Video games are getting more expensive in a variety of ways, as some companies are toying with a $70 price point on next-gen console games and the dreaded microtransactions are ever-creeping into a variety of titles and genres. But if you want a piece of video game history, well, it’s going to cost you a lot more than a few bucks on virtual currency here and there.
The record for most expensive video game ever sold was shattered last week, as a rare copy of Super Mario Bros. in near-mint condition went for $660,000 in an auction. As CNN reported, Heritage Auctions explained the game was a gift that basically went missing for decades, but was uncovered in 2021 and was sold for big bucks.
The Dallas-based auction company said the NES cartridge was purchased as a Christmas gift in 1986, and was untouched until the seller found it earlier this year.
“It stayed in the bottom of my office desk this whole time since the day I bought it,” said the unidentified seller in the release. “I never thought anything about it.”
The unopened game was professionally graded by WataGames and had a score of 9.6/A+, according to the news release, which called it “the finest copy known to have been professionally graded for auction.”
The copy is just the latest Super Mario Bros. cartridge to break gaming records, as another copy of the same game had held the record after it was sold at auction last summer. So if you have a copy somewhere in your house and need to make a quick buck, you better hope you have taken great care of it over the last few decades.