Just last week, gaming blog Coffee With Games reported that Nintendo would be ceasing production and distribution of the Metroid Prime Trilogy compilation in the US. Now, several sites are reporting that the company is laying off even more games, some of which haven't even blown out their first birthday candle yet.
According to the blog, Nintendo is no longer producing or distributing Wario Land: Shake It, Mario Strikers Charged or Battalion Wars 2 in the US. And North America is far from the only region to see cuts as Aussie site Vooks reports that Down Under will be seeing no more of Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
So does this mean the end of New Play Control Metroid, of which the Trilogy was a compilation of in the first place? Yes, for the time being, according to Nintendo:
At this time, a New Play Control version of the Metroid Prime games has not been announced for release here in North America. More importantly, we do not have any information that tells us this game will or won't be announced...
If Nintendo hasn't canned these games in your region yet, expect them to do so shortly. We suggest taking that next paycheck or allowance to pick them up before they disappear and leave you at the mercy of potentially gouged second-hand prices.
[source coffeewithgames.blogspot.com, via vooks.net]
Comments 69
Bowser Inside Story? Already?
...
Glad everything stays in Europe.
I need Wario Land, and I'll get Bowser's Inside Story as soon as I'll get one of these new DSi which should come sooner or later.
Why is Nintendo ceasing to produce all of these games?
Just think of Sony, who kept producing PS2-games since now.
I don't like this trend. :/ Could it suggest that the next Nintendo console is closer than we thought, or am I reading too much into this?
@Machu: Probably means they'll be filling the shelves with lots of new games this year. :3
If only the wii platform was able to offer full downloadable games, this wouldn't matter. The back and midlist titles have long suffered at retail.
Still, it seems like there will-must-eventually be a player's choice series of titles, re-released at the $20 pricepoint.
And metroid, wario, and strikers (maybe fire emblem?) would be a great way to start things off.
@Machu: This is not a new trend, nor does it necessarily mean Nintendo is about to roll out a new console anytime soon. Just means they're not seen as profitable enough to keep up production or something along those lines. Excite Truck got dumped too a while back.
I'm glad I got them all, on release. =)
Makes me surprised Excite bots is still being sent out.
I mean I guess it makes sense to stop making copies of a game that's a few years old and not selling, but Bowser's Inside Story and Metroid Trilogy? Those games aren't even a YEAR old.
Gotta Catch Em All? I haven't seen Prime Trilogy for quite some time in the stores though I haven't looked in some of the bigger stores. Christmas probably cleared out a lot of the remaining stock. Battalion Wars 2 & Wario Land: Shake it would be worth owning too if the price was right.
If they stop producing NSMBW, then I can be sure that something is up.
I hate to think what MPT will be priced at on eBay. I should have gotten it earlier.
Maybe they are going to start releasing a player's choice series??
I got to find Wario land fast!
Okay, Bowser's Inside Story is my next purchase. I know I'm in the UK, but you just don't know how Nintendo's working at the moment...
A Players Choice series would be SAWEET! None of the titles getting dropped are really shockers though except for BIS! All you Aussies with DS's...get to a store ASAP (unless, of course, you already own BIS, in which case, feel free to play it).
CRAP! more games i can't afford that i have to buy now because i won't be able to get them later. that's just great!
@pixelman and panda: K thnx guys!
I have BWii, but need to grab Wario some time. While I'm here, might I just say.... "WHERE IS MY EXCITEBOTS?!?!"
What the...I wonder why they are doing all of this? Which reminds me I should have picked up Metroid Prime Trilogy for $20 when I had the chance (even though it would have put in the hole). Oh well, I just need to pick it up soon since there will be no more of it soon.
Dang.
I picked up Wario Land early, and just recently grabbed Strikers and BW2. But I neglected getting MPT yet--it didn't even come out 6 months ago! If I had known, I would've grabbed a pile of them at $20 before Christmas. Now I'm going to have to scramble.
Hearing about Metroid Prime Trilogy was disappointing - but since I really haven't been able to afford the game it wasn't a big deal. But Warioland Shake It was on sale recently and I chose something else... had I known, probably would've changed the decision. Oh well!
It's good to see more core gam-es being dumped in favor of more potential shovelware like Wii Fit Plus Activity-Z or what-ever-the-hell Nintendo are planning next. It also proves that the Wii is for casuals and fanboys because no-one wants to touch anything related to proper game play on the system.
I think this is some kind of a marketing strategy. See, if people are afraid of not being able to buy some games they haven't already bought, there is a higher chance of people paying for them, full price. So gamers who heard the news can been manipulated into handing over their hard-earned money to The Big N.
Anyone can spend their money as they wish but I think Nintendo is messing with our heads. An example: the company is giving out press releases about how bad they are suffering from piracy, yet they are one of the best earning companies in the world. Manufacturing a copy of a game costs very little money, but it's retail price is 20+ dollars. I don't understand how does stopping the production of a new game (less than a year old) increase the profits so much to justify it. Someone will buy a copy eventually.
