Your experience with Super Mario 64 is worth more than $1.56 million

A sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million over the weekend, and I’m here to tell you that is worth less than your experiences with the game. That’s one of the key strengths of games — that they are so experiential. They are something you as a player participate in, and that enables you to create a deeper bond than you do with a possession. But you don’t have to take my word — this is now years-old science.

I know that some people who enjoy collecting games will emphasize the importance of ownership, and I don’t disagree with that. My issue is that I think the ownership of memories is more powerful and important to people. And I think that ownership of an object is fraught with potential misery. The key to this is in how we value experiences versus things.