We knowNintendois up to something, we just don’t know what that something is yet. A new console is almost certainly coming as we approach the seventh anniversary of theSwitch’s launch, but Nintendo hasn’t told us what that console is yet. It hasn’t even revealed it’s working on something. The evidence an announcement is imminent continues to stack up though, the latest indicator being the absence of popular Switch games on the majority of store shelves.
Nintendealappears to have been the first to notify Switch owners that certain games are disappearing from retailers, suggesting that they are out of print. Pikmin 3 Deluxe was the first big title to start disappearing with just one major retailer in the US still having it in stock. If you planned on picking up a physical copy of Pikmin 3 on Switch, I would do it now. The only place it’s left in stock is Walmart, and you can buy it through the link in the box below.
One game alone isn’t enough to suggest Nintendo is shifting its focus from Switch games to titles on whatever’s coming next, but then the same happened toMetroid Dread. Samus’s latest 2D adventure has been disappearing from store shelves as well, suggesting it too is now out of print. Much like Pikmin 3 Deluxe, there now appears to be just one place physical copies of Dread remain in stock - Best Buy, and again, you can access its store page and buy it through the link below.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe
WHERE TO PLAY
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is an enhanced port of the classic strategy puzzle game from Nintendo, launched in 2020 for Nintendo Switch. You must harness an army of Pikmin to explore the planet PNF-404.
The third suspect is a little less telling. Physical copies of Paper Mario: The Origami King are notoriously hard to find right now too,currently in stock on eBaybut nowhere else. Less telling because that might be a case of Nintendo not wanting two Paper Mario games on shelves at the same time to prevent confusion with Thousand Year Door’s remake launching in 2024. If I were Nintendo, I’d want as many copies of Origami King out there as possible with a whole new generation of players about to discover Paper Mario, but maybe that’s just me.
Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread is a 2021 Nintendo Switch game originally intended for the Nintendo DS. In it, Samus must investigate the planet ZDR. Dread returns to the classic side-scrolling gameplay of the series, following detours into the FPS and action-adventure genres.
Until Nintendo confirms one way or the other, none of the above is hard evidence a new console is coming, nor is it proof physical copies of these games have disappeared from stores never to return. It does seem likely though, and if you were thinking of adding some physical Switch games to your collection - whether they’re the ones included in this article or not - now is probably the time to do it before the only place you can buy them is through resale sites for inflated prices.
