A sealed copy of the original Legend of Zelda for the NES auctioned for an unbelievable amount of money. A perfect storm of factors led to this high nostalgic price tag. We tell you how much and why The Legend of Zelda sold for so much.
The Legend of Zelda is the first game in the legendary franchise dating all the way back to its initial release in 1987. That's probably older than most of you reading this! The original game is a pixelated heap of iso-metric nostalgia, and unless you are a retro game or superfan, you will probably find this game mostly unplayable, dense, and hard to complete. Trust me it's no CoD or Fortnite!
It doesn’t really hold up to today’s standards for games, but you can always test it out for free on the Nintendo App, that comes free with any Nintendo Direct Subscription. In fact, there are a ton of old-school games for both, the NES and SNES, that you can now play on the Nintendo Switch, and it won't cost you million dollars.
How much did The Sealed Copy of The Legend of Zelda Auction for?
The Legend of Zelda cartridge for the NES sold for over $870,000 dollars, a staggering amount given the fact that you can play this game for free on the Nintendo Switch. If this has left you scratching your head, then you are not alone. But perhaps collectors are nodding in recognition already.
We know it's not old-school gaming, but who doesn't love Harry? Harry Potter's Wand & Glasses Going to Be Sold for $50K Each
Why Did the Zelda Game Cartridge Sell for so much?
It's a good question because you can probably find a used copy of this game on eBay for 20€ or maybe less. But, we also remember a time that video games were not always digital, and could only be played if you had a physical copy of the game.
There are a number of reasons why this Legend of Zelda sold for over 800k and it comes down to two factors. One, it was a sealed copy and given a wata rating of 9.0, which essentially means, it is in near mint condition as a collectible.
The second factor was the rare variant version of the game cartridge, which had a very limited print run and includes the holy grail of marks, "NES ™", on it.
Still don’t get it? Yeah, I don't either, but collectors are going to collect.
The Legend of Zelda has a lot of cultural significance in the gaming space, so it is perhaps understandable, when you think of it as a piece of gaming history. It would not be crazy to think that one day, we see copies of games like this in museums.
Although I can certainly think of ten different ways to spend nearly a million dollars, a part of me is just a little jealous of the person who got their hands on this Master Sword of a collectible.
Check out MyEarlyGame for a free and customizable experience. Get engaged on Twitter and Facebook.