing rampage with your wiimote in hand. Here’s the official press release.
SimCity DS Screenshots!
Sometime next month in Japan, SimCity for the DS will be released! However, there is no listed release date for the American version, which is a little dissappointing. Even if all they told us was that they would begin development on such-and-such a date, or were ever planning it in the future, I would be content. Let’s hope this one isn’t just a Japan-exclusive for the Nintendo DS. Check out the exquisite screens below:
