The very first N64 Gold controller came from the 1997 E3 held in Atlanta, Georgia. Here there was a StarFox 64 competition where four people could compete at a time, sitting inside machines that were Airwing replicas. The winner of the round received this gold/black controller with a gold “N” logo.
It looks cool and is pretty damn rare. In fact, one just sold on NA for $401.00.
This is what the seller posted in their for sale thread:
E3,1997 in Atlanta,GA – Prob my Favorite E3 ever
Starfox64 was a few months away from its American release and was being shown off to the US for the first time at E3. They had kiosks all around the Nintendo booth to play on, and after you practiced and learned all the ins and outs you could get in the looooooooooong line and compete in a Starfox64 4p battle mode.
Now this line was anywhere from 1-3 hours depending, so that’s a lot of valuable E3 time down the drain if you come up empty handed. (ok, so I think you got a sticker or something for not being first) Your best bet was probably to count out the line and go in with 3 other friends so one of you would surely walk away a winner, but even then you risk pissing off the rest of your group forever.
Well, I only had one other person with me and he didn’t want to wait it out, so after I was content with seeing everything at E3, on the last day of the show I decided to go for it.
Now the line isn’t nearly as impressive as the one for the 3DS this past year, in fact it looked deceivingly small, but with long battles and only 4 players at a time it wasn’t a fun standing up in line wait. Least when you got closer you could see into the Nintendo tent and watch the games being played.
I really wished camera phones were around (or that I had a cam then in general) because I have no pics of it, but imagine going into a closed off dark room tent with stars on the ceiling made to look like space, and then getting into a real Starfox Arwing ship that actually moved up and down. Each player had their own ship with a controller attached, and they faced a huge projection screen with all the action. I remember lasers even shooting out of your ship to make sure you knew what screen was yours before it started.
Now I’m finally up and had no idea who I was up against, but I’m nervous and giddy as a schoolgirl at the same time. I remember taking the early lead and that my hand was shaking uncontrollably with excitement. Well, after a few minutes of space murder, I realized that controller was as good as mine.
. . . oh yea, I forgot to mention that I had been playing the Japanese version for months before this.
It almost felt like cheating, but damnit I wanted that controller. The play by play announcer over the intercom even started laughing and making comments like, “I think someones been playing the impooort”
Buuut, after the most exciting Starfox battle of my life, it was finally over and I shook the Nintendo guys hand as he gave me my prize. He made some small talk and laughed with me, and then asked if I wanted to wait a few minutes to compete once more. Of course I said yes. He said he had someone already, and that we would take the next two winners and have an all winner game.
Well, it was a tougher battle that I barely managed to win, but surprisingly afterwards he gave me 3 more gold controllers to complete a set of 4. Good day and a great ending to my first E3
Slippy ftw!
Ok, well there it is. Good memories, but its been sitting in a box for many years now, so when I noticed other collectors here were actually seeking it out, I figured I would entertain offers. $, trades, whatever.
It’s just a standard gold controller with a special shinny “N” sticker attached. They actually meant a lot more to me until Toys R Us released gold controllers to everyone. Then it just didn’t feel so special and we used them as out championship belt controllers in games like Revenge and No Mercy. i’m pretty sure I gave one of them to a friend after that, and sold another (for less than $40) Now I’m just hoping I actually still have 2 in my possession.
It’s one of those controllers you might pass over when you see if first, but know that you know about it, it’s definitely something to keep your eyes open for.
