"They never have to drop the price" Breath of the Wild is still $60. When is that a concern for Nintendo?

Nintendo: "These games are only available for a limited time." Me: looking at the piracy scenario: "huh, really? that's the strategy?"

Manufactured scarcity creates manufactured piracy.

"Slippery slope arguments are not fallacious in the games industry because whenever they see an incline, they cover it in soap" Excellent quote and also I honestly can't remember any example of this statement being inaccurate.

Remember: _Emulation BAD!_ Now excuse us while we make it difficult to legally play our library of older games...

My first reaction when I realized what that disclaimer meant was "I should go tell Jim Sterling about this". My second thought was "Several dozen people have probably _already_ told Jim Sterling about this."

Nintendo: "Roms are worth jail time" Also Nintendo: "Here are 3 roms, for a limited time only, $60"

nintendo endorsed FOMO ever since mythical pokemon was implemented, the event-only scheme.

Perhaps it's time nintendo stopped getting a pass for simply being nintendo

"I want Super Mario Sunshine back." *A finger curls on the monkey's paw* "Wh.. What do.. what do you mean it's.. limited availability.. on.. on digital? How.. that's.."

As somebody who typically shrugs and looks the other way when Nintendo "does Nintendo stuff" (though granted with a distinct side-eye at artificial console shortages), the Super Mario 3D All-Stars bit is demonstrably indefensible. Hell, you can even defend the freaking Super Mario 35 limited availability with the fact that, oh, it's a free event (for NSO customers) specific to the 35th anniversary of that game, of course it's not going to last forever, but when they freaking Disney vault roms of freaking 64 and Sunshine of all things, there can be no defense for that.

Piracy is indicative of market failures. Again, Nintendo shows how they are too stubborn to understand non-traditional Japanese markets.

The reality is that I'm not even sure how this makes sense as a business move. Like it's not that much work to port these games it's clearly not a remake of remaster, and this is a year where everyone has a switch. So surely if they sell as many copies as they can it's basically printing money. But instead they're gonna create scarcity so scalpers can make a quick buck reselling copies which Nintendo doesn't even benefit from

It's amazing just how much I simultaneously love and hate Nintendo at the same time.

Nintendo: We want to express our heartfelt support during this ongoing global crisis. Also Nintendo: You have until late March to pay up.

That is what I wonder with streaming services, like Netflix. "Im sorry you paid for this service, but we can not show this video to you because of localization laws" "Alrighty guess Im gonna pirate" "THATS ILLEGAL"

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the meetings where Nintendo comes up with all the stupid things they do. "This is exciting, guys. But I have a really terrible idea that consumers will hate." "Excellent! Let's hear it!"

I mean I get it why it's a limited thing for physical copies sure, but digital? Oh well, piracy it is.

Let's be real - Nintendo doesn't really *do* sales on most of their big games, limited release or no. Almost every AAA game on the Switch is still $60 just like they were on release.

Getting bombarded with FOMO-Marketing resulted in my anxiety just giving up and leaving. So you could say, the gaming industry actually cured me of the very thing they are trying to exploit. What an irony.

Translation: "Buy a Switch _now,_ while the next-gen competition is coming out. We'll have more big hitters by the time April comes around." I love Nintendo, which is why I hate it when they pull shit like this.

When I saw the direct yesterday the first thing I thought was “either tomorrow jim’s gonna react or monday we’ll have an interresting jimquisition.”

"Whenever they see an incline, they cover it in soap." Genius, pure genius...

Gonna be honest, here, they seriosuly didn't need to impose any restriction on this. People were going to buy it no matter what. Those three games in their original states combined are way more than $60. Heck, Sunshine on its own costs that much. Honestly by limiting it they're throwing money away. That or they're going to pull a Swoosh and say "Oh, actually, we're going to make it unlimited(and we totally didn't have it planned out like this all along or anything), aren't you grateful?!"

So they got that awesome web based 100 player Mario BR taken down, just so they can make it themselves, downscale it to 35, and offer it for only a few months.

ah, so this is why they went on a rampage to get rid of all ROM sites with their games. so they could make digital versions of their games artificially scarce just like they've always done with their physical games. what cocks.

I've never screamed "WHYYYY?!?!?!" out loud at a video before, until now.

Are you gonna talk about how Nintendo ripped off InfernoPlus' idea of a Mario BR, which he coded a year or two ago and got a DMCA for making?

So does Nintendo have some sort of back door deal with scalpers when it comes to their products?

How does supply and demand work when supply is literally infinite?

When Nintendo was taking down Emuparadise, it was so they could drip feed you the same things Emuparadise had, on their own terms. These are those terms.

Consumer: I am intrigued by your product or service and am willing to give you money for it. Nintendo: No.

