It’s no Da Vinci, or Honus Wagner, but video game auction prices are going up, and a new world record has been set by one of the most iconic games of all time. An auctioned off copy of Super Marios Bros. for the NES was recently sold for $100,150, marking the first time that a video game has ever topped the six figure mark.
Before you go bursting into your garage looking for your copy so you can finally get that Lambo you always wanted, you should probably know why this particular copy sold for so much.
This was a copy of the original game, not the Duck Hunt combo more commonly seen, it was unopened, and it had a high-grade of preservation. Heritage Auctions noted: “Of all the sealed copies of Super Mario Bros., this is the only known “sticker sealed” copy and was certified by Wata Games with a Near Mint grade of 9.4 and a “Seal Rating” of A++. ”
Obviously adding to its price is the historical value that the game has as it’s the title that kicked off the Super Mario Bros. franchise as we know it now, and launched the character of Mario into what it is today: one of the most recognizable fictional characters across any form of media.
The buyers are a group of collectors rather than one individual person, they include: Jim Halperin, Founder and Co-Chairman of Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas; Zac Gieg, owner of Just Press Play Video Games in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rich Lecce, renowned coin dealer, pioneering video game collector, and owner of Robert B. Lecce Numismatist Inc of Boca Raton, Florida.
Considering the track that video games are on, and how they are likely only to continue to become more popular and widely accepted as “art” as it becomes more mainstream, $100,150 might end up being considered a steal decades from now.
