This copy of Super Mario Bros. to buy a house.
Heritage AuctionsRetro games can fetch a hefty price at auctions, but a pristine, never-opened copy of Super Mario Bros. for the NES raised the bar. A game that cost $25 when it first came out in 1985 sold for more than half a million dollars thanks to a few important factors.
A sealed Super Mario Bros. for the NES went for $660,000 at an auction Friday, according to Heritage Auctions. The Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction featured several classic video games in mint condition, but this copy of Mario's first adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom brought in the big money. The reason for its big price tag was an unused hangtab on the back of the case along with it being the fourth version of Super Mario Bros. produced, according to Heritage Auctions.
#HERITAGELIVE #WORLDRECORD!! Super Mario Bros. - Wata 9.6 A+ Sealed [Hangtab, 1 Code, Mid-Production], NES Nintendo 1985 USA obliterates the record for the most ever paid for a video game when it sells for $660,000 in HA’s Comics Auction! #SuperMario https://t.co/mxT0c6zdK5 pic.twitter.com/nPuMQtpsfP
— Heritage Auctions (@HeritageAuction) April 2, 2021
This isn't the first Mario game to sell for six figures. In 2019, another pristine copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for $100,150, and last November an unopened Super Mario Bros. 3 went for $156,000.
Other classic games were part of the Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction and sold for big money. A few of the notable auctions were:
John Madden Football Championship (Sega Genesis) - $50,400
Pokemon Emerald (Gameboy Advance) - $55,200
Pokemon Crystal (Gameboy Color) - $90,000
Tetris (NES) - $36,000
Mega Man (NES) - $144,000
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES) - $102,000