Forgotten in a desk drawer for nearly 35 years, a sealed copy of the Nintendo video game Super Mario Bros. just sold at auction for $660,000 – the most ever paid for a video game. It smashed the previous record of $156,000 for an original Super Mario Bros. 3, which we reported was sold at auction last November.
CNN said the NES cartridge was purchased as a Christmas gift in 1986 and was untouched until the unidentified seller found it earlier this year. It was professionally graded by WataGames with a 9.6/A+ score. The version of the game sold first went on sale in 1986, but Nintendo changed the packaging in early 1987, so only a relatively small number were sold.
The auction, held by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, also saw the sale of a Mega Man game for $144,000 and a copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! for $102,000.