07/11/2020 - 18:08
- Clarín.com
- Technology
Collectors can always pay a little more. And this time, an original cartridge Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo NES , released in 1985 , officially became the most expensive video game world: $ 114,000.
The game sold at auction this Friday at Heritage Auctions and raised the bar for expensive, rare and collectible games to a record. After 29 disputes, a collector ended up taking it for that price.
Although the final buyer wanted to remain anonymous, what can be said is that it exceeded the previous record, which was also for another similar cartridge, but at $ 100,150. Before that, the brand had a copy of Mega Man , also from NES, from 1987, which had sold last year for $ 75,000.
The rationale for why this one was worth more than the previous one, if they were in similar conditions, has to do with the score given at the collecting level. The latter obtained a 9.4 out of 10 , which means it was almost in perfect condition: original box, original packaging, "sealed", that is, never opened.
Super Mario Bros: auction at Heritage Auctions. (Heritage)
The official explanation of the auction house Heritage
Heritage Auctions explained the price of the cartridge:
What is the theme with the cardboard “labels” on the box? It is understandable that one wonders. Cardboard “hang” labels were originally used on test copies of black box sets [as seen in the image] in the US market, before plastic was used to seal each set.
As Nintendo began establishing its company in the US, its packaging was updated almost continuously. Interestingly, the addition of the plastic wrap occurred before the box cut die was modified to remove the cardboard hang tag. This made the functionality of the cardboard hanging board completely useless as it was under the plastic seal.
In addition, the auction house explained that there are different versions of this box:
This is the original cartridge of Super Mario Bros, inside the box. (NES)
There are four sub-variants of the sealed plastic cardboard box (this particular copy of Super Mario Bros. is the "Code 3" variant) that were produced within the span of a year. Each sub-variant of the black cardboard hanging box, produced within that time frame, had a production period of only a few months; a drop in cash compared to overall title production.
In short, a cardboard copy of any Nintendo Entertainment System game gives it a certain "vintage" feel to its successors.
Super Mario Bros : the milestone that popularized the world's most famous plumber
Super Mario Bros. was the debut of the most famous plumber in the world in the levels of "platforms". With a simple but tremendously functional mechanics, Mario has to mainly jump.
Jump to advance through the levels (sometimes swim), to defeat enemies and to discover secrets, or to overcome Bowser, the final boss to rescue the princess.
And although the price may seem really exaggerated, the world of collecting already had its chapters when it comes to video games. Not long ago a Pokemon Trading Card was sold for $ 195,000.
And the prototype of the Nintendo Playstation, which was never released - and which later meant the breakup between Sony and Nintendo - sold for $ 360,000.
PJB
