If Only My Retro Video Game Collection was Worth this Much

I have written on many occasions of my hobby of collecting retro video games. It's fun, for the most part it's affordable, with an exception or two thrown in, and it's fun to show off. The biggest problem with game collecting is that the price is driven by the person that's buying it. A couple of auctions from last week proves this.

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Last week, two video games went up for auction at Heritage Auctions, The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64. Both were sealed and had a high grade from WATA (watagames.com), the leading authority in video game grading.

First, the Legend of Zelda auction. This particular version of The Legend of Zelda is super rare, which would bring a big price. It is still sealed and from a early production run in 1987. This particular copy sold for $870,000! WHAT! Almost a million dollars. Good for you having this pile of bones to spend.

The second auction of last week will make your mouth drop even more. This one for a copy of Super Mario 64. Here's the thing, there is nothing rare about this particular sealed copy of the game. It's only claim is that it has a 9.8 WATA rating, out of a possible 10. Meaning it is essentially in perfect condition. That's it and it sold for $1.56 million dollars! Yes. $1.56 million dollars!

Here's why this is bad, every Ebay seller of any retro video game ever made is going to think their game is worth several C notes. Sure, there are some rare games out there that are worthy of a higher price. That's with anything. I probably have five games I could get $50 for. Their condition isn't perfect, though, so that price could go down.

I'm sure there are some other video game collectors in East Texas that would agree with me. As much as I enjoy collecting, I would not think, even with the rarity and condition, that any game would be worth a million dollars. But then, I don't have a million bucks to blow on something so maybe it is just perspective.