Pretty sure this is the auction that had money launderers interested, not the mario one.

Anyone dropping 1.5 mil on a game this prevalent has some money to clean.

Let’s be real here. Anyone dropping 1.5 million on a video game isn’t emptying their pocket book to do it.

Much like art auctions: it’s probably money laundering.

I mean that's definitely part of it but also the speculator market has just plain old lost its damn mind as well. A lot of people are about to lose a TON of money.

Why does the condition of the box matter?

Any comics fan who lived through the 90s speculator market is shaking their heads.

Feel like a lot of this is newly minted crypto millionaires that both appreciate video games and want to move their money into an “art” they understand.

This reeks of money laundering. That's the only explanation I have here. 

$15 of silicon and plastic.

Worth reiterating that, condition or not, Heritage’s record-breaking auctions are all for games that are INCREDIBLY COMMON AND SOLD MILLIONS OF COPIES.

Is someone trying to run up the price of mint in box games or something? Because coming across a sealed Legend of Zelda or Super Mario 64 can’t be $1.5 million rare. I mean, you can't run down to Toy-R-Us and find one, but it's not like they're actual rare games.

Creating a scam appraisal service so people can launder money through investing in collectables? Can’t say that I thought of doing that.

Sir, this is a Wendy’s

I honestly think that the “fake OS within the game” approach was a bit lazy. It works, and it mirrors the original PC version. But there was an opportunity to re-imagine the file management system that makes sense in the console setting, such as manipulating save files or tinkering with fake DLC packs.

It does indeed demonstrate that there really is no substitute for domestic capabilities...something that has been repeatedly demonstrated in all business sectors, big and small. Redundancy is important, as is having a fallback when an uncooperative foreign power tries to put its thumb on the scales.

I would personally like to invite those people to go play in rush-hour traffic! I guarantee if those people were in the same position they’d be absolutely 100% milking every bit of clout they have to bring attention to this issue. Some people just NEED to sow misery and drama from everything.

Because of his character.

It is so much the ‘I don’t know what this will cost’ game. If you can still get your in-pain body into a car, you can save thousands of dollars by having a spouse/friend/Uber drive you to a hospital. And goodness knows the paramedics never see a fraction of what you paid for them to do their job.

My (incomplete) fix goes something like this: