An unopened copy of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. has just been auctioned off for $660,000.
The insane amount obliterates the previous record for most money paid for a single video game, according to Heritage Auction, which facilitated the sale.
This particular Super Mario Bros. game copy was bought in the mid-1980s as a Christmas gift. However, the original owner ended up placing it inside a desk drawer only to forget about for the next 36 years. “It stayed in the bottom of my office desk this whole time since the day I bought it,” the original owner told Heritage Auction.
As a result, the game’s condition is nearly perfect, earning it a 9.6 out of 10 rating. The product itself is still contained inside its plastic shrink wrap.
Heritage Auction also says this particular game copy was produced rather early in the production run for Super Mario Bros. when Nintendo was wrapping the game in plastic shrink wrap. Later copies featured a sticker seal.
“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,” said Heritage Auctions Video Games Director Valarie McLeckie in a statement. “Never say never, but there’s a good chance it can’t be done.”
Why someone paid $660,000 for an old NES game, we can’t say. But ironically, the game sold for a mere $25 when it first went on sale back in 1985.
The previous record holder for highest selling video game at a Heritage auction was an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, which was also left forgotten in someone’s closet. That game copy ended up selling for $156,000 back in November.
