Back in 2011,Nintendointroduced a new way of delivering information on current, new, and upcoming games “directly” to fans in the form of online Nintendo Direct video presentations. Since then, many other companies have followed suit with their own video presentations, likePlayStation’s State of Playand Ubisoft’s Ubisoft Forward presentations. However, despite setting the trend almost a decade ago, Nintendo Directs are still seen by fans as some of the most exciting presentations out there.
When the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic last year, fans noticed a clear absence of any Nintendo Direct presentations, and whileNintendointroduced Partner Showcases and aSuper Mario Bros.35th Anniversary Direct, fans still clamored for a general Nintendo Direct. But on February 17 of this year, fans were finally treated to their first Nintendo Direct presentation in almost a year-and-a-half. Now, fans have gotten “Nintendo Direct” trending on Twitter despite any recent announcement.
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Although Nintendo Direct presentations often see plenty ofsupposed leaks and rumorsbeing spread prior to their official announcement, “Nintendo Direct” is currently trending on Twitter seemingly out of the blue. However, it looks like fans are having fun with the Nintendo Direct announcement format by poking fun at how Nintendo is pullingSuper Mario 3D All-StarsandSuper Mario Bros. 35completely from all in-person and/or digital retailers on March 31.
During last year’sSuper Mario Bros.35th Anniversary Direct, Nintendo announced thatSuper Mario 3D All-Starswould release in celebration, featuring a remastered collection of three hit 3DMariogames ported to the Nintendo Switch. The Japanese video game company also announced that Nintendo Switch Online members could download and playSuper Mario Bros. 35, a special battle royale version of the originalSuper Mario Bros.game, much likeTetris 99. However, these games came with a huge catch, being that both the digital and physical versions ofSuper Mario 3D All-Starswouldno longer be available for purchase come March 31,and thatSuper Mario Bros. 35will be completely unavailable to download or play after that date as well.
Since these announcements, many fans have joked that Nintendo is essentially going to"kill off" Mario on March 31.Of course, these decisions by Nintendo have been met with tons of backlash from fans, with many accusing the company of creating artificial demand, and while many have theorized that Nintendo may go back on its word in light of fan outcry, the company has only urged fans to act now before the games disappear on March 31.
Although it seems the 35th anniversary ofSuper Mario Bros.officially ends next Wednesday, it may be good news for fans of other franchises, asThe Legend of Zeldacelebrates its own 35th anniversary this year, as does theMetroidseries. Whatever the case may be, it will certainly be interesting to see how Nintendo handles anniversaries in the future.
