Nintendo reiterates plans to pull Mario 35th anniversary products from sale in March
Including Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch
Nintendo has reiterated plans to pull several Mario products from sale at the end of March 2021.
The products in questions were announced in September 2020 as part of the Nintendo mascot’s 35th birthday celebrations.
They include compilation package Super Mario 3D All-Stars, last-man-standing Switch Online game Super Mario 35, and Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch.
“The Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary campaign will end at the end of March 2021,” Nintendo said on Monday. “With the end of the campaign, the production, sales and services of some products will also end.”
In an interview with Polygon in December, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser discussed the company’s decision to remove the products from sale.
“There are various ways that we’re celebrating Mario’s 35th. And with some of these titles, we felt it was an opportunity to release them for a limited period of time,” he said.
“They’ve done very, very well. Super Mario 3D All-Stars has sold over 2.6 million units in the US alone. And so clearly, consumers have been able to jump in and enjoy that. And it’s not strategy that we’re going to be using widely, but it’s one we thought was very unique for the actual anniversary.”
Asked about consumers who buy a Switch after March 31, Bowser said: “Yeah, at this point, the decision was really made around that celebration feature and aspect. I can’t speak to plans beyond the end of March.”
Nintendo recently localised the original Fire Emblem for release in the west for the first time. However, like the aforementioned Mario products, the game will only be on sale until the end of Fire Emblem’s 30th anniversary on March 31.
