Does NWC belong in a "complete" collection?

[Crabmaster2000]

Over at Nintendoage there was a thread (one of several) where members were debating whether a Nintendo World Championship cart belonged in a complete collection or if it was an exception and why. There were people from both perspectives defending their choice and it was mildly interesting until just recently when Howard Phillips decided to chime in on the subject. Here are Howard's thoughts on an NWC and a complete collection, which I think is awesome and fascinating!

"Funny thread : )

Nintendo's Gold Seal of Approval was a copyrighted mechanism for providing customer assurance that the game that was sold in the package bearing the seal had successfully passed Nintendo's quality control process. To some customers this simply meant the game would function "normally" with the NES (it was not uncommon for videogames to crash of function inconsistently back in the 80's). To other customer's the seal meant the content was deemed by Nintendo to be "acceptable" for play meaning it did not cross certain lines related to sex, violence, race, and drugs. Lastly, Nintendo's Seal of Approval gave retailer's a little bit more confidence in the context of the then-recent Atari / Colecovision retail debacle.

The Licensed by Nintendo statement on the game screens satisfied the legal notification requirement that the game code and hardware incorporated Nintendo intellectual property. The Licensees were required to include said notification on their game screen.

Nintendo's own games included the appropriate Nintendo copyright notifications on the game screens.

The NWC cart was not published or sold and was created by and "used" by Nintendo itself (for the contest) and so didn't need either of the first two certifications above. The fact that Nintendo gave away some of the carts post-contest had no bearing on the legal notifications.

The above said, my answer to the original question "Do you consider the NWC to be part of a 'complete set'" is...no. Completionist Collectors should feel fully satisfied knowing that they have "all" of the Licensed (or separately unlicensed) published games released in "x" territory. This said, the existence of variants begs the question of whether a collector needs to have one of each variant for every game. The individual collector has to decide for themselves if this is important to them of not.

So what "place" do I think the NWC cart has in a collection?

For me, the NWC is a special acquisition as it represents the true "heyday" of Nintendo - the time when Nintendo had 95% of the videogame market in the US and enthusiasm was so high that a multi-city festival-like event and competition was successful. Videogames as a whole, not just Super Mario or Zelda, had "made it", becoming a legitimate and lasting form of entertainment. The 1990 NWC marked that time and place and so for many, the NWC cart holds a unique place in history, and for a select few, a prominent place in their NES collection. "

[Fleach]

This is an interesting debate. Howard Philips certainly shed some light on the place NWC has a collection.

My opinion: Yes, it does belong in an NES set, but it's not required. I would say that this cart represents Nintendo, and video gaming as a whole, becoming a pop culture icon and because of this significance NWC should be in a complete set.

If you've got the cash to splash, go for it!

[Shadow Kisuragi]

If NWC is required for a full set, then both the Silver and Gold are required for it, and the Blockbuster World Championships would be required for Sega Genesis...

I'm sorry, but wallets everywhere would cry themselves to sleep.

[Addicted]

I'm with Howard on this one. I don't believe that NWC Gray/Gold is required for a licensed fullset as it was never a licensed/approved game.

[Tynstar]

I dont believe it is part of the set. It is just icing on the cake.

[Sauza12]

If NWC is required for a full set, then both the Silver and Gold are required for it, and the Blockbuster World Championships would be required for Sega Genesis...

I'm sorry, but wallets everywhere would cry themselves to sleep.

I feel that both NWC carts as well as the Blockbuster World Championship sets are required for a "complete" collection for either system.  It's my all or nothing nature.  I wouldn't look down on someone that has every single game except for either of the NWC carts, but I don't think it's "complete".  I feel the same way about homebrew games to a point.  As long as it's an original game that isn't just a rom hack of an existing property, I consider it part of the complete collection.

Of course that brings up the question of pirate multicarts and the like, but that's one of those completely arbitrary lines I've set for myself.  Anything that feels "piratey" to me doesn't count.

I don't take umbrage with anyone who only wants to collect every licensed NES game calling their collection complete because they did complete what they set out to accomplish.  However it just doesn't feel complete in the overall view of things.

Christ, I don't think I've ever used the word complete so much in my entire life.  I'm placing a 24 hour moratorium on that word for myself.

[slackur]

It's all in the linguistics.  If 'complete' US set means everything ever available in the US, sure, but 'everything' would literally have to include every variant, mail-order, prototype, etc. to fit the definition.  (Talk about not only expensive, but nigh impossible...)

Does 'complete' mean every title available for sale through some retail channel?  Then obviously no, and strike protos and such but keep variants.

Does 'complete' mean only one complete copy of every individual game available in any capacity in the US?  Then yes to NWC and protos could be nixed as a subheading of variants.

If we start mentioning Homebrew titles as necessary for completion, then all bets are off...

Will someone 'in the know' always ask if your 'complete' collection includes NWC?  Of course.

[Sauza12]

It really is one of those things that is going to vary from person to person.  It's another reason why I love this hobby so much:  There's no wrong way to do it.  Except through emulation, of course 

[Crabmaster2000]

It really is one of those things that is going to vary from person to person.  It's another reason why I love this hobby so much:  There's no wrong way to do it.  Except through emulation, of course 

lol

[Duke.Togo]

Wow, Sauza12 has really echoed my sentiments almost to the point I shouldn't bother to write.

"Complete" to me is just a word people use to justify a stopping point. There is no such thing unless we want to clearly define a list, but at that point it is still arbitrarily someone's own choices. I see so much discussion surrounding NWC, but next to zero for Huge Insect. Neither are officially licensed, so why the disparity?

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Huge Insect isn't NTSC-U, which is why it doesn't get the coverage.

[Johnny Nintendo]

In my opinion, I don't think it is necessary to have a NWC cart to have a complete set.  But you know what they say about opinions.....

[RetroRage]

The game was never for sale.  It doesn't count.  Simple as that.

[Crabmaster2000]

In my opinion, I don't think it is necessary to have a NWC cart to have a complete set.  But you know what they say about opinions.....

I hear they are a lot like 32x games. And I dont mean that everybody has one.......

[techwizard]

i think whether or not a collection is "complete" should only cover games that are officially licensed. and it should only take into account one copy each of the actual games themselves, i don't think variants should really have any place in whether or not you have a complete set. unlicensed games, special events/promo ones like NWC, homebrews, variants of any kind, are all icing on the cake.

i think this is why a lot of people say they're going for a "complete US licensed NES collection" or just a "complete licensed NES collection". then others sometimes say a "complete NES collection including unlicensed games and(/or) NWC". things like that are why i think the licensed games are all that should really count towards complete. everything else is just an extra, added onto your collection as part of your personal goals for the set.

this is just opinion of course, but it's how i usually see people defining their collections.