Right now, on eBay, a man has an incredibly large collection of old and rare computer games up for sale. The list of what he has currently up for sale seems to go on and on, but the gem of the showcase is an incredibly rare computer game for the Vic 20, SierraVenture’s Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash. The bidding has already surpassed $3,000.
The listing reads as follows:
“Here I’m offering SierraVenture’s ‘Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash’. Included are the cassette tape (in a plastic case), instructions card and box. The box is intact but notably worn. It has lines on each side, a bulge in its left side, worn edges and corners and a surface tear and two stickers in the upper right corner of the front cover. The rack-hanger tab is intact (though it also displays lines and wear) and all four tabs are present. The instructions card also has lines, several small surface tears on the outside and a distressed area and bent corner in the lower right portion (when unfolded). The cassette case has three cracks. I haven’t tested the game. (I don’t have a Vic 20.) Owing to this and the age of the media, I must offer this ‘as is’ and without guarantee.”
According to legend, this epicly rare computer game was written by Richard Garriot’s friend, Keith Zabalaoui, and was merely given the Ultima name in hopes that it would make it sell better. Only one advertisement was ever published for it, in Compute! magazine, and it was never distributed widely. Only 3000 units were made and at one point Sierra even denied that the game ever existed.
Sierra sold barely enough to break even then dumped the rest at the foot of a mountain, just like Atari did with the E.T. game. One of the only known complete copies was found after a retailer in Vancouver, B.C. allegedly dumped the unsold hardware off of a cliff. The game is sought after by game collectors all over the world and in September of 2003 a copy sold on eBay for $3,605. It appears the current copy up for sale is well on its way to beat that.
The bidding is closing pretty quickly on this very rare computer game, but the seller has an enormous amount of other classic games for sale as well.