Mario Day 2021 sales discount several Mario games for Nintendo Switch – Ars Technica

A collage of Super Mario promotional images against a white background.

Ars Technica

Today’s Dealmaster is headlined by a number of sales on Mario games for the Nintendo Switch. The deals come as part of Nintendo’s annual “Mario Day” event, which the video game company uses to celebrate its most beloved plumber, kart driver, golfer, boxing referee, typing instructor, prescription-drug supplier, and all-around mascot. The actual “holiday” arrives on Wednesday—March 10 = Mar10 = Mario, you see—but sales on various Switch games in the Mario universe are available throughout the week.

The event marks down several recommended games to $39, including the Switch essential Super Mario Odyssey, the digital board game Super Mario Party, the adorable adventure game Luigi’s Mansion 3, the course-creating toolset that is Super Mario Maker 2, the multiplayer-focused tennis-meets-fighting game Mario Tennis Aces, and the more traditional 2D platformer New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.

Other Switch games such as Yoshi’s Crafted WorldMario + Rabbids Kingdom BattleSuper Mario 3D All-Stars, and Paper Mario: The Origami King happen to be discounted at certain retailers as well, though not all of those are part of Nintendo’s official sale. Regardless, the majority of these deals take around $10-15 off the usual street prices we’ve seen online.

The deals do not include popular titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or the most recent Mario release, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, and they don’t represent the lowest prices we’ve ever seen for each game. Considering that some of the discounted games are 3-4 years old, we wish the regular prices were closer to these sale prices more regularly. But deep discounts on first-party Nintendo games have been infrequent since the Switch launched, so if you’ve been interested in any of the titles on sale, these offers still bring better value than we see most of the year. We’ll also note that while Nintendo has discounted a few of these games on its own digital eShop, those who apply a digital code from an outside retailer can redeem more Gold points for future purchases at the eShop.

If your backlog of Switch games is already overflowing, our deals roundup also has sales on recommended USB-C chargers, board games, and indoor security cameras, the Apple Watch Series 6, and more. You can check out the full rundown below.

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Top 10 deals of the day

The many faces of Mario.
Enlarge / The many faces of Mario.

Video game deals

<em>Ori and the Will of the Wisps</em>.
Enlarge / Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
The DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5.
Enlarge / The DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5.

Gaming deals

The 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro.
Enlarge / The 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro.

Samuel Axon

Laptop and desktop PC deals

  • Apple MacBook Pro (late 2020) laptop—Apple M1, 13.3-inch 2560×1600, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD for $1,199.99 at Amazon (normally $1,299).
  • Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 laptop—Intel Core i5-1035G7, 13.5-inch 2256×1504, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD for $899.99 at Microsoft (normally $1,300).
  • Lenovo Chromebook Duet 2-in-1 tablet—MediaTek Helio P60T, 10.1-inch 1920×1200, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC for $249 at Best Buy (normally $299).
  • 32-inch LG 32UL500-W monitor—3840×2160, VA, 60Hz, FreeSync for $299.99 at Amazon (normally $330).
  • Crucial P5 (500GB) PCIe Gen 3 NVMe internal SSD for $61.99 at Amazon and Crucial (normally $72).
  • Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) PCIe 4.0 NVMe internal SSD for $199.99 at Amazon (normally $230).
  • WD My Book (4TB) external desktop hard drive for $79.99 at Amazon (normally $90).
The Apple Watch Series 6.
Enlarge / The Apple Watch Series 6.

Corey Gaskin

Electronics deals

Bose's Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are a solid option among premium wireless headphones.
Enlarge / Bose’s Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are a solid option among premium wireless headphones.

Bose

Smart home device deals

RavPower's RP-PC128 (left) supplies 90W of power across two USB-C ports, making it capable of charging many laptops at full speed.
Enlarge / RavPower’s RP-PC128 (left) supplies 90W of power across two USB-C ports, making it capable of charging many laptops at full speed.

Jeff Dunn

Accessories and miscellaneous deals