
An unopened copy of Nintendo’s original Super Mario Bros. game has been sold for $114,000 USD (about $154,700 CAD).
The cartridge was purchased by an anonymous bidder in an auction hosted by Dallas, Texas-based Heritage Auctions.
The auction house says this is the most anyone has ever paid for a video game.
Beyond being an original cartridge of the 1985 NES classic platformer, though, the auctioned copy of Super Mario Bros. was even more noteworthy due to its “cardboard hangtabs,” which Nintendo used with game packaging in early test markets.
Super Mario Bros. wasn’t the only game that fetched a high price during the auction. Other big sales include a prototype Sega Pluto-02 games console — an internet-supported Sega Saturn — for $84,000 (about $114,000 CAD), a sealed copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out! for $50,400 USD (toughly $68,400 CAD) and a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 for $38,400 (approximately $52,100 CAD).
Image credit: Nintendo
Source: Heritage Auctions Via: PC Gamer
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Graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University's journalism program. While I'm always fascinated by technology as a whole, I'm most interested in the art of video games. In particular, I'm passionate about covering Canada's world-class gaming industry and the many talented developers we have here.