An empty box that once held the 1996 Nintendo 64 game Super Mario 64 has sold at auction for £8,450 (approximately $10,670 USD), significantly surpassing its expected sale price.
The auction, managed by Ewbank's Auctioneers on July 3, saw the retro video game memorabilia fetch a total of £200,000 across multiple collections. The empty Super Mario 64 box was initially projected to sell between £1,000 and £2,000.
Adding to its value, the box was signed by popular Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto at an event in London in February 2003. This marks the only public appearance and signing event Miyamoto has attended in Europe.
Ewbank's Auctioneers suggested that the burgeoning market for physical retro games, particularly in light of PlayStation's decision to cease selling physical products, contributed to the box's strong performance. "Fans have been clamouring to get their hands on historic games and consoles that are now sought-after collectables," said Andrew Ewbank, a specialist at the auction house.
The auction also featured other high-value items. A collection of five Pokémon trading cards, inspired by Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream," sold for £12,350. Additionally, a first-print, factory-sealed copy of the Game Boy Advance game Pokémon Emerald, released in Europe in 2005, sold for £4,940, and a sealed copy of the 2000 Game Boy game Pokémon Yellow sold for £3,640.
James Spooner, a specialist at Ewbank's, noted the immense global following and value of Pokémon trading cards, estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars. However, he also observed a particularly noticeable boost in demand and prices for retro video games.
Further illustrating the demand for vintage gaming, a copy of the 1963 comic "The Amazing Spider-Man No.1" sold for £4,160. A rare Japan-exclusive Panasonic Q console, capable of playing GameCube games and DVDs, fetched £1,235.
Recent market analyses indicate a broader trend of increasing value in retro gaming consoles. Experts from Protect Your Bubble identified the NTSC Limited Holiday Edition Xbox Original as a strong performer, with units now potentially worth over 1,600 percent more than their original 2001 release price. The Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Game Boy have also seen significant increases in value, with some units selling for substantially more than their inflation-adjusted costs.