A factory-sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. has sold for a record-breaking $2 million, making it the most valuable video game collectible…for now.

Collectibles website Rally announced the sale on Twitter today, as reported by Polygon, and $2 million is now the highest price paid for a video game in the history of video games. However, this sale wasn't a typical video game auction sale — the anonymous buyer essentially bought the game from shareholders.

Punks, X-Men, Declarations, and some news…

🏆A NEW WORLD RECORD on Rally🏆

…w/ the $2,000,000 sale of our 1985 Super Mario Bros., marking the HIGHEST PRICE EVER PAID for a video game of any title.

Read more in todays New York Times (cc: @nytimes): https://t.co/mJzEcVMXuQ pic.twitter.com/segsfw6Jw9

— Rally (@OnRallyRd) August 6, 2021

That's because Rally is different from traditional auction sites. Rally sells shares of collectibles to investors and then when those collectibles are sold to buyers, the shareholders receive a return on their investment. So in this case, the buyer purchased the factory-sealed, limited-run print of the original Super Mario Bros. for $2 million only after the collectible's shareholders approved such a sale.

The New York Times reports that this $2 million sale saw shareholders receive a return of investment on their shares of roughly 900%. That's a lot of gold coins.

If $2 million seems like a lot of money for a single game, it is, but is this professionally graded copy of Super Mario Bros. actually worth that much money? To the buyer, it would seem the answer is yes. To the wider video game collectible community, though, that's a question up for debate.

Kotaku recently published a great report about the recent surge in video game collectible sale records, which seem to be broken every other week at this point. In it, they spoke to Deniz Kahn, the CEO of Wata Games, which is a company that specializes in video game grading. Kahn explained that there's really no telling how far collectors will go to get the highest-quality product possible.

"Attaining the finest known example from a condition standpoint drives a certain type of collector's behavior, specifically the collector who wants the absolute best," Kahn said when asked about a record-breaking $1.5 million sale of Super Mario 64. "All that being said, this price is still shocking but shows the level of emotion involved in how prices are realized in an auction scenario."

Kahn continued and said it comes down to the economics of competing buyers: if they want the finest possible collectible on their shelf bad enough, they'll compete in an auction accordingly, which often means spending record-breaking amounts of money.

This $2 million sale of a copy of Super Mario Bros. comes just a few months after a similar copy of Super Mario Bros. sold for a record-breaking $660,000. At the time of that sale, $660,000 was unheard of and as you can see, that number has been dwarfed in a matter of months.

In between that $660,000 sale and this new $2 million sale, a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda held the record of most valuable game collectible ever for a bit after it sold for $870,000. Then, less than a week later a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 broke that record with a $1.56 million sale, which is nearly double the previous record.

This $2 million sale of Super Mario Bros. is the new record holder for now, but who knows how long that will last? Maybe a sealed copy of SSX Tricky will sell for $3 million next week — ok probably not, but if someone spent that much on SSX Tricky, could you blame them?

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. He loves SSX Tricky and prefers to play games than spend millions on them, but he doesn't have a million dollars so what does he know. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

If you're looking to upgrade your gaming monitor and you're feeling generous with your budget, the two absolute best gaming monitors (in our opinion) can both be had at a discount. The LG C1 48" OLED TV is at its lowest price point ever. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 49" monitor isn't even out yet, but if you preorder it you can get a $300 JBL gaming headset for free. Today you can also save on the 2nd generation Apple AirPods, a LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon set, a powerful HP OMEN RTX 3060 Ti gaming PC, and more below.

Best 4K Gaming Monitor: 2021 LG C1 48" OLED TV

This is the lowest price ever for the 48" version of the LG C1 OLED TV. The 2021 LG C1 OLED improves upon last year's highly-rated CX model with upgraded A9 Gen 4 processor that delivers slightly better image quality, better 4K scaling, and improved audio handling as well as a new webOS smart TV redesign. I personally use the older LG CX OLED TV as my main gaming monitor, and after nearly a year of heavy usage, I still firmly believe that this is the best gaming monitor you can buy right now. The C1 OLED TV has HDMI 2.1 inputs, so you can output 4K at 120Hz when you pair it with an RTX 30 series video card. It also supports 4:4:4 chroma at 4K and G-SYNC technology. The OLED panel blows away any IPS, VA, or TN monitor in black levels, color rendition, sub-1ms response times, and HDR quality.

