Another Mario Game Just Became The Most Expensive Ever Sold
It's a new month and a new record broken, as the most expensive video game ever sold has just been overtaken (yet again). It was only recently that we wrote about a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 smashing the record, but now, that portly plumber has just jumped over himself.
The legacy of Mario games is one to behold, with his journey starting all the way back in 1981 with the Donkey Kong arcade game. These days, Mario is the official mascot of Nintendo and has his titles on everything from the NES to the Switch. But which of his acclaimed titles has taken the crown?
Which Mario game is the most expensive ever sold?
An unopened copy of 1985's Super Mario Bros. has sold for $2/ÂŁ1.44 million at auction. According to the New York Times, the sealed version of the Nintendo Entertainment System game was sold by Rally - a company that helps investors buy and sell shares in collectibles.
Rally originally bought the cartridge for $140,000, then shortly rejected a bid for $300k. Now, an anonymous bidder has stumped up the $2 million and is apparently "making big bets in the video game space".
Fans were suitably shocked at the sale, with someone writing on Twitter, "Imagine paying that much for an NES game you can download for free online". Namely, there were a lot of people calling out the current trend of record-breaking video game sales. The latest news comes in the wake of a boom in old games going for absurd sums of money. For example, a rare and unopened copy of The Legend of Zelda went for $878k.
How long will Super Mario Bros. be the most expensive game ever sold?
Click to enlargeWhile it's great news for Super Mario Bros., we don't imagine the record will stand for long. In the last year alone, we've seen the record for most expensive video game be toppled numerous times. With a rise in demand for nostalgic pieces of video game history, we've seen Super Mario Bros. go for $144,000 last June, followed by 1988's Super Mario Bros. 3 for $156,000 in July, then another Super Mario Bros. going for $660,000 this April, then the Zelda record last month.
Notably, Nintendo seems to reign supreme in terms of expensive video games. Perhaps it's due to the company's long-standing legacy in the industry, but it's rare that you'll see an unopened copy of Sony's OG Tomb Raider making headlines.
It's unclear what the new owner plans to do with the copy of Super Mario Bros., but owning the most expensive video game ever sold is a coup on its own. Whether they decide to hold on to the game or flip it for a profit, Super Mario Bros. is back at the top, where it deserves to be.
