A Texas-based auction house announced a sealed copy of\u00a0Super Mario Bros.<\/i>\u00a0for the Nintendo Entertainment System sold for $660,000 — the highest price ever fetched for a video game.<\/p>\n
Heritage Auctions, based in Dallas, said the copy of\u00a0Super Mario Bros.<\/i>\u00a0that was sold as part of the Comics & Comic Art Auction during the weekend was part of a short run that was produced in 1986, before Nintendo switched from shrink-wrapped packaging to a sticker seal.<\/p>\n
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“Since the production window for this copy and others like it was so short, finding another copy from this same production run in similar condition would be akin to looking for single drop of water in an ocean. Never say never, but there’s a good chance it can’t be done,” Valarie McLeckie, video games director for Heritage Auctions,\u00a0said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The video game had been purchased as a Christmas gift in 1986, but it ended up spending 35 years untouched in a desk drawer.<\/p>\n
“It stayed in the bottom of my office desk this whole time since the day I bought it,” said the seller, who requested anonymity. “I never thought anything about it.”<\/p>\n
The game sold for a final price of $660,000, which Heritage said is the largest amount ever paid for a video game.<\/p>\n
“As soon as this copy of\u00a0Super Mario Bros.\u00a0<\/i>arrived at Heritage, we knew the market would find it just as sensational as we did,” McLeckie said. “Even so, the degree to which this game was embraced outside the market has been nothing short of exceptional, and that aspect of this sale has certainly exceeded our expectations. Though, I suppose we can’t be too shocked; who doesn’t love Mario?”<\/p>\n
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