The Super Mario series has been an exponential part to almost anyone who has played video games. Whether you play on an Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo System, chances are you’ve played a Mario game is some way or form. For every Nintendo console out there, there has been one or two staple Mario games that are associated with it. With 2020 being the 35th Anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros on the NES. To celebrate the history of the franchise, Nintendo has released Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Switch- a collection of Super Mario 64 (From the Nintendo 64), Super Mario Sunshine (From the Nintendo GameCube) , and Super Mario Galaxy (From the Nintendo Wii).

There isn’t much to say about what’s included- three iconic games for a majority of people who have grown up with Nintendo. The graphics and framerates for all three games have been updated, and the collections comes with a soundtrack player for all three games. The price is seen by many as high: $60 USD for three games that could be bought cheaper on previous consoles. The price of the game, however, is not what’s made the game controversial.

There is a caveat to purchasing the game both digitally or through retail stores- It’s a limited time offer. According to Nintendo themselves, the game will be sold until the end of March 2021. After that, it won’t be available to purchase from all major outlets. People who buy it beforehand will still be able to play it afterwards, but if you don’t buy it before April 2021, you’re out of luck.

The decision has created controversy in the gaming community. The idea of Nintendo artificially creating a desire to buy the game because it won’t be buyable at some point is a horrible business practice. People have compared it to the Disney Vault in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Essentially, the Disney Vault was a term that referred to Disney’s practices of selling DVD releases of classic movies and smaller works for a limited time, then stopping the official sale of those DVDs.

Ultimately, the desire to stop selling Super Mario 3D All-Stars is up to Nintendo at this point. Do they really think that the urge to buy the game before March 2021 will create more profit than keeping the game buyable forever? There’s no way to know until it happens, but it could set a dangerous example for video game companies to adopt the Disney Vault method of releasing games, and that’s an idea that might not sit well with the majority of consumers.