Key Takeaways
Table of Contents
- Nintendo tends to approach character reveals with more restraint; future Switch announcements expected to be less alarming.
- Mario’s meme-worthy teaser emphasizes Nintendo’s need for refined presentation moving forward.
Nintendo alums Kit and Krysta explained how a infamous Switch teaser of Mario peeking behind a curtain came to be, and why Nintendo wasn’t too happy about it at the time. Nintendo tends to present a more reigned-in atmosphere surrounding its characters instead of approaching gamers with an absurd sense of humor, which many companies more significantly attempted decades ago. Now, Nintendo’s approach is cordial, matching the neatness and minimalism of the Switch’s aesthetic.
Gamers are wondering how Nintendo will present the next Switch system when it’s ready to be shown off. Many may be setting those expectations based on how Nintendo has acted in the past, but the Switch’s initial teaser is an anomaly that’s unlikely to be repeated. In 2016, Nintendo posted a tweet inviting gamers to discover the then-codenamed NX. The text was accompanied by a picture of Mario unlike anything else the company had shared.
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In a recent podcast, Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang discussed a controversial teaser posted ahead of the Nintendo Switch’s official announcement. After being asked how the teaser came to be, podcasters Kit and Krysta reminisced about the image of Mario, pictured barging into the frame and looking behind the viewer’s curtain, noting just how controversial the image was at Nintendo. Krysta explained that the company’s former head of social media came up with the concept. The image came to be after employees recognized that an original picture needed to be created since there were no assets made specifically for that news.
Nintendo Alums Unpack Controversial Mario Picture
The picture was ready after the social media manager commissioned a photoshoot of someone in a Mario costume. Nintendo voiced concerns initially, emphasizing worry over it being too much of a hint towards a specific direction for the console reveal. Kit and Krysta noted that following the teaser being posted, employees weren’t happy about how many people had turned Mario into a meme.
Krysta talked about how annoyed people were at being forced to use the rather scandalous picture of Mario as a last resort. She and Kit agree that Nintendo will likely be prepared the next time an announcement like this needs to be made. This can be interpreted as a bit of insight into the process of announcing the Nintendo Switch successor. When that happens, a possible guess is that there will be specific artwork or character renders related to the next console. Since Mario is the brand mascot, there’s a decent chance he will be the face of the console, but no matter what, gamers may want to set their expectations for a less alarming photograph.
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console launched in 2017, capable of being played in handheld mode or docked to a television. The Switch Lite, a handheld-only model, followed in 2019, with an OLED refresh coming in 2021.
