Super Mario 64 Sells for $1.56 Million, Becomes First Video Game to Break the Million-Dollar Barrier

A SEALED COPY GRADED WATA 9.8 A++ SETS A NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD IN HERITAGE AUCTIONS’ DEBUT VIDEO GAME EVENT

By Intelligent Collector Staff

In a historic moment for video game collecting, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64, graded Wata 9.8 A++, sold for $1.56 million at Heritage Auctions, marking the first time a video game has ever surpassed the million dollar threshold at public auction. 

The copy, released in North America in 1996 as the flagship title of the Nintendo 64, led Heritage’s first dedicated Video Games Signature® Auction, which realized more than $8.4 million in total sales. It also shattered the previous all-time video game auction record of $870,000, set earlier that weekend for an early copy of The Legend of Zelda. 

Collectors have long regarded Super Mario 64 as a watershed title, Nintendo’s first 3D Mario adventure and one of the best-selling and most influential games ever made. Few sealed copies survive, and this was believed to be the only one certified Wata 9.8 A++, a collector’s dream, preserved in near-impossible condition. 

“That’s the first game to ever sell for more than $1 million,” said a Heritage spokesperson after the sale, noting the unexpected speed of its ascent as bidding rocketed past $870K overnight. The result capped a weekend in which market momentum for sealed retro games surged past expectations. 

This sale underscores growing collector demand for rare, high-grade video games, especially those tied to nostalgia, cultural significance, and tightly graded packaging. As one specialist put it: these sealed, A++ specimens are now viewed as the “holy grails” of the hobby. 

It also answers a question increasingly posed by collectors and consignors alike: Where’s the best place to sell a once-in-a-lifetime video game collectible? For this consignor, and the anonymous winning bidder, the answer was Heritage Auctions.