False scarcity and the pressure to be first in line are some of the most depressing tactics I've seen from corporations to squeeze more and more money as soon as possible from their customers. Digital copies should not even be full priced games, much less limited. Imagine telling someone from 100 years ago that we can create an endless supply of something by copying it and then telling them that we just don't do that because it's not profitable.

2:30 actually someone said in a comment section that Nintendo shut down super Mario Battle Royal bc it was A FAN GAME AND YET THE COPIED it TO MAKE MONEY

The fear of missing out, and for Mario anniversary, that's choice.

Yep, and the worst part is that people are literally searching for ways in which they can excuse Nintendo beeing a jerk. People are saying things like: "Ohh, it's not because they want to, but covid is affecting manufacturers, so they cannot produce as many of it"... xD ok, then ignore how digital copies are not subject of manufacturing problems. This year will be Nintendo's most profiable year yet. There's gonna be so many people buying a switch this christmas just because this game is out for a limited time, and you know if you are buying a console, just one game is not going to do it, so they are gonna buy a few others. So there you have it, they are brilliant jerks.

I'm expecting them to sell the games in the collection separately at like 80% of the collection's price apiece after the collection stops being sold.

Emulation will continue to be a thorn in Nintendo's side as long as they continue to "Disney Vault" their classic titles.

When I was a kid, it became a thing for me that it wasn't ever truly summer vacation until I beat the last boss of Super Mario Sunshine. Now, I got out of that habit due to college, but the thought that I might bring back that silly little tradition again with my Switch made me feel just a little bit happy, especially with the up-scaling in-game, but with Nintendo clearly using F.O.M.O. like this, I think I might just be forced to keep that idea firmly on the shelf and leave my memories just as firmly in the past due to sheer principle, and that makes me sad. I should not *not* be allowed to have nice things due to a company's slimy business practices making the acquisition of a nice thing look like I endorse overly greedy business models.

Ah yes, it's the same old "limited edition" tactic used by toy companies to feign scarcity. Sadly it seems to be working too, because I hardly see any complaints.

Nintendo is so frustrating. They do so many things right, but the things they do wrong are sooo wrong.

I guess Nintendo likes piracy and this is how the incentivize Switch owners to pirate. Good job Nintendo!

Nintendo: "I'm not like other consoles..." Just another reason that Jim was 100% spot-on when he explained to us why Nintendo WANTS us to pirat--- uh, "alternative acquire" their games.

"All our 3D Mario classics available together for the first time, but better hurry, because come March, it will no longer be available! Make sure you get it while you can before its placed back in the Disne... I mean Nintendo Vault!"

Nintendo does something anti-consumer: "Eh it's just Nintendo." Anyone else does something anti-consumer: "WTF THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!" I say this as a massive Nintendo fan, but I'm just tired of people being Nintendrones and having to defend them or shrug off anything bad they do.

Keep an eye on this one, folks - I feel a pit in me stomach that we're about to see a dark new trend in the games industry

I remember when "Super Mario All-Stars" meant completely overhauled versions of _all_ the classic games up to that point and even giving people outside Japan a remake of a game they didn't even know existed (Lost Levels). Then they kept selling the game (because they had no reason not to) and it sold like hotcakes. But, hey - that AR Mario Kart looks pretty neat. The RC figures alone would probably make mint.

You should see how Nintendo operates in Japan. They're a key reason why there's never been a video game rental industry here. Even libraries can't do it. You should see how they're treating barcades here, Nintendo is outright frightening.

My least favorite thing ever is when someone makes an incredibly boneheaded decision that only makes sense to them, and don’t even give the slightest bit of an explanation as to why. Following Nintendo wouldn’t be nearly as frustrating if they just explained why the hell they do these things.

You want piracy? This is how you get piracy.

Limited time availability for a physical product makes sense due to logistics, but for digital content it’s always been BS.

All of the outrage towards the limited availability is warranted. Very. Great video, Jim. But I can't help but focus on how the "Collection" only includes 3 out of the 4 main 3D Mario games. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was important enough to be made to capitalize upon its predecessor but apparently not enough to be in the collection?! Sure! Because that's what everyone wants, an INCOMPLETE collection! Maybe I'm alone on this, but there's so many compromises to this content that it genuinely has so little value for me to ever consider buying, even though I would've theoretically loved the full product.

Since we’ve already moved beyond the level of “AAA” by last week, I’m even less surprised than I would otherwise be ... 🤦‍♂️ I’m expecting AAAAs to announce their newest, most exciting feature EVER; where YOU get to give THEM money !!! No, there’s no product .... you just get to pay them... AREN’T YOU EXCITED ?!? DON’T YOU HAVE WALLETS ?!!?

