You don't have to be paying close attention to know that the video game market is currently taking off. This week, we installed a brand new world record holder, with Super Mario Bros. bringing in a whopping $2 million and taking the title from Super Mario 64 after only a handful of weeks. Here's the freshest news in video game auctions; buckle up!

NEW World Record Set for Super Mario Bros.

It seems like only yesterday that we were all talking about the pristine, sealed copy of  Super Mario 64 that sold for $1.56 million in an online auction last month. This sale had knocked poor The Legend of Zelda off the pedestal after holding its own record for less than a weekend.

Now, there's a new boss in town. This time it’s a copy of Super Mario Bros. An unopened game was sold for 2 million dollars!  Rally, a platform for buying and selling equity shares in collectible assets, bought the cartridge at “only” $140,000 and began selling shares. The investors collectively turned down an offer of $300,000, which ended up being the right call. A two million dollar bid from an anonymous buyer ended up pushing this game into the record-breaking category.

This game has a 9.8 A+ rating, indicating it is in 'excellent, near-mint condition.

We now have a new "highest-price-paid-for-a-video-game" ruler. Given how quickly these games seem to be setting astronomical records, with top sales leaping from $114,000 in July 2020 to $2 million a year later, will we be having this conversation again soon? I wouldn't bet against it.

Video Game Auction Results

2021 August 3 Tuesday Video Games and Trading Card Games Auction #312131 - A selection of WATA-graded video games recently appeared at Heritage Auctions. The top three sellers are as follows:

By a long shot, the highest earner at this auction was a Wata 9.0 A+ Sealed [Collector's Edition] of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, created for N64 in 1998. This "Collector's Edition" version was available only to those who preordered the game, obviously increasing its rarity. This is the fourth-best-selling N64 game, with 7.6 million copies sold and currently has the highest average score of all professional video game reviews to date.

This game sold on Aug 3rd for $14,265.60. This exceeds the price brought in by a Wata 9.0 A++ Sealed Collector's Edition game, which brought in $12,000 at the end of April this year. An identically graded but standard edition of this game sold back in March of 2020 for $2,880.

The second-highest earner in this auction was a Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed Final Fantasy Tactics with a Sony Security Label, created for the PS1 in 1998. This game realized $4,800, more than double the amount we've ever seen this game bring in at a Heritage auction. While we've seen this game come to auction at Heritage before, we've not seen an identical grade. A Wata 9.8 B+, Sealed, with a Sony Security label, sold in February of this year for $1,920. No other sale has broken $1000 at Heritage.

Rounding out our top three list is Donkey Kong Classics - Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Rev-A, Round SOQ, Early Production], created for NES Nintendo in 1988 and selling last week for $2,640. The round seal of quality indicates this is from one of the earliest production runs of this video game, which features both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. as playable characters.

Check out ALL the auction results HERE.

Current & Upcoming Video Game Auctions:

ComicConnect Event Auction #47

ComicConnect is offering a large selection of WATA graded video games in their upcoming event, which opened Monday, 8/8/21 at noon.

Highlights include a WATA 9.4 Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)  SOQ; Small Warranty; 3 Screw Cart.  An 8.0 sold just over a year ago on eBay for $1,400. Super Mario Bros. games have been making plenty of headlines lately, as we all know.  With this one in such a high grade, it’ll be interesting to see where Mario settles this time.

A mid-grade, but rare/expensive game, M.U.S.C.L.E. Tag Match is an entry collectors should take notice of.  This particular offering is graded WATA FN+: 6.5 and features an A Seal Rating; First-party H-Seam; HEAVY MOLD ON BOX; Hanbgtab; No Rev-A; Round SOQ(USA Code); 5 Screw Cart. On 9/30/20 a 5.5 CIB 5-Screw No Rev-A Hangtab sold on eBay for $388.88.

Last but not least, we have the highest-graded copy of Strider (SMS). This pristine game features an A++ Seal Rating; US UPC Sticker; and Oval Sega Sticker Seal.str53.0-233x300 Video Game Auctions Hit ComicConnect & Heritage

Released in Japan as “Strider Hiry,” Strider was the winner of the 1990 “Video Game of the Year” and “Best Graphics in a Video Game” award from Electronic Gaming Monthly. SMS (Sega Master System) games are not easy to find to begin with, it’s a Capcom game, and it’s a 9.8! There’s a TON of potential here.

There was a Sega Genesis version of this game that was much more widely distributed/sold, but this one is much more rare. Keep an eye out!

This auction closes on August 29th. Check out ALL the video game entries in this auction HERE.

2021 August 10 Tuesday Video Games and Trading Card Games Auction #312132 at Heritage

Today is the day to catch Heritage's latest auction featuring WATA-graded video games and trading cards.

Seeing plenty of action is a Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition - Wata 9.4 A+ Sealed [Solid ESRB, Later Production], GB Nintendo 1999 USA. This is an enhanced version of Red and Blue for Nintendo's Game Boy released one year after Red and Blue and is the fifth best-selling Gameboy game at 14.6 million copies. The current high bid is $3,400. A 9.2 A+ sold for $7,200 in July of this year.

One more worth note is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Wata 9.2 A+ Sealed [Oval SOQ TM], NES Ultra 1989 USA. It's been almost a year since Heritage has featured a copy of this game with a higher grade than this one. A 9.0 A+ copy went for $9,600 in April.

There are a LOT more items to check out in this auction. Take a look at all the entries in this auction HERE. This auction closes later tonight (8/10/21.)

Do you have any video games hanging around in boxes or attics? Get ready to check them all out on GoCollect's new Video Game Price Guide! Score the games you want from future video game auctions!