Nintendo is collaborating with yet another big brand, this time luxury watch company Tag Heuer for a limited-edition Super Mario watch aimed at only the most serious of fans, as the watch costs over $2,000. While the price is just a fraction of the recently-calculated value of one Mario universe coins, it might be one of the most expensive pieces of official Mario-related merchandise available right now.
This is far from the first time Nintendo's mustachioed mascot has joined forces with another large company, having previously teamed up with big-name brands including Levi's and Moschino. Mario is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, transcending the realm of video games to become even more than a household name. The plumber's iconic face has appeared on merchandise all over the world, gracing everything from Super Nintendo World-themed trains in Japan, to the upcoming Game of Life: Super Mario Edition board game.
Early Tuesday, Tag Heuer announced its Super Mario collaboration across social media, revealing a close-up look of the piece in action (via NintendoLife). The limited-edition release will see two thousand of the watches come to market, costing $2,150 each. The watch does much more than just tell the time though, offering its wearer a range of smartwatch benefits including a step counter, Google Pay function, and various wellness and sports-tracking apps. Mario animations will also help the track their fitness goals with Mario celebrating milestones, while the design of the watch itself pays homage to the plumber with "customizable dials and exterior elements." Nintendo fans wanting to purchase the exclusive watch or find out more can sign up for alerts from the Tag Heuer website.
While some might balk at the idea of spending thousands on Mario merch, the Tag Heuer collaboration is nowhere near as costly as some of the games in the franchise themselves. A sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.5 million at auction recently, officially making it the world's most expensive video game ever sold. Before players scramble to sell their own copies of the Nintendo 64 classic, it's worth noting just how rare the auctioned version was. It's believed to be one of just five unopened copies in existence and had been previously rated at 9.8 on the Wata Scale, which measures the quality and potential value of video games.
The Tag Heuer x Super Mario collaboration comes just months after Nintendo celebrated the series' 35th anniversary. As well as limited-release game launches including battle royale game Super Mario Bros. 35, Nintendo also opened the doors to the first Mario theme park, Super Nintendo World, located in Universal Studios Japan. Super Nintendo World faced pandemic-related issues with its official opening but is now welcoming visitors under Japan's current COVID-19 regulations. A similar theme park will open in Orlando, Florida at some point in the future, with an estimated completion date of 2025. While a trip to Super Nintendo World would probably end up being more costly than a Super Mario Tag Heuer watch for many, at least there's plenty of time to save up.
Source: Tag Heuer (via NintendoLife)
