Hey all, I was wondering. I've seen a ton of prototypes on ebay, yahoo auctions, and so on, and I've noticed one constant. N64 prototype carts are WAY more expensive. usually ranging in the mid 1K tier, but PS2 protos are usually under 200, with GBA's being about 200-500-1500, and so on. 

So I ask. Why are N64 Proto carts so pricey in comparison?
Just because they're popular? They aren't well catalogued? or is there a different reason?

My guess is the medium. Discs are far cheaper to produce than carts, so there may have been less N64 prototypes produced in the first place, making them harder to get (and more expensive) now, compared to PS2 prototypes which may be more abundant.

Just a thought!

That totally makes sense. Thanks for explaining that perspective  

Consider also that some N64 promo carts play significantly differently from the retail versions. Majora's Mask grey for instance has an actual "level select" feature which lets you go to various points in the game for demo purposes. It's a whole build of the game made specifically for these NFR demo carts. Same with Pokemon Snap Blockbuster carts - they only let you play the first two levels as they were built specifically to be just that - an in-store demo. This was very unique for the time!

I...actually didn't know that....
Thank you as well.
I feel like such a newb....

Don't feel like a newb, all these ridiculous prices confound even us old timers  

Honestly, they AREN'T worth the prices you're seeing. It just comes down to proto owners seeing other people selling protos for a high price and following example. Most buyers aren't stupid and can tell when something is clearly a final ROM that's no different than the retail game, so these things sit there for months or even a year while the seller doesn't budge from their unrealistic price. In that respect, N64 protos really have proven themselves to be worth anything but the ridiculous prices you see them for, unless we're talking an early version of a very famous, well-known game. Which usually isn't what you see protos of on eBay.

If you do a search for actual sold N64 prototypes on eBay, it looks like the last one was in November and it went for $400 at an open auction. That's more realistic.

/\ Yeah, the asking price for an unsold item on ebay and the actual value are often very far apart

Thank you very much to you both