Dang69

Does anyone know if they actually sold out of the CE and amiibo on Amazon USA? They never were in stock. Went from unavailable to temporarily out of stock in a page refresh.

This trailer did nothing for me...am I the only one?

@AtlanteanMan You almost could add Sonic to that list of unused stuff, really. It's been like one game (Racing) in over 4 years.

Pessimistic and expecting the worst. Would be nice to be proven wrong but Nintendo is not hungry right now plus they can barely tie their shoes while working at home.

Seems like a good program if you're a young kid trying to get into making games. But if you're older, meh. I ordered this for my gf's kid who wants to be a game designer/programer when she grows up.

Worried about the likelihood of all the music NOT being present in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

@Ralizah Try the demo! It's on the eshop. I played it for 5 minutes and was so charmed I preordered the special edition! I saw one review for it today that complained about the controls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8xeYSj8njI

Why did I have to be born so late?

@Dringo I think you're making that number up. If it increased week to week by sales of 276 percent, and you're saying the increase lead to a sales difference of 900 copies then the previous weeks sales would only have been 239.36 copies. That doesn't sound right. I'm getting "my uncle works at Nintendo vibes" from you right now.

@Dringo BUT in fairness, when All Stars came out, there was only one other Mario platformer on the shelves, right? And Super Mario World was probably already a pack in game with your SNES? But if she bought it around the time Yoshi's Island was out, then that All Stars cart should have had Mario World included in it with the 4 other games it as well. Or am I confusing my release dates?

"But the idea Nintendo did something as short sighted as stopped selling a game early because they wanted to have a better quarter is even more ridiculous. They would have made more money off that game if they kept it on sale. It may have taken longer, but overall install base would have been higher. All for what? A slightly better financial result over one quarter... that’s daft."

Lol I agree, but that doesn't mean they didn't still choose to do it. So as of Dec 2020 the game sold 8 million. BUT in the final week of sales, in the UK the game spiked to 276% sales from previous weeks. What I'm saying is yeah it's a dumb decision for the long term, but in the short term it definitely drove sales up, and gave them definite BIG numbers to juice up both their 3rd and 4th quarter sales. It gave them a predictably safe BIG selling game, no matter what else got delayed, or no matter how people's pocket books may have been due to COVID. It was a safe bet to protect their stock in the short term, at the sacrifice of bigger, slower sales in the ling term. It was their way to play to play it safe with guaranteed huge sales in an unpredictable year. They aren't worried about taking the hit on more sales in the long term since they could have easily reversed the decision if it hadn't have worked out well for them. Safe bet. The did the same thing again with FE as a test run I'm sure, not because of COVID, but prob to see if they could apply the same strategy to a niche game and boost sales that way.

@Dringo It's possible Nintendo sees it that way but that'd be foolish...if you're into 3D as a kid rn or an adult, you're not gonna stop at one.

So on the kid end of the spectrum, I bought the 3D collection for my gf's kid JUST BECAUSE SHE MIGHT ONE DAY WANT IT, so I FOMO'ed for her future self. She was 7 when it came out, and she watched the Nintendo Mario Anniversary Direct, but all she talked about was Mario Odyssey, that she saw in some clip show (think they had that in the newsfeed and referenced it briefly in the Direct) and 3D World because of the cat suit. She could have cared less about there being 3, 3D Mario games in one card for the price of one game (yes she's savvy about prices and preorders and deals lol, I've been a bad influence - and she was only minorly interested in Galaxy because of the music). By the release of the Feb of this year I got her all 3 games by the time xmas and her bday rolled around. 3D World was the big hit, so no competition there from the collection. The idea of 3 games in one package held no candle to Odyssey's Paulina song or 3D World's cat suit. My point is the only reason she got 3D Collection was because Nintendo FOMO'ed me into getting it for her because it wouldn't be available some day.

On the other end of the spectrum, most adults, like me, are gonna buy Mario 3D games, as they become available or as they have disposable income for said games. A collection wouldn't really compete with other releases, as per some sort of value proposition stopping the buck on the other games. I doubt most adult fans would stop at a collection of Mario games, and not buy the others. BUT, given the state of things last year, the not knowing what the hell was gonna happen, it's likely that some may have waited to get a collection of games they already played, if they were in a rougher financial situation toward the end of the year, and maybe put the money to something else. But, if given no choice to get it now or never, a fan would buy the game before it's no longer available. Add to this the fact that Nintendo (like the rest of us) were unsure of how the year would play out in general, and if their other releases or 3rd party games (that they get cut of) would get delayed, making Mario 3D Allstars a limited release, INSURED they'd get BIG numbers in relatively short span of months. So it's the opposite of what you said in a way, they created purposeful competition with the 3D Collection BECAUSE by making it a limited time release. Saying Nintendo was worried about it being competition with their other games because of the value of 3 games in 1, so they made it limited, feels to me like you're being a bit of an apologist for this slimy practice.

