Sources: 
A sealed copy of _Super Mario Bros._ sold for $3 million at Heritage Auctions on June 12, breaking the previous record of $2 million set in a 2021 private sale. This sale occurred during the first session of Heritage’s June 12 to 13 Video Games Signature Auction in Dallas, Texas.
The copy is graded
PSA 9.6 A++, making it the highest-graded of the three known sealed copies from the second production run, identified by its
gloss sticker adopted in early 1986. According to the auction house,
only three second-production copies with the gloss sticker format are known to exist, and this is the best among them.
The auction house described this specific variant as
“the most significant video game ever offered at auction” and noted that it has never appeared in a public auction in sealed condition, underscoring its elusiveness.
“In many ways,” the auction house wrote,
“it represents the closest a collector can come to owning the very moment Super Mario Bros. transformed console video games from a struggling novelty into a permanent part of cultural history.”The remarkable backstory adds to its value; it was discovered a few months ago inside a brand-new Control Deck NES console bundle, where it had remained untouched for nearly four decades.
“It is only appropriate that the most significant video game in the world should bring the more impressive result in the history of the hobby,” said Evan Masingill, Heritage’s Consignment Director for Video Games.
The combination of rarity, variant significance, and condition grade is what the $3 million figure reflects, as a PSA 9.6 A++ on a 40-year-old sealed cartridge represents a near-perfect preservation grade.
Sources: 
A sealed copy of _Super Mario Bros._ sold for $3 million at Heritage Auctions, setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a video game. This particular copy, graded PSA 9.6 A++, is one of only three known to exist and features a rare glossy sticker seal.
