It is as if there is a hidden level in the game. A sealed cartridge of the legendary "Super Mario" for the Nintendo 64 console was sold on Sunday for $ 1.56 million, a new record for a video game according to the American auction house Heritage Auctions. "It's the first game to ever be auctioned for more than a million dollars," Eric Bradley, a spokesperson for the company based in Dallas, Texas, told AFP. ). Heritage had already set a first record on Friday: a cartridge for the old Nintendo NES consoles of "The legend of Zelda" had been sold for 870,000 dollars.
This cartridge of "Super Mario 64" dates from 1996 and uses 3D for the first time. It is "the only known copy to receive a score of 9.8 A ++" from the video game expert company Wata which assesses the condition of the cartridges, said Eric Bradley, specifying that this score was "the highest that a retro video game could receive ”. Mario, a hyperactive little mustached plumber wearing a red cap, is one of the greatest heroes in video game history and contributed to Nintendo's worldwide success.
Appeared in 1981 as the character of "Jumpman" in the game "Donkey Kong", he was renamed "Mario" in 1985 and had many adventures, with his brother Luigi or at the wheel of a kart. For several years now, retro video games have been enjoying growing success with nostalgic gamers. Last April, a 1986 Super Mario Bros video game cartridge for Nintendo NES fetched $ 660,000 at auction, also at Heritage Auctions.