Mailbox: Nintendo Dinner Parties, Banger Years & Business Types – Nintendo Life Letters
You hear that? It’s coming. GOTY season is coming for us all…
[Wakes up, startled, a little bit of dry dribble] Wha—!? Oh, it’s you. Hello! Welcome to Round 17 of the Nintendo Life Mailbox.
Got something you want to get off your chest? We’re ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings.
Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.
Let’s settle down with a cup of something spooky and open up this month’s mailbox…
Nintendo Life Mailbox – October 2024
“the business side” (***STAR LETTER***)
So hopefully this question does not come off as insulting to anyone reading, I just thought I’d ask a question that’s been burning in me and that I gotta ask- when I look at stories of video games ruined by, say, executives or management or “by committee” or stuff like that, I gotta ask “Why would anyone want to get a job in the business side of video games to begin with? Surely it can’t just be money and power? Yeah, I know it’s a business for a reason and someone’s gotta do it, but who’d do it willingly and/or without being asked?”
Willax
For some people, the business management side of the games industry just suits their skillset. Some people have zero ability with art or writing or the technical aspects of game creation, but they still want to be involved in something they love.
For others who started off in the game dev trenches, assuming managerial responsibilities over projects and people is often the only path forward if you’re looking to advance a career. Talented people can end up moving away from the thing that drew them to games in the first place.
It’s understandable, too, given how modestly paid the vast majority of positions in this industry are! There’s a real financial imperative to take the only promotions going as years pass and priorities change. A 20-year-old programmer likely has very different life responsibilities from a married-with-kids 40-year-old programmer. Jobs in gaming are scarce enough right now, and you can’t feed your kids Pot Noodles indefinitely.
It’s a similar story across many industries and organisations, unfortunately! If you want or have to climb the ladder, it’s budgets, spreadsheets, performance reviews, and wistful thoughts of the good ol’ days for you, chief. – Ed.
“banger year”
Is it weird that 2024 is Nintendo’s best year for me in a while? I know 2023 was a banger year, with new mainline Mario and Zelda entries, among other things. But 2024 has proven to be Nintendo’s year for quirkier, more experimental titles, and it seems like very few people are taking notice of them. For example, take the lack of appreciation for Endless Ocean: Luminous. I really enjoyed my 30 hours with the game. To me, it is so obviously trying to be something radically outside the bounds of what is considered a video game, even compared to its predecessors on Wii. Yet it was lambasted by critics for that, and a lot of the audience seems to have missed the point as well. Another Code: Recollection, too, was an experimental take on how to update a visual novel/adventure game to become something new, with top-notch production values. But almost no one outside a small niche seems to have tried playing it. Same goes for Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, which at first appears to be a retro or throwback experience, like the 2021 entries, but shows classic Nintendo subversiveness and inventiveness as it goes on. Throw in a clever and puzzly Zelda, a flashy 2D platformer starring Princess Peach, a few lovely remasters (particularly Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year-Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD), and a forthcoming new entry in the Mario & Luigi series, and it’s an astonishingly great mix of games. It’s weird that the general zeitgeist seems to feel that Nintendo is just stalling out before the reveal of the next console, when in truth these smaller-scale titles all contain in spades the offbeat eccentricity that we love the developer for in the first place.
Jordan
I… agree with nearly all of that. And I’m glad you enjoyed Endless Ocean! Someone had to. (/jokes – I haven’t played it.) – Ed.
“ubiquitous anime/hentai”
Is anyone else an obsessive fan of the “What’s New on Nintendo eShop” articles on the Switch News Page? I know this probably sounds a bit like I’m off my rocker, but I find those articles really fun – Laughing at all the shovelware, all of the wildly ridiculous and more so ubiquitous anime/hentai puzzle games…
I even have certain mainstay publishers, almost “characters,” who I look out for: Entity3, a blatantly obvious mobile/shovelware publisher; EastAsiaSoft, of whom I always get very excited and proud when their game for the week *isn’t* just another entry in the “Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire” series (it’s their flagship)… Of course none of this deserves to be on the eShop, but gall-durn it, It’s fun to contemplate. Sometimes there’s even some actual hidden gems.
NINTELDRITCH
As someone who occasionally has to scrape and compile our weekly download list… er, no. There are only so many AI-generated, Disney-knock-off, fairytale novel titles from Aldora Games you can add on a weekly basis before wanting to tear down the whole Switch eShop permanently.
