The world record of the highest-selling video game has been broken yet again, this time by Super Mario Bros. 3 at a high-dollar auction. The previous record was held by the NES's original Super Mario Bros., which was sold at an auction for $114,000 in July.
Super Mario Bros. 3 is considered by many to be one of the top Super Mario Games there is. It sold over 17 million copies, and has garnered a large following over the years. It was even featured in 1989 film The Wizard before the game officially released. As such, its popularity has made it a high value collector's item, especially if it's a sealed copy. A prototype NES cartridge of the game sold earlier this year for $30,000 at an auction.
According to Heritage Auctions, this version of Super Mario Bros. 3 that was sold for $156,000 was incredibly unique for its kind. Not only was this a sealed copy of the game, it was also one of the few in the world that had the word "Bros." displayed on the cover partially overlapping Mario's right glove. These were the earliest copies of the game that were produced and while the exact number is unknown, only a few have managed to get their hands on this type of copy. The starting bid was $62,500, but the winning bid of $156,000 ultimately took the coveted item out of 20 bidders.
Mario hasn't been the only Nintendo franchise to smash sales records this year. Several Pokémon TGC booster boxes have sold this year for enormous prices, both breaking records after another. Rapper Logic also bought a first edition Charizard card for $220,000. It's not unusual for records to be constantly changing for the highest selling collectors items, but 2020 has certainly been an active year for buying these types of trinkets. There's not likely a concrete reason for this, but it is plausible that since people have been stuck inside their homes due to the pandemic, the desire to purchase these items and appreciate them inside the homes of many people that likely own other collectors items has gone up.
At the rate these records have been broken though, it likely won't be long before another sale overtakes this one. The desire to own a valuable collector's piece is something that many can relate to, whether it's to display them to show off on social media or to simply have it just for the sake of having it. There's a market for these types of old treasures, and it's continuing to go up. Until the crown is inevitably taken away at some point in the future though, Super Mario Bros. 3 now has the title for having the highest price paid for a video game.
Source: Heritage Auctions