Not every console came with SMB. One very early package didn't have it, and one later package included SMB3 instead. So SMB was sold as a standalone for these cases, but very few units were needed or extant.
Not sealed in box, no. But usually a product going for a price like this is predicated on rarity, not just historical value. That's why Detective Comics #27, Action Comics #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, etc. command a pretty penny. Those comics didn't have circulation in the millions back in the day...
> the iconic game whose popularity established Nintendo’s dominance in home console gaming in the 1980s, sold for $3 million on Friday afternoon in the first session of Heritage Auctions’ June 12–13 Video Games Signature® Auction, hammering the previous $2 million record set in a 2021 private sale.
I wouldn’t trust any auction run by Heritage. They’re reasonably known for turning video games into speculative assets rather than collectibles, and they’ve helped drive up prices for actual fans who just love the games.
Further they’ve been embroiled in scandals alongside Wata Games, with allegations of price manipulation.
Good article about this:
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/report-alleges-auct...
