Video games are steadily reaching new high scores at auction and Heritage just set a new world record – twice. Heritage’s first standalone Video Games Auction on July 9-11, 2021, achieving $8,471,183 in sales.

A high grade copy of Super Mario 64 WATA 9.8 A++ sealed N64 was the top seller in the auction, soaring to $1,560,000. Sold on July 11, it set a new world record for a video game sale and was the first video game to sell for over $1 million.

Prior to that sale, The Legend of Zelda WATA 9.0 A sealed (no Rev-A, Round SOQ, early production) NES set the record at $870,000. That game, which is the only copy from one of the earliest production runs ever offered by Heritage, sold on July 9.

“To break the world record for the most ever paid for a video game at auction, not once, but twice in our first video games auction exceeded my wildest expectations,” Heritage Video Games Specialist Valarie McLeckie said. “After the record-breaking sale of the first game in the Zelda series on Friday, the possibility of surpassing $1 million on a single video game seemed like a goal that would need to wait for another auction. I can’t begin to explain how thrilled we are that it happened within the same auction! We are proud to have been a part of this historic milestone, and look forward to being on the forefront of the video game hobby and serving such a dedicated collector community in the years to come.”

That Super Mario 64 is the highest graded copy of the bestselling video game for Nintendo 64.

“This is the only known graded copy in a 9.8 A++, which is effectively the highest feasible grade one could hope to receive from Wata,” McLeckie said.

Mario represented five of the top ten sales, including a Super Mario World WATA 9.4 A+ sealed NES for $360,000. This sale was followed by Super Mario Bros. WATA 9.0 A sealed (no Rev-A, 3-Screw, Mid-Production) NES for $228,000, Mario Bros. WATA 9.0 A+ sealed (Hangtab, 2 Code, Mid-Production) NES for $156,000, Super Smash Bros. WATA 9.4 A++ sealed N64 for $144,000, and Super Mario Bros. WATA 9.6 A+ sealed (Oval SOQ R, Later Production) NES for $144,000.

Additional highlights were The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time WATA 9.8 A++ sealed (Standard Release) N64 for $228,000, Final Fantasy WATA 9.8 A++ sealed (Oval SOQ R) NES for $204,000, Nintendo World Championship 1990 Grey WATA 8.0 Cart (#0273) NES for $180,000, and Contra WATA 9.8 A+ sealed (Rev-A, Round SOQ) NES for $150,000.