Random: Super Mario 3D All-Stars' Cartridge Is Rubbing People Up The Wrong Way

Nintendo life no no NOO why did you bring it up God the nintendo zombies are here huggggggg!

It is literally one of the least important things I can think of, lol.

Play the games. They're great. And you can't see the stupid cart while doing so anyway.

I'm keeping my physical copy sealed anyway so, eh. I do like that PAL cartridge better though.

Who cares? Just enjoy the game

@andyg1412 Well put.

I'm not really a stickler on the cartridge art, but wow, that does NOT look great.

Because when I play games I stare at the cartridge artwork the whole time. It's ridiculous the number of people who are addicted to outrage.

Ooh, ugly, happy I use the eShop. But, in the end, IT DOESN’T MATTER JUST PLAY THE GAME HAVE FUN AND STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT LITTLE THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember Pokemon Sword / Shield logo on EUR and USA cartridge?
Same case.

Btw, my Pokemon Sword is USA version and the logo is placed a little bit to the right and i'm okay with that.

It looks horrid but it’s a very minor complaint!

It's a thing you stick into the system and never see while playing.

But I agree, it looks awful and unbalanced and it'd get a failing grade in design school.

Ugh I noticed it immediately, and as a graphic designer/animator it made my flesh crawl lol. Funny enough, I do love the inside art, even tho it’s just screen grabs

Last straw. Returning my copy as soon as I get it in the mail today. Completely unacceptable Nintendo!

Seriously who cares

Does anyone really care about this? I spend almost no time looking at the cartridges. Nice boxart is far more important if you want to focus on the superficial stuff.

@JKRiki didnt take long for me to notice that artwork is a "who cares" is this day and age lol

Personally love seeing comparisons of japenese american and european box arts for older games, prob not your cup of tea tho

Don’t judge a game by its cartridge!

@JoeyTS not the US one anyway

I'm guessing this is because the ESRB rating has to be printed on the cartridge and by placing it on their with the image fully scaled and centered, they would be covering up part of the word Collection or All-Stars. So this is just a remedy to not cover up the image

@Soft I care... a little bit.

When I purchased my first special edition of a game I loved how it had no ratings label on the front.

Also, when I first started purchasing games in the EU instead of NA I found it frustrating the the boxes have like a little pink triangle on the bottom of the box that the NA and JPN versions don't have.

Now, does it prevent me from buying a game. No. Do I complain about it ever... not really. But does it bother me a little bit that when I put my boxes together the EU ones look different than my NA and JPN boxes... A little bit.

I went physical because a) I like the box art; and b) I have precious little space on my Micro SD card, even with archiving games as I beat them.

While cartridge art for Switch is not unimportant to me, it matters a lot less than the box art. It’s not like an SNES or Genesis game where the cartridge art is critically important because you look at it while you’re playing. Cart goes into the Switch and disappears.

That said, it really is ugly and I would have preferred any other region’s cartridge. Oh well, not a huge deal.

Oh boy, if I was an American this century...

Accidentally ordered the eShop version and Nintendo wouldn't let me exchange it for the physical version after it auto downloaded on Wednesday, even though it hadn't been released.

Just as ugly as Nintendo’s business practices.

I love all of the negative press this collection is getting, no matter how minuscule.

I mean.... it hurts my eyes to be honest, from a design point of view it looks AWFUL. But they have to do it 😬

Who cares how it looks? Its not that important. As long as it plays well and doesn't suffer from game breaking or console destroying glitches that's all that matters. Its not like you're going to have the bloody thing on display in a single case. Its not a museum piece.

@BabyYoshi12 OT but your dog is absolutely adorable.

@gcunit I can trade with you? Please?

I just want to work in quality control for Nintendo.
You see things like this and I don’t know why companies don’t hire individuals like myself with a keen eye on mistakes. Grammatical, visual, color/colour, etc. Too many mistakes can be found from big companies...

It looks that only the USA version of the game has that ugly cart. There are other versions in the american region with the ESRB stamp and the logo centered. And a different inside layout (it has sprites pictures on a white background) I don’t know wich one will I get, since the game hasn't arrive yet

All I see here is a cart variant that can be bought by collectors for outrageous prices down the road.

But does it taste good?

@booker_steve The ESRB label part has it's own signature "chalk white" flavoring. Enjoy!

Wouldn't bother me tbh, just want to play the gamez baby. I'm getting the PAL cartridge anyway.

Never change, Nintendo Life.

If you're at a point that you have to complain about a rating label on a game cartridge, your life must be pretty rosy and lacking in any struggles.