Awful logo, looks like somewhere I'd go for salads on my lunch break

@Dringo That was one game and they wanted sales in the beginning of the 3rd quarter and at the end of last financial quarter (March 2021) to match the uptick in software sales started earlier in the year, otherwise to investors that looks like Nintendo was slumping due to the coronavirus. Remember that Nintendo, like everybody else, took a took a hit in stock numbers in March when the pandemic became a reality to everyone (they recovered very very quickly though). You sound like a little kid defending your hero or something. They are a business. They didn't do this because "Mario is special and this is how we celebrate and this makes the game more special" like they stated. They did this to kick people in the butt during the pandemic to BUY THIS NOW, when they wouldn't be sure what other software (1st, 2nd or 3rd party that they get cuts of) would be delayed, or how conservative people's spending habits would become.

The only other plausible theory is that Nintendo before the pandemic, along with withholding all the other classic title releases from the eshop, has a long term plan to withhold old stuff so they can release limited time or full priced, low effort, remastered releases in tentpole spots on the calendar instead of relying on selling newly developed software. Nintendo is classically cheap and thrifty, so this also makes sense in that mindframe, as it costs much less than doing new games or full on remasters on the regular (feel like 2017 and 2019 are the last times we saw a lot of NEW stuff from them). You'll "just be happy they are releasing something" and buy up the old titles (see people buzzing about Skyward Sword). I think this theory is much less likely than what I've been stating above, but you could make an argument for it.

@Dringo No one knew what would happen, all of last year. It's a failsafe for their investors for year end numbers, not for their actual giant Uncle Scrooge money pile. Nintendo has enough actual cash on hand that they coulda bombed on Switch and still not went under.

I forget, did the GC X Collection reverse the A and B buttons like Classic Series GC Collection did?

I feel like collections shouldn't be on here. it throws off the actual game ranking. I mean I guess it doesn't, but it sort of does if you are thinking in relative terms.

What the heck is wrong with the sound, the music specifically in this game? It sounds as if I'm standing by my window and hearing music coming from the neighbor's house.

@Dringo You're missing my point. Nintendo did that as a failsafe with covid stuff and delays, one so successful they will prob do it again.

This article is missing the point about being able to exchange THEMES for 30 TICKETS to use to buy another theme.

@eatdogs Yeah it wasn't until the Xbox 360 they payed a bunch of money for Japanese developed exclusives like Blue Dragon. But it didn't go anywhere.

@SwitchplayerJohn Never thought of that before, but it is totally people in the service buying that console.

@KillerBOB Vice might not be my first choice for news, but holy crap is it way above effing Buzzfeed and TMZ...not sure what Jezebel is.

@Darkyoshi98 Just shut up - quit acting like the joycon thing is something a few of us make up - there's plenty of industry regulars that have had multiple issues too and have talked about it (all the NVC people, some NL staffers, etc) - either you got lucky with your set or you don't play your Switch much in handheld mode. Quit being a Nintendrone zombie. It's super pathetic.

@Dringo They didn't know what would happen with COVID and release schedules and did this (in my opinion) as a contingency plan to maintain strong 3 and 4th quarter sales to balance with the AC stuff earlier in the year (sales were hot earlier in the year but who knew how things would pan out going forward). They obviously didn't need to do it, with how spending during the pandemic favored gaming, but that's sort of after the fact.

@valcoholic It's not that I think they have a plan, it's more that I think they do know what they are doing. Does that difference make sense? Withhold access to things that would go on any companies digital shop, throw the game in a Direct at some point and promote it. Then you don't have to do more than the minimal effort in what you are financially investing in, in new releases. The NES and SNES mini, I sort of don't include in these talk because those really were failsafes in case the Switch was a bomb like the WiiU and to make up for a big release in 2016. They needed something Xmas 2016 and then needed something as some sort of failsafe in the future (the SNES). They could have kept those on the shelf and created a line of Classic Consoles. I really think those were failsafe releases.