Nintendo has been less pro-consumer since we lost Iwata.

They even took out "so long, gay bowser", i've never seen such evil

This is why Nintendo go so hard after emulators, so they can release low effort collections of their games

I remember hearing people go on about the limited run and I kept thinking "It's only the physical release that's limited. And that makes sense, I mean that makes it desirable" And...no. The digital's limited as well. And of course, the Nintendo fans are already reading stuff into this. I saw someone in the comments of the video say "No Galaxy 2? THIS CAN ONLY MEAN SOMETHING BIG IS COMING!" without any irony. People on the forums are saying Shine and Galaxy will be released digitally as single games and Mario 64 will show up on the Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo 64 section which is obviously happening because they assume it must be based on nothing. It's gonna be fun watching them get really angry in March when Nintendo simply drops it from the store and nothing happens. Because Nintendo fans love to troll themselves.

The most basic rule in the Capitalism book: Create a problem, sell the solution.

Nintendo: uses FOMO to push clearly emulated games, acting like EA Also Nintendo: WhY eVeRyOnE kEePs PiRaTiNg OuR gAmEs? EmUlAtOrS aRe BaD!

Fun fact: the Japanese fiscal year ends on March 31, the exact same day 3D All-Stars will cease to be purchasable and Super Mario 35 will cease to even be PLAYABLE! This is a blatant attempt to exploit customer FOMO and increase Nintendo's profits before the fiscal year ends, presumably because Animal Crossing wasn't enough to carry them all the way through the pandemic! We live in a capitalist hellscape! I want to cry!

sm64 has been ported to PC already and they think manufacturing scarcity on unedited versions of 20 year old games is a good idea

THIS is what they do with Mario's 35th Anniversary?! C'mon Nintendo!

Oh and Jim, don't forget the other reason Disney-Vaulting exists!! To stop Public Domain claims. At least IMO.

Continuing to not make a credible argument against piracy, nintendo. well done.

Nintendo: "It's not manufactured scarcity if it's digital"

Nintendo: Can make really great and memorable games Also Nintendo: Shitting the bed

Why were British parents worried about their children being corrupted by ninjas?

2:50 They're advertising that it's "playable until March..." sounds like even if you buy it, you won't be able to play it after the deadline.

intentional scarcity just throws the statement "demand stimulates the supply" out through the window.

I find it less scummy (though it is scummy) and more confusing in this case. Like why would they even need to create scarcity for something that's going to sell like hotcakes no matter what they do? There's quite literally no requirement or tangible benefit to create FOMO because everyone has been so hungry for a Sunshine re-release alone, even if it didn't have 64 and Galaxy that this collection is going to be bought by every switch owner in this and every other multiverse. They could even pack each copy with deadly spiders and it would still sell like gangbusters. It doesn't create more urgency because the mere fact it exists creates urgency enough among people who would want it. Limiting the release only really hurts Nintendo, even if it's not much.

I’ve honestly lost my interest in video games this past year due to all of this.

I am subscribed Jim. This one didn’t even show up in my subscription list thingy until after I went to your channel and manually chose to watch it.

It'll be available forever for people with jailbroken switches. The paying customer is the one losing out here

"Aww there's an ad at the start of the video! What the heck Jim? Oh wait... it's about Nintendo." I'd rather learn how to jailbreak my console and find a way to pirate this game than pay Nintendo a single shiny nickle to engage with such blatant false scarcity bullshit.

"Hope you've all got your jobs back by March! Best of luck lads!" -Nintendo

this is so disgusting... seems like Nintendo really doesn’t want to be left out of the on-going Triple A clusterkafflufle.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villian." *-The Dark Knight, 2008*

Earlier me: "why the hell would they do this?" Me after listening to Jim: "OOOOOH. YIKE."

It’s the *35th* anniversary of Super Mario Bros.? Man, time flies.

This is outrageous. Limited time digital sale? Do they want customers to NOT have their product? Do they NOT want to sell things? It makes no sense.

Get ready when in 5 to 10 years they'll be selling the same 3D All stars collection for $60 because then "it's available again and totally worth it :OOO"

I always thought I was immune to FOMO until the 3D all stars announcement - I wanted to get one even though I don't even own a switch. Now that I've got my head back on straight I"ll just pirate these games once they become commercially unavailable again.

And i've actually seen people defending it. There is no way to defend why this should be limited lol.

Makes me think that this bundle is limited so they can sell them separately later.

