Most Expensive Video Games Sold at Auction (All Time)

About This Dataset

Sealed or graded vintage video games ranked by sale price at auction in thousands of USD. A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda for NES sold for $870,000 at Heritage Auctions in 2021, making it the most expensive video game ever sold at the time — a record that reflected both the extraordinary condition of a Wata 9.8-graded sealed copy and an explosive surge in collector interest in vintage Nintendo titles driven by nostalgia and pandemic-era spending.

Analysis

Super Mario 64 N64 (1996, sealed) heads the table on 1,560, ahead of The Legend of Zelda NES (1987, sealed) (870) and Super Mario Bros NES (1986, sealed) (660) in Auction Price (Thousand USD) in 2021. 1,410 separates the highest figure (1,560) from the lowest (150). First and second are separated by 690, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Only 2 of the 7 reach even half the leader's figure (780 or more).

Source: Wikipedia

Key Findings

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Super Mario 64 N64 (1996, sealed) leads in Auction Price (Thousand USD) with 1,560 in 2021.

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Average Auction Price (Thousand USD) in 2021: 573 · median: 312.

📅

2021 recorded the highest combined total across all categories.

↔️

Gap in 2021: Super Mario 64 N64 (1996, sealed) is 10.4× larger than Contra NES (1988, sealed).

Most Expensive Video Games Sold at Auction (All Time)

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Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin

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Data Points

8 categories · 2 years

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Top Value

1,560

Super Mario 64 N64 (1996, sealed)

Auction Price (Thousand USD) · 2021

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Metrics

Auction Price (Thousand USD)

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Period

2020 – 2021

2 years of data

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia
Coverage: 8 entities · 2020–2021 (2 years) · 8 observations
Measure: Auction Price (Thousand USD)
Last updated: 6 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
Missing years are left empty rather than estimated — no interpolation, no carrying a previous year forward.
Change is measured between the first and last year in which an entity actually reported a value, so a series that starts late is not penalised for the years before it existed.
The compound annual rate is (last ÷ first)^(1 ÷ years) − 1, using those same two reported years.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2021.
An entity that reported nothing in the latest year is still listed — it follows the ranked entities in the table rather than being dropped.

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Auction Price (Thousand USD) · ranked by 2021

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	2020	2021	Change
🥇	Super Mario 64 N64 (1996, sealed)	—	1,560	—
🥈	The Legend of Zelda NES (1987, sealed)	—	870	—
🥉	Super Mario Bros NES (1986, sealed)	—	660	—
4	Mike Tyson Punch-Out NES (1987, sealed)	—	312	—
5	Stadium Events NES (1987, sealed)	—	270	—
6	Mega Man NES (1987, sealed)	—	192	—
7	Contra NES (1988, sealed)	—	150	—
8	Donkey Kong Arcade (1981, cabinet)	90	—	—