Although a relatively recent innovation, the video game collectibles market is booming, and some ultra-rare examples fetch thousands and sometimes upwards of a million dollars. 

From early classics to mega-desirable rarities, read on to discover 20 old video games that are now worth a fortune.

Many of the highest prices are for US versions of the games. All dollar values in US dollars and pre-2022 figures have been adjusted for inflation.

Ninja Five-O was released in 2003 to critical acclaim but the action platform title failed to fly off the shelves. Due to the game's poor commercial performance, relatively few units were manufactured, which explains the high prices copies attract today. Used examples can go for $320 (£247), but pristine copies can sell for more than $1,000 (£773).

The original discontinued disc version of the immensely popular Fortnite game is like gold dust these days. The free Battle Royale online version has sparked a global craze and garnered millions of young fans worldwide, which explains why hardcore gamers are prepared to pay around $1,000 (£773) for the 2017 standard edition on disc if sealed and unused.

Hard to come by, Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire was only available via the New York Pokémon Center and its online store. In Europe, gamers could only get a copy through Nintendo's loyalty programme or by snapping up the Pokémon Colosseum Mega Pack. Nowadays, a used copy sells for up to $500 (£386), while factory-sealed specimens are worth up to $1,300 (£1k).

Amazing Tater is a kooky puzzle game that was released for the original Game Boy in 1992. Atlus produced the title in limited quantities, and these days, copies are worth huge amounts of money. One sold on eBay in 2016 for an eyebrow-raising $1,700, around $2,300 (£1.8k) in today's money, while one hopeful eBay seller currently has one listed for $3,500 (£2,705).

The most sought-after Game Boy Color game, Shantae tanked following its release in 2002. However, a fairly respectable 25,000 units of the game were shifted, so there's a chance you might own one. If you do have a copy floating about somewhere, and it happens to be in box-fresh condition, you could sell it for more than $2,300 (£1.8k).

Rare but not extremely scarce, Little Samson is one NES game you may have gathering dust in your collection. The action platform game had very little promotion attached to it and sold poorly, particularly in North America, hence its high value today. Collectors are likely to spend between $2,000 (£1.5k) and $5,000 (£3.9k) on a copy, depending on its condition.

The rarest Neo Geo AES titles are renowned for achieving absurdly high prices at auction. Take Neo Turf Masters. The arcade-style golf game, which was released in 1996, is a must for the most serious (rich) collectors. They're more than happy to hand over as much as $10,000 (£7.7k) for a copy.

The tile-matching puzzle game that conquered the world, Tetris was never actually released on the Sega Mega Drive platform. Copyright issues with Sony thwarted its launch but not before a bunch of copies were produced. Only 10 are thought to exist today, with each of them worth up to $25,000 (£19.3k).

A near-mythical game among collectors, Air Raid had a super-limited distribution and only 12 copies of the shoot 'em up are thought to exist today. Out of those 12, just three complete games have survived. The most valuable sold for just under $33,500 in 2012, the equivalent of around $46,500 (£36k) in 2025 money.

Another exceedingly rare NES game, sports fitness title Stadium Events was rebranded in North America as World Class Track Meet shortly after its release in 1987. An unknown number of copies slipped through the net, but experts believe a maximum of only 20 remain. These specimens are now worth big bucks, with one selling for $35,000 at auction in 2015. That's around $47,000 (£36k) in today's money.

The highest graded copy of boxer Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! ever sold by Heritage Auctions fetched an impressive $50,400 in July 2020, around $62,000 (£48k) in 2025 money. The game was the first by Nintendo to be endorsed by a celebrity and subsequent editions featured Mr. Dream rather than the then-world heavyweight champion.

Tetris was a launch title for the Nintendo Game Boy system and was included with the console, so not many people needed to buy a copy of the game when it was released three years after the console. Therefore, it's considered extremely rare, and a copy of Tetris sold at Heritage Auctions for $78,000 (around $92k/£71k today) on 11 July 2021.

The high price was due to its sealed, pristine condition (rated a fairly high 9.6 A by video game collecting firm Wata), with other, less well-preserved copies of the game in the auction selling for up to $5,000, or around $5,800 (£4.5k) in 2025 money.

This particular example of the Pokémon Red game for Game Boy sold for a record $84,000 in November 2020, the highest price ever for a Pokémon title and four times its pre-sale estimate. That's the equivalent of around $103,500 (£80k) in today's money. The sealed copy had a Wata 9.8 A++ rating, meaning it was 'like new', but its top sale price is also down to the fact that this title is hard to come by in the US. 

Nintendo Power Magazine held the Nintendo World Championship competition in America back in 1990. The prizewinners, who numbered just 26, each received a shiny gold cartridge. The holy grail of NES games, these ultra-scarce cartridges command crazy prices – a copy sold for just shy of $100,000 on eBay in 2014, which would be worth around $135,000 (£104k) today. Last year, another went up for auction, eventually fetching $170,000 (£132k).

A pristine copy of Final Fantasy VII for Playstation 1 sold for $144,000 at auction on 11 July 2021, the equivalent of around $170,000 (£132k) in 2025. The copy attracted such a high sale price because it didn't have a drill hole in the packaging, which means it was originally a rarer promotional or employee copy.

The game sold millions of copies when it was first released, so it doesn't typically sell for much. Recently, used complete copies have been fetching around $50 (£39) each.

A sealed copy of Contra that Heritage Auctions described as the most "immaculate example of this game" sold for $150,000, the equivalent of around $177,000 (£137k) in 2025 money, on 9 July 2021. The game was given a 9.8A+ rating by video game collecting firm Wata.

However, not all copies of the game sell for this much, and several less perfect but complete copies have fetched up to $250 (£193) in online sales.

As we'll see, old copies of Super Mario games can be worth a fortune if they've been kept as new in their original packaging. In 2020, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, described as being in “remarkable” condition, swept in and took the title of priciest game ever sold. It started with an opening bid of $62,500 but eventually sold for $156,000 that November through Heritage Auctions. That's the equivalent of around $184,000 (£142k) in today's money.

A copy of The Legend of Zelda briefly became the most expensive video game ever on 9 July 2021 when it sold for a sensational $870,000 through Heritage Auctions. In 2025 money, that's the equivalent of around $1 million (£774k). The sealed game was one of a limited number of copies released in an early production run that lasted for a few months in 1987, but it didn't hold the title for long...

Two days later, an unopened copy of Super Mario 64 beat the record for the sale of a video game at auction, selling on 11 July 2021 for $1.56 million, the equivalent of around $1.8 million (£1.4m) today. The video game had been given a 9.8 A++ rating by video game collecting firm Wata, meaning it was 'like new' and in near-perfect condition. Another copy of Super Mario 64 with a slightly lower rating of 9.6 A++ sold at the same auction for $13,200, or around $15,500 (£12k) today.

However, the record was about to fall again...

The following month, the New York Times reported that a copy of Super Mario Bros. sealed in its original packaging sold for a staggering $2 million, the equivalent of $2.4 million (£1.9m) today. The never-opened game was sold by the investment site Rally, which allows investors to buy shares in collectibles, including rare comic books and video games. 

Earlier that year, another sealed copy that had spent almost 35 years in a desk drawer after its owner forgot about it sold for an incredible $660,000 (around $777k/£601k in 2025) through Heritage Auctions. 

Now discover the old computers and games consoles worth a fortune today