Rare Super Mario Bros. Game's New Owner Is Taking An Unconventional Approach

An investment platform is planning to sell ownership shares in a rare copy of Super Mario Bros., which it has valued at $150,000. The particular version of the game is a sealed 1987 "hangtab" edition rated at a near-perfect 9.8 A+ by Wata Games, one of only 14 factory-sealed copies in existence according to the video game grading company.

Purchased by Rally for $140,000 in a private sale, the company plans to sell 3000 individual shares in the game, starting on August 21. Each $50 share purchased will give investors partial ownership and the option to sell their shares in Rally's own marketplace. If the price of those shares plummet, Rally will liquidate its investment in the game and pay owners out, according to a decision made by their advisory board.

When Super Mario Bros. isn't kept secure in a temperature-controlled vault in Delaware, Rally plans to display the game in their Soho museum in New York, or loan it out to other museums around the country where it will be on show.

"Over the last year or so we've heard from our members and have observed the industry grow, and it's clear that there is a community that believes in both the financial and emotional value of these games and wants access to invest in them," Rally VP of Operations Fitz Tepper said to Ars Technica. "We've seen this demand from asset classes already on the platform, like sports memorabilia, trading cards, or collector cars and are now thrilled to add video games to that list."

Rally plans to invest in more rare video games in the near future, with titles such as The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 3, and a limited-edition version of Halo: Combat Evolved in the crosshairs of the company.

This isn't the only rare sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. that has been in the news recently, as last month saw a new record set for the public sale price of an individual game, earning its seller $114,000.