A Copy Of 'Super Mario 64,' A Game That Has Sold Over 12 Million Copies, Sells For $1.56 Million

In April of this year, a copy of Super Mario Bros for the NES sold for an astounding $660,000, making it the most expensive copy of a video game ever. That is, until last week, when two video games broke that record in the span of three days. Last Friday, an unopened copy of The Legend of Zelda sold for $870,000. On Sunday, an unopened copy of Super Mario 64 put the previous two records to shame and sold for over $1.56 million.

The copy, which came out in 1996, was appraised by Heritage Auctions, who said there were "less than five" copies of the game in the world in such good condition. The game received a 9.8 A++ rating by the video game collectible firm Wata, meaning it was "like new."

Of course, games sold at such astronomical prices are not intended to be played and are instead marketed as collectors' items, but some critics view the sales as a scam by collectors to juice the market of sealed video game packages. Games writer Pat Contri wrote:

"It is the successful result of two+ years of a concerted effort between Heritage Auctions, Wata, and a small group of collectors from other hobbies with deep pockets to artificially pump up the sealed game market. However, this "pump" is unnatural and dangerous long-term. 99% of these games are not as rare as these purchase prices justify, the price increases are meteoric, and we do not know how many copies of each title exists, since Wata does not release population reports."

Others made jokes about how Super Mario 64 is one of the most widely available retro games on the market right now.

Congratulations to the unnamed buyer of the pristine Super Mario 64, who will surely have hours of fun looking at the game's packaging.