Super Mario 64 Sells for Over $1 Million at Auction
Over the weekend, an original copy of Super Mario 64 broke records by selling for $1.5 million at auction. This comes just two days after the previous record was set by The Legend of Zelda.
How much do you think your old video games are worth? At an auction just the other day, a copy of Super Mario 64 broke records by selling for $1.5 million, becoming the most expensive video game of all time. Your old games probably aren’t worth quite that much, but doesn’t it make you wonder?
This record breaking auction comes just two days after the previous record breaking auction of an original copy of The Legend of Zelda, which sold for $870,000. But why spend money on these? Both of these titles were not only extremely popular in their time, but are also now available to play currently on the Nintendo Switch for much less than a million dollars.
Much like the recent explosion in popularity of trading cards, these games are valued collectibles. WataGames, a company that professionally grades the quality of collectible video games, gave the copy of Super Mario 64 in question a 9.8 A++ near-perfect rating. So this isn’t just any copy of the game that someone has kept in a box in their attic for ten years.
This video game auction, in which both this copy of Super Mario 64, and the previously record breaking copy of The Legend of Zelda, was held by a company called Heritage Auctions. Even this company was surprised by the sale.
After the record-breaking sale of the first game in the Zelda series on Friday, the possibility of surpassing $1 million on a single video game seemed like a goal that would need to wait for another auction…
– Heritage’s Video Game Specialist Valarie McLeckle
According to Heritage, this copy of Super Mario 64 is the highest graded copy currently available, and that there are likely “fewer than five” copies in comparable condition.
It makes sense that if any video game was going to break the record, it’s Super Mario 64. Especially in recent years, the title has been applauded as one of the best games of all time. It set the standard for 3D platforming, and catapulted Mario into the 3D world, leading to games like Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxy, and Odyssey. The nostalgia and significance of this specific game certainly added a lot of value.
There is no telling how long this record will remain, but certainly it’s only a matter of time. Heritage Auctions won’t be holding another video game auction until October, but a lot can happen in the months between now and then.
What are your thoughts on this? Is it ridiculous to pay over a million dollars for a single copy of a video game? Is that a loaded question? Leave a comment below letting us know!
