Early Pokémon Red Dev Cartridge: $25,000 Bid Set

A 1998 development cartridge for Pokémon Red is currently listed on the Goldin auction site. The item has attracted one bid of $25,000 so far. Retro Dodo first identified the piece and described it as incredibly rare.

PSA specialists authenticated the physical cartridge. They could read the first 32KB of the data, which they labeled as technically unique. The remaining data matches the U.S. retail version completely. PSA expressed confidence that the unreadable sections align with the final release.

Two specific errors exist in the ROM header. One offset is set to 55 instead of 00, which changes the calculated checksum. Neither error impacts the actual gameplay. The physical sticker identifies the chip as DMB-MBC-16M-FLASH. DMB likely stands for Dot Matrix Game, the original codename for the Game Boy. The label also indicates 16 megabits of flash-writable memory.

The Goldin listing calls the board previously undocumented. However, the part number DMG-(F)KGDB-01 appears in other records. The Rare Gaming Dump wiki lists the same number for a 2000 development cartridge. That older item used a similar Sharp flash chip. Images from both sources show nearly identical designs, though the sticker text differs slightly.

Pokémon Red launched alongside Green and Blue in the 1990s. The combined title sold more than 31 million copies. This specific unit features a longer body than a standard Game Boy cartridge. The auction remains open for several days, allowing the current price to rise.

A commenter on the original report suggested this copy is a master version that can be played. They claimed it came from a Nintendo employee who kept demo cartridges in 2015. These details remain unverified by the auction house.