The first quarter of the year is home to plenty of Nintendo-themed festivities, as one of the biggest names in gaming honors some of its most successful franchises. Last week saw Pokemon wrap up a week of announcements leading up to the franchise’s ‘Pokemon Day,’ which culminated in the announcement of the next generation of Pokemon games. Super Mario will hold its annual ‘Mario Day’ this coming Thursday on March 10th. Now, with the flagship franchise’s big day fast approaching, Nintendo and select retailers are already ringing in the Italian plumber’s big day.
The annual Super Mario-themed celebration has become a tradition for Nintendo, serving as a play on words based on the date of ‘Mar10’, similar to the adoption of ‘May the 4th’ as a celebration amongst Star Wars fans. Past years have featured discounts on many modern games like Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Super Mario Maker 2 as well as accessories and toys. Now, with 2022’s Mario Day just a few days away, Nintendo and major retailers are featuring discounts on some of the franchise’s hottest games.
Mario-related sales to ring in the Mario Day season have already gone up on the Switch eShop as well as several online stores like Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop. Mario fans will be able to pick up popular games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for $40, discounted from their standard price of $60. Amazon also features some DLC codes for Mario games like Luigi’s Mansion 3, while GameStop is offering discounts on Mario toys, apparel, and collectibles with the sales expected to run through the beginning of next week.
The sale for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes not long after Nintendo announced a major DLC pack coming for the racing game coming during Nintendo’s February ‘Nintendo Direct’ broadcast. Also included are many of the Mario franchise’s most recent games, like last June’s Mario Golf: Super Rush and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, with Best Buy and GameStop also offering discounts on the full kits for the augmented-reality racing game.
2022’s Mario Day comes at a time when fans of the franchise have plenty to look forward to over the next year. Not only are Mario Golf and Mario Tennis both coming to the Switch, but Nintendo also announced that another major Mario sports franchise was making a return, as Mario Strikers: Battle League is the first Mario soccer game since the Wii’s Mario Strikers Charged. The next entry in the popular Mario + Rabbids strategy spinoff, titled Sparks of Hope, is also set to launch sometime in 2022. While Mario hasn’t seen a new main-series announcement yet, the coming year should bring plenty to keep fans of the storied franchise happy.
Source: NintendoEverything
