HIGH SCORE! CGC.........$120,000

Three months ago, Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®) launched CGC Video Games™, a certification service providing expert authentication, grading and encapsulation for video games. CGC Video Games has already graded thousands of games across dozens of consoles, and now, those graded games are leading the auction world. 

Over 30 video games certified by CGC Video Games were offered in Heritage Auctions’ January 2023 Video Games Signature Auction, which took place on January 20-21, 2023. Out of the 223 total video games offered in the auction, games certified by CGC Video Games took the top four spots in prices realized.

The highest price realized in the sale was the first video game certified by CGC Video Games: The Legend of Zelda (1987) for the Nintendo Entertainment System graded CGC 9.4 A+. The historic title — both as a smash hit for the NES and as CGC Video Games’ first game to be graded — sold for an impressive $120,000. It was also the only item to exceed $100,000 in the auction, a heroic feat for CGC Video Games’ first appearance in a major sale.

A Mario Kart 64 (1996) for the Nintendo 64 graded CGC 9.8 A++ also turned heads in the auction. This example is pedigreed as the first Nintendo 64 game graded by CGC Video Games, and is one of the highest-graded examples to have been offered by Heritage Auctions. It realized $81,000.

Meanwhile, a CGC-certified Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) for the Nintendo Entertainment System graded CGC 9.8 A++ blew by the competition. The game realized $60,000, nearly doubling the $38,400 realized by another example in the same grade and certified by another video game grading service.

A Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) for the Sega Genesis graded CGC 9.6 A realized $50,400, earning the fourth-highest price realized for any video game in the sale. This Sonic the Hedgehog is the first Sega Genesis game graded by CGC Video Games.

Another notable result was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist graded CGC 9.6 A++ that realized $10,200. Similar to Super Mario Bros. 3, this CGC Video Games-certified example realized nearly double the price of another example in a comparable grade that was certified by another video game grading service.

Other CGC-certified video games in the auction included:

• a Super Mario 64 (1996) for the Nintendo 64 graded CGC 9.6 A++ that realized $31,200
• a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (1994) for the Nintendo Entertainment System graded CGC 9.8 A++ and pedigreed to the Mark Freedman Collection that realized $19,200
• a Super Mario Bros. (1985) for the Nintendo Entertainment System graded CGC 9.8 A that realized $18,000
• a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (1992) for the Nintendo Entertainment System graded CGC 9.8 A+ and pedigreed to the Mark Freedman Collection that realized $11,400

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All prices realized include a buyer’s premium.

For more interesting content, check out our guide to the rarest PS2 games here.