It’s an undeniable fact that video games have become more expensive over the years as the quality and amount of work being put into them has increased, despite most being available for digital download. Some versions of games can reach over £100 especially with special editions and some offer through crowd fundraising websites.
However recently one game broke the record for the most expensive game ever sold. Was it Call of Duty, Fortnite, Star Citizen? Nope, it was the NES classic Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros was developed by Nintendo's in house R&D4 team and became and major success and helped make Nintendo and Super Mario a household name.
Back in the infancy of home gaming the iconic, 8-bit, platforming game, Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Entertainment System put the little known Japanese company Nintendo on the map, while lunching Mario as the companies much-loved mascot to stardom as one of the most recognisable characters on the planet.
Originally retailing at around $50 back in 1985, the cutting edge platforming game was released for the NES and Famicom as it was known as in Japan. I myself even had one of these consoles bundled with Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt and the Zapper gun, which I still have to this day.
However, recently one copy of the game reached an eye-watering price of over $114,000 - just over £90k -at auction after receiving 29 bids. The sealed game was sold for $114,000 on 10 July by Heritage Auctions in Dallas Texas by an anonymous buyer and has become the most expensive video game ever sold at public auction.
This version of the game was rare not only because it was sealed and in mint condition but the box even featured cardboard hang tab underneath the plastic.
The previous record for the most valuable video game cartridge ever sold at auction was yet another classic from the NES 8-bit era. A sealed copy of the classic 1987 Mega Man sold for $75,000, in November 2019 at Heritage Auctions.
In 2019 Scott Amos from Reno, Nevada in the US found a 30-year-old sealed copy of the NES game Kid Icarus at his childhood home in the attic. Kid Icarus is another iconic title for the Nintendo Entertainment System and it's very rare to find a copy of the game sealed and in good condition.
The game was still in the bag, purchased back in 1988 with the receipt for $38.45. The game was sold by Heritage Auctions for $9,000.
With modern gaming becoming more mainstream and digital storefronts appearing to be the future of buying them, it's good to see collectors showing love to these classics.
Now if you don't mind me I'm off to my basement to get looking through old batman comics, broken consoles and old PC parts for something valuable...
