ANDThe world of collecting has always been particularly complex, since in most cases, its rarest, most coveted and/or most sought-after products reach prices that are impossible for most of us. On many occasions we have seen someone pay an indecent amount of money for one product or another, always asking the same question in the process: Is it worth it? To be honest, if it were in my hands and my wallet didn’t shake in the process, I would do the same. In other words, it wouldn’t hurt me to pay 2 million dollars (approximately 1.8 million euros) for a nearly perfect, unopened copy of Super Mario Bros..
And no, it is not a random number. This price is based on a true story. To talk about this issue we have to go back to September 2021, the date on which the purchase occurred. As The New York Times reported, an anonymous person spent a lot of money on the game. The most curious thing of all is that, in reality, It is not the first (nor will it be the last) time we see something like thisHowever, to understand it all properly, we need to look even further back.
Super Mario 64 for $2 million
Super Mario 64 unit in almost perfect condition.
Just a month earlier, in July 2021, An auction was organized in which some still sealed games were sold and with a very high rating (in this case, we are talking about a 9.8 out of 10 in terms of conservation, according to the regulatory body that is in charge of this type of ratings). Among them was a unit of Super Mario 64, a game that claims to be legendary both for its historical value and for how difficult it is to find a unit in good condition.
Let’s remember, then, that the game was originally released in 1996 for the N64 and that, at that time, it was impossible to imagine that it would have such a high value almost 20 years later. The fact is that now it is tremendously expensive, and this is why one of the auctioneers did not hesitate to offer $1,560,000 for it., as The Verge reported at the time. In fact, it became the most expensive game in history, although the record did not last long.
Just a month later, the Rally company sold that other unit of Super Mario 64 that we told you about at the beginning. The most incredible thing of all is that the company itself He had purchased the aforementioned unit just a few months earlier for about $140,000. The move turned out very well, although what most agree on is that the real winner was the buyer. In the end, he obtained an item that is practically unique in the world, since today it is almost impossible to find a Super Mario 64 in almost perfect condition and sealed. That they have come to light, only these two units are known.
Of course, its value was different. After someone paid $1.56 million for another copy, Its price was higher, and that is how it rose to 2 million dollars. In this way, in less than a month, the historical record for the most expensive game in the world was broken. Today it seems impossible for anyone to achieve something similar, since not only is it extremely rare to sell a game at that price in such good condition, but it is also even more difficult to achieve it with the same title.
Super Mario 64 broke the mark twice in a row, taking the throne from the American version of The Legend of Zelda from 1987. This also sold in July, during the same (the first) auction for $870,000. Without a doubt, it was a truly scandalous summer, although in reality we could say that 2021 was a rather curious year in the sale of collectible video gamesas there were many exchanges with very high values.
Why was it so expensive?
Near mint condition Super Mario 64 unit.
The reason this game is so expensive is because, besides being very rare, it was in near-perfect condition and retained its original seal. According to Rally’s own official website, It received an official Wata rating of 9.8+, one of the highest in history when it comes to such a valuable older video game.. There were even those who called it “the Holy Grail of video game collecting”, which is somewhat logical if we take into account that it was part of one of the few editions that were released in the cardboard box variant, being one of the first versions produced in mass.
