PGW's first video game auction a success!

Over €27,000 raised in total! The first video game auction, organised on 5 November by Paris Games Week and Agrasc & Kahn Associés, was a resounding success. Hundreds of people turned out, some on site in a room at the show specially prepared for this unique event, others online, to bid for one of the 93 lots on sale.

This was a great opportunity for collectors to acquire rare items. Nintendo Game Boy and Atari Lynx consoles, game cartridges for Sega Megadrive consoles, rare boxed sets of games from the Final Fantasy series (Square Enix)...

There was something for every taste and every budget. It was a set of 6 cartridges for the fantastic old Neo Geo that unleashed the passions.

Record sales for this first video game auction

One buyer spent €5,000 on these rare items, which include titles such as Fatal Fury Special and King of Fighters 97. A sum that reflects the growing enthusiasm of collectors for video games. It begs the question: can video games increase in value over time? Many people think so, and video game auctions have been held all over the world for several years now. In the United States in 2021, for example, a Super Mario 64 game cartridge, released in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, sold for $1.56 million, according to Heritage Auctions.

The following year, the same auction house sold a cartridge for the first Sonic The Hedgehog game on Megadrive (1991) for $360,000 (around 330,000 euros). Video games are very popular!

Auctions and video games: the collectors' Eldorado

For years, many auction houses have been organising events that bring together the most discerning connoisseurs. In France, Pop Culture has also been attracting more and more auction houses for several years now. At one such auction in 2019, a copy of Metal Slug (Neo Geo) went for some €15,200! Yet another illustration that video games are now regarded as objects that can increase in value. However, beware of those with coins who want to make a fortune! To break records, a game must be in perfect condition, preferably in its original packaging.

For a coin to create an event, it must have been perfectly preserved. The original box, perfectly preserved, is therefore an essential element in any bid to win the Holy Grail of auctions. Even less well-preserved cartridges, CDs or consoles can be valuable to many collectors. Garage sales and other flea markets are now the focus of much attention among gamers, who can still unearth some fine nuggets and, why not, one day try to resell them at a sale organised at Paris Games Week. It's enough to make you wonder if there isn't a treasure trove in your attic. To avoid your mother throwing away more than $500,000 worth of "old games" by mistake, as the VG247 website recounted in 2020, make sure you do your research beforehand.