The Problem Nobody Wants To Admit About Nintendo

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Even in the current cycle of Switch success, Nintendo still seems to be going to great pains to shoot themselves in the foot rather than capitalising on their momentum.

Take Super Mario 3D All-Stars, for example. Fans have been clamouring for decades at this point for remakes or remasters of the classic Mario 3D titles such as Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and Galaxy 2, so when 3D All-Stars was first teased, fans were justifiably thrilled. Until they learned the finer details, that is.

The collection features only the most barebones remastering work, has next to no additional content beyond the core games, skips Galaxy 2 entirely, and - wait for it - is a limited time release which will be taken round the back and shot in March 2021.

Similarly, the online subscription-only title Super Mario Bros. 35 - a battle royale title in the vein of the wildly popular Tetris 99 - pits 35 players against one another in a last-man-standing version of the 8-Bit classic; what's not to like?

Well, the fact that this game, too, will be forcibly retired in early 2021.

Surely such titles as these should be made as widely available as possible for the longest time imaginable, correct? Of course not; this is Nintendo we're talking about.

Madness, Nintendo... Utter madness. Maybe they're just allergic to money, or something.