 Nintendo is all set to release Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a package containing Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. But there's a catch. Like many previous Nintendo products, 3D All-Stars will be a limited edition game on sale from now until March 2021. Nintendo loves this method of releasing products, but fans are less thrilled, especially when these highly sought after, limited supply items fall into the hands of scalpers who buy up supplies and sell them on at exorbitant rates. This is already starting to happen. In the UK, at least one retailer has reached capacity for sales and begun cancelling pre-orders that can't be fulfilled. So why is Super Mario 3D All-Stars a limited edition game? Why doesn't Nintendo simply produce more of its popular titles, instead of locking them away once they reach a certain sales target or date? In at least one previous case, Nintendo was actually forbidden by law from manufacturing more of a special edition bundle once it became popular. There are all kinds of roadblocks preventing Nintendo from producing more stock. First things first, why only make a game available for a short window of time? The timing of the release of 3D All-Stars is not unlike the NES Classic, a similar package of classic Nintendo games. When asked after the fact why Nintendo didn't continue manufacturing the product indefinitely, Reggie Fisame stated, we had originally planned for this to be a product for last holiday. From our perspective, it's important to recognise where our future is and the key areas that we need to drive. We've got a lot going on right now and we don't have unlimited resources. This makes sense. The NES Classic released in November 2016, at a time when Nintendo was gearing up for the release of the Switch, and just needed a hot Christmas present item to carry them through the lucrative holiday season. After this was passed, the company needed to prioritise putting its resources into manufacturing and shipping Switch consoles instead. A similar sentiment was expressed by Satoru Iwata when discussing early Amiibo shortages, when he said, we are very sorry that we can't promise at what point we will likely be able to resolve the current situation because figures such as these require a considerable amount of time to produce. Store shelf space is limited and it is difficult to precisely predict the exact amount of overall demand. So when releasing a product, Nintendo has to be very careful to make sure that they don't overallocate resources. Everything from production and shipping costs to even the amount of space a product will take up on store shelves can affect a company's bottom line. Overestimate the demand for a product, and Nintendo can be left with situations like the early years of the 3DS and the Wii U, where sales simply don't match up with demand. So Nintendo will choose to make a game like Super Mario 3D All-Stars Limited Edition, available only for a short time, so that the company will be able to guarantee that they'll sell their entire stock. Under the current climate, because 2020 is that kind of year, Nintendo's manufacturing and distribution has been severely hindered. As such, the company needs to be more shrewd than ever in making stock decisions. A temporary, limited print run for a game allows the company a quick win over the holiday season, but won't overstay its welcome should Nintendo come up with another plan for these classic games in 2021 or beyond. Considering the popularity of the game though, and the massive amounts of pre-orders that 3D All-Stars has received, why doesn't Nintendo simply extend the game's availability further into next year? After all, the company happily did this with the NES Classic when that proved popular. The NES Classic though was never formally labelled as the limited edition game. Nintendo's lawyers get very antsy when the company considers extending the availability of something they've previously insisted will only be available for a short time. In an investor Q&A, Satoru Iwata was once asked about a special, limited edition Fire Emblem package that was available in Japan. The game's chaotic and unpredictable availability led to frustration, and the investor wanted to know why Nintendo wouldn't simply make the game easier to purchase. In response, Satoru said, We completely failed to anticipate the demand for such kind of special package deal of the Nintendo 3DS hardware decorated with a certain video game character on its surface and the software. We first forecasted the consumer demand, prepared for manufacture, and began selling the product in limited quantities. As we obtained so many opinions, we actually considered if we could change the sales method to something different afterward. According to an outside attorney however, those who had purchased it at the beginning might complain if they had bought it just because it was a limited edition. And this would certainly be likely to break the Japanese law for preventing unjustifiable extra or unexpected benefit and misleading representation. We would like to comply with as many consumer requests as possible, but at the same time we are highly responsible for compliance with Japanese laws. So that's that. Super Mario 3D All-Stars, having been labelled as a limited run game, can't overstay its March 2021 sales deadline. If it did, it might contravene Japanese law surrounding limited edition collector's items. All of this simply means that if you want to get your hands on the game, you'll need to act quickly. Once Super 3D Mario All-Stars is gone, it's really gone.