Mario Strikers Charge and Battalion Wars 2 are also discontinued.

From my knowledge, Nintendo discontinues games all the time, especially smaller and niche games. I think this is a big deal because the game is only a few months old and nothing was mentioned about this being available for only a limited time.

Someone correct me on this, but I was under the impression that all game companies discontinue their games if there's no demand for it.

Well it wouldn't make sense to keep manufacturing and shipping a game that no one is buying.

Metroid, you had your chance.  A whopping 5 people on the planet own the Collector's Edition.  Not a big crowd.

Well, I guess this means it is time to buy as many of them as we can so when the supply finally dries up we can sell them for a huge profit.

If you're a member of Club Nintendo, be sure to enter in the registration for this game as soon as you can before it is no longer applicable for coins. Other Nintendo games that have been discontinued are not eligible for coins, such as Excite Truck, WarioWare, and Battalion Wars II.

Some companies simply stop producing for multiple reasons. Metroid Prime Trilogy could of been simply have been a collectors edition type of thing  where they had a specific number of copies alloted to produce. The North American ones came in a steelbook case which are more expensive than a regular case.  I guess people devalue the sense of collector's edition since you see how frequently other companies try to push a more expensive collector's edition over the standard edition and in this generation practically every major game has a collector's edition to it.

But in terms of general game production it depends how big the company is. Smaller companies contract a disc or cart (in this case for DS) maker to manufacture their game media and then package it or what not. During this process they have to say how many units they need to manufacture. And some games have multiple print runs over a period of time.

Bigger companies may simply have enough logistic to do manufacturing and distributing games.

In general game manufacturing is a complex thing and has many factors. There are many games that aren't in print anymore and we'd never realize that they aren't in print anymore.

Fixed sadly.:(

I missed out on the above titles except Mario and Luigi 3:Bowsers Inside Story. I really need to get MPT soon.

As much as I hate to say it, maybe this is another reason why DLC either in store (via a disc-writer and packaging machine) or at home is a good idea.

Doesn't make people like the product anymore to purchase it.  Nintendo fans are to blame.

Excite Truck was never eligible for coins.

I'm not 100% sure BWii was ever eligible for coins.  It's not listed on the original list of games that were published pre-December 2008 that was eligible for coins...

WHAT!?

/general pepper of star fox

You're not serious, right??

I don't joke about news.

was that meant to sound adorably cheesey??

From now on i'll picture this when i read your post:

http://i37.tinypic.com/2cwv634.jpg

I guess I was being to serious for my own good. I saw this news a day or so ago and I was sad.

I never said that they were, I simply said that discontinued games aren't eligible for coins. I imagine the list will be updated at some point; my guess would be the start of the next Club Nintendo year. I wouldn't think they'd want out-of-print games to give coins as they wouldn't want to do anything that encourages people to buy used games...

If you imagine Maxi's voice to sound like the character Butters from South Park, everything that he says is adorable.

I never bought this because I already bought Prime, Prime II and Prime III separately.

Heh. I did too, and I still picked up the Trilogy.

Am I a bad person in that I am now interested in getting a copy just because of its value?

I personally never liked the Metroid Prime games. I played the first one and got tired of it very quickly. It didn't matter that my friends were going crazy over it, the great reviews, and the warm reception. I thought it sucked. And I avoided Metroid Prime 2 like the dark plague combined with sars, swine flu and AIDS.

I confess, however, that I was curious about Metroid Prime 3 because the Wii controls looked like it added to the experience. But I was very unsure about it because it was Metroid Prime. Also, I aim to have the most complete Wii collection, and MP 3 is essential. Metroid Prime Trilogy looks like a great opportunity to re-experience them all with Wii controls.

I am going to have to hunt for this one...

I don't understand why Nintendo would let this game die if there is still plenty of demand for it. Does anyone have any theories?

There is no demand for it

Full list of discontinued Wii Games:
http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=15520

Poor DK Barrel Blast.  Would have bought you if I could have used the Bongos.

Metroid has always been Nintendo's red-headed stepchild.  They would love to bury it entirely.

Maybe they'll reinvent the franchise by calling it "Wii Adventure" where you take your Mii through an alien planet, using the Wii Remote to shoot at little green men.  Naturally, the game will take care of all movement for you.