Maybe Nintendo really is preparing to launch a new console that would have download-only games. This could kill piracy and increase profits.
I think that if ones friend has a game he/she hasn't played, they could just borrow it. Why is not owning a game so bad?
Wario Land is one of my favourite Wii games - grab it while you can everyone!
@pixelman: As lovely as that sounds, they're probably just cutting production of games that aren't selling high numbers in order to save money.
Wario Land,wait for me!
I hate that games have such a short shelf life. I remember in my younger days when I used to have to save up for games - I'd spend months collecting enough to buy a new titles and, by the time I had enough, it had been discontinued from sale.
After the arrival of ebay, I spent years trying to catch up on some old titles I missed. I wish games were just available forever
As you smart cookies have said, it's very rare for Nintendo to reprint titles other than the really big ones - Brain Training, New Super Mario Bros., Wii Sports Resort etc. In fact, I'd wager they're not printing Super Mario Galaxy, Punch Out!! and dozens of other titles.
Of course, other format holders wait to reprint on a classics/platinum line, but Nintendo doesn't seem interested in that this generation, probably wary it'll be seen as devaluing their product. Whoever made the Disney comparison in another thread (I forget, sorry), you're spot on.
Blarg, BIS gone in Australia already? I can't afford this stuff right now so I guess it'll be E-Bay in the future for me
Yeah, I can't believe BIS is stopping in Aussieland already... must have had really bad sales or something...
I have all of those except BW 2
What it means is all these Games "New & Sealed" will fetch a high price in the future
hope they wont be axing the online support for said games anytime soon
No more Wario Land? OK, now I'm officially getting it!
WHAT?! No more Wario Land here, no more BIS Down Under?
Way to be a bunch of ass clowns, Nintendo. Wario Land Shake It sells pretty well here, and Bowser's Inside Story sells amazingly worldwide.
And they're not even collector's editions. What a complete dick move.
Thankfully, my grandparents have a copy of Shake It at their house, so they'll let me steal it
No more BIS is BS.
no more warioland? weak...
WHAT O.O
great im already getting 3 ps3 games
2 wii games and one 360 game next month and now i find out wario land shake it is going to stop coming to stores i better get all 3 of those titles though i have no interest well i do just not so much in the rest of the titles mention above writes it down
like dang as if 2010 didnt drain my wallet enough as it is
Gamers Metroid Prime Trilogy is a Collectors Edition as in it's supposed to be in limited stock as for Wario Land Shake it and Battalion Wars 2 there not as successful as other games so after "A YEAR" there axing it we shouldn't worried as for Mario Luigi Bowser's Inside Story well i'm panicking right now but after reading carefully it sad from Non-Nintendo reports so it's not 100% legit plus only Australia aka Down Under have that problem even do i think it's a huge mistake on their behave.
Glad I picked up BIS with a pre-order.
I wonder if Super Paper Mario is soon to follow, it is difficult to find around here right now.
Shake it was one of the best Wario games in a long time. It's world's better than Wario World (Game Cube). Besides that and the really old GameBoy titles, pretty much everything else in the Wario franchise (Warioware) is cheap collections of minigames.
Luigi's Mansion, Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, PacMan World 2 + Vs, Smah Brothers Melee, Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Wario World, and many others were later included in the "Player's Choice" series, and they all continued to sell fairly well throughout the remainder of the Game Cubes life. When I finally made the jump from my old retro systems to the Game Cube in 2004, many of those titles were already available in Player's Choice editions. Yet 3+ years into the life of the Wii, we still have not seen any price cuts on major 1st party titles. I believe a price cut is exactly what they need to boost sales, and will probably land them a small increase in profit based on their current prices. $30 would not be an unreasonable price to pay for Galaxy as Galaxy II looms closer and closer to the horizon.
@Prosody: "Whoever made the Disney comparison in another thread (I forget, sorry), you're spot on." Hey, thanks
Geez... and I just ran out to get MPT... now im gonna have to get shake it too? Geez nintendo... uncool
This is nothing new... Nintendo has been stopping productions of various games for time.
Electroplankton. Tetris DS. WarioWare Touched. Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Endless Ocean. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
I'm sure there's plenty more that fell off the radar that people probably don't even remember.
Oh c'mon!
I can understand Nintendo axing Metroid Prime Trilogy but Mario Strikers Charged? Wario Land: Shake It!? Battalion Wars 2? Come on Nintendo!
I need to buy these games quickly before they die out.
@ReZon: But all of the great games on GC and GBA were still on the shelves even after the consoles were discontinued.
Is this some kind of joke to make us buy more games that arin't selling. I mean what's the problem! Even if it's not selling there should as many games on the wii as possable in my opinon, would sony do this this to the PS3 or microsofe to the 360 NO! Nintendo just got to be differant! I'm getting tired of tring to stand by nintendo when problems like this keep poping up. JEST LEAVE THE GAMES ALONE MAN!!
Ok, lets pretend for a second that you are a smart businessman. You have 10 individual products on the shelf and two of them have only sold, say, 5 units in the last year while most of the others are selling that many a week. You have 10x stock of all of the products in the back room. These products can sit on the shelf forever and not spoil.