I can't read it without strong reading glasses, so it could have a picture of Russell Brand on it for all I care.

No one:
Collectors: I’m keeping the case sealed.

Jesus christ! These people are so pathetic. So many serious things going on in the world right now but stupid people throwing fits because of a bloody label you'll stare at for two seconds.

I have to admit, I legitimately don't like the NA one, shame as that is the one I will be getting. The majority of the time will be spent playing the games though, not staring at the cartridge.

I’m done with Nintendo! This is the last straw!!
😂😂

Lmaooooo I love how there’s 50 straight comments of people bravely admitting they don’t care about a 1” sticker on a nasty flavored memory card.

The real chads are in the comments going “who cares?!?!?!?”

Uh, apparently you do? Otherwise you wouldn’t comment.

Well it's ruined, just throw it out and wait for the next batch.

@TG16_IS_BAE They may have some ugly practices but there's no denying it prints money. Lots of it. Nintendo knows how to make it rain way better than any rapper I can tell you that.

@asmi8803 Should've read the warning about the pre-order cancellation window.

I have no real idea what's the issue? The E on the cart?

That's on all my carts. Is it bigger or something on this one?

@sword_9mm the E pushes the logo off center, just looks weird from a design standpoint.

Will say that it doesn't really matter to me since I'm only ever looking at my Switch cartridges when I'm staring at them in my carrying case trying to figure out what to play; but got to admit that from a graphic-design standpoint, that logo being slightly off-center does make a part of my brain want to scream.

They could put a sticker of Mario giving the middle finger for all I care. I went physical because once I go through the game(s) I intend to trade it in for a new game. I've done a really good job at cutting down the video game graveyard. I traded in Luigi's Mansion and Bayonetta 2 towards 3D All Stars and only paid about $21. Once I know I'm done with a game 100% it just sits on the shelf. After it does that it continues to sit on the shelf.

@RustedHero lol at the rapper reference, that made me laugh 'cause there's truth to what you are saying.

it matches how bad it tastes!

It is literally impossible for me to care less about this "issue."

Americans have it great. Look at the German box art for this game for the real eyesore.

The funny thing I took from this article is you have more than one "video man".
The card you rarely see.

'who cares'
I don't get why people can't just have a bit of fun laugh at the tiny things in life. The world is too depressing sometimes .

Yeah, it doesn't look great, but I pity the souls losing sleep over this triviality.

Oh yes. Those ocd-enticing 5 seconds when you move the cartridge towards your switch!!!!

Yet another massive dump from God on America in 2020....

It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what the complaint was. Smallest. Issue. Ever. Wow, some people love to find fault...

I'm expecting dozens of youtubers to make 10+ minute video essays covering this now.

I'm not sure I could tell you what the cartridge art looked like on my existing games. This stopped being something I cared about after the N64 era, i.e. the last console where the cartridge art was actually on display.

The contents should bother them more. Emulation should not have been used instead of a native port. If I wanted that I would not have to pay a dime.

People saying that stuff like this is not important is why we can't have nice things.

Of course a cover, cartridge and icon is important. It represents the freaking game.

@sword_9mm The main problem is that the Mario All Stars logo is off-center. The ESRB tag was given artistic priority, essentially.

Why do you even need the ESRB rating on the card? It's already there on the box.

This just adds to the perception that SM3DAS was a low-effort job.

I don't care about cart. A nice booklet for pics development pictures., and suck would have been nice, especially since this is a limited release.

They could release this with a N64 mini, a Gamecube Mini, and a Wii, and people would still complain.

This article is pointless.

Blame the democratic president in the 90's that made having to have ratings posted on the games for this. Me I care less, it is there and looks fine.

@Dr_Corndog You didn't need the word "perception." It was a low-effort job, though I understand that Covid likely complicated things.

@asmi8803 that's their policy as is Sony's and Xbox as well. Sorry you didn't catch it soon enough.

Before clicking the article I thought people were making a big deal out of nothing but... yeah, that's ugly.

Who gives a sh*t?

I think Nintendo's next release should come with a blank label

I mean, 'who cares?' but also, it's really funny that a large-scale company formatted something so atrociously.

@sword_9mm i guess its the mario 3d allstars logo been pushed random to the side! Not a big deal but i see how people qiuld think it looks crappy

@BenAV I ordered two copies on NintendoS website but needed to cancel one copy so I cancelled and reordered bit this time it took me to the European site and instead of physical copy it was automatically for the eshop which I didn’t notice until it started auto downloading. I know it’s in their policy, but it would be nice if there was Room for a bit of understanding on some matters of misunderstanding especially when I was taken to a different site and the this time the digital option was auto selected. Yes I could have double checked but there would be no harm in Nintendo being a decent human being. That’s my view anyway ✌️💚

@HobbitGamer I didn’t get a chance to since it auto downloaded when I turned my switch on. I thought it was the physical edition. I replied to another comment explains it a bit more. Just sometimes wish people would have a bit more heart when there’s literally no reason not to. ✌️💚

They look like fake.

