The collectibles company Rally just oversaw a copy of the NES Super Mario Bros being sold for about $2 million. This sale breaks the previous record for the most expensive video game ever sold, a record that was previously broken multiple times this year.
As the New York Times reports, collectibles of all types have become much more popular during the pandemic, and video games are no exception. However, Rally works a bit differently from normal auction sites. Rally buys physical collectibles, such as the record-breaking copy of Super Mario Bros for $140,000 back in April 2020, and users invest in shares of the collectible like it's a stock. When someone offers to buy the item outright, the investors vote on whether to sell it and cash out their share of the profits or decline. The game was purchased for $2 million by an anonymous collector "making big bets in the video game space," and three-quarters of the game's investors chose to sell.
Punks, X-Men, Declarations, and some news...
— Rally (@OnRallyRd) August 6, 2021
🏆A NEW WORLD RECORD on Rally🏆
...w/ the $2,000,000 sale of our 1985 Super Mario Bros., marking the HIGHEST PRICE EVER PAID for a video game of any title.
Read more in todays New York Times (cc: @nytimes): https://t.co/mJzEcVMXuQ pic.twitter.com/segsfw6Jw9
Over the past few months, we've seen the record for most expensive video game broken several times. First was a version of Super Mario Bros that went for $114,000 in July of last year, followed by a special variant of Super Mario Bros 3 that September which went for $156,000. This April, we saw the record broken again with a $660,000 copy of Super Mario Bros. The most recent record-holders, dating to last month, were a one-two punch of an $870,000 copy of The Legend of Zelda and a $1,560,000 copy of Super Mario 64.
Given the many contenders we've seen this past year, only time will tell if we see this record broken again soon or if this record will stand for several months this time.