And the risk of missing a real gem amongst all the tripe gets worse all the time. One of the things I’m looking forward to most about Switch 2 is a fresh eShop! – Ed.
“some stinkers”
It’s no secret that Nintendo is very protective of their first party franchises, but when they give another company a chance to make a game for one of their IPs, you can get some amazing titles like Zelda: Minish Cap from Capcom or Smash Ultimate from Bandai Namco. Of course, you also can get some stinkers like Metroid: Other M from Team Ninja or Star Fox Zero from Platinum Games. What would be your dream collaboration from a third party developer and Nintendo IP?
Kazman2007
Hmm, a slapped wrist for that casual Other M slander. If nothing else, the Japanese box art was off the hook.
I want to see… FromSoftware’s Kirby. I will not be taking questions at this time.
What say you, team? – Ed.
- “Digital Eclipse and, uh… everything pre-N64.” – Ollie
- “I wouldn’t turn my nose up at an Evil Empire roguelike for the Metroid series.” – Jim
- “I get two days holiday away from the Zelda-guide dungeon I’ve been locked in for weeks and you’re pinging me with this ****!?” – Alana
“bigger and longer, and also somewhat harder”
Good evening, Nintendo Life! My previously written letter was about a game you wish got made. Since I don’t think it’s necessary to resend the same message, I thought I’d spice things up.
What’s your thoughts on the “game length = price” debate? Now this is pretty nuanced, due to its origin in the 90s when games begun getting bigger and longer, and also somewhat harder to get, thus a presumed value being given to “game length”.
Personally, it depends on the game. I’m not one to criticize a game for its length “not matching its price” or anything superfluous like that, but it’d be totally disappointing to get barely 5 hours worth of playtime from a full price game (100% completion included).
Yousef
If by ‘full price’ you mean 50 or 60 quid, sure, I’d be disappointed to only get five hours out of Zelda. I’d be fine with 10 or 12, though. In a world where you can play games (good ones, too) for free for thousands of hours, ‘length = price’ feels more backward than ever before. Publishers charge what they think people will pay, and I wouldn’t regret paying full price for a 10-hour Zelda if they were 10 great hours.
Personally, I genuinely cannot remember the last time I was upset because a game was too short. Stretching a five-hour idea across a dozen hours with filler and repetition isn’t value for money. I want to be having a good time all the time – anything less is a true waste. – Ed.
“Nintendo related people”
Hello NL Crew!
Naturally Mario Party’s been on the mind recently and has had me wondering… if you were to invite 3 Nintendo related people to a dinner party who would they be. They can fictional, or real-life people!
For example, I’d go for Big Man (of Deep Cut), Masahiro Sakurai and either Popo or Nana of the Ice Climbers.
That last one might sound cruel but I can just tell they need to offload. They must drive each other nuts!All the best,
Nintoz
Let’s see. I’ll take Takashi Tezuka, Pauline, and Aurora from Animal Crossing. Time to defrost the vol-au-vents.
Let’s check in with the Nintendo Life office… – Ed.
- “Charles Martinet, Miyamoto, and Samus.” – Ollie
- “Addison, Tingle, Stamp Guy.” – Jim
“poor history”
I hope Nintendo improves their account system for Switch 2. Sharing games is painful today. I’d like to buy a 2nd console for my son but there is no real “family sharing” feature yet. It’s fine if Nintendo limits 1 active play per game, but they really should make it easy to set up a family group with individual accounts and share the game library without the need to remain online or define a primary console that is not even your primary but the one console you want to play offline. Given Nintendo’s poor history with online systems, I don’t know if they would prioritize a feature such as family sharing, though. What do you think?
RenanKJ
I understand the desire to stop large groups networking as a ‘family’ and sharing single games, but it does feel like actual families are being punished with a very Nintendo-like solution this gen. Ultimately though, even despite the struggles, we’re here muddling through its needlessly complicated current setup, right? I don’t have much faith that things will be different with Switch 2. – Ed.
Bonus Letters
(I assume Gavin is reading this) – WoomyNNYes
I mean, I skim. – Ed.
Gonna put in a gamble and assume the “Nintendo switch successor” has been announced by now or is being announced when you publish the next batch of reader letters.
In which case yay lucky me
Otherwise I am sorry for jinxing everything
Aidan
Gambling’s a mug’s game, Aidan. I had 50 quid on ‘Super Switch’ and then they call it ‘Alarmo’. smh – Ed.
That’s all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.
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