Nintendo is pulling yet another classic Nintendo Move with the recently revealed Super Mario 3D All-Stars. A collection of Super Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Mario Galaxy are coming to Switch with a Nintendo-flavored catch.
Because Nintendo manufactures scarcity despite claims to the contrary, Super Mario 3D All-Stars will only be available until early next year. Yes, that includes digitally as well! Because Nintendo is Nintendo.
This will also be true of the new Battle Royale, Super Mario 35, which will also disappear at the end of March 2021. Because Nintendo is Nintendo.
#SuperMario #NintendoSwitch #Nintendo #SuperMario35 #SuperMario3DAllStars #CAAApitalism #JimSterling #OMGH #Trailer #TrailerReaction #NintendoDirect
I’m expecting them to sell the games in the collection separately at like 80% of the collection’s price apiece after the collection stops being sold.
I’m guessing that theyre gonna release the three titles separately on the e-shop afterwards.
Next time with the Zelda collection, “We only have 100,000 digital copies everyone, oops!”
My first reaction when I realized what that disclaimer meant was “I should go tell Jim Sterling about this”. My second thought was “Several dozen people have probably _already_ told Jim Sterling about this.”
Nintendo: Can make really great and memorable games
Also Nintendo: Shitting the bed
Nintendo has been less pro-consumer since we lost Iwata.
Translation:
“Buy a Switch _now,_ while the next-gen competition is coming out. We’ll have more big hitters by the time April comes around.”
I love Nintendo, which is why I hate it when they pull shit like this.
The most basic rule in the Capitalism book:
Create a problem, sell the solution.
And here we are, with yet another reason to justify your classic Jimquisition video content about the moral non-quandary we’re all thinking about right now:
“Why It’s Morally Okay To Pirate All Of Nintendo’s Games”
I knew when I saw this yesterday, you’d have choice words about these shenanigans. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED.
God I would be so happy if the creative part of Nintendo could be decoupled from the corporate part.
Also is it just me or did Nintendo get worse with this since Iwata’s death? I’d like to think he was trying to keep things more consumer friendly.
Wait, it’s not just the physical version that’s getting a limited run?
….
WHATT
“You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villian.”
*-The Dark Knight, 2008*
Nintendo: “It’s not manufactured scarcity if it’s digital”
Emulation will continue to be a thorn in Nintendo’s side as long as they continue to “Disney Vault” their classic titles.
Nintendo does something anti-consumer: “Eh it’s just Nintendo.”
Anyone else does something anti-consumer: “WTF THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!”
I say this as a massive Nintendo fan, but I’m just tired of people being Nintendrones and having to defend them or shrug off anything bad they do.
“I want Super Mario Sunshine back.”
*A finger curls on the monkey’s paw*
“Wh.. What do.. what do you mean it’s.. limited availability.. on.. on digital? How.. that’s..”
“What would happen if EA did something like this?”
Well, EA and the other big companies are already doing it, arent they? Of course, the ‘western’ companies have a slightly different mindset than Nintendo and the comparison with a toy company is fitting very well. Nintendo sees games and consoles as the product, which can be made artificially scarce, but for other games companies, the game is no longer the product, it’s just the ‘service’, the retail platform on which products can be made scarce.
Just imagine any microtransaction store and you see the artificial scarcitry: limited ‘sales’, availability periods, the re-runs of old, previous ‘limited’ products, not to mentions the customary ‘seasonal’ items, of course. Here the same principals described in the video apply: You never have to lower the price, the limited availability give a sense of exclusity etc.
Of course AAA-companies could limit the buy-period for their games, but why would they? That is not where the money is made anymore. The money is made IN the game, therefore you want as many people to own your game – aka sign up for your ‘services’. That is the difference to Nintendo. (Besides, the limited, overhyped, ‘exclusive’ editions that are only for pre-order are somewhat in that artificial scarcity model as well.)
Of course, with the yearly iteration of games, they don’t NEED to limit the availability either: The artificial hype gets the masses to jump onto the new version the moment it is announced and the old version is abandoned quickly afterwards, especially when the multiplayer servers are switched off. Sure, they could stop the sale of the game at this point and they pretty much do: Sports games are the extreme example, of course: Try finding any physical copy of older iterations in any store (other than used games, of course). They could stop selling the digital version as well, sure, but why bother? No one cares at this point and through sales or what not they can still make ‘some’ money. (And remember, those companies want ALL the money, so even a miniscule amount of money is more than no money.)
So yeah, artificial scarcity altready exists in the non-Nintendo markets, although be in in a different form, owing it to a different point on what games are.
Nintendo: “I’m not like other consoles…”
Just another reason that Jim was 100% spot-on when he explained to us why Nintendo WANTS us to pirat— uh, “alternative acquire” their games.