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You may not realise it but old Nintendo and PlayStation games have been surging in value. Last month the most expensive video game ever sold – for a whopping $2million. That was an unopened copy of classic video game Super Mario Bros for the NES, released back in 1985. This came after sealed copies of Super Mario 64 (released in the 90s) and The Legend of Zelda sold for $1.5million and $870,000 respectively.
The vintage game market has been changing rapidly recently, with auction houses getting involved in the sale of classic games.
And to verify the authenticity of these valuable gaming relics, gaming grading services are providing certificates to accompany these pop-culture artefacts.
The surging prices mean a gaming bargain you picked up years ago at a car boot sale could now be worth hundreds of pounds or more.
However, you need to bear in mind that not all retro gaming items will be valuable as others.
The Nintendo games that have set record breaking prices recently were all unopened and in immaculate condition.
PlayStation look back at every game from the PS4 generation
The copy of the US version of Super Mario 64 that sold for $1.5million had a near perfect score of 9.8 out of 10, awarded by game-grading service Wata Games.
That means the game – which is almost 25 years old – was in virtually new condition.
In July, sales held by Heritage Auctions generated $8.4million – this included the $1.5million copy of Super Mario 64, plus games from the Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy series.
Roberto Dillon is the founder and curator of Singapore’s James Cook University Museum of Video and Computer Games.
This museum features 400 items which charts the medium’s evolution through the years.
Dillon, who began collecting video games 12 years ago, told CNN the “holy grails” are unopened, early editions of iconic games that are still in its original packaging.
Dillon explained: “If you open it, the value of the game halves”.
Even if you missed the boat on picking up retro games decades ago, the good news is – with gaming moving more and more into digital sales – physical editions currently on sale could become more and more rare.
Dillon predicts that limited-editions of physical games could become the next big thing.
He said: “Twenty years from now, today’s kids will have disposable income and they (will) want to recreate a collection of games from when they were young … they look for the collector’s editions that were launched back in the day, but they didn’t own.”
While unopened games in pristine condition are fetching the highest amount at auction, you may be surprised at the prices of some of the old games and consoles you may have lying around your house.
Especially if these items are in good condition and have the original boxes and manual.
If you find any retro gaming items lying around and are wondering how much it’s worth then head to pricecharting.com.
There you can find out the value of different gaming items and how much its value has changed over time.
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