A sealed cassette of the legendary “Super MarioOf the console Nintendo 64 sold for $ 1.56 million on Sunday, a record price for a video game, according to the American auction house Heritage Auctions.
“This is the first toy to ever be auctioned for more than $ 1 million,” Eric Bradley, a spokesman for the US-based Dallas, Texas, told AFP.
Heritage had already set a first record on Friday with the also legendary Nintendo NES “The Legend of Zelda” selling for $ 870,000.
The cassette of “Super Mario 64” dates back to 1996 and used 3D for the first time.
It is “the only known copy to receive a 9.8 A ++ rating” from video game company Wata that assesses the state of the cartridges, Bradley said, adding that this rating was “the highest a retro video game could receive”.
Mario, the well-known favorite mustachioed petite plumber in a red hat, is one of the greatest heroes in the history of video games, whose creation contributed to Nintendo’s worldwide success.
He appeared in 1981 as the “Jumpman” character in the video game “Donkey Kong”, was renamed “Mario” in 1985 and had many adventures, either with Luigi ‘s brother or while driving his race car.
In recent years, retro video games have become increasingly popular among their nostalgic fans.
Last April, a 1986 Super Mario Bros. cassette of the Nintendo NES console sold for $ 660,000 at a re-auction held by Heritage Auctions.
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