Its gonna look awful now when displayed on your shelf 😂😂😂

It is ugly. But this really is not that big of a deal

Cartridge Art Brawl

@asmi8803 So were you ordering two physical copies or one physical and one digital? I'm just curious why you had to cancel an order only to reorder it. Also, it automatically took you to another country's site that you didn't buy from before?

It’s a cartridge, who cares. Just play the damn game. People complain about everything.

I bought digital. I did a google search and saw that my SNES copy of All-Stars is worth less that MSRP when I bought it, so I see no reason to buy physical. Great Game tho. I'd like to have seen Galaxy 2 and the DS remake of 64, but the 3 games you get are all classics. I don't hate Sunshine as much as I did on the NCG which is a nice surprise. If you are getting butt hurt about the sticker on your cart, you need to get a life.

Oh for crying out loud...really people?

Good grief. People are honestly so pathetic if this is what upsets them

@Casperfour exactly! So bizarre. They see one joke tweet and are immediately up in arms about a phantom army of haters intent on slandering Nintendo at all costs

@BuckXN adjust for inflation and it’s worth WAY less haha.

The Wii version used to eBay for over $100 tho

Wow when I see people complain about something like that. Only if I had their problems. #1stWorldProblems

@GannonBanned sealed? The Wii version is $35 used at gamestop

@BuckXN damn times have changed!

Let’s all complain when these little cartridges stop reading the games on them 🧐

@ryobi85

Ok after 3 replies I get it..

I guess I can see that.

Funny; look at your BOTW cart. The E is on the right and the Nintendo oval on the left instead of how all the other carts I have do it (E on the left, N oval on the right). So looks like N doesn't have a 'set in stone' design template on these things in general.

EDIT: The other carts I have are Mario/Rabbids, Mario Kart, and Zelda Link's Awakening.. Also my pre-order just showed up so I won't be getting any work done the rest of the day.

PRO -TIP!

Did you know... You can put the cartridge in you Switch system (sold separately), in the intended slot (please refer to the system manual in case of doubt) (which also happens to put the cartridge out of sight), in order to actually enjoy and watch interactively what the cartridge's real purpose is ?

I hope this tip helped some to get more enjoyment out of their games.

Wahhhh!! Cry some more.

I'm more irked that it doesn't have the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, someone like, has to pay amirite?

@Giygas_95 WHY WOULD you buy a sealed copy your not gonna sell it what a waste

this article proves that nintendo fans complain complain complain and complain over the stupidist littlist things its never enough. thank you nintendo life

@GannonBanned its the fact he used the v word as an insult. its not funny

I couldn't see what the fuss was about, the pictures in the article look identical. Not sure why I had to open Twitter to actually see what the problem was.

@NintendoPok Collector's item? They did say it's limited.

Who cares? What's inside the cartridge is what matters.

I just bought the game digitally this morning. The game is so uber cool.

I got mine and it has that problem. That means it's RARE!

Yeah, looks bad but eh. I was fortunate enough to pre-order a physical copy, but it won't be arriving on launch day, it seems. I'm tempted to get a digital copy as well, since Nintendo are Disney Vault-ing the collection which is utterly horrible. The idea of losing my cartridge and not having a way of repurchasing the game makes my stomach churn, can't believe how anti-consumer that is. Gross to reward them with two purchases, but ehhh.

I think at this point we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for reasons to hate on the game at this point. Though admittedly the PAL version does look nicer. Anyone bothered by this may need to adjust their priorities a bit.

Looks as bad the FIFA 21 Legacy Edition case.

On Atari 2600 & 7800 games where the label covered 90% of a large cartridge, I actually kind of cared about this. But a tiny card you have to keep in a case so you don't lose? I can't say I really care. In fact, I can't really visualize what the labels on most of my Switch games look like because I pop them out of the case and into the console without really looking at them.

It seems unnecessary that the ESRB mandates its rating be placed directly on the disc/cartridge.

On the other hand, it seems unnecessary that Switch cartridges have to be THAT tiny.

Yeah, the NA version looks like total crap!

Overall, I'm not too pleased with everything that I've been reading about this collection. Emulated ports of old Mario games with very little, if any improvements all sold at a premium price. In the case of Sunshine, apparently the controls are WORSE than they were on the GC. All seems like a lazy cash grab opportunity to me.