No, you won't shoot at little green men, but you will take pictures of them.
And everytime you get a picture of a new alien, it will tell you more about the history of their planet and why you need to be there taking pictures of alien Miis.

I think stogi and i have been pitching the idea that maxi is in fact butters IRL. besides, i thought you didnt even watch south park..

You mean the way it probably would've turned out if rare didnt suggest the idea of a nunchuk controller?

I did  "Intend to Buy" on Club Nintendo for this game but haven't registered it yet.  The site says I need to register it by 8/24/2014--five years after release--to get coins.

I believe Bowser's Inside Story has only been discontinued in Australia.

Fuck, that actually sounds like an awesome game.  Not a good replacement for Metroid but it's a cool concept.  But then I find stuff like the scans in Metroid Prime or encountering new creatures in Pikmin to be the best part.  If done well a game where you just explore a strange fantasy world and learn about it would really interest me.  Though Mii-style graphics would kill it for me.

But what about all that Samus's background story bullshit they want to throw at us with Other M?

I have to agree. To me, exploration is just as fun (and perhaps even more fun) then going around and mindlessly blasting everything that moves. I miss that area from Super Metroid where you had that weird Ostrich thing that teaches you how to hyper jump. It was cool because you were discovering a strange creature that wasn't actually an enemy, and in fact was kinda friendly.

The Metroid series needs more things like that. There should always be enemies of course, but it would be nice if there were more friends as well because Samus is kinda alone out there. And injured and dying space marines don't really cut it.

Samus had friends in Corruption.  Then she killed them.

I just don't want them to half-ass the story element.  I mean, either have Samus as a stoic, silent hunter, or make her a real character surrounded by other real characters.  Don't dabble in one game, and then shift gears in another.

Yeah, and that was one thing that really bothered me about the game. Those other bounty hunters were cool, and it would have been great to have them reappear in future games, but with them being dead that's not going to happen.

Does that time frame apply to those who didn't do the "Intend to Buy" option? I was just offering a word of caution, that this may be a "better safe than sorry" scenario.

iv been eying a copy of the game, my metroid prime 2 was eaten by a dog, but i have 1 and 3....i could buy just 2, but it would be easier and cheaper and better to by trillogy

I got my copy of Cursed Mountain CE, it comes in a similar tin.  It's awesome.

The bonus disc is a combined CD+DVD double sided magick frisbee.

If you want to read a good read why games will eventually go out of print the following are all pretty good, particularly the first one.

Where In The World Is 'Tetris DS' -- Why Games Are Discontinued
Deciding The Fate of Dante and 'Phoenix' -- How Capcom Predicts Game Sales
The Surprises Of 'Odin Sphere' and 'Trauma Center' -- How Being Conservative Keeps Atlus In Business
EA, Capcom Disagree On Longevity Of Individual Games -- 'Spore'-Maker Cites 10 Year Plan
Analyst: Most Video Games Only Have 'A Few Months' To Succeed

Endless Ocean says hi. ;)

That never stopped Ridley.

Not a fantasy world.  The concept of similar but I would want it in an alien world.

I still have videos to share from last year's BWii wi-fi extravaganza.

I haven't forgotten you.

I'm really glad I got this for Christmas. The case is all sorts of sweet.

I have to say, I'm kind of surprised to hear this from you. Not that you don't like it, but the way you expressed it. Usually you are pretty fair with your opinions on games, so I would expect you to say something more along the lines of "I can see it is a well-made game and understand the appeal, but it just isn't my kind of game."

So Nintendo is discontinuing this title because of poor demand? Is that really the case?? I can see in Japan, but in NA and elsewhere the MP franchise is pretty strong. Right?

Odd request: could SOMEBODY send me some green tokens? I need like 17. I will happily reciprocate. I beat Corruption last night (and, thus, the Trilogy) and just noticed the veritable mountain of green tokens I need to unlock anything worthwhile. My Wii code is in my sig. Please add me, then send me tokens. I'm begging you!

Not really.  Well, not in the numbers that Nintendo wants.  They seem to really focus on stuff that will sell HUGE nowadays, so a lot of their lesser-selling (but no less beloved) franchises have gone into storage.

