You might be surprised to learn that the most expensive video games in the world are quite valuable. While there tend to be rare collector’s items or overly extravagant creations in many different product categories, video games is not one that would seem to fit that mold. The industry is rather young after all, and there are few examples of valuable collector’s items or limited editions of games that increased exponentially in value over the years.
The evolving value of video games is also an interesting case study given the ease today of acquiring ROMs (essentially copied versions) of the games online. These ROMs can then either be played with emulators, or copied to physical media to play on the game’s original system. As such, buying copies of rare games that you would otherwise be unable to play for the express purpose of doing so, is no longer a necessity (though it should be noted that ROMs are technically illegal, despite such older games no longer being in print or circulation). As you’ll see, even the rarest and most expensive game on our list, for which there is only one known copy in existence today, has had its ROM released online.
Perhaps the most shocking thing about the upcoming list is that it is composed of many Atari 2600 games, the majority of which are worth pennies on the dollar, even to this day. Many of those games were so awful that they doubtless would’ve had some of the Worst Video Game Weapons in the History of Humanity, if they had actually been advanced enough to even have such uniquely awful weapons. As you’ll see on that list however, no Atari 2600 games made the cut.
In fact some Atari games were so over-produced and downright poor that their millions of unsold copies were simply dumped in a landfill and destroyed, as was the case with hundreds of thousands of E.T cartridges. They were so bad in fact that they temporarily crashed the entire video game market in the U.S. Nonetheless, some of those games are now the most expensive video games in the world, and even that notorious landfill in New Mexico that is home to thousands of once-worthless games has been raided for some of its old cartridges, with them subsequently being sold on eBay for hundreds of dollars apiece.
Check out our list to see which Atari games as well as those of other systems made the cut as the most expensive video games in the world, with values estimated by racketboy.com, a gaming collector’s website that tracks the sales of rare and valuable games.
10. Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match Golden Tag Cartridge
System: NES
Top Value: $9,770
Only eight copies of this game were ever produced, and the game was only released in Japan.
9. Ultimate 11 / Super Sidekicks 4 (Euro)
System: NEO*GEO
Top Value: $10,000
This football game is the last in the series, with the European version holding tremendous value due to its rarity.
8. Kizuna Encounter (Euro)
System: NEO*GEO
Top Value: $13,500
Another European version of a NEO*GEO game that is exceedingly rare. That version was reportedly only released for a short time in Germany and Austria, before being recalled.
7. Red Sea Crossing
System: Atari 2600
Top Value: $14,000
The first Atari 2600 game to land on the list is a side-scrolling game in which you guide Moses along his fabled Biblical journey through the parted Red Sea. Only 100 copies of this game were ever made, and only a handful are known to still exist today.
6. Atlantis II
System: Atari 2600
Top Value: $18,000
This was a special cartridge created only for players who participated in a competition for the game Atlantis, and achieved the maximum score. It’s a slightly tweaked edition of the original that was used for the competition, which awarded $10,000 to the winner.
5. 1991 Nintendo Campus Challenge
System: NES
Top Value: $20,100
Another rare cartridge, which was created for a Nintendo gaming tour in 1990. This cartridge contained modified versions of three games, Super Mario 3, Dr. Mario, and Pinbot. There is only one known copy of this cartridge in existence, as they were all supposed to be destroyed after the tournament.
4. 1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition
System: NES
Top Value: $21,000
Similar to the previous entry, this cart with three games was created for the 1990 Nintendo World Championships in Los Angeles. The cart contains Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris. Only 26 copies were created, which were awarded to the winner and 25 runner-ups of that tournament.
3. Air Raid
System: Atari 2600
Top Value: $33,400
Three Atari 2600 games close out the list, beginning with Air Raid. The bizarrely-shaped blue disc has a handle on the end, and only 12 copies of the game were ever created.
2. Birthday Mania
System: Atari 2600
Top Value: $35,000
There are only two known copies of this game, which had to be specially ordered, and came complete with a birthday message section on the front of the cartridge that could be customized for the receiver. What a valuable present indeed. No copy of this game has been sold, so the value is estimated.
1. Gamma Attack
System: Atari 2600
Top Value: $50,000
Lastly is Gamma Attack, for which there is but one known copy. As mentioned, the ROM of the game has been released, and the developers have also ported the game for PC emulators. Despite that, Gamma Attack is estimated to be the most valuable video game in the world, worth $50,000.
