'Super Mario' game sells for $2M, breaks weeks-old record

Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System sold for $2 million, breaking a record for video game sales that was set less than a month earlier.

Collectibles investment website Rally announced the new-in-box copy of the 1985 video game was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $2 million, breaking a record that was set in July when a copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million.

The Super Mario 64 game was sold just two days after the previous record amount, $870,000, was paid of a copy of 1987 Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda.

"I think that we're starting to see the natural progression of 'What else? What are the things that have appreciated in value from my childhood that have that nostalgia?'" Rob Petrozzo, one of the founders of Rally, told The New York Times.

Sales of collectibles have surged since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Petrozzo said he believes the trend of vintage video games selling for record prices is far from over.

"In my opinion, it hasn't reached the masses," he said. "You'll start to see a lot more people paying attention and doing research."