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Vice: Nintendo's likely reason for stopping the sale of games such as Super Mario 3D All Stars is to juice sales

Samiya

Samiya

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Reporting by Patrick Klepek:

In a year of COVID delays, Nintendo has announced a handful of games recently, including Super Mario 3D All-Stars (a collection of 3D Mario games), Super Mario 35 (a Mario-themed riff on battle royale), and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light (a localization of the first Fire Emblem). Those are all different games from one another, but what all of them have in common is that Nintendo will stop selling them on the same date: March 31, 2021.

There's not some bulky special edition that's being phased out, either. At the end of March 2021, Nintendo claims they will remove these games from their own digital storefronts. They're disappearing, and so far, Nintendo has yet to provide a fully coherent explanation for what's going on here.
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March 31 is the cut-off date for the fiscal year:
So, why March 31? Does Nintendo know something we don't? Is the world coming to end on next year's April Fools Day? March 31 is an important day on the calendar of Nintendo and a lot of other video game companies because it signals the end of their fiscal year. There's a reason many video games that are delayed past the holidays conveniently arrive before the end of March; it's to maximize sales and profits before having to answer to shareholders.
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One suspected reason is to create artificial scarcity and instill a sense of urgency in consumers who then feel like they have to go out and buy the products before they disappear
"This strategy is sure to create urgency amongst Switch users to purchase content and avoid missing out on the experience," said Futuresource Consulting gaming analyst Morris Garrard, "fuelled also by the media attention the strategy is already garnering."

Called out in my own reporting? This is a new one.

"Imposing these time restrictions is expected to aid these limited-edition games in cutting through the noise," said Garrard.
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One anonymous developer chimed in:
"They have data that shows that rereleases of games tend to wither on wishlists," said a developer who's been involved with publishing several games on Switch, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not permitted to publicly discuss their meetings with Nintendo. "The manufactured FOMO [fear of missing out] helps them get those sales, or so they think."
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More at the link: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgq...-selling-multiple-games-in-march-2021-but-why



Lock if old, I couldn't find a thread that mentioned Klepek's article
 
formasymphonic

formasymphonic

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tenor.gif
 

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Personal opinion: they will start selling the three games separately this year.

But, keep in mind that I just bought All-Stars entirely because of FOMO.
 
Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

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Oct 25, 2017
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Rosebud said:
I don't get it, it would for sure sell a LOT more with time.
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I think their data probably says otherwise.

The main audience for people buying 3D All-Stars probably isn't casual families who just want a Mario game - there's already several more recent ones on the system filling that market. It's mostly older, nostalgic users who want to revisit an old favorite - but might not value that experience at $60. This arbitrary deadline hypothetically forces those users to bite the bullet, rather than wait for a sale.
 
Rosebud

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Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

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I would've happily picked it up if it included Galaxy 2.

Hell, I would have picked up a $60 Galaxy 1/2 bundle. 64 & Sunshine just don't have that sort of value to me.
 
DNAbro

DNAbro

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Oct 25, 2017
25,958
I mean yeah, but you won't convince me that that it's a short sighted move. Nintendo games sell at full price for years, seems dumb of them to cut off revenue.
 
Sirhc

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Hasn't made a thread yet. Shame me.
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I mean...no shit. These games aren't gone forever, juice them sales then bring them back solo as download only to pick up the stragglers.
 
mael

mael

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"They have data that shows that rereleases of games tend to wither on wishlists," said a developer who's been involved with publishing several games on Switch, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not permitted to publicly discuss their meetings with Nintendo. "The manufactured FOMO [fear of missing out] helps them get those sales, or so they think."
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That part actually makes sense.
It's even true for VC games, there's some shit I never would have bought for money that's part of the VC service and I probably would have bought some on the last days before the closing of the store.

It's still shitty but I get why that's a thing.
 
Morrdji

Morrdji

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It's really dishonest. Find it kind of disgusting way of business even if it's a worthy package.
 
RailWays

RailWays

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No shit. Do people really think they aren't going to release 64, sunshine or galaxy again in the future?
 
blueredandgold

blueredandgold

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Read about a watch from the 70s or 80s this week, only a finite amount ever created. Pre-orders opened, sold out in no time.

Heh, time.
 

Deleted member 1839

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Tobor said:
Which Disney has given up on and are just putting everything on Disney +.

Maybe Nintendo should consider Nintendo + ?
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iirc someone on here in the tech speculation thread mention/hinted that an upgraded NSO is suppose to come this year. Would be hilarious if these were the first games to be on it.
 
Joffy

Joffy

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Oct 30, 2017
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Well they ain't got me. specifically decided not to buy the mario collection when it was announced as timed, don't want to support it and the fomo fades pretty fast
 
Dyle

Dyle

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Tobor said:
Which Disney has given up on and are just putting everything on Disney +.

Maybe Nintendo should consider Nintendo + ?
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They gave up because the home video market largely collapsed, Disney would have kept doing it if they made enough money. There are few indications that would be a problem with video games
 
OP
OP
Samiya

Samiya

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I hope that the other major companies in the games industry do not start emulating this, it's really horrid shit.
 
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