Though most games are meant to be played, some work best when they're left untouched. Just ask the North Carolina man who recently stumbled upon a sealed copy of the ultra-rare game Stadium Events in his basement, which promptly netted him an unheard-of $40,000. That's one helluva high score.

But to expert game collector JJ Hendricks of JJ Games, who himself made headlines when he plunked down $17,500 for a rare Nintendo game, that score could get much, much higher.

Raid the closets and scour the attic -- here's Hendricks' picks for the top ten treasures in gaming.

10. Donkey Kong Competition Cartridge (SNES)

Estimated worth: $900 - $1,000


"This was the Super Nintendo game competitors could choose to play at the Blockbuster video game championship held in 1995. It was specially made for the event...boxed versions sell for almost $1,000."


9. Nintendo World Championships Gray (NES)

Estimated worth: $5,000 - $6,000


"A gray version of Nintendo World Championships. 90 of these were given away to contestants during the 1990 competition, so it's not as rare as the gold version (see below). Both the gold and gray cartridges are distinctive because they have a dip switch in the upper left corner so the length of the game can be changed. This should make them easy to spot."


8. NTSC Stadium Events (NES)

Estimated worth: $1,200 (cartridge only)

$40,000 (sealed box)


"A sealed Stadium Events sold for $40,000 in March 2010, which makes it the most expensive game ever sold. The game was recalled by Nintendo soon after release so they could market it as World Class Track Meet. Collectors need to be careful they don't mistake the [much less valuable] PAL version of the game for the NTSC version. There are guides available to help distinguish the two."


7. Blockbuster World Championships II (Sega Genesis)

Estimated worth: $2,000


"Blockbuster held a second World Championships in 1995, but they held it at all their stores and let people choose to play either Super Nintendo or Genesis. This was the Genesis game, and it was specifically made for this competition by Acclaim. Store owners were supposed to destroy the cartridge after the contest was done, but a few copies were never destroyed."


6. Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter Edition (PS3)

Estimated worth: $1,200


"This is the newest game in the top 10. Thirty of these were given away by Sony for random gamers who were playing Uncharted 2 online in 2009 from October 10th to October 12th. The package includes the Uncharted 2 game, a replica dagger, and a special book case. The game will probably become more expensive as time goes on because there are so few copies available."


5. Air Raid (Atari 2600)

Estimated worth: $2,800 (cartridge only)

$18,000 (with the game box)


"The exact number of copies isn't known, but it is believed to be the smallest commercially available Atari game ever. Only one boxed copy has ever been found (it's actually on eBay at press time). The game is a very distinctive shape and is sky blue, so it should be easy to spot."


4. Nintendo World Championships Gold (NES)

Estimated worth: $18,000


"26 of these were given out in a Nintendo Power contest after the 1990 Game Championship took place in Universal Studios. These were the same games used during the video game competition, but they are in gold colored cartridges like the original Zelda for NES. The games include Super Mario, Rad Racer, and Tetris and limits game play to 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Only 13 of these are accounted for, so another 13 are out there somewhere."


3. Kizuna Encounter (NeoGeo)

Estimated worth: $600 (Japanese version)

$12,000 (PAL version)


"The Japanese version is fairly expensive, selling for about $600, but the PAL version has sold for $12,000 in the past. The two games are the exact same and are region free, but the PAL version has different packaging and inserts. Some collectors don't think this game was actually released commercially because there were only five copies known to exist."


2. 1994 Powerfest Cartridge (SNES)

Estimated worth: $20,000


"There is only one of these known to exist. This game was used at the last national video game competition Nintendo ever held...Nintendo made 33 of these for the competition, so there could be more somewhere in the wild, but they were all supposed to be destroyed after the event."


1. Nintendo Campus Challenge (NES)

Estimated worth: $20,100


"Only one of these is known to exist in the world -- the one copy was found at a garage sale in New York in 2006. Like Nintendo World Championships, it was used in a video game competition held by Nintendo. The game includes Super Mario 3, PinBot, and Dr. Mario on the same cartridge and stops the game after six minutes."


So if you had one of these rare games would you sell it?

I would sell it in a hot minute

I wish I had just one of those games. I'm going to scour garage sales now.

Good thing I held on to all 114 Atari 2600 games I own I guess then huh? lol

Hummmmmmmmmmm will have to get the box out of the shed and see if I'm lucky my luck the ones I have are only worth $2 each

When the atari came out I got one when they were most popular. My kids still have the entire working system with probably over a 100 games. They have almost all the game systems & many games. Maybe they should check it out! lol

http://www.racketboy.com/guide/the-rarest-and-most-valuable-video-games

Go here and see what yours is worth.......

I have both of these, but I don't know where my Nintendo games are...the Atari games are at my grandma's house. Pretty sure I have Air Raid...I'm confident I have Nintendo World Championships Gold, just have to find my Nintendo games.

I actually played Uncharted 2 during that time period, but was never given a copy of this. Guess I wasn't random enough! :lol: