After announcing the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars and a wacky battle royale titled Super Mario Bros. 35, Nintendo once again showcased its backward-thinking antics by announcing the titles would be limited both in physical copies and digital availability. Nintendo has made a habit out of making announcements that cause fans to scratch their heads, but this one might take the cake.
A special Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct was held today in which Nintendo announced a ton of classic Mario games that would be making their way to the Nintendo Switch. This included the huge announcement of Super Mario 3D All-Stars which is a collection of some of Mario’s greatest 3D titles: Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. While most of the reveals were ports of classic titles with minor changes, Nintendo also revealed a Tetris 99-esque Mario game that pits 35 players against one another as they play through 1985’s Super Mario Bros.
Both of the aforementioned title announcements were followed by disappointing and confusing news, as Nintendo revealed that both titles would only be available for a limited time. Super Mario 3D All-Stars will release on September 18 and will have a limited number of physical copies produced, but it will also only be available to purchase digitally until March 31, 2021. After which it will presumably be pulled from the Nintendo eShop indefinitely. The news gets even worse as it was announced that the battle royale, Super Mario Bros. 35, will only be playable until March 31 after which it will cease to exist on the Nintendo Switch.
To some very small extent, it is understandable what Nintendo is attempting to do by limiting the accessibility to these titles. It is creating a sense of urgency to boost the number of sales for a specific title by presenting players with a purchasing deadline. And it very well may work seeing as Nintendo Switch owners have been begging for ports of classic titles since its release in 2017. Truth be told, plenty of consumers are already rushing to pre-order digital and physical copies of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. However, plenty of Switch titles have hit the high sale volumes they are known for today due to being available for an extended period of time.
The limited release window leans towards anticonsumerism and it is a scary idea to toy with. While Super Mario Bros. 35 feels more like a gimmick and its free to those who subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, the sales window for Super Mario 3D All-Stars seems like Nintendo’s way of testing out a new method of selling games. Much like influencers and their limited release merch, if Super Mario 3D All-Stars does well enough during the six-month sales period, Nintendo may look at releasing games like this more often. Sure, players can chalk this one up as a special release due to its celebratory nature, but it would be hard to put this one past Nintendo. What we know for sure right now is that Nintendo is limiting the release of a couple of key Mario titles, and let’s hope it doesn’t set a precedent for sales going forward.
