Rare copy of the classic auctioned for a record price
The Super Mario record did not last long: Now a copy of “The Legend of Zelda” was sold for $ 870,000.
As for the title of the “most valuable” video game, the classics currently outbid each other every few months. In November 2020, a copy of the NES game “Super Mario Bros. 3” from 1990 went to the highest bidder for $ 156,000. In April this mark was broken again: A collector paid 660,000 US dollars for a copy of “Super Mario Bros.” from 1986.
As of this week, there is a new record holder, and this time it is not the ever-popular plumber. Instead, Link and Princess Zelda take the throne. On Friday, an extremely rare cartridge of the classic “The Legend of Zelda” from 1987 was auctioned at the auction house Heritage Auctions in Dallas, which specializes in games.
The object is a variant that was only produced for a few months for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 before it was replaced by another, later series production, it says on the Heritage Auctions website.
A spokesman for the auction house speaks of a masterpiece of video game production, especially since the copy sold is in its original packaging, sealed and unused. The Wata Games organization, which uses the condition and rarity of games its own scale rated, gave the copy a rating of 9.0 A. The rating is below that of the Super Mario game auctioned in April, which even received 9.6 A +. However, the rarity is likely to have driven the price up.
“The Legend of Zelda” is considered to be a classic game, although this fact should probably be of secondary importance to the hitherto unknown buyer. Instead, as with other luxury goods, it is primarily an investment. In any case, it is unlikely that someone will ever slide the rare cassette into an NES.
Nintendo recently unveiled a new version of its Switch console, as well as at the E3 video game fair Successor to the latest Zelda adventure “Breath of the Wild” presented. It is doubtful whether the game can achieve similar sums in 30 years. Since most games are now sold digitally and cartridges are increasingly obsolete, the records will probably remain reserved for the classics.