Frankly I think that sucks, but hey, whatever keeps Reggie in his Bentley.

I think the reason MP Trilogy isn't doing well is because outside of the new controls, there's no new content.  The Metroid series has a good sized fanbase that's quite loyal, but the problem is most Metroid fans already own all 3 Prime games already.

If they had added things like new area's and bosses, I'd imagine that would have motivated a lot more Metroid fans to buy this collection since it'd give them a new reason to replay all three games.  But the way it is right now, if someone want to replay Prime 1 over again, they'll just play the Gamecube game since it's pretty much the same game except with different controls.

That's a good point.  That's why I don't have it.  Can one really use a re-release to gauge interest?

In this case all three original games are even playable on the Wii.  Even if the Wii was the only console you've ever owned you could have got all three games before the Trilogy set was even announced.  The goal of this should be to attract late adopters to the Metroid Prime franchise.  That audience is limited so it makes sense to make this a limited release.

While we're on this topic what the hell happened to the NPC titles.  I wasn't a big fan of them but Pikmin 2 was supposed to be on the way and it's kind of disappeared.  Of all the NPC titles THAT was the one most worthy of re-release.

Agreed--that and Chibi Robo are strange exclusions. I saw DK Jungle Beat the other day and wanted to buy it, but being jobless means I can't blow my money as easily. Never played the GC version, either.

Metroid Trilogy might not have a lot going for it (except the collector's tin and new play controls), but I can think of one REALLY good reason why all of us should be buying it up while we can: it is discontinued.

What this means is that it is already scarce and is only going to get even more scarce as time progresses. If you have even the tiniest desire to own this game, right now is the time to get it. A year or two from now this might be selling for $200 or something, because then it will be being sold at collector's prices. So I kinda see it as an investment to just own it even if you don't plan on ever playing it.

I grabbed a copy just for that reason. It was in "like new" condition which means I can play it without depreciating its value, and then I can hold onto it for a year or two and wait for the value to skyrocket. Since Nintendo isn't making or shipping this anymore, this is pretty much inevitable.

So there you have it, that's a damned good reason to own this game. It is called "collector's edition" for a reason, and collecting is the reason why one should own it.

There's no more NPC titles cuz Mario came out.

I imagine we'll probably see the NPC titles again once Nintendo's blown its latest load of Mario; Metroid; and Zelda, and they're scrambling to fill in the gaps again.  We might see them sometime in 2011.

I got an old (but unused) copy of Jungle Beat with bongos for 14€ IIRC, try looking around if any retailers have surplus like that.

If they're going to put in that kind of effort then they might as well create a new game.

I hope Pikmin 2 and Chibi-Robo make it stateside as those are two GameCube games I missed out on, but considering the low sales of the other titles in the series, I have my doubts.

Ironically Pikmin 2 and Chibi Robo were the only ones I knew I would buy if they came here. I passed up Pikmin 1 and Mario Tennis.

How do you look yourself in the mirror?

I bought them on Gamecube. I just passed up the Wii-Makes of them. Though I did consider getting Pikmin 1 on Wii for my sister since she likes the series but doesn't own any of them.

That's forgivable.

I want NPC Pikmin 2 enough that I've seriously considered importing it.

I used to own the GameCube version of Pikmin and I still bought the NPC version. It's a great game worth owning again, and it controls great with the Wii Remote. I can't wait for NPC! Pikmin 2 to come out here.

I've been intending to get this. Even though I already beat 2 of them (I never beat MP2), they are all great games and having them all on 1 disc is convenient.

Maybe sometime after Pikmin 3, Nintendo will come out with Pikmin Trilogy which will include all three Pikmin games in some collector's tin with a bonus making of disc, or whatever.

I would love to see that, though I sadly doubt it will happen. Maybe they could give it out as a pre-order bonus? I've also wondered if NPC Pikmin 2 got delayed to come out closer to when Pikmin 3 gets released. If Pimin 3 got delayed then they might have held back releasing 2. Or perhaps we are going to get a Pikmin 2+3 package? I'd love that best.

Let's get real, Pikmin is more niche than Metroid.