Best Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor: Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 49" 5120×1440 Mini LED Monitor

Preorder the Samsung Neo G9 gaming monitor (out on August 23), and get the JBL Quantum One Gaming Headset for free. That's a $300 headset. This is the first Mini LED gaming monitor we've seen and easily the best monitor in Samsung's "Odyssey" series. Mini LED technology is pretty new. You'll see them in the highest end Samsung and TCL TVs as well as the newest Apple iPad Pro 12.9" XDR display. The cost keeps 99% of us gamers at bay, but for those who can afford it, you currently won't find a better ultra-wide monitor.

Apple AirPods with Wireless Charging Case

These are the 2nd generation Apple Airpods upgraded with the wireless charging case that you normally get with the higher end AirPods Pro. The wireless charging case allows you to charge the case via a wireless induction charger OR an Apple Lightning cable (the wired charging case can only be charged via cable). This version of the AirPods has rarely dropped in price this year, not even on Prime Day.

The Best PS5 SSD Upgrade: WD Black SN850 M.2 SSD with Heatsink in Stock at Western Digital Direct

This is currently the most popular (and probably the best) SSD to get for your PS5 storage upgrade. The 1TB model has been out of stock everywhere since its release. It goes in and out of stock constantly at Western Digital direct as well, but it's the best place to score one right now. This is a blazing fast drive with transfer speeds rated at up to 7,000 MB/s and a PCIe Gen4 interface and it comes preinstalled with a heatsink. It's also confirmed by Western Digital themselves to be compatible with the PlayStation 5 console.

Available: Nintendo Joy-Cons Skyward Sword Edition

After a long haitus, these special edition Skyward Sword themed Joy-Cons are available for order again on Amazon. They Joy-Cons are made over in a royal blue color with white accents. The right Joy-Con controller is themed after the Master Sword and the left controller features a Hylian Shield motif. Get it now before it goes out of stock again.

LEGO Star Wars Rise of Skywalker Millennium Falcon

This Millennium Falcon stands at an impressive 17" long and 12" wide. With over 1,300 bricks, at this price you're paying less than 10 cents per brick. The set also includes 7 LEGO Star Wars mini-figures: Finn, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, C-3PO, Boolio, D-O, and BB-8.

HP OMEN AMD Ryzen 7 RTX 3060 Ti Gaming PC

This popular gaming desktop is back in stock at Best Buy. HP OMEN desktops have good build quality, especially for the price. HP OMEN PCs are all built with consistency with the same (and often proprietary) components, unlike many other brands where each PC is piece-mealed together with off-the-shelf components that are current on hand. Don't confuse the RTX 3060 Ti with the RTX 3060… it's about 35% faster than the RTX 3060 and only about 5%-10% slower than the RTX 3070. Compared to the previous generation of graphics cards, it even beats out the RTX 2080 SUPER.

Razer Hammerhead Truly Wireless Earbuds

The Razer Hammerhead truly wireless earbuds is over 50% off today at Amazon. These gaming-centric earbuds feature 13mm drivers with ample amounts of bass, low latency, IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance, up to 15 hours of battery life.

Sign up for AT&T Gigabit Fiber Internet and Watch Suicide Squad 2 on HBO Max for Free

Sign up for the gigabit plan and you get $20 off your first year and a bonus $150 rewards card. That means you pay $60/mo instead of $80/mo. You'll get access to blazing fast gigabit speeds (both downstream and upstream) with no data cap. As a bonus, you'll also get a free 1 year subscription to HBO Max. That means you'll be able to watch recent movie releases like Space Jam: Legacy and Suicide Squad 2 movies. I personally am subscribed to AT&T Fiber and would never dream of going back to my slower and more expensive cable internet.

