That Mario 35th Anniversary Was Not a Celebration, It Was Extortion.

Before I begin, I'd just like to share this video. RGT85 has pretty much summed up what I want to say, and he's done it in a rather entertaining way. 

So, if you'd rather not watch his video and actually want to read what I have to say about it, thank you. Anyway...

It's April 1st. You know, April Fool's. I'm still waiting for Nintendo to post something on Twitter saying it's been one elaborate April Fool's joke... But it's definitely real. As of today, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario 35, the Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch and for some reason that Fire Emblem NES game that was released in the States for the first time have been delisted from the eShop and are no longer being produced. At the time of this writing, Amazon is out of stock of the US version of 3D All Stars, but places such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy are still selling them. But once they're gone, they're gone. As for Super Mario 35, that game is officially ended. You can no longer download the game or play it if you already own it on the Switch. 

I decided to see what SM3DAS was going for on eBay and so far, it's not that crazy with listings between 50 to 70 dollars. One such yahoo tried doing this, though. 

I don't know if this person actually thought they were going to get anywhere near this, but it illustrates the problem that Nintendo has created by this whole limited availability thing. Maybe my title is being a bit premature, overdramatic and a little hyperbolic, as there isn't really any major scalping going on. Yet. Nintendo to their credit put out an insane number of copies, and they'll probably still be found in the wild for at least a week or two, but when the availability dries up, we should start seeing a rise in price. No one's profiting much right now, though, because everyone who currently has a Switch and wants the game got their copies. But a year from now, even six or so months from now when new Switch owners are looking to get this game, they're not going to have the luxury of buying it on the eShop. The only way they're going to be able to play it is physically. Because of the limited supply (how limited is anyone's guess), people who do have a copy probably won't be willing to let it go for cheap, especially if they have a sealed copy. We'll see the prices go up eventually. I guarantee it. 

What's frustrating about all of this is that there was no reason to do any of it. It doesn't benefit Nintendo in any way. Super Mario 3D All-Stars would have continued to sell way after its six month run was over. For some people, Super Mario 35 is one of the few reasons people bothered to subscribe to Nintendo's online service. I'm sure they're not going to see a huge dip in lost subs, but I know a lot people who loved playing it are greatly disappointed. 

Nintendo said they were celebrating Super Mario's 35th anniversary. It was awesome that they put together a classic compilation, although it could have been a much better package (which I rant about here). It was cool to see the Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch (at the time of this writing, there's no real demand for it on eBay). Super Mario 35 was a fantastic concept, but if this is a celebration, why take that all away from us? I get limited copies of SM3DAS, as this is hardly the first time a game's had a limited run (an entire website called Limited Run Games makes its money off pressing limited runs), but WHY remove it from the eShop? WHY kill a game that everyone loves after only six months? This isn't some MMO that's had a five year run and is losing its player base, or a game like Avengers that never established its player base. These are games loved by people who love Mario, and they want to keep on celebrating him by ... playing his games!

The thing that I keep coming back to is that Nintendo continuously provides an ecosystem that scalpers thrive in. I'm pretty damn sure not a single executive is unaware of the problems with scalpers. If they've just heard about it recently, they've seen it with the NES Classic when they didn't make anywhere near enough. They actually addressed it by creating so many more SNES Classics, and trying to get one of those was still an issue. So when Nintendo does these limited availabilities, they don't benefit from them; the scalpers do. The Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition (that oddly enough only has the code) is going for around 100 dollars. Nintendo isn't seeing any of that extra money. Why not just keep making more and selling more? Why go out of their way and enact measures to limit the amount of money they can make? This is Nintendo we're talking about here, one of the greediest companies around. These are the guys who take cheap gimmicks and hardware and overcharge for them because they hate selling at a loss. These are the ones who shut down fan-made games because they're so overprotective of their legacy content. They sued go-kart organizers and used to take hefty cuts from YouTubers who played their games. But they want to limit these games and stop making money while people profit from their artificial scarcity... It's so bizarre. 

This did not feel like a celebration to me. It felt like they were trying to capitalize on people's FOMO and try to sell out of their games as fast as possible. Maybe they were trying to set a record? Maybe they're in collusion with scalpers? It just feels like extortion. Celebrations shouldn't involve pressure. They should be joyous occasions were everyone is left happy. Instead, we're left with people disappointed, scratching their heads, and still waiting on Nintendo posting that it was all a big April Fool's joke. I only hope people get their Switches soon so they don't start paying exorbitant mark ups that will inevitably come.