A Copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 Just Sold for a World Record-Setting $156,000

A sealed copy of NES’ Super Mario Bros. 3 has sold for $156,000 USD and has set the world record for the highest price paid for a video game at auction. On November 20, Heritage Auctions sold a sealed copy of 1990’s Super Mario Bros. 3 for $156,000 and surpassed the sale of NES’ Super Mario Bros. from earlier this year that sold for $114,000 USD. The bidding for this rare copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 began at $62,000 USD, and 20 bidders fought for the chance to purchase it and, in doing so, also made this the world’s first-ever million-dollar video-game auction. “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,” A press release from Heritage Auctions stated. “Collectors have spent years looking for such a version — the earliest in the Super Mario Bros. 3 production history – and usually come up empty-handed.” This particular copy earned a grade of Wata 9.2 A+. In July, another variant of Super Mario Bros. 3 with a grade of Wata 9.0 A sold for $38,400 USD. [ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/14/super-mario-bros-3-world-record-speedrun”] Friday was also another big day for video games, as a sealed copy of the “Red Version” of 1998’s Pokemon for Nintendo Game Boy – which was graded Wata 9.8 A++ – sold for $84,000 USD, making it the highest price ever paid for a Pokemon title. Furthermore, its final price was four times its pre-sale estimate. In 2019, we did a deep-dive into why an ultra-rare copy of NES’ Super Mario Bros. sold for over $100,000, and why some earn these high prices. Speaking of high prices, a prototype of the Nintendo PlayStation console also sold for $360,000 USD at auction earlier this year, making 2020 a important and notable year for video game collectibles. [widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=every-ign-super-mario-review-ever&captions=true”] [poilib element=”accentDivider”] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.