Preorder New Star Wars Tamagotchi on Amazon

Now you can take R2-D2 wherever you go as a cute little tamagotchi. Take care of your little droid by keeping him charged, cleaning him, and teaching him up to 19 different skills with a variety of mini-games. Of course there are dire consequences if you neglect your job in keeping R2-D2 happy.

The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Hardcover Edition

This LotR Illustrated Hardcover Edition hasn't been released it (it's out October 19), but you can already preorder it and save 20% off the retail price. This is the first discount we've seen. This massive 1,200+ page tome includes illustrations from author JRR Tolkien, for the first time in any edition of the series since 1954.

More Daily Deals for August 6

As Year 6, Season 2 of Rainbow Six Siege gets ready to come to a close, Ubisoft has announced a new time-limited PvP event called Containment that is inspired by the upcoming game Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction. The event features a reworked version of the Consulate map that has been overcome by the Chimera Parasite, and brings with it a new limited-time game mode called Nest Destruction that brings an otherworldly twist to multiplayer. Furthermore, Rainbow Six Siege will be 70% off until August 19 and the game will be free to try for all players from August 13-15.

The Containment event is available from today, August 3, until August 24 and will have players choosing to becoming either REACT-affiliated Operators like Attackers IQ, Ace, Blackbeard, Amaru, Zero, and more, or Proteans – a deadly Archæan parasite variant from space that can adopt the form of such Defenders as Aruni, Jager, Kaid, Mira, and Warden. For those unfamiliar, REACT stands for Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team and is a faction that was formed to combat the Archæan threat and is set to appear in Rainbow Six Extraction.

While players will be able to secure victory by eliminating the opposing team, the primary goal of the Nest Destruction mode is for Attackers to destroy The Chimera Parasite’s nest and for the Defenders to protect them at all costs until time runs out. One of the biggest changes in Nest Destruction is that Defenders will be stripped of their weapons. However, these Proteans are stronger, have more health, and are faster than the REACT Attackers. They also possess Oryx’s abilities to dash and climb up hatches, come equipped with Aruni’s punch, and can rely on Barbed Wire as a last resort.

This new mode also comes with its own new items in the Containment Collection. This set includes 33 items, including the exclusive Sentient Growth signature weapon and attachment skin and the Antiparasitic Serum charm. All players will get a free pack containing any of these items by logging in during the event.

Players will also be able to choose the REACT or Protean side with 10 Operator bundles that include personalized uniforms, headgears, and weapon skins.

Rainbow Six Siege’s product owner of in-game events Sebastien Levesque shared a bit more about the Containment mode to IGN and gave Rainbow Six Siege players a few tips on how to survive this new challenge, including that Attackers should not try to go solo. The key to victory is to strategize with your squad mates and try to control the map by working together.

If you are a defender, try to corner your opponents and cut off their escapes so you can easily swoop in for a melee kill that will help your team in protecting your nests.

For those new to Rainbow Six Siege, Levesque said that there is no better time to jump in. As for any advice he has for those jumping in for the first time, Levesque said that these players should try an attacker like Amaru – who is an ideal choice for Nest Destruction – to learn the basics and all the different aspects of what makes this game so special.

Rainbow Six Siege veterans and rookies are encouraged to try out this new mode, as those who can win 10 rounds of Nest Destruction between August 17-24 will earn the Nomad Hive Mind Set as a reward.

The Containment event and the Nest Destruction limited-time mode are both live now and will run until August 24. As a reminder, players will be able to earn Double Battle Pass exp from August 13-15, and those who have yet to play Rainbow Six Siege will also be able to try the game for free on that same weekend.

A new remote-controlled robot called the BeBot is helping keep Florida beaches clean, and if all goes well, the other 29 BeBots manufactured could help clean additional beaches, resorts, and more.

Florida's beaches are known as some of the best in the world thanks to our blue and green planet, but humanity has gotten in the way of that at times by leaving trash in the sand or water. This is especially problematic as many plastics don't break down, which means they eventually find their way into precious marine ecosystems.