I was quite happy when I first saw the announcement and the trailer. I've been hoping for GameCube games to be released for years now and so I was pretty cheered to see Sunshine included in the collection. The fact that joy-cons can be used just like a Wiimote and nunchuck in Galaxy is also a good sign, showing that remasters/ports of Wii games are possible on Switch. I was all in, right up until they gave the details regarding the release. "Limited physical release" is already bullshit artificial scarcity that benefits no-one except scalpers (remember amiibo and NES/SNES mini shortages?), but a limited digital release as well? It's such a backwards and pointlessly customer-hostile move that defies explanation. When I first read that, I thought that I must have misunderstood something, that they couldn't possibly be expanding their terrible track record of artificial scarcity to a digital storefront, but they are. They're limiting the sale of digital copies, which cost nothing to produce and can be duplicated endlessly. Unbelievable. I was all in for 3D All-Stars for about 2 minutes, then the trailer ended and the release details began. Immediately all my enthusiasm dried up. I won't be supporting this at all. Even if they eventually just release the game and drop their exploitative FOMO bullshit at a later date, I'll be hesitant. This kind of practice cannot be tolerated or rewarded.

I'm convinced they're only doing this so that they can do it again for the 40th anniversary.

"Whenever they see an incline, they cover it in soap" 👏😂

Thank you for pointing this out, Nintendo can't get away with this!

Several people jobless Switch being sold by scalpers for high prices Everything still affected by covid Nintendo: You only have 6 months to buy.

Nintendo: Look! It's Super Mario 3D All-Stars! It's a collection of games you've played before! Average People: It's a pandemic and we don't have a lot of money to spend right now. Nintendo: It's going away in a few months! Don't miss out! Average People: Gee, thanks.

I wish they could've just make the game NOT limited on the Switch so that anyone interested in it can play it. It's just simple that way.

Hey Jim, Ninty has been doing this for DECADES. I used to work for Nintendo Australia in 98/99, during the original releases of Ocarina of Time and Pokemon Red/Blue. It was a great place to work, but we had the shittiest ordering restrictions on stock, and truly draconian selection criteria on who could stock our products (prospective stores would have a representative sent out to them eventually and would then subject to panel approval for stock, and even it might just be old stock that was approved, not new releases). Otherwise it would be one box of Zelda (6 copies) per store, and one box of PokeRed OR Blue per order cycle (monthly for most places). It was forced demand, and put a huge strain on staff fielding complaints from store owners, mostly independent small toy stores back then. The chains got a bit more, but not much. We had a warehouse filled with the damn things but we let them drip out to keep insane demand up. Of course this was instructions from higher up the chain, from the US and Japan after all Australia didn't make anything after all, we were just this weird little additional PAL territory. Stores grew so desperate for stock, that all of a sudden our shipments started to go 'missing' or become 'damaged in transit', but some stores seemed to then not need to order more copies. We had to change shipping companies because so many were not making it. Investigations did reveal that drivers were indeed illegally selling our stock to smaller stores desperate to compete with the bigger ones and then claiming the stock as lost or damaged for insurance. After I'd been there a while and had built a good relationship with some store owners (I was at the main office in Scoresby and dealt with stores from all over the country) I began to raise questions with my boss over the ordering restrictions. After having a bunch of Christmas orders redirected from independents to chain stores after assuring the smaller stores they would get their stock, I physically checked stock in the warehouse; there was an excess. I raised it with my boss, was told not to worry about it. I was let go two weeks later, less than a week from Christmas. The reason given was they had insufficient work for me. On my final day I had taken over 200 calls and keyed in over 100 orders. They've been doing this for DECADES.

Remember when Earthbound on Wii U sold out?

I'm old enough to remember the Cabbagepatch dolls. Later, it was Tickle Me Elmo and Beanie Babies. It's always something that's the hot Xmas toy that's not available and causes people to get into literal fist fights.

When Nintendo said “available for a limited time” I heard Jim say “because Nintendo”.

I was hoping Jim would cover this, and I am not disappointed :D

Just like when they removed Donkey KongTropical Freeze and Pikmin 3 off the WiiU eShop simply to re-sell the same game for 3 times the price on a different platform. It teaches me there is nothing wrong with piracy when compared to Nintendo’s own scummy actions.

Nintendo: buy it, BUY IT NOW, FOMO, buy it or it may never return! That’s right we’re taking a page from the Disney Vault

Artificial scarcity, which leads to artificially high prices, is protected by the government mainly with patent and copyright laws. Corporations are allowed to keep prices artificially high because the government protects them from free competition. If anyone could freely reproduce things and compete with them, prices would drop like a rock and artificial scarcity would no longer be a problem - this is why drug prices are so high, is because it's illegal to reproduce & distribute medicine without the privilege granted from the government of patents and copyrights.

Personally, I rarely buy games these days unless they're old and discounted. So I have to admit this FOMO tactic works on me.