Can you guys believe this? A Near Mint Condition copy of Super Mario Bros for NES just sold for 114,000 bucks.

Looks like this is the highest price a video game has ever been sold for.

I don't like this commodification of old video games, particularly with the rating system added to it. But I will say this: Better a copy of SMB selling for that much over those high-priced obscure games that sell for a lot merely because of scarcity.

Seriously, though, this is idiotic and the rich asshole who paid that much should feel bad about the choices they are making with their life right now.

URL to share (right click and copy)

Well, congratulations to the auction winner. I suppose it's something to have such an odd "objet d'ar" all to yourself. And honestly that's the only problem I have with this "news." This anonymous winner will have this all to his or her self. Such a unique and clearly well-preserved piece of video game history (or, I suppose, just history in general)...well, I think Professor Jones said it best:

kriswright said:

Seriously, though, this is idiotic and the rich asshole who paid that much should feel bad about the choices they are making with their life right now.

This minus the cursing, lol.

I read about it and was like "You bad, humanity. You rotten inside somewherez."

Imma go take a long look at my own life and make sure I don't have things that fit this category of foolishness. I've already been trying to sell a lot of the stuff I don't use or need, and use the funds for something literally actually helpful to someone, and this just pushes me further in that direction. Yeesh.

Yeah, I'll defend rich people's right to buy expensive stuff that actually has value, but $200,000 watches and $500,000 bottles of whiskey are just wasteful and excessive. This is the exact same thing. I get that there is a sort of objective positive correlation between rarity and value, but the slope doesn't need to be as steep as it is. Rip open old action figures, pave over "holy" architectural sites that might have one or two vases buried in them somewhere, and stop caring so much about things over people.

I've always had a huge aversion in my gut to attaching sentimental value to objects. It seems like a great way to unnecessarily expose yourself to pain, haha. Do you really get that much enjoyment out of a mint condition copy of Super Mario Bros.? I doubt it, but it's gonna really suck when you drop it and dent one of the corners! I'm only just starting to come around on human relationships being worth it despite the inevitability of loss, there's no way I'm letting myself get that attached to something that just sits on my shelf!

I appreciate your guys' negative reaction to this, because I do think that this type of materialism is an issue, and it's one that's hard to internalize. I don't doubt that if any of us had a billion dollars, we'd have been tempted to outbid this guy! My first reaction to reading this thread title was "huh, neat." I agree with JKR, the way we defeat greed is by setting an example of generosity in our own lives and not glorifying stuff like this.

@GameDadGrant
Rare paintings, dinosaur fossils and other valuable artifacts that should be in a museum at times wind up in the hands of rich collectors. Some billionaire out there has a well preserved T-Rex fossil sitting in a room somewhere. Some of these items don't ever get seen by the "public" until they wind up as part of an estate to be auctioned off after said collector passes away or is temporarily donated to a museum for a limited time exhibit.