Sealed Copy of Super Mario 64 Sold for a Record $1.56 Million - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 12 July 2021 / 2,591 Views
A sealed copy of Super Mario 64 has set a record as the most video game ever sold. The sealed copy of the game was given a 9.8++ rating for its condition by video game grading company Wata and was sold for $1.56 million at auction on Sunday, July 11.
The previous record holder was set just two days earlier on Friday, July 9. An early production copy of The Legend of Zelda sold for $870,000. The game had 9.0 rating for its condition.
Super Mario 64 is the best-selling Nintendo 64 game of all time with 11.91 million units sold worldwide. The Nintendo DS version of the game, Super Mario 64 DS, sold nearly as many copies with 11.06 million units sold.
A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 in November 2020 was sold for what was a record at the time of $156,000.
Thanks, VideoGamesChronicle.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Is there anything special about this particular cartridge other than the fact that it has never been opened and is in great condition? Was it the first ever produced? Does it have a unique serial number? Did Miyamoto sign it? Otherwise that is a crazy price....
It's so insane to me. There are other sealed copies of the game out there, even if they are in slightly worse condition.
I really don't see how this is worth any more than $10,000.
It appears the biggest thing is the 9.8 condition rating (that's SUPREME condition and IIRC, Wata has never rated a game in better condition), combined with the historical significance of the game.
There may be something about this specific copy (possibly indicators that it's an early run copy) but I haven't found anything specific to that effect.
Just looked up the description from the auction listing - "Super Mario 64 - Wata 9.8 A++ Sealed, N64 Nintendo 1996 USA. Well -- we're a bit speechless on this one. What can we even say that would do this copy the justice it deserves? The cultural significance of this title and its importance to the history of video games is paramount, and the condition of this copy is just so breathtaking that we're really at a loss here. If you have had your heart set on obtaining the highest graded copy of the single best-selling video game on the Nintendo 64 -- the first 3D adventure of Nintendo's mascot, Mario -- we only have one piece of advice: this is not an opportunity to waste."
Nothing is special about it. There are very likely multiple copies of that grade given the volume of copies that exist.
It was probably the first to be graded that high and there won't be another graded one for a while due to the backlog for grading. Whoever bought this is losing a lot of money. It will never be worth that much money again unless someone buys it who has no idea about the lack of rarity.
Yeah, my Mario 64 copy has been used and abused, the game was that good the condition shows it.
An adult kid with lots of $$$. more power to you!
Mario 64 has to be one of the top 10 greatest games ever,
Played the shit out of it and I still have my copy!
I've got a sealed Halo: CE for xbox I'm holding! Diamond hands
What's that worth right now?
I don't think it's worth thousands. I expect a couple hundred from it though
will buy a Zeld BOTW to sell 30 years from now...
Go for the Wii U version then. That will probably be worth a lot more. I get something being rarer isn't inherently more valuable. But I foresee a sealed copy of BOTW on Wii U being more valuable than the Switch version in the long-term.
Current games won't be worth much, because lots of people collect them now. There will be many more sealed copies of BotW on Wii U 25 years from now than there are sealed copies of Mario 64. Video games will probably be much like sports cards in that way - the valuable ones come from the days before they were widely collected.
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