Do you make more of the poorer selling products? That's all Nintendo are doing here. I think the fact that just about everyone here has said "I should go out and get it before its sold out" says it all.
I already got Battalion Wars 2, Wario has nothing on Marina Liteyears, and I don't like motion-controlled soccer video games unless I can use my feet.
This is the result of Nintendo letting all the flippin shovelware sell on their system. You dont see it going anywhere. Heck you cant even find a copy of any of these game because they are hidden behind shovelware. All those hardcore abandoning the Wii..... well that doesnt help either. Ive said (to MUCH hatre toward me on this site for the last year) that if Nintendo didnt stop the shovelware it would flood into their own market. NSMB Wii didnt top charts across the world for month and it should have, that was a big tell tell. Nintendo is top of system sales charts for sure, but the shovelware is taking away from the first party sales. So many Nintendo gamers (new gamers) are not core gamers, they play what looks cool in the box and CHEAP and its flooding Nintendos market. Thing is, this could hurt Nintendo in the future markets as well. These core gamers that have always been there for Nintendo time and again may not show up for the next home console. That is buisness talk and I know Im getting hate for it, but its the truth. I spent nearly ten years in Corporate Buisness Sales, so I know a little about it.
ahh i was playing on getting 3 of the 4 games that are getting the boot
BIS is an awesome game, Aussies! Get it while you can! (I can't belive that's going too. It didn't even have a year!)
BIS is an awesome game, Aussies! Get it while you can! (I can't belive that's going too. It didn't even have a year!)
in my country that games are everywhere, i don´t worry.
I already got Wario Land and Mario Strikers Charged, so I'm set.
Why start doing this kind of crap now? This is stupid.
Oh again, Nintendo screwing Austalia even more, and they wonder why we downlaod our games..
@ 9: Exitebots isn't even out in Europe yet!
@36.Odnetnin: I was just about to say that.
Even glader I got Bowser's Inside Story for Chirstmas. Still havn't gotten the chance to finish it though. So far it's fantastic.
I mean, it can't be selling THAT poorly, can it?
@59.Wiiman94: I think this is happening because people pirate games.
Well, I guess it's about time to finally pick up Metroid Prime Trilogy. I better get it soon with my Christmas money.
I have all the games being cut bar BW2, which I had been considering. Guess I'll be looking out for it next time I shop in the US... if it's still there.
Argh, Nintendo is just been ticking me off recently. I don't know why, they just have.
This is my big burning question: Where do they store all these games, I'd really love to know if there's old games consoles hanging around in warehouses. I'm extremely interested in finding out...
Does this interest anyone? or am I living in a dream world?
@PJ.... dude they dont store them. They cut the DS version of Mario and Luigi Partner in Time and its VERY hard to track down, so I recommend grabbing BIS if you dont already have it, its incredible and will be extremely hard to find as its not been in production long at all.
Meh. Wario Land and Battalion Wars will float around for YEARS - they're never going to be popular. And Mario Strikers - there are millions of 'em in the wild. It's a very good, and surprisingly popular (well, surprising here in the states - but of course, if anyone can make soccer interesting, fun, fast paced, and high scoring, it's Super Mario) game, so I bet it'll be easy to find anyway.
What's shocking to me is the fact that apparently Nintendo was still printing discs for these year-old games.
I believe that MPT was released in limited quanities and not enough people bought it for them to constantly restock shelves. As for, say, Wario Land Shake It, I think even de Blob outsold that game.
It made me smile for a moment, a quality 3rd party game outselling a quality Nintendo game that were released on the same day.
Just got Wario Land... now to get BIS before it stops being produced in the US.
Ouch...I don't exactly have that much disposable income (hides Mac mini and shoves iPod touch research out of sight) << >> but I try to make sure that if there's a game coming out that I know for a fact will be a great experience but will have a limited run, I purchase it and then put it away. Personally I thought that Wario Land: Shake It was on shelves long enough for Nintendo to gauge customer demand, and the same can be said for BWii and Fire Emblem. Side note: I REALLY need to take the time and finish those games.
Someone stated above that one of the reasons for the discontinuations is to clear shelves for more software. With Tales of Graces, Arc Rise Fantasia, Metroid: Other M, Tatsunoko and others coming soon that seems like a good reason. I had a long paragraph which was meant to answer Pj's question regarding surplus inventory but Slapshot made a good point in saying that by cutting supply at the right time there could be little surplus to worry about.
Great Nintendo, just great =.= There goes the money i was going to give you.
I more surprised they are still selling Super Mario Strikers Charged for $40 or $50 than I am they are discontinuing it. I mean, come on, it's a 3 year old game at new game prices. The Wii has been out for over 3 years now and where are the Players Choice titles? Who the heck is going to pay full MSRP for a 3 year old title? I clearly remember the day the Gamecube dropped to $199, I bought it and Sunshine, Starfox Adventures, Luigi's Mansion all for $20 or $30. The Wii is now $199, where are the Players Choice titles? Hello?
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