At last the time has come that many Nintendo fans looked towards with dread. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is going away, and though sales of it and its fellow limited games soared this week, it is likely they aren't coming back.
Today raps up the long celebration of Mario's 35th anniversary that began with the release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario Bros. 35, and the Super Mario Game & Watch device. It was announced during the release that these games would only be available for a limited time, and today is the end of that time slot. Even as it removes the games, Nintendo attempts to let its fans know how thankful it is.
Nintendo released a Tweet thanking its fans for celebrating the 35th anniversary of Mario and urging them to "continue to... enjoy Mario and friends' adventures." In other situations, this would be a heartening and no doubt well received, but in this situation it is much the opposite. While Nintendo defended its decision for limited releases, fans did not appreciate it and repeatedly objected. Nevertheless, the games are gone, and Nintendo's Tweet rings hollow in the ears of many gamers who objected either solely out of principle, or because they could not or did not purchase the games in the allotted time.
Despite Nintendo promising that limited releases will not be a regular strategy and the fact that only a few games are leaving, fans are not mollified. Many of the replies to the Tweet are plays on a meme started earlier about Mario dying on March 31. For the most part, this is not true, as no other games are leaving and Super Mario 3D All-Stars will still be playable, as will Super Mario Game & Watch.
However, there are undeniable problems with this approach. Despite being a digital product, Super Mario 3D All-Stars has been given artificial scarcity. This has led to the same problems that often accompanies scarcity with games. For example, All-Stars is already being scalped on eBay, and will likely continue in secondary sales for outrageous prices.
Furthermore, with no new players coming in, support for Super Mario Bros. 35 will be totally gone, and it's not the only one. Support for Super Mario Maker (the original) is also being discontinued, eliminating many levels that took players a long time to craft. All of this continues to illustrate Nintendo's exclusivity problem, and despite the company's promises, it may get worse before it gets better.