"Walk any beach or coastline around the world, and you're bound to encounter some form of plastic pollution," 4ocean, the marine cleanup company that purchased BeBot, notes on its website. "Plastic waste isn't just an eyesore that impacts tourism and local economies; it's also an environmental hazard that can harm wildlife and degrade crucial coastal ecosystems."

BeBot is working its way around beaches in South Florida at the moment, but another BeBot will soon be deployed to Hawaii to "support local partners and existing cleanup initiatives on the island of Oahu." 4ocean says the sole purpose of BeBot is to clean and restore the world's coastlines while also preserving the natural beach environment.

It's not fully automatic like iRobot's Roomba, but is instead remote-controlled by someone. According to BeBot manufacturer Poralu Marine, this is for safety reasons, as the machine will likely often be in the vicinity of beachgoers. It can be controlled remotely from up to 300 meters away, so while it isn't automatic, it will look autonomous to those near it.

"The BeBot can silently and discreetly clean up to 3,000m2 of beach an hour depending on the topography," 4ocean says. That 3,000m2 is the equivalent of seven basketball courts.

The BeBot is 100% electric, so it does not require fuel and isn't as loud as a traditional engine, which is great for those trying to relax on the beach. It runs on a mix of solar and battery power, too, so there's no harmful gas, liquid emissions, or diesel fumes.

"To help keep beaches clean, many coastal properties utilize heavy-duty equipment like tractors to rake the sand or manual sifters that are labor intensive, less efficient, trigger beach erosion, and automatically crush fauna and flora present in the sand," 4ocean's website says. "Yet these devices leave a lot of plastic waste behind because it's either too small or too deep in the sand to capture."

That's not the case with the BeBot, though. It operates at depths of up to 10cm and collects plastic debris as small as 1cm2, according to 4ocean. It can pick up cigarette butts, food wrappers, bottle caps, and other plastic fragments that are easily concealed by sand. It can also sift through sand, rake algae, lift and carry larger items like beach chairs, and level otherwise unleveled sand patches and fields.

4ocean says the BeBot program is on track to remove 20 million pounds of trash by the year's end and there are 30 BeBots in total right now that could be deployed to beaches in other places.

BeBot is just one of many cleaning robots trying to make the world a cleaner place. There's also the Clearbot robot Razer helped create to clean ocean waste. For more about the ocean and the world's beaches, read about this new reef discovered in Australia that's taller than the Empire State Building, and then read about this bionic moon jellyfish created by scientists after that.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

The Dead Space remake being developed by EA Motive is reportedly aiming for a fall 2022 release date.

According to a report by GamesBeat, sources familiar with the development of the game have said that Dead Space could launch as early as fall 2022. This may be sooner than many fans expected given that very little has been shared about the game, which was only officially announced last month.

The report by GamesBeat claims that, internally, EA is anticipating a Dead Space launch during its 2023 fiscal year. However, when approached for a statement surrounding the supposed release of the game, EA said, "We haven’t shared a release date for the game, and we don’t have any comment based on the current rumor and speculation. But we’re glad people are excited for the game!”

IGN recently spoke to Senior Producer Philippe Ducharme and Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola about how the game will use next-gen technology to bring the world of Dead Space into the current console era. The pair confirmed that the newest title is not just a touched-up version of the original, but instead, being completely rebuilt in EA's powerful Frostbite engine. Faster console SSDs also mean that the developers have recreated the game to run without loading screens. In a similar vein to 2018's God of War, the Dead Space remake will allow you to play the game from "start screen to end credits seamlessly".

EA has confirmed that the upcoming Dead Space remake will launch on the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. If you haven't yet seen the teaser trailer for the game, you can check it out below:

If you'd like to discover more about the game, then check out this piece detailing EA Motive's stance on including microtransactions within the game – spoiler warning, there won't be any.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN who enjoys playing horror games alongside his trusty companion, the pause button. You can tell him how dissapointing that is over on Twitter.