A sealed copy of 1985’s NES classic, Super Mario Bros., has sold for $100,150 – a ground-breaking figure for the video game community.
Before you go digging around in your attic hoping to get lucky, this wasn’t just any old copy of Super Mario Bros. The unit in question was in near-perfect condition, and is known to be one of the earliest copies of the game.
Part of Nintendo’s very, very limited “test market launch,” the game is sealed with a sticker instead of shrink wrap, and it’s one of the rarest games in the world.
Wata Games, one of the most recognisable game-grading services on the planet, was the company who valued the $100k game, and it estimated that there’s only a few dozen left in existence.
Whilst a sealed copy of the regular Super Mario Bros. can usually be found for around the $1000 mark, this test market launch game fetched 100 times that amount.
Speaking to Ars, Wata Game’s CEO and cofounder, Deniz Kahn explained a little more about the phenomenon.
He said: “the [game is the] only known copy of arguably the most important game in Nintendo history… It’s rumored that there is one more out there, but it’s just hearsay. I haven’t seen proof of it.”
He added: “If video games are going to go the way of comics and coins, then there will one day be a million dollar video game sale, and I think this is that game if that’s going to happen.”
Recently a rare near mint copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES sold for over $100,000! Which leads me to ask, what video game stuff would you buy with $100,000? What’s the most you spent on ONE video game? https://t.co/jnP1NtDFKa pic.twitter.com/ug0KTJ9UGh
— Brendon Weaver (@mrweaverface) February 18, 2019
Is there a “holy grail” game that you’d fork out the big bucks for?
Featured Image Credit: Nintendo.