PokePark Fishing Contest DS Dev Cartridge on eBay €7,999

A rare Nintendo DS title tied to Pokémon history has surfaced for sale on eBay: PokePark Fishing Contest DS, a game originally distributed via the DS Download Play service in 2005. The listing is posted at €7,999 (about $9,100), and its packaging is described as a Nintendo DS development/test cartridge—an unusual format that has drawn renewed attention from collectors and preservation-minded players.

Why this DS game is so hard to get

PokePark Fishing Contest DS was never released through a standard retail cartridge. Instead, it was delivered through Nintendo DS Download Play, meaning access depended on distribution events and the temporary availability of the downloaded copy. Once the Nintendo DS system was switched off, those downloaded versions disappeared, and the playable window was limited to 12 hours. As a result, the title became largely inaccessible after the original distribution period ended.

A development/test cartridge listing changes the stakes

The eBay post describes the item as a Nintendo DS development/test cartridge. That matters because it suggests the game’s data may exist in a more durable cartridge form than the original DS Download Play delivery method. For collectors, that can mean greater value and rarity. For preservationists, it can also mean a better chance of safeguarding the actual contents of a title that otherwise relied on short-lived downloads.

The game was distributed through DS Download Play in 2005, not sold in retail packaging.
Downloaded copies were temporary: they vanished when the DS was powered off.
Access was restricted to a 12-hour window, limiting long-term availability.
The current eBay listing is priced at €7,999 (about $9,100).
The cartridge is described as a Nintendo DS development/test unit, raising preservation potential.

Community hope: preservation over profit

Even with the high asking price, the listing has sparked a specific hope: that whoever purchases the cartridge will prioritize preserving its contents. Because the original distribution method is no longer practical for most players, physical access to the data is one of the few remaining paths to keeping the game playable—and ensuring it isn’t lost to time the way the temporary downloads were.

What players and collectors should watch next

For players interested in DS-era Pokémon oddities, this is one of the clearest cases of a “lost” title returning through the secondhand market. The immediate variable is whether the cartridge’s contents will be preserved or documented after purchase. If it ends up being treated as a preservation opportunity rather than a closed collector item, it could help convert a largely unreachable piece of Pokémon DS history into something the broader community can study and potentially keep alive.