An incredibly rare variant of The Legend of Zelda broke the record for the most expensive video game collectible, selling for a ludicrous amount of money.
While many rare retro games exist and can indeed be expensive, uncommon variants of popular games can be especially lucrative. With the popularity of The Legend of Zelda series, it stands to reason that collectors would be willing to pay high prices for a chance to own a rare piece of the series' history.
The cartridge, which is factory-sealed and enclosed in a protective case, sold for $870,000, making it the current record-holder for most valuable known video game collector's item. The previous record was set earlier this year by a $660,000 copy of Super Mario Bros., and both sales were made on the same online auction platform, Heritage Auctions. The cartridge is contained in its original box, factory sealed and professionally "graded" in the quality of its condition, with Heritage Auctions claiming that the amount of copies of this variant existing as factory-sealed can be counted on one hand.
The cartridge is a late 1987 version that came out before the 1988 revision, and the revisional differences are very slight. Different versions of the game make minor changes such as fixing a bug allowing the player to collect a large amount of heart containers quickly, and adding a trademark to the title screen next to the game's logo. There are no other known differences between the two versions, and re-releases of the game also only contain very minor differences.
Other than very minor differences hardly noticeable in normal gameplay, there is no significant difference between the versions to justify playing one over the other, but the rarity of the No Rev-A version makes it a highly valued collector's item. Considering the longevity of the classic Zelda games that are actively played to this day in live challenge runs, such as MajinPhil's No Hit run of Majora's Mask, the collector's market is understandably fond of rare Zelda items, even if they are not necessarily the best versions.
Thankfully for fans, the relative lack of distinction between the versions of The Legend of Zelda does not affect anyone but the most careful of collectors. The game is currently available to be played on all Nintendo consoles that still have a functioning online storefront, and the significantly less rare Rev-A version of the original cartridge is a much more reasonable price than The Legend of Zelda's No Rev-A variant, averaging around $25 on eBay.
The price of retro gaming has gone up in recent years, with original hardware becoming more expensive and more prone to breaking from age. While many rare games have been preserved through backups and emulation both official and unofficial, those who prefer to play on original hardware may be frustrated by the high prices. Nintendo's Switch re-release of The Legend of Zelda partially solves the problem for that specific game, but many classic games are still unavailable to be played on new hardware.
The Legend of Zelda is available now on Switch to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Sources: Heritage Auctions, The Cutting Room Floor