Nintendo today is Sony circa going from the Ps2 to the Ps3, or the 360 moving into the One. Everyone of these companies gets so full of themselves when they are super successful, and pull back on the consumer friendly practices.

I'm in a foul mood about Nintendo this week because my gf's kid Joycon that I bought her last April, are now drifting BAD. I bought them for her last April after giving her my Switch and a "newly fixed from the Nintendo repair shop" Joycon set Xmas 2019. So that makes 4 sets of Joycon that have had awful drift that I've experienced. Their Pro Controllers don't last super long either. I've had drift on my Dualshock I bought with my system, but it only shows up when I set insane high sensitivity settings in games. That was after 2 years. SO I look at that, look at the expensive rereleases of WiiU games, the limited releases of All Star and FE...I just kind of hate them now. I rant about more, about their 3rd party quality control and all the sub HD games, yadda yadda, but I won't muddy the convo like that, lol.

Really appreciate the well-worded reply from you. And yes I do think, for all of Microsoft's issues (cmon guys you have a new console and no new games lol), their games pass Strat is so the future. I do think Nintendo would have dipped a bit last year if not for the pandemic.

@Lony85 "Do I think this was a money grab tactic? Honestly yeah. Do I regret buying Super Mario 3D All-Stars? Absolutely not. I got two great games... and Super Mario Sunshine out of it, and I know for a fact, it's a game I'll happily revisit down the road."

But it's more about the new consumers never getting a chance to play these.

@valcoholic "But now its like they don't really know what to do with their archive of gems. And then this." I think...maybe...it's not so much "they don't know what to do" but realized that if they withhold stuff they have a chance to sell more of it, as tentpole in the year, rerelease. See Skyward Sword or 3D World. People are hyped to buy this because it's not available on an shop or VC. The "remaster" doesn't look like much more than the basic level remaster that a company would do to pop it into a collection or put it up digitally for 20 or 30 bucks. 3D World is almost exactly the same (with a bonus sandbox level). Funky Mode costs ya 60 bucks. It seems clear to me what's going on. Same reason I've had severe drift on 4 joycon. They're being cheap to their fanbase.

@Dringo "Mario games would sell more over time... the short release, if anything, is to protect the value of the other Mario games." Yes that's true in the first part, but questionable on the second. But the point has never been how much it'd sell over time, it was about 'how much can we sell in short period of time to boost our 3 and 4th quarter financial sales during the pandemic." It's just gross.

@Shepdawg1 "Makes sense to me. Scummy? Yeah, but at the end of the day, they are still a business." Why does them being a business make this ok? I don't understand this apologist attitude. It's one thing if it's a limited edition or limited physical, but pulling digital? Contriving sales in this way because they don't release enough new compelling releases is a really dangerous thing for us consumers. The fact they created this FOMO during a pandemic is extra scummy. Think of all the stuff that's missing that the WiiU had offered digitally too. They aren't reselling any of that, except in new "Deluxe packages." This contrived limited time release is just the next evolution of that. Don't be an apologist for them.

@patrickd Yeah I'm east coast US and one of those DNS numbers is what I use - actually makes quite a difference.

The list is missing an important thing. Play around with your DNS numbers then test your connection speed, and refresh it a few times to make sure the speed is stable. It'll change between regions obviously so google up a YouTube video and try punching in numbers. It actually helps quite a bit. You can't ruin anything doing this and can default at any time.

@everynowandben I know how the Pokemon Company works. But also in no way could Nintendo say to Gamefreak that someone else would work on the next mainline Generation game, they do not have a say in that. There is a reason that Pokemon is rarely featured as anything more than a BRIEF mention in a Direct. I believe the last time they were it was just to say there would be hot curry cooking in Sword and Shield. Trust me at least that I have looked into this A LOT and even knew about Nintendo having some ownership of Creatures. One of the old Nintendo president's was encouraged to invest in the company when they were starting out (to support better game design in the industry or something) at like 10 percent of the company to help kick it off. I knew all of this because I did state earlier "piece of the profit pie" when referring to Nintendo. Straight up not lying to you, I became interested back in 2016 when Nintendo stock fluctuated because of Pokemon Go and all that. Remember that? Investors thought Nintendo had more control of Pokemon than they did (Iwata did give some guidance on the app, but he was a golden dude like that helping everybody out).