If I weren't such a huge Nintendo/Mario fan, I'd probably would have skipped this one.

Yeah NAs is a bit off putting but I’d be happy just to have the darn thing. It’s nigh impossible to find.

@NintendoPok I’m not one for shaming people who elect to remain a virgin, but the meme template the chad vs. the virgin is making fun of that mindset, not embracing it.

Not everything can be perfect silly heads

@Ulysses My dog can eat them if he wanna to

I don't really care, as you never see the cart anyway, but that is a laughably bad look. I wonder if there's an ESRB rule that mandates having that 'E' on there? Can't see why else they'd do this...

The stupidity level of this complaint is so high I think I might have a stroke just from reading it.

@personauser93,

Well everybody has to have a hobby i suppose.

@Dr_Corndog
No it's not even close to low effort. And if you honestly think that than for the good of the rest of us go outside for like 5 minutes. What this complaint is however, is a visual representation of 1st world problems. Global pandemic and economic hardship but no, this is the problem.

glad I'm using an ad blocker, I'd feel ripped off after clicking 90% of the articles here.

Wut? I don't see a difference. Is this Where's Waldo?

nvm I just saw the real image. Oof. Nintendo Seal of Quality!

Actually that's just giving a huuuuuuge scalper advantage @redd214. They'll fix that in a reprint. Limited just got limiteder!

(Edit: Scalpers & collectors/traders in general, that is.)

When I opened my case and saw that I was sent into such a depression spiral that I.... did nothing except put it in my Switch to start playing. People will complain about anything these days.

I guess the design of the American cart is kinda sorta annoying, but considering I almost never see the cartridge itself, I can easily get over that.

What bugs me a lot more is that the rating label always has to be on the front cover even though it's also on the back. Not only does it sometimes obstruct part of the artwork, it also shows that the ESRB thinks people are too stupid to look at the back before buying a game even though that never seems to be an issue with movie covers.

@Bl4ckb100d You might not want to announce that too much. Some sites can detect those services and keep you from seeing the site contents until you disable them. Don't give this site's managers any ideas.

The idea that anyone would ever - could ever - care about something so vastly unimportant is mind boggling and depressing in the extreme.

World's in fire, folks. Maybe let's be mad about that?

@Dr_Corndog I think it's in case the game gets resold or given away without the case.

I don't get it. Then again I'm old.

When they started making these smaller cartridges, that's when I stopped caring about the label arts. It's just so minimal now, you won't hardly ever notice it when you're playing the game anyways.

@RadiumCat Whoa, buddy. Lay off the caffeine.

I weep for our species.

@Dr_Corndog
I'm not on caffeine, I'm pointing out a stupid hot take made by you. As someone else said, the world's on fire right now. Do you spend that much time staring at the cartridge?

@DrDaisy I wouldn't be losing much anyway but yes, you're right

Yeah, but have you TASTED it?

I've seen postage stamps better than these labels.

@NintendoPok The ‘chad vs virgin’ meme is a parody of people that flex about getting the ladies. Ironically, those sorts of people never get the ladies.

Whoever thought this design would be ok needs to be fired.

What do you complain about when you can't whine like a little girl about the lack of a manual, God forbid some foo king extras on this dude Mario's 35th anniversary game? Why let's focus on the crap sticker on the SD card 😆

Ive seen my fair share of cartridges, growing up with only that on my 3DS (rip) but god that looks bad. Even the fifa 18 cartridge looks better. And its just the words 'fifa 18'!

Too busy playing Sunshine to care about the sticker on my cartridge.

It'll spend 99% of its life shoved somewhere or another out-of-sight, so I can deal.

mario 64 lags big time. or is it just me... galaxy and sunshine are absolutely gorgeous

Oh my gosh don't invite the entitled people here to whine.

Terrible article. Who cares.

I got the US version. That label isn't impressive no matter where your cart comes from, but the games look amazing!

@Andymad is your tv in game mode? It may help a little bit. 64 runs fine in standard and game mode on my tv so I can't say what your issue is.

The internet nitpicking over the smallest things never ceases to amaze me.

One of the big reasons many have for buying this game is for nolstagia/aesthetics/collectibility
/“nice to have” type reasons.
This would leave a bad taste for them I could imagine.

Why are people getting mad over a simple CARTRIDGE? I have a feeling that Nintendo fans during this pandemic have gone insane. Why are people getting mad over a cartridge and a simplistic title screen? The games are what you should be worried about, not the cartridge.

