Nintendo is about to remove a bunch of Mario games, so the Internet has decided the moustachioed plumber will die come March 31.

In case you missed it, last year was Mario’s 35th anniversary. As a result, we saw Nintendo announce a number of products to help celebrate the momentous occasion.

There was the battle royale-inspired Super Mario Bros. 35 and the adorable Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. The most popular by far, however, was Super Mario 3D All-Stars. The collection made dreams come true by putting Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Galaxy all on one cartridge.

There was only one caveat to this wonderful news: it would all end on March 31, 2021. Strangely, Nintendo provided no real explanation as to why these products would suddenly be pulled off physical (and more bizarrely, digital) shelves. The company simply announced the end-date and that was that.

Jumping ahead, a quick calendar check will show you that March 31 is just over a week away. As is to be expected then, the Internet is taking the whole thing rather well.

More specifically, there is now a meme circulating that Mario will die at the end of the month. That’s certainly one way to explain things away…

According to IGN, the meme itself has been popping up since the cut-off date was first announced. However Google Trends is now reporting that searches for “Mario Dies” have reached a year-long high in the US over the last seven days.

What kind of heights this movement will reach by next week remains to be seen, but we’re guessing it still won’t change Nintendo’s mind on the matter.

In the meantime, let us all raise a glass to one of our favourite heroes. C’est la vie.

Also, if you’ve been meaning to pick up Super Mario 3D All-Stars for a bit of nostalgia, you’d best do so sooner rather than later.

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