With Nintendo's extensive hardware library over the years, there have been several consoles that have seen plenty of success. One of these was the company's leap into the seventh generation with the Wii, Nintendo's fifth major home console. It released in 2006 and appealed to a broader demographic than ever before, with a larger focus on motion-controlled video games. The console's influence was so clear that competitors Microsoft and Sony created their own peripherals, the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move respectively. Nintendo's console would go on to sell over 101 million units, becoming the seventh best-selling console of all time.
During the era of the Wii, there were plenty of developers who produced a variety of games for the console. Many of these games had to utilize the console's motion controls in some fashion, which left some games lacking polish while others were considered to be genuinely terrible. It's no surprise then that the Wii had a lot of bad games, with one of these tied to the story of a marketing stunt that involved a gold-plated Wii console.
Back in 2009, THQ attempted its own minigame collection known as Big Family Games, which was regarded as another mediocre title from the company. Famously, in order to market this game, THQ tried to send a golden version of the Wii console, complete with a controller, to Queen Elizabeth II. While it did reach Buckingham Palace, it never made it past security, so it was sent back to THQ. Since THQ had become bankrupt in 2012, the console was lost to time until 2017, where it was found by a collector. The console was then passed to another collector who has put this legendary piece of gaming history up for auction online.
This listing for the golden hardware was posted on auction site goldin, with the description noting that since the console was commissioned for the Queen, both the Wii and its controller are plated in 24-karat gold. Moreover, this will also come with a copy of Big Family Games, complete with case and disc, along with the required cables and sensor bar.
This isn't the first time this console has been put up for auction, as the Golden Wii was put up online for auction last year for $300,000. However, it was struck from the online marketplace due to concerns over the account that was selling it. The new starting bid for this golden Wii is at $2000, with the auction closing on Saturday, May 21st.