<p>A cartridge of Nintendo's classic video game <em>Super Mario 64</em> set a world record Sunday, selling at auction for $1.56 million.</p>.<p>The sale, the first ever of a game cartridge to surpass $1 million, came just two days after a sealed copy of <em>The Legend of Zelda</em> -- made for the old Nintendo NES console -- sold for a then-record of $870,000.</p>.<p>Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which handled both sales, has not identified the buyers. Before Friday, the record for a video game auction was the sale in April of a 1986 <em>Super Mario Bros</em>. cartridge: It went for $660,000.</p>.<p>Retro video games have become increasingly popular among nostalgic collectors in recent years, driving up prices for old-school consoles and cartridges at auctions.</p>.<p>The past year has seen record prices not only for video games but also for Pokemon cards and for the digital collectibles known as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens).</p>
<p>A cartridge of Nintendo's classic video game <em>Super Mario 64</em> set a world record Sunday, selling at auction for $1.56 million.</p>.<p>The sale, the first ever of a game cartridge to surpass $1 million, came just two days after a sealed copy of <em>The Legend of Zelda</em> -- made for the old Nintendo NES console -- sold for a then-record of $870,000.</p>.<p>Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which handled both sales, has not identified the buyers. Before Friday, the record for a video game auction was the sale in April of a 1986 <em>Super Mario Bros</em>. cartridge: It went for $660,000.</p>.<p>Retro video games have become increasingly popular among nostalgic collectors in recent years, driving up prices for old-school consoles and cartridges at auctions.</p>.<p>The past year has seen record prices not only for video games but also for Pokemon cards and for the digital collectibles known as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens).</p>