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A Nevada man’s surprising discovery of a mint copy of a rare 1987 Nintendo video game in an attic is the modern equivalent of finding buried treasure. With fewer than ten sealed copies known to exist, that copy of Kid Icarus brought Scott Amos a $9,000 windfall.
However, believe it or not, there might be an even more valuable vintage video game lurking in your attic. Here are ten ultra-rare video games worth even more than Kid Icarus.
10 Rare Video Games Worth More Than $10,000
1. Red Sea Crossing – $10,400
Red Sea Crossing has been dubbed the “Holy Grail of Atari Games.” That’s not blasphemous because it’s both a biblical game and incredibly hard to find. It sells for over $10,000.
2. Nintendo Powerfest ’94 – $12,000
Don’t be dissuaded by that ugly duckling of a cartridge. That’s Nintendo Powerfest, a very rare cartridge containing three not-so-rare video games. Nevertheless, it easily commands $12,000.
3. Kizuna Encounter – $13,500
Kizuna encounter is a popular classic, at least if you’re talking about the Japanese version.
The European version, though, has more of a mythical status, with only three known copies sold.
It is said that one can be bought by $13,500, but with so few known copies, who’s to say how high the bidding would climb?
4. Nintendo Campus Challenge – $20,000
Nintendo Campus Challenge sold for $20,000 in ’09, which seems like an extremely high price, but hey, this is a pack of three games for the price of one. Neat.
5. Air Raid – $ 33,000
Air Raid is the lesser-known, but way-more-valuable, Space Invaders clone. The only known copy containing the manual brought one lucky previous owner a $33,433 payday in 2010.
6. Super Mario Bros. – $30,000
The fact that Super Mario Bros. is one of the best-selling games in history naturally prevents regular copies from ever becoming super valuable. A shrink-wrapped one in mint condition is a different story, however, and one managed to sell for $30,100 in 2017.
7. Birthday Mania – $35,000
Birthday mania was one of the first, and certainly, the most expensive indie games ever made.
Created by just one person, and advertised only on a local paper at the time, the birthday-focused game went on to sell a whopping ten copies. The ultra-rare cartridge can cost up to $35,000 nowadays.
8. Stadium Events – $42,000
Stadium Events is the rarest Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game in the world. Its rarity stems from the fact that it was only on shelves for an extremely brief period.
It attained such a legendary status that ESPN even wrote an incredibly-detailed article about its history.
It is so valuable that even a used cartridge can sell for over $10,000, while sealed copies can command $42,000.
9. Gamma Attack – $50,000
Gamma Attack is legendary even amongst rare games. It’s such a collector’s item that for most of its existence, it was known as nothing more than a myth.
The owner of one of the very few copies tried to sell it on eBay for $500,000 to no avail. The owner might have to settle for a pedestrian $50,000 if he wants to sell it. We’re very sorry for him.
10. Nintendo World Championships (Gold) – $100,000
Though the normal version is relatively easy to find, the golden cartridge version of Nintendo World Championships is the rarest NES cartridge in existence.
With only 26 ever made, one of them sold for $100,088 on eBay in 2014. That makes it the most expensive game in history.