Prototype Pokemon Red cartridge hits auction

A development prototype of the 1998 Nintendo Game Boy game Pokemon Red is currently listed for sale through the Goldin auction house. The listing has attracted one bid of $25,000 as of October 23, 2026.

Specialists at PSA authenticated the physical cartridge. They were able to read the first 32KB of the data, a range they described as technically unique. The remainder of the game data was found to be completely identical to the U.S. retail version. PSA stated it expected the unreadable sections to match the retail release as well.

The authentication report identified two specific differences in the ROM header data. At offset 0x014C, the Mask ROM version is set to 55 instead of the expected 00. This error changes the calculated header checksum at offset 0x014D to CB rather than 20. Neither difference alters how the game plays.

The cartridge bears a sticker with the label DMB-MBC-16M-FLASH and the part number DMG-(F)KGDB-01. The report suggests DMB refers to Dot Matrix Game, the original codename for the Game Boy. MBC likely stands for Memory Bank Controller, a chip that allowed games to exceed the system's standard 32KB ROM limit. The 16M designation indicates 16 megabits of flash-writable memory.

Goldin describes the board as a previously undocumented development tool. However, the Rare Gaming Dump wiki lists the same part number for a 2000 development cartridge. That older entry used a 16-megabit Sharp flash chip labeled U1 FLASH MEMORY. Images in the current listing show a design nearly identical to the wiki entry, though the sticker on the older item reads DMG-MBC3-16M-FLASH.

Pokemon Red launched alongside Green and Blue in the 1990s and helped establish the franchise. The combined titles are reported to have sold more than 31 million copies. The current auction listing remains open for several more days.

A reader comment on the original discovery suggested the cartridge is a master copy that functions normally. The commenter also noted that a Nintendo Age user named Pal rocks sold a batch of similar demo cartridges in 2015 from a Nintendo employee who kept them. These details are unverified claims from a forum post.