But, but...crap your right. There go my dreams of metal game cases with flower shapes stamped on the cover...  :'(

Which means it would have an even more limited production run than Metroid Trilogy had. It just means if this ever does come out we need to jump on it quick because Nintendo doesn't like to keep shipping products unless they sell millions.

Games can still disappear from online stores.  I was listening to a podcast recently that was saying a certain game was no longer able to be downloaded on XBLA because the company that made it no longer exists.  At least physical copies still exist after the fact, even if they are rare. 

Definitely the big reason why Prime Trilogy has been discontinued is the packaging.  Nintendo also probably feels that the people who were going to buy the game have already bought it.  And with a new Metroid coming out this year, they're looking to clear up shelf space.

Well, if the company that makes a game no longer exists, then shouldn't that game become public domain? Whose copyrights are being harmed if the owner no longer exists?

I'm sure that in some cases there is still a person collecting a check if the game is still selling in an online store. A lot of times all fo the rights revert to one person if a company dissolves (like the owner or someone who bought the rights at a closing auction of sorts). It all depends on how the company exited. Remember some like Acclaim sell off their IP and assets to other companies and persons to try and resolve any final outstanding debts they have.

Take that up with the government, copyright law is a convoluted mess that's designed to NEVER let anything fall into the public domain.

I used to think like this but I long gave up on this sort of "investing" as I never sold anything.  I always have too much emotional attachment to my possesions.  So owning it "just because" is like a mental illness to me that I'm happy to have overcome. :)  If you seriously plan on selling it on eBay though it isn't a bad idea.

Agreed.  I highly doubt the existence of Metroid Prime Trilogy and the fact that Retro has not revealed a new title in over two years is a coincidence.  Someone has to work on these and that someone could be working on something new.  Adding motion control to a title ain't exactly the same as uploading an old NES game to the VC.

Its exciting to think about what they might be working on at the moment. No studio ever stops working on something as long as they are still alive, so its pretty much a given that Retro is up to something. We just don't know what it is exactly, but this upcoming E3 might provide the answer.

I hope they are taking a break from the Metroid Prime stuff, though. That's all they've ever done since like... since they were created, right? So its time they moved on to something else. Since dusting off old Nintendo franchises seems to be their forte, it isn't unreasonable to think they could be at work on that long rumored Icarus game.

Newegg still has this in stock, if anyone's looking.

No they don't.

Then I'm sorry for waiting until they delivered mine and I was sure it was for real before sharing that info, but it was still available yesterday when I checked the website.

Only thing I can find on there now is a preorder for Other M.

I can follow the link from my order to the entry, where the status has indeed changed to "Currently Unavailable."  Sorry.  I really didn't think they'd be that close to selling out.

They are already selling for $60 new on Amazon associate sites.

The Target in my area still had them as of last week. Quite a few. May have to go check that out, as I already off-loaded all my original games in anticipation of getting the trilogy...

It is likely to remain permanently unavailable.

Now's the time to buy. If you have to resort to buying it used, then do it. Even used copies of this game are going to become increasingly expensive and rarer.

OHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOY

I'm going to buy 100 copies and use it to fund my retirement!

Canceling things like this never makes sense, especially when people actually want to buy the game but may not have the funds for it at that particular time. This isn't the first time a company has canceled a game, others have even canceled games and said that they don't sell enough. The real reason is that they don't sell enough because they don't make enough for people to buy. In most cases people are always looking to buy games but they just seem to be sold out. Hmm I wonder how that so many smart people can turn out to be so thoughtless when it comes to situations like this when it's really simple, make more copies and they'll sell more. You can't expect your games to always sell out when there are tons of other games that are a lot more popular or better being released during the same time period, this is a problem UBI had with Beyond Good and Evil.

In the case of this game, it was always intended to have a limited run. As for other games, shelf space is limited, so newer games have to replace older ones.

I still wish they had a way to just make more copies on demand. Imagine if we could still order copies of older games from a special distributor that had all of the data, images, mints and whatever else they needed to just press more discs and print more manuals and boxes. If they streamlined the process enough then it shouldn't be that hard to do.

