The end of Super Mario 3D Allstars

 Oh no. Our precious Super Mario 3D Allstars, gone forever. AaaaaaaagH.

I've gone over a few 'end of life' moments for games over my time on this blog, documenting the passing of some titles or services that were taken too soon. (Or not soon enough) Recently there was Anthem, and Artifact was tossed in there somewhere too, but a while ago it was Elder Scrolls Legends (Serious RIP on that one) and sooner or later it'll be Google Stadia. But if there's one thing all of those games/services have/had that Super Mario Allstars does not, it's circumstances leading up to their dismissal that were insurmountable to some degree. Whether that was because no one wanted to play this particular game or the publishers didn't want to support it anymore; somewhere along the way it made sense for the plug to get pulled on these games before things got embarrassing. (And in some instances, they got embarrassing anyway.) But today we have a game being lined up for the chopping block for literally no earthly reason whatsoever, or at least, not one which would justify such a drastic step. So be prepared to unravel this mystery as we look into what on earth is happening around Super Mario Allstars.

Firstly, obviously, this isn't a surprise by any stretch of the imagination. Right away on the eve of announcement the Nintendo task masters voiced their highly nonsensical plan to the masses and we all questioned it, but ultimately let them go wild figuring all would become clear in the months to come. So you're going to offer these high-quality remasters of some of the best 3D Super Mario games ever made for but 3 months before withdrawing them for sale forever? Yeah right. That'd be utterly ridiculous and more than just a little stupid. Right? (Someone please tell me that I'm right here.) But surprise, it's been 3 months. Everything is still preceding as planned and everyone's still scratching their heads wondering why Nintendo are pulling this prank on... themselves? The last time a big title like this was pulled from a store it more cost the game publisher potential revenue, and let's see: who's the publisher of Mario games again... oh yeah! Nintendo! (Seriously, what gives?)

And it's not as though we're talking about products with low demand here. Super Mario 3D Allstars was a single cartridge that managed to squeeze onto it Super Mario 64, one of the most classically revered games ever made, Super Mario Sunshine, a beloved entry in the franchise with some genuine hardcore fans, and Super Mario Galaxy, a game that's said to be so good it eclipses the majority of the Nintendo Wii library. There's not a dud in this box, and they're all heavy hitters in their own that certainly could have been justified for their own rereleases at some point down the line if some internal team feels like doing a remake. (In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if such a initiative is being taken into account for this decision) To have the now definitive versions of each of these products on the Switch, is a money printing master stroke. This cartridge could have easily become a must-have that everyone has in their Switch collection. And if you managed to pick it up in that 3 month window, good for you, but that's not everyone by a long shot.

Just ignoring the plain fact that a limited release window when it's entirely unnecessary is undeniably asinine, how could Nintendo seriously justify putting the pressure on it's consumers to rush out to buy a kids game right slap in the middle of a pandemic? I mean sure, they had it up over Christmas, how very magnanimous of them, but these past 12 months have been fraught with economic hardships world wide, so you'll be forgiven for being a Nintendo fan who just couldn't find it in themselves to forgo rent in order to pick up Super Mario 3D Allstars before it was gone forever. You could say that's a bit of a low blow to put the weight of a global pandemic on Nintendo, but I'm merely pointing out the plethora of ways in which Nintendo, with this dumb game plan of theirs, is hurting themselves as well as the fans. But the question at the end of it all is- why?

For my part I have a theory which hasn't really shifted since this all first began. Nintendo have an absolute fetish for premium pricing everything that shoots out of their stores, from hardware to old games to releases and, of course, remasters. It's what they live for, they'd sooner sell their own mother's souls to Satan than slash the price on a two year old title. But I think recently they've started to receive some furrowed brows over this stinginess in the current climate and this was some sort of attempt of theirs to try something new. If they limit the time this new remaster pack is up then no one can complain about the price sticking to the ceiling for it's entire lifespan because the game will have never been on the shelves long enough to justify price-cuts. Additionally, the forced scarcity will drive up early sells from people who don't want to miss out. Yeah, that should work fine barring a surprise global pandemic or something. But I think their's is a plan that's only going to backlash for two obvious reasons.

Scalpers, for example. My god, did they not think about the scalpers? How could they not, Nintendo have been singlehandedly feeding that entire industry since the amiibo days. People who swoop in to snatch up as much of a limited stock as they feasibly can only to sell it on at a marked up price. Scalpers have been the bane of the console market for the past few months now, and you can bet they were ontop of the 3D Allstars situation before it even released. People were selling their pre-orders for this game, that's a problem when we're talking about manufactured scarcity. Time and time again Nintendo has played into the hands of scalpers instead of just keeping the consumer fed and I just don't understand it. Is someone high-up in Nintendo deeply invested in the wellbeing of certain scalping groups or something, this doesn't need to be as hard as it always is with them.

And then there's emulation, because: of course. Whenever the conversation is raised about the legality of emulation, Nintendo come close to mind for the plain fact that they will legally swipe down any emulators they can get their hands on. This is both because they themselves are ever looking to rip people off for decades old software they want to pawn off for premium prices, and because Nintendo games are some of the post pirated out there. (Probably due, in no small part, to the aforementioned artificial scarcity) Reminding everyone about these classics only to dangle it in front of their face is going to win over some, for sure, but it'll also drive others to play those legendary titles in the only other method available to them, which also happens to be a method which Nintendo aren't seeing any revenue from. (Although, admittedly, I'm not sure if Super Mario Galaxy is playable in most available emulators. The Wii emulator was a little rough last time I saw it.)

But what we have to think and say on the matter, as fans who care about the games, is meaningless to Nintendo. They'll dance to the beat of their drums same as they always have, even when everyone's trying to tell them that the drum set is on fire. Sheer quality of their products, the effort of the development staff, is enough to stop me short of ever despising Nintendo, but the repeated knowingly stupid, draconian and/or greedy machinations of their upper management really does try at times. Imagine how much of a positive force Nintendo could be if they tried to live up to their image, even just a little bit. They could be paragons to shape the face of the entire industry; with their size, history and influence their example could mean everything. But they're not, they won't be, and until the entire current Japanese board of Nintendo retires (Don't hold your breath) we're going to be having these head scratching moments of "Why not just do the right thing" for years to come.