Why is Super Mario 3D All-Stars only Available until March 31st?

After long awaited rumors, The Super Mario 3D All-Stars is coming for the Nintendo Switch. It will contain Super Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Galaxy 1... no Galaxy 2. The collection will be available September 18th, 2020 but is only purchasable until March 31st 2021.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars | Nintendo Switch | Games | Nintendo

The limited sale date is infuriating many people only. This is one of the first occurrences from a Major gaming company to clearly state a game launch is limited. Why would Nintendo do something like this?

The Nintendo Vault?

People are comparing it to the Disney Vault. The Disney Company would release their popular movies for a limited time on VHS. It would be sold for a premium price and it would be greatly marketed to kids so that they can beg their parents for the movies before it isn’t available. The Classic Movies wouldn’t be available for sale until several years later so the rush was significant.

March 31st, 2020 is the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year. Businesses start their business years starting on April 1st to March 31st rather than January 1st. Profits are broken up by quarters which is every 3 months. Despite Animal Crossing New Horizon being the biggest game of 2020 (so far), the game released in March so it counts for 2019 new game sales, not 2020.

Top 10 New Switch Games Of 2020 - Gameranx

2020 itself has been a poor fiscal year for Nintendo in terms of release. Despite Xenoblade Chronicle: Definitive Edition selling extremely well, it doesn’t have the wide appeal as a Mario, Legend of Zelda, or Smash Bros. Game. With a new generation console coming out, the Switch needs to do something to show off their profits before the holidays. My thinking is Super Mario 3D All- Stars is limited to boost sales number for the rest of the year. The game is limited physically and digitally until March 31st which would make fans feel like they need to buy the game now before it disappears for a long time similar to the Disney Vault.

Nintendo confirms Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Switch

Nintendo Fiscal Year Analysis

Super Mario 3D World+Bowser’s Fury isn’t available until February 21st, 2021 so Nintendo has no other big franchise release with a confirmed release date until then. There’s Pikmin 3 but for the 3rd quarter but Super Mario 3D All Stars definitely feels like a “break glass in case of emergency” game. This is just my opinion on why the game is coming for a limited release. It is a bold strategy from Nintendo. While many people are mad on the internet, it won’t matter if the sales numbers come through. Bad publicity is still good publicity.

Game Giants Ep: 23.5 – Kissanime Shut Down, Fall Guys Season 2, Nintendo Switch 2, and more

Wow, two podcasts in 1 month. It can happen! This week, Jairus and I talk about the end of Kissanime and what it means for Anime viewers, Fall Guys Season 2, the new Nintendo Switch, and Animal Crossing.

Jairus: https://twitter.com/jairuscambe

YouTube

Ben: https://twitter.com/BenJLe

Website: NewsforGamers.net

The Last of Us Part 2 Review: Does it Deserve the Hate?

It’s been 7 years since The Last of Us for PlayStation 3. It released at the end of the PlayStation 3 era and now its sequel is finally out as the PlayStation 4 is starting to reach the end of its life cycle. However, many leaks of the game of the story ruined the story and it created a lot of hate for The Last of Us Part 2, but is the game as bad as they say?

Story

The story’s themes focus on revenge and perspective as you play through Ellie during the first half of the game. She seeks to avenge Joel after his death at the hands of the WLF otherwise known as Wolves. She is assisted by her girlfriend Dina and her friend Jesse later in her portion. Unlike in the original, Ellie is the main focus rather than focusing on the pair. Her quest feels generally warranted and the game makes you feel just as angry and vengeful as she does which the story creators did well. As the story progresses, you get to see how far Ellie is willing to go, sometimes at the detriment of her friends’ well being.

The Last of Us 2: Joel Tells Ellie The Truth - YouTube

The second half focuses on Abby, a WLF who killed Joel after he murdered her dad in the first game. Unlike the first part of the game, Abby’s portion focuses on her and just what type of person as well as the conflict between the WLF and Scars. Scars are religious fanatics who scar their face and don’t believe in using tech. It helps players understand her POV more; however, it’s understandable that a lot of players will not feel empathetic towards her as the creators wanted.

Abby Is The Best Character In 'The Last Of Us Part 2' (Spoilers ...

The game story is about 25 hours and it feels long. Towards the end, I felt the story was dragging; especially into areas where I felt it was unnecessary personally. Although the quest for revenge is understandable, the late portions of the game feel unrealistic and doesn’t justify the part well. Despite this, I truly cared for Ellie and Abby’s well being throughout the game despite me disagreeing with their actions. I felt as though they could have shortened some portions of the game which would not have lessened the story in any ways.

There were a few characters that weren’t used very well or at all despite being built up throughout the story. It was really disappointing to see two characters that were referenced throughout the game have little to no impact. Their presence was mentioned throughout the game but when it came time for time to show up, they died like nothing.

Gameplay

The Last of Us Part 2’s gameplay feels like a more refined version of the original which is good. Guns, sneaking, crafting, and upgrades feel relatively the same as last time but with more content. I didn’t feel as though I was dramatically weaker in the beginning which is good because it always feels frustrating in sequels when you have to depower and work your way to becoming as good as you were.

The Last of Us Part 2 Gameplay Preview | Turtle Beach Blog

There are new types of guns towards the halfway point in the game but everything will still feel greatly similar if you played the first game

I will ding the game for feeling too easy. Despite some failures at sneaking, I never felt threatened throughout the game. I could have increased the difficulty to hard.

Many enemies felt reused after a while. Despite being a sequel, there wasn’t that many enemy variations. Besides 2 new clicker types, most human enemies were the same except for the hammer Scars and the Arrow Scars. You get use to it fast and soon it feels like a flow rather than you having to think too hard.

Graphics

The game is actually gorgeous. It captures the rainy weather of Seattle as well as making many areas standout. From the green outsides to the damaged ruin building, a lot of places pop and stand out more compared to the original. The frame rate never dropped and ran consistently throughout the game on a standard PlayStation 4. Despite people saying this game was too gory online, it didn’t seem that way at all. It felt exactly like the first game so I’m not sure what people are complaining about online.

Overall

I think the game is pretty solid. Gameplay is good if you enjoy the previous game and although the story has its issues (which are glaring), I think the game doesn’t deserve the hate.

For me, the game is a 7.5/10

Game Giants Episode 22.5: The Comeback

We are back! Thanks for waiting for the latest episode. This week we talked about Jairus’ job ventures, Fall Guys from Devolver, The Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Tetris 99, BNA, Beaststars, Avatar The Last Airbender.

Also there are spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 Ending and the Attack of Titan Manga.