Personally, I find the VGA sort of repulsive.
But, if I were in your position, I'd have that sucker graded and sell it. Even though very few of us on this forum put any value in their grading, there are obviously a great number of people who do.
Grade it, sell it, buy a loose or CIB copy if you want, then enjoy the extra cash. Even though it's lame that the game will likely stay in its pretty plastic coffin for the rest of human existence, it's still kind of nice to know that there are going to be pristine copies of these games that we know and love floating around for a long time. Quite possibly long after all of us are laid to rest.
As far as anyone questioning their "authority", well, someone has to be the "authority" on such grading, and they were the first to it, so kudos to them. There are authorities that grade pretty much every collectible out there. There's no reason that VG collecting shouldn't have one as well. I wish they did opened games as well, to be honest. Buying used items over the web is precarious at best. For instance, Shenske, you may call something "mint", but to another collector that item may be a VG-. I think we've all run into that issue at some point or another. Coin collectors will tell you the same, as would comic, stamp, and sports card collectors. Grading can be a good thing for the hobby.
I feel that VGA-graded games will come down in price significantly over the next few years. It's still so new, and people are really buying into the hype. I think that it could be a useful tool for many of us in the future, whether buying or selling. I think it'll just take time...
