It’s bad enough Wal-Mart crushes small business, oppresses minimum-wage workers and supports sweatshops and censors musicians, but now mean ol’ Sam Walton is holding Chibi-Robo prisoner.

For those not in the know, Chibi-Robo is a three-inch-tall, battery-powered helper robot who debuted last year in an eponymous GameCube title that was stylish, surreal and absolutely adorable, with an addictive midi-jazz soundtrack to boot. You saw the world from Cheebo's Katamari-eye-view, spending the entire retro 60s-hued game exploring--and cleaning--the Sanderson household.

Yep, Nintendo made a game about doing chores but somehow picking up trash and mopping muddy paw prints was made fun. of course, the game was deeper than that. Your real task was to bring happiness to your adopted, dysfunctional family.

Out-of-work dad is stuck sleeping on the couch because he bought you and mom‘s crying in the bedroom, contemplating divorce while their daughter, well, she think she‘s a frog. Oh yeah, at night the toys come to life and the house is invaded by robotic insects. A little too complex and weird to be dismissed as just a cute “kiddie” game, the innovative platformer built up a cult following who have been eagerly awaiting the Nintendo DS sequel Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol because hey, dude finally made it off the property.

This time Cheeb’s tasked with cleaning up the local park, which has been devastated by pollution. It’s up to you to grow flowers, build playgrounds and defeat toxic enemies with just a water squirter and a boom box (apparently robot breakdancing makes the grass grow).

But you won’t find Chibi-Robo: PP at your local game shop come its October 2nd release date. GameStop even had to call its pre-order customers to tell them the game was axed. Odd that, considering it debuted in 2nd place on the Japanese charts last month. Turns out it wasn’t canceled at all--just turned into a Wal-Mart exclusive. Why Nintendo would limit this game to an exclusive retailer, even if it is one of the biggest, remains a mystery, but it's certainly an unnecessary slap in the face to game shops and is a pretty crap way to nurture a new franchise.

This cute-as-a-silver-button miniature robot could have been the big N’s newest mascot. After all, most of Nintendo’s spokespixels--Mario and Luigi, Metroid’s Seamus, Zelda and Link--have been around since the 8-bit era. Here was a chance to draft a shiny new addition to the all-star team but by locking Chibi-Robo into Wal-Mart, where some older fans may choose not to tread, Nintendo appears to be admitting they don’t think their robot’s got much juice left.