A rare copy of Super Mario Bros 3. just sold at auction for $US156,000, or $215,000 in Aussie dollars. This makes it the most expensive copy of a game ever sold worldwide.
Super Mario Bros 3. breaks records
The game was sold by Heritage Auctions last week, with the bidding opening at $US62,000. A total of twenty bidders got involved before it finally hit its record-breaking sale price.
This particular copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 is particularly special. It has a rare box design where ‘Bros.’ is right justified, slightly obscuring one of Mario’s hands. Later copies of the game moved the lettering closer to the centre:
But while this is cool, it has been seen recently. A copy with the same right-hand justification was sold in July for just $US38,400, or $52,700.
What really made this copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 stand out (and pay out) is the condition it’s in. The game, which originally released in 1990 for the NES, was sealed and earned itself a Wata 9.2 A+ rating. Comparatively, the July copy only received a Wata 9.0 A.
Wata is a team of industry experts that provides independent grading of retro video games.
“This started as a hobby for us. Now video game collecting has evolved into a business with significant investment value. There are professional, independent services to grade baseball cards, comic books, coins and other collectibles. The business of video game collecting needs and deserves a similar professional, independent grading service,” the Wata website states.
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Rare Pokemon game also sold
The same auction also ushered in the sale of the most expensive Pokemon game in the world. It was a sealed copy of Pokemon Red for GaneBoy from 1998. It had a Wata 9.8++ rating and sold for $US84,000, or $115,300.
According to Heritage auctions, this was four times the game’s predicted pre-sale estimate.