Rare video game systems are sold for an eyebrow-raising amount of cash all the time, but none have had the distinction of being a rare one-of-one designed specifically for the reigning Queen. That’d be this 24-karat solid gold Nintendo Wii, commissioned in 2009 by US-based gaming icons THQ for Queen Elizabeth II herself.
Queen Elizabeth’s gold Nintendo Wii is now listed on eBay by seller Donnie Fillerup, who’s Pornhub-sounding username notes that the Wii-mote has some wear on the bottom and was likely used at one point. Whether that use came from Queen Elizabeth herself is anyone’s guess, but it has been reported that the Queen was a fan of Nintendo, at least back when the Nintendo Wii was still kicking about.
THQ has said that it delivered the console directly to Buckingham Palace in 2009. Reportedly, when Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, brought the late Prince Phillip a Wii for Christmas in 2007, the Queen was known to join in on a few rounds of Wii Bowling. It doesn’t exactly scream, “I will give up all my Royal duties and only play Mario Galaxy from now on,” but the very rumour that the Queen would even touch a video game was obviously enough to give THQ the idea of building a system just for her.
The Nintendo Wii was electroplated in 24-karat gold as a marketing stunt to promote THQ’s Big Family Games, released in 2009. An old press release about the Wii Sports-like title states that “… the Queen and other members of the Royal Family will be able to use their new gold Wii to play 24 unique twists on classic family games, including golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce, and more.”
A copy of Big Family Games was also sent with the Nintendo Wii. Although our bets is that Her Majesty never actually touched the system. Although quite obviously someone did – there’s a few scratches, as you can see from these photos – and it eventually ended up in the hands of Donnie Fillerup.
Fillerup briefly gained a bit of internet fame back in 2019 when the popular YouTube channel ‘People Make Games’ published an invetigative piece exploring the Queen Elizabeth Nintendo Wii and what happened to it. In an interview, Fillerup explained that he was given the chance to buy it in 2017, but gave few details beyond that. According to an interview with Console Variations, a website Donnie Fillerup co-founded, the eBayer is selling the console to simply purchase a new home.
Aside from the added heft, which means a total weight of roughly 2.3kg, the Queen Elizabeth Nintendo Wii works just like any other Wii. The listing indicats the system is in perfect working condition and can display games in 480p resolution, as well as act as an Internet browser – something that was still fairly new for video game consoles back then.
The eBay listing also notes that Donnie Fillerup will be contracting a specialised shipping company to make sure that the Queen Elizabeth Nintendo Wii ends up with whoever buys it, without any issue. He’ll also frame the authenticity documents and make digital scans for the new owner.
Who knows? Maybe one day the Queen will be yearning for her long list Nintendo Wii and you can sell it back to Buckingham Palace with a proper royal mark up.
