Update [Wed 6th Mar, 2024 15:05 GMT]: The auction ended at $288,000 (thanks, GameRadar), which was way short of the $700,000 that some were predicting it would sell for. That's still an impressive chunk of change, mind you.
Original Story [Mon 26th Feb, 2024 11:00 GMT]: A sealed copy of the original 1987 Legend of Zelda game on the NES worth $700,000 was almost sold for just $17,000, according to a report by CNBC.
The rare copy was discovered by a 22-year-old Californian who wishes to be known as Kiro. It had been in his family ever since it was purchased for just $29.87 back in 1987.
Sensing the chance to make a nice profit, Kiro listed the game on eBay, hoping to get "$17,000 or $20,000 if I’m lucky." He listed it with a 'Buy It Now' price of $17,000 and sold it within minutes, only to be inundated with other offers post-sale. "Multiple people were messaging me on eBay right away," he told CNBC. "One guy offered to drive down to where I was and give me $30,000 cash."
Sensing that the game was worth far more than the $17,000 it had sold for, Kiro cancelled the eBay sale and, the same night, took a call from a collector who explained that the copy in question was an extremely rare example from the game's first production run. The last time a copy like this sold at auction, it fetched $705,000.
Kiro has since had the copy professionally graded and it will headline Heritage Auction's Video Games Signature Auction, which is scheduled to take place from February 23rd to the 24th.
What will Kiro do with all of that cash? "I will definitely not be spending it right away. It’ll go into building long-term wealth for myself and my family."