@everynowandben what? all that shows up on the Nintendo page is "There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page." Did you even look at it? And no those aren't arbitrary rules, I'm speaking to the core Nintendo 1st party content vs the Capcom stuff. So no Pokemon doesn't count, that's not part of Nintendo's responsibilities or is something they license out and oversee.

@everynowandben It's not about me not arbitrarily counting and not counting. I'm trying to look at the pure essence of Nintendo 1st party and Capcom and compare their output of new content. Like Pokemon is it's own thing. They do what they wanna do or not and I don't see Nintendo having much say or ownership over it, outside of getting exclusivity and a piece of the profit pie. It's interesting all I'm saying - because even like Nintendo hires out KT for Hyrule Warriors or Next Level for Luigi's Mansion (even though they are a 1st party studio), and Camelot for Sports stuff. They had involvement in those games tho (whereas something like Pokemon they don't). SO if Capcom internal studios is able to output this manner of games at the frequency they do, why do we see SO much port type stuff fill out the tentpole releases on Nintendo titles for the year? That's a fair question.

@Wavey84 Fester's Quest would have been dope if the game didn't reset your weapon upgrades upon death AND had passwords or restarted you NOT at the beginning of the game to play thru again. There's a story about the last part, apparently the devs meant to include in such a feature in the game...but forgot because they were using the dev mode to place them where they needed to be in the game. That's on record somewhere. When I was a kid, I remember there being a single unsold copy of the game at Walmart for 20 bucks for months and I saved up money by stacking wood to get it, lol. No clue why I wanted it.

@everynowandben I meant NEW first party stuff. Not rereleases and ports or Pokemon Company stuff (because that is not 1st party Nintendo at this point). I'm speaking to the output of 1st party NEW games vs the new games Capcom puts out (around 4 a year since 2017, tho 2020 was lite).

@RadNitro89 Yes you should be fine to do that. But if you wanna be safe call Nintendo and ask 1 (800) 255-3700 - I had a question about something a few nights ago and had a rep answer really fast.

God this game looks pretty...how is it that Capcom, a smaller company than Nintendo, manages to put out so much more NEW stuff each year? Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? Also I hope these amiibo are NOT exclusive to Gamestop.

"Portable power banks are a fact of life in 2021" I dunno - I think most of us stay in and don't need them as much as we used to. Having something charged on hand for when the power is out is nice tho.

Funny yet another Direct announcement not for the 1st half of the year. They shoulda just said coming soon.

@Crockin yeah as much as I'd like to have MORE SPLATOON SOON, having a 16 month heads up (assuming June or July 2022) gives me a lot of time to squeeze every last ounce out of the game I can.

@blockfight I just hope they're not too safe when they come up with their modes - I'd be down for some kind of battle royale variation, super down for it - I get addicted to Salmon Run, once you get into the top ranking in it...it is close to impossible...but it feels so good. Just an insane adrenaline rush.

Oh that's right, UK wouldn't use € anymore, they pulled out of the European Union in January. Where you from? This is a UK based site, so a lot of users on here are from there, that's why I assumed when I saw the €.

@Altina One other thing, I know that I see on this site, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are Black Friday and Cybermonday deals specific to the UK...so I don't know what your speak was about on that front. You always have separate lists.

@Altina You went off on me.And gave me a speech...for taking a minute to look up some examples of current sales for you. Also digital and physical Nintendo sales are usually the same for 1st party, one doesnt dip below the other.

@Mr_Persona Why am I like "what"?

@Altina That's why I said "I don't know if [Bestbuy] is around you" - I know that currency symbol means euro, but that doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a Bestbuy "around you". I don't know why you are taking an attitude with me, I was just trying to help you out, and even went online and looked up prices for you. Really weird of you.

@Wavey84 I really like the weapons upgrading system in Mighty Gunvolt Burst, how into the weeds you could get with optimization. I also seem to remember (it's been a LONG time) some of the stage design having interesting fresh gimmicks. I was just returning to modern videos in 2017, so maybe I would be pickier now. They made the game because they had built a backer 8 bit version for the Kickstarter campaign (never played it) and then just used that foundation to release a full game later on.

I wish they'd release the story content of Splatoon 1 as DLC, one of these days, never got to experience that part of the story.

@Altina Black Friday and the early months of the year a lot of stuff goes for $48 dollars or cheaper on Bestbuy a lot. I don't know if you have that around you but Bestbuy actually has Splatoon 2 for only $44.99 right now, Zelda titles are $50, a ton of Mario games are between $44.99 and $50 as well. I'd assume Amazon prob is matching it.