A minute’s silence. A toast to the departed. Let’s remember the greatest of us: Mario.
I wasn’t sure they’d go through with it, but Nintendo really did kill Mario this week. Super Mario 3D All-Stars for Nintendo Switch is no longer for sale digitally, and no new physical stock will be distributed. We knew this was coming. Nintendo had signalled as much. But why is it happening?
That’s the question we ask on this week’s Eurogamer News Cast. Join news editor Tom Phillips, reporter Emma Kent and me as we attempt to make sense of Nintendo’s controversial decision in the video below.
Eurogamer news cast: why did Nintendo kill Mario?
It’s been a week dominated by controversial decisions. We talk about Activision’s heavily-criticised always-online release of Crash Bandicoot 4 on PC, its problematic $10 charge for a next-gen upgrade of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, and Sony’s confirmation of the impending closure of the PS3, PSP and Vita stores for good.
Vita developers have already been negatively impacted by Sony’s decision, which some found out alongside the public. Could Sony have handled things better? And is Sony handing out free PR wins to Microsoft, which this week made a selection of its backwards compatible Xbox and Xbox 360 catalogue available to stream via xCloud?
And it’s been a big week for CD Projekt, which has announced it’s changing the way it makes games in response to the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077. As that big standalone online Cyberpunk game looks dead in the water, we ask: is Cyberpunk 2077 now a lost cause?
Expect insight into all this as well as our regular ‘what we’ve been playing’ catch-up, and we close with our traditional mug check. I think Tom wins this week.
If you’d like to check out previous episodes of the Eurogamer News Cast, you’ll find them handily rounded up here.
