In 2009, video game publisher THQ advertised an instantly forgettable mini-game collection called Big Family Games by trying to send a working, 24 karat gold-plated Nintendo Wii to Queen Elizabeth II. Big Liz didn’t end up taking possession of the console, which means that the golden Wii drifted through filthy non-aristocratic hands until ending up being owned by a Dutch collector who goes by Donny Fillerup in 2017. And now, because Donny would rather have money than a goofy promo Wii, he’s listed it on eBay for the humble asking price of $300,000.
In an interview with another member of Console Variations, a website for game collectors he co-founded, Fillerup explains that he’s selling “likely one of the rarest (if not the rarest) system out there” in order to afford his own place to live. He says he had always hoped to keep the console “just in case [I] open my museum,” but, understandably, he would rather have the money at this point in his life instead.
Rather than list the Golden Wii for the higher amounts he’s been advised it could fetch, Fillerup says he came up with the $300,000 eBay number since that’s the price he figures he needs to hit in order to buy his own home. “I don’t NEED more,” he says. “Also, this gives more people the opportunity to buy it.” Donny adds that he hopes the system goes to “a museum or someone who will take care of it as much as I did.”
For more on the Golden Wii, check out a 2019 video from People Make Games that sees host Chris Bratt providing more context on the ridiculous promo device and meeting with Donny to see it in person. Clearly, Queen Elizabeth II didn’t know what a tremendous mistake she was making in not accepting this gift in the first place.
[via Polygon]
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