Heritage Auctions’ latest record-breaking series of gaming-related items has ended with a sealed Super Mario 64 box that was sold for $1.56 million. The popular 25-year old classic game for Nintendo 64 has a rating of 9.8 out of 10 from Wata Games, a certification leader for video game collectables.
The copy of Super Mario 64 is one of just a few sealed copies in the world in pristine condition. The starting price for the game was $100,000, and the auction started on July 9 and finished on July 11.
The previous record of $870,000 was held for just two days by a pristine copy of The Legend of Zelda, a game that was initially released in 1987.
The starting bid of the Zelda auction was $110,000, since this version was part of the 1987 rare production run, as reflected by the “NES R” marking on the packaging. The game was also in an original sealed box.
Before The Legend of Zelda, an NES copy of Super Mario Bros sold for $660,000. It had been sitting forgotten in a desk drawer since 1986 until it was sold in April. This very limited version of the game was released in 1986 before Nintendo added the trademark symbol to the logo in 1987.
Auctions for video games are clearly gaining traction, especially considering that the previous record was set in November 2020 by a sealed box of Super Mario Bros 3, which sold for $156,000. Now, just over six months later, another Mario game has been sold for 10 times that price.
Our Ahoy Gaming team can appreciate the nostalgia that these old classic titles evoke. Furthermore, as online esports betting fans, we’re glad to see that our favourite games are now gaining collectable status like Magic the Gathering Cards or non-fungible tokens.
