While we continue await the long-rumoured release of a Switch 2, let's take a moment to recall the launch of the original Switch... and all those memes. that came with it. The hilarious tease for the console was very Nintendo, but it seems the company was a bit put out.
Back in 2016, Nintendo teased the Switch on Twitter by posting an image of someone dressed as Mario pulling back a curtain. It looked weird and creepy, and the memes came fast and without mercy, with many comparing the image to the shower scene from Psycho. Two people who worked for Nintendo at the time now say the company won't repeat the mistake.
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IGN spotted this nugget of insider detail towards the end of episode 138 of the Kit & Krysta Podcast hosted by former Nintendo staff Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang. The latter notes that the infamous Mario in the shower twee was "very controversial."
"The person that had this idea was the former head of social. This person commissioned a photoshoot for the Mario costume character in the office to go... They basically staged a photo of the Mario costume character going behind the curtain and doing the thing."
"It caused some concern actually," she added. "Because, of course, Nintendo doesn't want to not manage people's expectations and this was too much in the zone of speculation. What could it be? [Is it] too much of a tease for something as big as a console reveal? So it didn't go over too well. Then, of course, it got memed into oblivion and people were kind of upset about it, honestly."
pic.twitter.com/uiBuwCpRjeOctober 20, 2016
pic.twitter.com/uiBuwCpRjeOctober 20, 2016
Ellis added: "You always need more assets than you think you do. And in this case, there was clearly no asset to pair with this news and nobody wants to put out a tweet that has no image with it. So it's like, 'Well what can we do?'
But he suggests Nintendo will be better prepared for the presumed upcoming launch of the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo's next console will be called. "There's always some spreadsheet," he said. "Here's every single asset we need, every single sizing, every single use. And I think in that case they must have just missed out, because why else otherwise would they be taking a last-second picture of Mario in the shower. They'll be on top of it this time. It won't happen again."
Does that mean we won't have a meme-fest when Nintendo finally launches the Switch sequel? I wouldn't bet on it. While Nintendo might be more on top of things this time around, it's a console launch, and gamers will find something to make fun of – as they did for the PS5 Pro launch, and the PS5 launch before it, and the Xbox Series X and the Xbox series S too. Console makers have to embrace it.
And Nintendo in particular often has a funny approach to launching products – like when the company president casually confirmed the existence of a forthcoming console earlier this year. That's part of what makes it so endearing.
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