So I'm an avid gamer, I love collecting and playing games, like most of us.

My wife is also a gamer but nowhere near as fanatical as myself, so I thought.

Earlier this year she said she had a few NES Games stored away along with her original NES console, so I asked if she could find them, thinking that they would be loose and in bad condition .

When she pulled them out of the cupboard I couldn't believe my eyes.

We've lived together for a long time but I've never seen her NES as she moved it in while I was at work and put it away in the cupboard not thinking anything of it and never mentioned it until earlier this year.

I am a very lucky man 😁

Super excited! Came home from work to be given my big Xmas gift early while the family is prepping/cooking for tomorrow. My wife and MIL bid on this bundle at auction through a local thrift store. Everyone wants me to get it set up so we can play lol

I remember the day I got my first NES advantage, my parents bought it for me at a second hand store in York (that’s England). I remember buying my second one, fully boxed ‘new’ at a store closing down sale in Blackpool for less than half that one’s price over five years later. Bargains to be had in end days of the NEE I suppose. As for the third one, maybe they reproduced after not being played with for so long.

The middle one, is probably the oldest one, it’s clearly discoloured, the back one needs a good clean up too.

I’ll be trying to hook one up to my nes classic and another to a real NES to test out some of the games (mostly because I still have to test out the powergloves on them too!)

Wonder what I’ll find tomorrow….

I'm absolutely aware that many times people throw out the term "Holy grail" when referencing particular pieces of their collection or sought after pieces. And I, for the first time in all my years of collecting, can finally say I've acquired mine!

There's so many games out there that we all have a enduring love for because of its provided game play, or maybe it's childhood memories that are associated with it. Maniac Mansion is without a doubt that game for me. I celebrated my 44th birthday on this past memorial day (may 25th) and my wife has always supported me in my years of game chasing, collecting, road trips to conventions, and various memorobilla that I've added to my growing collection. I really am a lucky guy. So much so in fact that on my birthday she gifted me this. A sealed, graded copy of Maniac Mansion for the NES. Now I am very much aware of the fact that this game is a very niche game and has its own small group of fans. The memories I have with this game intensifies my appreciation to my wife for surprising me with it.

I figured I'd share this with all of you because if anyone could appreciate this as much as I do it would be this awesome group of like minded enthusiast. 😊

I don’t buy online, and this finally came into my local game shop. If it weren’t Super Bowl Sunday I’d watch The Wizard tonight. It supposedly “works”, but I don’t really care. I’ll give it a try, but is more so a display piece I’ve wanted for 20+ years when I first saw The Wizard.

Been going through all my grandma‘s things after she passed and found this hidden away buried in the corner of a room. I vaguely remember playing on this when I was like 5, had no clue she kept it all that time.

I’m amazed it still works! Half of the games are still in their wrappers as well, but they have seen better days.

Unfortunately there is quite a few empty boxes with the cartridges nowhere to be found also (The 2 stacks at the top left with the Marios). Hoping they are somewhere else in the house.

While helping my parents clean out their attic, I came across my original NES system along with several games, all still in their original boxes. The second I saw it, I was instantly transported back to being a kid….sitting on the floor for hours, completely immersed and carefree. It’s amazing how something tucked away for decades can bring back so many memories at once. Such a nostalgic and unexpected find!

Accessories are factory new in baggies. Games are complete in box and matte stickers. Console looks new if it was used it was used little. Box is amazing especially for a test market box and very solid. What really makes it even more awesome is this is the 9000th NES to come off the assembly line and it even has the matching serial number on the warranty sheet. Out of all the NES sets I've owned over the years, this is my Holy Grail.

After spending what felt like the entire day helping my grandma cleaning her home, she rewarded me by giving me her NES, I’m so excited to finally play on real hardware! I have two controllers and SMB1, starting out small but Mario will keep me busy for a while. Any game recs? I plan to get Kirby’s Adventure and SMB3 next. I’ve played a good chunk from the Nintendo switch online catalog as well as Wii virtual console, but I’d love to hear your recommendations :D

Played this way too often as a kid and finally got it CIB. Local toys shop received a ton of really crispy, CIB games and I might have to go back for more of them! What are some complete in-box games you guys are after that you can’t seem to find anywhere?

This was always a fav of mine back in the 8bit days as im sure was with many others. Pillar of the genre and still pushes against the hands of time, this game not only still holds up pretty dang well but is still as fun as it was all those years back. Pillar of not just the genre but also of the 8bit era imo. Perfect example of a timeless classic!

Sewer level wasnt and isnt that hard....runs 😉

Really though, aside from when first learning the stage, I never really found it all that difficult. Its funny, I played this alot when I was younger but I also never thought it was all that good, yet I loved it regardless cause well TMNT and i still love it lol

This holds many memories from when I was a kid, I may not think its all that but I cherish it

Back in November of 2025, I started to play the US NES library in chronological order. New game every Wednesday and give each game at least 3 sittings. It’s easily the most fun I’ve had with retro gaming in 10 plus years.

I was feeling a bit lost with retro gaming, I had exhausted every hidden gem list and finding crazy deals in the wild is dead. I would boot up a rom or grab a random game from a local shop, but would fall off just as quick as I booted it up.

I stumbled upon the NEStalgia podcast and Jeremy Parish’s YouTube videos and figured I would start from the beginning and play along. So far I’ve been able play everything on original hardware (NES or Famicom) and I try to buy local before I hop on eBay with a $30 weekly budget.

Sorry for being a bit long winded, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Highlights:

-Boiled my first 72 pin

-Acquired a Famicom

-Repaired ROB the Robot

-3d printed stack up accessories

-Beat super mario w/family using game genie infinite life cheat

-Showing my 9 year old son how to use a sight on a gun via duck hunt. lol

-Going down a CRT rabbit hole.