Limitation: The First Super Mario 3D All-Stars Discussion
Super Mario 3D All-Stars: The Limited Release and the Problem With High Expectations
11/17/20
DISCLAIMER: This is the first of a couple of essays I'm doing about this game and the morality behind it and games like it.
One of the most hot topics in the gaming community is the morality behind re-releases. The question stands to weigh the pros and cons of everything surrounding a company putting one of these out. On the bright side, you have entirely new generations of potential fans to create potential communities exposed to this media via it now being on the newer consoles they own. Aside from this, however, you have lazy companies trying to sell you the same product, occasionally in a worse form, rather than making something new. The reason it felt fit to bring this debate up now is because, within the past two months, we've received the new "XIII" remake and the new "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" pack. The "XIII" remake has warranted far more hate than the other, and for good reason of course, but one of the key reasons it received hate doesn't apply here. To the surprise of many, "Super Mario 3D All-Stars", the "Super Mario Bros. 35" battle royale, and the new "Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros." are all limited releases. What this means is all of these games and this merchandise will be removed from store shelves and the Nintendo Switch eShop on March 31st, 2021. This is a strange thing for Nintendo to do, and their primary excuse for it all was that it was supposed to be exclusive for Mario's 35th anniversary which took place on September 13th. While this makes sense, it's just such a shitty thing to do, but there was certainly more reason behind it.
The reason for the very specific date that a surprising amount of people haven't realized is that March 31st next year is the end of Nintendo's fiscal year. In a stated effort, their recent goal for every year is to out-do themselves somewhat significantly, and the Switch has indeed been breaking these records consistently. With the unexpected curveballs this year had for us, it makes sense that Nintendo needed some more tricks up their sleeves to keep investors happy. "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" was their saving grace this year, even though it technically came at the end of 2019's fiscal year, but perhaps Nintendo needed something big for the holidays. So back in March, before it was completely predicted that this new "Animal Crossing" game was going to be as wild of a smash hit, it would be understandable that they had to rely on something else. Right then was when a rumor started to spread like wildfire about a collection of most, if not all, of the old 3D Mario games in celebration of the upcoming 35th anniversary. This checked out with a lot of people, and the internet really started to believe it. So naturally, Nintendo had to fulfill expectations to at least some degree.
This wasn't the first time this year Nintendo had to fulfill expectations relating to a rumor, however. When rumors spread back in July about the new Nintendo Direct on the 20th, the internet was going wild. The rumor was confirmed by so many credible sources, and while all generally credible, none were official. Nintendo did surprise us on the midnight of July 20th, however, but not with the full direct we expected. They gave us the first of a few installments in the new "Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase" series. Naturally, fans were outraged, and the video itself did not meet even the lowest of expectations which left fans more angry than they ever were before. Many said that the Direct felt as though it was haphazardly thrown together by Nintendo because, if they didn't come through with anything on this date, their fans would be angrier than ever. The August follow-up was okay in my opinion, mainly because I'm a rhythm game fan, and the two afterwards were actually pretty great and informative. Though, in the case of "3D All-Stars", expectations were far higher, and hype had built up to be through the roof by September. Likely in an effort to distract fans from the one-year anniversary of not having any full Nintendo Directs, Nintendo released the "Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct" strategically one day before. This, as you could probably tell seeing as we speak of it today, came with it the announcement of the "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" pack for the Nintendo Switch. Many, myself included, were passed excited for this release, but many became confused and shocked at the final piece of information relating to this project. The following sentence was stated by the announcer: "A limited-run retail edition, and a digital edition of the game, will be available for a limited time until the end of March 2021."
The game saw a release on September 18th, just a few days after the official 35th anniversary of the original "Super Mario Bros.", and only 15 days after its announcement. With the reveal and release being closer than perhaps any full-priced game for the Switch thus far, it was clear that Nintendo was trying to keep hype down. A couple of things had hinted to this collection not having a lot of effort or care put into it, namely the "Nintendo Minute" YouTube episode where they showcased the lackluster menu screen. Fans became somewhat outraged at these minor things, but they really had no time to speculate or think about it because the game had launched a mere two weeks later. Probably to nobody's surprise, the game sold like hotcakes. According to the fourth like in the "Image sources" section below, siting an official recent sales report from Nintendo, "Super Mario 3D All-Stars", within only twelve days on the market, reached 5.21 million copies sold worldwide. I've heard a good term roaming around the internet recently relating to this known as "FOMO": a.k.a. "fear of missing out". This is likely the cause of people wanting to purchase this game rather than wanting to buy the game for themselves. Well, this and nostalgia of course. This whole situation would be far less problematic if the games were either priced a little lower than a full retail sixty dollars or the games didn't run like complete shit. We'll get into this in a later essay, likely coming next month, but for now, I'll just say that the internet agrees this collection is lackluster at best.
Lastly, strangely enough, we're comparing Nintendo to the widely known shining example of the last thing the video game industry should look like: EA. EA is known for putting out some of the worst and unfinished games in history, and have been ripping off their loyal fans for decades now. What a shame it is, too, seeing as they have such wonderful IPs like the "Skate" series under their belt, but that's a topic for another day. EA is very loud in how bad of a company they are, and will blatantly throw ads and micro-transactions galore into full-priced games. Nintendo has never done anything of the sort, and it's fair to say, or at the very least hope, that they never will. Though, while Nintendo does treat their wonderful IPs well, they still have another thing under their belt that the majority of EA's catalogue doesn't: about the highest nostalgia factor in this industry. Perhaps this is only so high because fans cravings are satisfied so minimally and sparsely that each and every piece of official Nintendo memorabilia must be savored. This was best displayed in the case of Nintendo's somewhat recent Kirby 20th anniversary collection for the Wii. While these games were stored away from any official re-release for what many would argue is far too long, they were still released in a blaze of glory and a wonderful celebration of the Kirby series thus far. No matter how well you think this new Mario collection seems, just take a look back at what Nintendo is capable of. In conclusion, "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" is a really low point for the company and feels like a spit in the face to every fan out there by making them feel so forced to buy this collection just because of its limited release. Nintendo has built up this reputation and promise of quality over the years, and it's perhaps the most disheartening thing about this situation to watch them give all that up for a quick buck. It's a stupid and selfish thing to do to taint a reputation and a legacy for money, and no matter the angle you look at it from, that is precisely what Nintendo is trying to do with "Super Mario 3D All-Stars".
Image sources (in order):
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