Slow day at nintendolife?

It doesn't bother me because when the game it fulfilling its intended purpose INSIDE a Switch, I don't see it. But I agree the NA version is hideous.

I thought the American cartridge art was going to have the D in 3D flipped around to make it look angrier.

There’s no such thing as a PAL version, it’s the European version. PAL was a standard that is now moot, which distinguished the old 50hz, 525 line SD standard that existed in Europe and other places from the 60hz, 480 line standard that existed in the US and Japan (and others). Now there is no such distinction, thankfully.

Thanks for showing me something I never would’ve noticed but will now completely ruin my enjoyment of this game.

@Giygas_95 yes but that sealed it copy is taking away from someone who can play it and brings them joy

@nessisonett its still not funny its mocking sometimes a choice and bullying

Geez, first world problems much?

Can't even see the cartridge when it's in the machine, LOL!

@RadiumCat You're making a much bigger deal out of this than I did. I really don't care much about the cart one way or the other. Just settle down a bit.

@NintendoPok Oh? Maybe collecting limited time Nintendo memorabilia brings me joy. Did you ever think of that? Nintendo has already said this game will be available till April so people have till then to purchase it. I just checked Walmart, GameStop, Best Buy, Target, and Amazon, and the only one of those where this game isn't currently available for 59.99 was Walmart.

Besides, if someone isn't a collector and just wants to play the game, guess what they can do. Download it.

@NintendoPok It’s literally not. It’s making fun of those exact bullies.

Yesterday I saw the headline to this article but I didn't open it. Went and picked up a copy and then when I opened it up I laughed because I knew exactly what the article was about.

I’ve had 3DS, DS and GBA cartridges that all suffered from this sort of thing. It’s not so bad though in the end you don’t even see it whilst you’re playing anyway. Not something to get worked up about.

I find it more annoying when we get the giant USK/FSK rating ruining the European box art. Especially as they already have a very clear PEGI rating as well!

That’s... ugh, very not pretty. Still, I don’t understand people getting ticked off about this. It’s like that one guy on Reddit getting angry they altered FLUDD’s dialogue when talking about the controls and suggested Nintendo use the same VA and buy the same recording hardware and software as in 2002 to recreate it.

First world problems

NL is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for content I see.

@Joker13z Genuine question. Are you being serious?

As an OCD American, gross.

Americans always get the best... Finally us Europeans get SOMETHING good....

Hahaha, people just can't stop complaning complaining for the game collection we all been wanting. What is next??? The cartridge is not the usual flavor from the other ones??? Lol =XD

@XCWarrior damn i kinda didnt ask

I never thought i’d see the word “virgin” in Nintendo life

I mean, this is the kind of thing you get to complain about when we've solved world hunger, destroyed all military weapons and live in balanced harmony with the earth and each other... Then again, I guess you would probably not be bothered by anything like this if these conditions were being met.

@Tuney Well the DS had a title called Lola and Virginia, but I suppose that's the closest.

@Qphlat27 God no lmao

This is the most stupid hot take of a stupid hot take.

It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. Such a little thing.

I had to go look at the cards in my Switch game case, and there they were, all these big "E" symbols, except for Tukok and Ninja Saviors, which are "M" and "T".

1st world problems.

Who flipping cares?! It goes into the console and only comes out when I'm good and dinner with it. At that point, I'll either sell it for a reasonable price to a neighbor or friend who will definitely play it, I NEVER mark up my games, or it'll go into residence as part of my nostalgic collection.

Maybe bc they have to put the ESRB rating on the thing lol....geez yall are annoying

Welcome to first world problems 101

Although the placement did bother me when I first saw it, what bothers me far more is when Switch game cards are called cartridges. That is a far more egregious error, as the technologies are completely different. Game cards are flash memory devices that are locally read, while cartridges are actual conductor boards that fit directly into the printed circuit board.

@Dr_Corndog The rating is mandated to be on the card itself because game cases are sometimes lost or discarded. Used games also sometimes only include the card or disc, so there would be no way for the user or parent to know what the game's rating is without it being on the medium itself.

I got the physical edition here in the UK and in the words of Kramer "I'm loving every minute of it".

As for Switch games in general, I preferred the days when I had a big chunky cartridge that made a nice clunky sound when I put it in the console. N64 style.

Wow, I just looked at it myself, and it sure looks off at that angle. Should of just removed the ESRB rating off of it entirely.

I’m a 100% digital collector with over 2000 Switch games in my collection and its discrepancies like this that make me glad I made that decision. For the record, my Switch, 3DS, Wii U, PS4 and Vita collections are entirely digital.