An ultra-rare copy of the NES classic Mega Man recently sold at auction for $75,000, setting a new world record for the most valuable sealed video game ever sold at auction in the process. For context, a used Mega Man cartridge can easily be found selling for under $100 on eBay.
Mega Man was first released in 1987 worked as an artist on Mega Man, attributed the game's poor sales in North America to this bad box design, but it's become a hot item among retro game collectors for this very reason.
According to a press release from The Legend of Zelda, which both sold for $19,200. Altogether, more than 332 video games were sold at the event, for a combined total of over $1.1 million.
As Heritage Auctions Consignment Director Valarie McLeckie explains, collectors were eager to get their hands on this copy of Mega Man because early print runs of sealed, high-grade video games are currently in high demand. The fact that it was a "Dr Wright" variant also drove up the price. "The 'Dr. Wright variant is the definitive first print, named for the text on the back of the box identifying the villain as 'Dr. Wright,'" said McLeckie. Later print runs would change the text to "Dr. Wily".
Although Mega Man now holds the world record for the most expensive video game sold at auction, it's not actually the most valuable game. Earlier this year, an extremely rare sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for $100, 150 in a private sale, making it the most expensive video game ever sold. The copy was an extremely limited "test market launch" box, back from when the NES first went on sale in New York City and Los Angeles in 1985, making it one of the most valuable Nintendo collectibles in the world. As physical copies of video games continue to go the way of the dodo, we likely won't have to wait long to see another big sale on par with Mega Man. However, unless consumers have a stack of super rare retro games in perfect condition in their attic, they probably aren't going to earn $75,000 a pop at auction.
Source: Heritage Auctions