I got screwed out of this preorder by GAME twice - it was available for £20! And in stock! But it sold out before i finished preordering so i waited until it became available. The second it did i ran online and got a successful preorder. Then they cancelled it 2 weeks later because it was "out of stock".

I know a lot of people don't like the idea of digital distribution, but it would allow companies to continue offering games well past the point where they stop now.

In theory that's true but I think we'll encounter a fair bit of bullshit false scarcity.  A "Limited Edition" is like a little threat that can work pretty well.  Maybe you were debating whether to buy something or not.  The second they indicate that it's available for a limited time you suddenly have this weird pressure to make a decision.  If you don't buy it NOW you might NEVER be able to get it!  That's clever manipulative marketing to get fence-sitters on board.  Disney does it every single time with their video releases.  I think even in a download-only model we'll get limited time releases and such just to get us to buy things we maybe don't really want in a panic.

Atlus' whole business strategy seems to rely on their customers' knowledge that Atlus games have very limited distribution runs so you better get it ASAP!  If the game was as readily available it would remove the aura.  Part of the appeal is in the obscurity.

Metroid Prime Trilogy's limited release was PERFECT.  How many of you who already owned ALL THREE GAMES, which were all playable on your Wii because of the Gamecube backwards compatibility, bought this as well?  The new control schemes for the first two games is somewhat new content but I think a lot of the appeal was that this was a special collector's item.  It came in this great tin and was only available for a limited time.

And that reminds me that not only is scarcity beneficial for creating interest but so are little extras like the tin case MP Trilogy came in.  I figure that even in the future where digital distribution is the norm we'll still get the little collector's editions and such.  Who says you even have to offer a game in digital format if you don't want to?  Sorry, THIS title is of special prestige and will only be available in stores with the special reflective hologram cover and soundtrack.

Digital distribution will not be that easy consumer friendly service we want it to be for a long time.  It will have its share of bullshit.  Hell look at the VC.  Any reason why every game Nintendo could put on there isn't on there?  No, they want to space releases out or keep this one in the vaults so that remake can be made or whatever.  We have the ideal service to sell old console games available RIGHT NOW and yet Square Enix isn't making Chrono Trigger available so they can sell the remake on the DS.

The only positive about digital distribution is that it will never run out of stock. I don't have a problem with digital distribution in and of itself, I just want it to coexist with physical media.

It also has no limitation of shelf space and requires next to no cost to keep something available.

The former goes with what I said and the latter doesn't affect consumers.

It affects us indirectly; it can make it much easier to find older, obscure games by making it easier and cheaper for publishers to continue to offer them.

I think that falls under the "Never run out of stock" thing that I mentioned. If you disagree, then I guess I should have been more specific.

Yeah, I guess it kinda does. You named the end result and I named the factors that led to it.

I am surprised companies haven't adopted the MOD (manufacturing on demand) model like Amazon has done for some titles. Amazon basically reached a deal with companies like Nickelodeon to release their older shows on DVD (like Rocko's Modern Life). When a customer orders the title, Amazon will manufacture the disc and ship it. Game companies could continue offering their older or more obscure titles this way, it would let someone get the physical game while saving the publisher money by not having to manufacture copies of a game that would just sit in storage.

Wait, you can get Rocko's Modern Life on DVD from Amazon? Hell yes, I'm totally doing that.

They are DVD-Rs sold as "Best Ofs", rather than seasons, but yep they are there...

Netflix does have the complete first season if you just want to watch the it rather than own it (even on Instant Streaming). But yeah, Amazon has 3 volumes of the show on DVD-R's (since it is cheaper for Amazon to print them on DVD-R's and thus keep the price lower for fans). At least they are here though, I want to get Are You Afraid of the Dark? on DVD, but it is only available in Canada. If I wanted to pay more I guess I could order them from Amazon Canada.

I already have all the episodes on my computer; I would have bought the DVDs to have better quality and to own them legitimately, but if it's not the whole series then I'll pass.

To make it worse, the reviews on Amazon seem to indicate that these episodes are edited and are not the original versions that aired. Being DVD-R's also means that not all DVD playing devices will be able to play them.

Most devices except maybe some of the very earliest shouldn't have a problem.  I'm more concerned with the fact that DVD-Rs will degrade after a few years.