If there is one thing that has madeNintendosuccessful in the early years, it was their pack-in strategy. Back in the day, they made some incredibly strange choices for promotions — just look atAll Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.This eventually extended to consoles themselves creating options that promoted their biggest titles of even just other companies.
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Nintendo has managed to make some incredible console variations that any collector would be happy to get their hands on. Unfortunately for western fans, many of them have remained exclusive to Japan for their initial releases, making them difficult to find.
10ANA N64
This N64 camebundled with a special logo on the front along withPokemon StadiumandHey You Pikachu. ANA, or All Nippon Airways, is a Japanese airline service. These were commissioned with Nintendo and were given away randomly to passengers on flights. It is estimated that somewhere between 1000 and 5000 were made. However, only 99 seemed to have been given away.
9Backstreet Boys Game Boy
This was commissioned for a radio network in Japan that was promoting the Backstreets Boys’ tour in Japan. There’s nothing truly remarkable about thisold-school Game Boyother than their name on it. However, as only fifty at most were made, it’s quite the collectible. As an interesting aside, these boys never got aGame Boygame but their rivals sure did on Game Boy Color withNSYNC: Get to the Show.
8Char GameCube
This is a huge package forGundamfans. The red GameCube and Zeon faceplate are a great homage to the Red Comet aka Char. Even the controller is themed with it.
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Not only that but this bundle came with his mobile suit, the Zaku II. It is easy to see why this never left Japan as most Gundam-themed consoles rarely do.
7Metal Gear GameCube
This silver GameCubewas made in celebration ofMetal Gear Solid: The Twin Shakeshitting the console. It has a Foxhound faceplate and it came with the game too. Perhaps the most interesting inclusion in this bundle is a disc containing the firstMetal Gear. This would not be the first disc-based port of that game though asMetal Gear Solid 3: Subsistencealso got it andMetal Gear 2.
6Kingdom Hearts GBA SP
This was made in celebration ofKingdom Hearts: Chain of Memorieslaunching in Japan. Thesilver GBA SPhas a logo stamped on the top and came with the game as well. Nintendo and Square Enix have always been good about bundles in Japan. It’s just unfortunate that many of these remain exclusive. As for the game itself, it’s underrated in the series for just the pixel-perfect sprite work alone.
5Battle Royal GBA SP
Like the Backstreet Boys Game Boy, this bundle is quite strange. Even though this handheld has theBattle Royallogo stamped on it, this was not commissioned for the release of the first film. It instead probably came out in 2003 since that’s whenthe GBA SPline launched on top of the sequel film debuting in theaters. This bundle doesn’t seem to have come with anything other than the system itself.
4Game Boy Micro Mother 3
Not only did thisGame Boy Micronot come out in North America, but this game also didn’t either.Mother 3is one of the most sought-after games in Nintendo’s library that Western fans have been craving an official translation for since it launched in 2006. As for the system itself, it’s nothing flashy but it does look nice. These Game Boy Micro handhelds in general were underrated when they came out, which saw them see a very limited run.
3Pepsi DS
Japan is crazy for Pepsi. Besides this DS collaboration, let’s not forget the PS1 game that only released only in Japan,Pepsi Man. This bundle did not come with a weird game like that though. The DS was blue with a small Pepsi logo on it. It also came with headphones and a case which were more on brand than the console itself. This was a lottery prize through a Japanese contest and it’s estimated that only about a thousand were made at max.
2SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu: Goddess Of Destiny DSi
This DSi bundle was themed around a remake. The game was a remake ofFinal Fantasy Legend II, or at least that’s what Western fans knew it as.
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From the beginning of this Game Boy series, Japan always knew it as SaGa. History naming lessons aside, the system looks nice with the black on gold plus it came with the game.SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu: Goddess Of Destinynever released in the West although there is an English fan patch for it.
1One Piece Unlimited World Red 3DS XL
Gold on black always looks nice but so does red on black as thisOne Piececonsole proves. Japan is lousy with various Nintendo and PlayStation bundles tied to the anime that never seem to release over here. On the plus side, the game at least in this instance did come over. In terms of the console variation,this 3DS XLmight be the best if not one of the best the series has seen. The bundle comes with the game along with some costume DLC.
