The vintage video games in your attic could be worth a small fortune

In an era of growing passion for sustainability, the word vintage is being thrown around a lot in recent times. It can be an exciting time to rummage around the house for any old-school items you have lying around…and video games are most definitely included!

That said, most of us have given our old consoles away to a loved one or left them all dusty in our attics… and buying vintage games can be rather expensive. PlayOJO decided to rank the most sold video games since 1982 and find how much they are worth today, in unopened, mint condition.

The Most Valuable Video Games in The World

Although some may argue that Link is the most iconic Nintendo character, Mario is definitely the most popular one. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64 feature at the top of the list, both worth over £1m pounds for one copy. Mario is the protagonist of 5 out of 10 of the most expensive vintage video games, just that. It should also be mentioned that Pokémon games are some of the most sought-after games, all valued between £9.9k and £1.1k on eBay.

Nintendo runs the show 

When taking into account the Top 150 most sold video games in the world since 1982, 42% of them were published by Nintendo. This shows the clear dominance of the Japanese editor over the years on a worldwide scale. Activision (11.3%) and Sony (9.3%) complete the top 3. Other North American leaders Electronic Arts and Microsoft Game Studios only published a shy 8% of the most sold games in the 40-year period. 

The Most Sold Video Games since 1982

In terms of most sold games, the Wii absolutely dominated the early 2000s with 5 appearances in the top 10. However, popularity is often an enemy of rarity and Wii Sports is the perfect example. Over 82 million copies sold worldwide since 2006 mean that the game is so common that it is only valued at £12.99 on eBay. 

Whilst New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an exception valued at around £793.22, other games like Just Dance (2009) can be found for as little as £2.89, which is surprising for a franchise that uses songs from renowned singer Rhianna or the Eurovision song contest. 

What platform should you invest in? 

Again, when taking into consideration the Top 150 most sold video games, the Xbox 360 comes at the top with 22 games released on the console. Although, I find it hard to call these games “Vintage” as I only upgraded to an Xbox One in 2015. The Wii (13.3%) and the Nintendo DS (9.3%) complete the top 3 of the consoles on which video games had the most success. Surprisingly, only 5 SNES games and 4 Nintendo 64 games made it into the top 150.  

Despite its 30 million copies sold, the Atari 2600 does not figure anywhere on the list of platforms with the most sold games. Surprising when the console hosted games like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the action-adventure game based on the Indiana Jones movie of the same name which made over $330.5 million at the box office and stayed in cinemas for over a year.