160 items up for auction, including “Pokemon Blue” expected to fetch over 5 million yen… An auction specializing in “unopened Japanese retro games,” which are also attracting attention as investment targets, will be held in the United States

Heritage Auctions, a major auction house, has announced that it will hold the “Japanese Video Games Showcase Auction” on June 13, 2024, where a large number of unopened Japanese retro games will be auctioned.

◆ 160 items up for auction, including “Pokemon Blue” expected to fetch over 5 million yen
This auction focuses on Japanese retro game software, which has been gaining attention in recent years, and features a line-up of many valuable games, including “Pokémon Blue,” “Super Mario Bros. 3,” and “Duck Hunt.”

In particular, the Japanese version of Pokémon Blue, which is in mint condition, is less available than the US version and is likely to be the highlight of this auction. At an auction held in February 2024, the US version was sold for $33,600 (approximately 5.2 million yen at the exchange rate at the time of publication).

Another hot commodity is a near mint condition copy of Super Mario Bros. 3. An early US edition sold for $108,000 (approximately 17 million yen), but an unopened Japanese edition has yet to be sold for such a high price.

This auction will feature over 160 vintage games, mainly retro games, including Famicom, Super Famicom, Game Boy, Mega Drive, Dreamcast, and PlayStation.

Valarie Spiegel, managing director of Video Games at Heritage Auctions, said (from the press release):

Valarie Spiegel's comment:

It seems like it's taken a long time for Japanese software to get attention. Nintendo, a Japanese company, created Super Mario Bros. and first released it in Japan. It's only natural that an early production U.S. version in an unopened box would be valuable, but the spotlight is finally on the original Japanese versions, which have both cultural value and rarity. Heritage is committed to helping make the original versions of these iconic games more widely known and appreciated.

[Auction Information]
Auction name: “Japanese Video Games Showcase Auction”
Date: June 13, 2024 (Central Standard Time)
Location: Dallas, Texas, USA
Webpage: https://comics.ha.com/c/auction-home.zx?saleNo=44247
How to participate: Online registration and bidding available via the website