Nintendo is a juggernaut of a video game company and their mascot recently hit its 35th anniversary. Mario is an iconic video game character and for years this mascot has been featured in countless video games. As a result, Nintendo opted to do something special and it included a mixture of video game titles and re-releases. However, it’s questionable as to why these games are only being sold until a certain date.
You likely have already seen the various video game titles that were released or being released due to Mario’s 35th anniversary. It’s a collection of games that had players eager to dive into such as Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of 3D Mario titles for the Nintendo Switch platform. This collection included Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. However, the game, among others came with an unusual announcement.
Nintendo was releasing these games intending to remove them from retail and their online eShop on March 31, 2021. This had players wondering just what the deal was and why Nintendo would opt to remove these games at all. Especially for those that end up getting a Nintendo Switch after March 31, 2021. Recently, Polygon had the chance to speak with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser where the question was brought up of why the games were being removed on that date.
“Yeah, I think I use a simple word: celebration. It just — this is a celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary. And we wanted to celebrate in unique and different ways, and we’ve done that through games like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, or we will be doing that through future releases, such as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
And then we’ve also done it through releases such as Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., or through Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. There are various ways that we’re celebrating Mario’s 35th. And with some of these titles, we felt it was an opportunity to release them for a limited period. They’ve done very, very well. Super Mario 3D All-Stars has sold over 2.6 million units in the U.S. alone. And so clearly, consumers have been able to jump in and enjoy that. And it’s not a strategy that we’re going to be using widely, but it’s one we thought was very unique for the actual anniversary.”
Doug Bowser
Doug Bowser would go on to say that currently, Nintendo doesn’t have any plans it can speak of at the moment for after March 2021. It does seem strange to keep these games off from retail especially for as well as they did. We’re certainly hopeful that these titles will be available in some format for newcomers to the Nintendo Switch after March 2021.
