The Last Thing Gaming Needs is Limited Window Digital Purchasing

For many months, a collective, often hilariously needy group of Nintendo fans have been tirelessly demanding a collection of 3D Mario games to be put on the Switch. Given the state of official retro Nintendo offerings on the platform, it makes sense. Yet, just in time for the 35th anniversary of the world’s favorite plumber, Nintendo announced that Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a real thing. The game packages upscaled versions of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. However, one detail stood out more than any other in the group of announcements in the otherwise exciting Nintendo Direct video. Apparently, Super Mario 3D All-Stars will only be available for purchase between its release date on September 18th and the end of March 2021. 

Initially, I shrugged off this detail, chalking it up to being a timed window for a physical release. Yet, there it is on the official Nintendo website, “Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be available as a limited-run retail edition and a digital edition that is available for a limited time until the end of March 2021.” 

We’ve seen timed releases before, notoriously with classic Disney films, but this is the first time in a long time that I’ve seen this as a digital video game release, maybe even the first. In typical Nintendo fashion, we get delightful news that stirs the inner child but then there’s this colossal scowling moon over what should be a celebration, a moon that delightfully laughs as the clock starts to tick. 

Video game preservation is tough enough as it is but adding in major releases from one of the biggest creators in the industry is something that should be pointed out and outright rejected. Nintendo typically marches to their own drums but this is outright unnecessary and about as anti-consumer as it comes. 

We do not need this trend in games.

What pains me the most is that I’ll buy the damn game. I’ll put in a pre-order at Target or something and gleefully split open the packaging to run around Isle Delfino to harass the locals with a squirt gun. I’ll pay the sixty dollars that I otherwise would loathe spending on almost any other franchise. Nintendo knows this. They understand players like me completely and they’re exploiting it. 

Could enough of a rise be created for Nintendo to notice and rescind their digital release window? Probably not. Does it still irritate me? Absolutely.