An unopened copy of 1990's Super Mario Bros. 3 was sold for a whopping $156,000 Friday morning, breaking a record for the highest selling single video game at an auction.
The sale took place through Heritage Auctions, attracting 20 participants. The opening bid was a stunning $62,500 before soaring past the six figure amount.
According to Heritage Auctions, the $156,000 winning bid breaks the previous record, which belongs to a sealed copy of 1985's Super Mario Bros. for the NES. In July, it fetched $114,000 in a separate auction.
Why are people paying a fortune for an old video game? We don’t know. But Super Marios Bros. 3 is often considered one of the greatest NES titles of all time. “It's no surprise that another Mario game, which so many of us grew up with, would set the new bar,” Valarie McLeckie, Heritage Auctions' director of video games, said in a statement.
It’s not the first time Heritage Auctions has sold an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. 3. Back in July, it auctioned off another sealed version, but for a mere $38,400.
However, the copy that was sold today appears to be especially unique. “While the condition of the game is remarkable, what makes this copy even more singular is the layout of the packaging itself: Exceedingly rare are sealed copies with the word ‘Bros.’ formatted to the left, covering one of Mario's signature white gloves,” Heritage Auctions said.
The irony is that the game reportedly sold for only $49.99 when it launched back in 1990 in the US.