Hello there! Welcome to the first edition of the Nintendo Life Mailbox!
In this new monthly feature, we’ll be rifling through correspondences we receive via our Contact page (scroll to the bottom of this post for precise instructions) and highlighting some of the best on this here letters page. Each month we’ll also pick out a Star Letter and the sender will receive a month’s free subscription to our Supporter scheme.
Enough waffling — let’s delve deep into the mailbag…
Nintendo Life Mailbox – June 2023
“Waldeinsamkeit” (***STAR LETTER***)
Dear Nintendo Life
It upsets me that video games aren’t considered high art the same way other media is. There are so many wonderful examples of art in games like the harder difficulty level of Catherine to convey the anxiety in the protagonist, the feeling of waldeinsamkeit in Zelda Breath Of The Wild or how Nier Automata explores themes of existentialism like only a game could.
After studying the most visionary auteur films, the most articulate and poignant books as well as the most captivating art pieces I think I know the game Nintendo needs to make to finally put to rest this notion of games aren’t art. Based on my studies I’ve determined that Nintendo needs to make a game which is in black & white, in French with lots of long words and have lots of shadows and angles in the game.
I’ve experimented with this by hooking my Switch to a black & white telly and changed the language settings to French when I was playing Doom. I feel more cultured already!
What do you think?
All the best,
Jump
Nintendo presents… Un Super Chien Andalou. Buñuel missed a trick by not putting a Battle Pass in it, tbh.
Congrats on penning our first-ever Star Letter! We’ll be in touch about the supporter sub. – Ed.
“Nostalgia and industry”
Do you think that game rankings lists (i.e. top 100 games of all time) should factor in nostalgia and industry impact? Or should it only be based on what stands up today?
Personally, I think far too much weight is placed on games being important and great for their time, as opposed to considering how they stack up today. For example, the original Super Mario Bros. was amazing for its time, but I think it has been far outdone by countless other games at this point.
Talking about games that were significant to the industry or hold great personal nostalgia should be kept separate from talking about what are the best games from today’s perspective. Your thoughts?
sketchturner
Depends on the list. As long as it’s defined upfront, there’s space for all sorts of rankings and categorisations.
From a video game history perspective, it’s important to highlight the context of a game’s wider industry impact, especially for younger players who could so easily overlook things that don’t vibe with the modern approach. OG Resident Evil’s tank or GoldenEye’s single stick controls are two examples that spring to mind — two classics that shaped the modern medium which should be discussed and researched and enjoyed. And fostering friendly debate while prompting people to try new things should be the primary function of any good list, I’d say.
As trends come and go and come back again, the modern barometer of quality is just as subjective as anything else. Ultimately, who cares if TOTK is better than BOTW? It’s the opportunity to discuss the video games that’s important. – Ed.
“Scoring”
Would you ever consider using a different scoring system for your reviews? The trouble with scores out of 10 is that a lot of people still see a score of 7 as “average” and even an insult to their favourites when it really shouldn’t be. What scoring system would you use instead?
Martin Saffrette
Most editors have a love/hate relationship with review scores, I’d wager. They’re incredibly useful for giving readers a quick critical snapshot, but branding something as complex as a video game or any other art with a number denoting quality is, in a way, undeniably silly.
I grew up in the ’90s game mag days of percentages and always remember them fondly. The tiny difference between an 88% or 89% score for games that cost £59.99 (an astronomical sum to me as a kid) would have serious implications on my purchase choices! I sometimes miss a broader scoring scale, especially when a classic ‘.5’ comes in and has to fall one way or the other. Ultimately, though, the 10-point scale is a happy medium between five stars and percentages, and I don’t see us changing it.
The sheer amount of games coming out is an unfortunate factor in people dismissing 5s and 6s and even 7/10s, I think. Who’s got the time for merely ‘Good’ when there are so many 9/10s to get through, right? – Ed.
“Sold for $70”
Dear NL,
With Tears of the Kingdom selling well and more games being sold for $70, do you think that Nintendo will eventually sell all their AAA games for $70 or will they stick with the ‘case by case’ basis for each game?
P.S. If Game Freak were to sell their Pokémon games for $70, do you think people would still buy it?
Tanookduke
If by ‘AAA’ we essentially mean Zeldas and Marios, then yes. Paying $70 US for the biggest first-party titles feels like an inevitability, I’m afraid. TOTK was an experiment and Nintendo (rightly) believed people would pay 70 bucks for it. Having played the thing, it’s difficult to believe that anyone could feel short-changed, even if it’s not their favourite game ever.
If The Pokémon Company decided to charge $70 for the next mainline entry, there would be uproar! Then again, there’s uproar with every mainline Pokémon launch for one reason or another. Honestly? Given the draw of the brand, I think people would pay. I wouldn’t personally, but plenty of players wouldn’t want to miss out for the sake of an extra 10 bucks. It’s Pokémon! – Ed.
“Totally into physical”
I am a huge fan of Nintendo and of course Nintendo Life which I check nearly once or twice a day for many years now for anything Nintendo and also, I am totally into physical releases which will lead us to my request that I wish Nintendo Life would add in each game main info ( which is located on the right side) the versions available for that game beside the regular info of release dates ….etc which is already there.
1. is it only digital release with no physical release will be available ever
2. There is a future physical release plan
3. There is a physical release (either by main developer or by third parties like Limited Run games, iam8bit..etc)
4. If there is a physical release, will there be different versions like deluxe or collectors edition
Because whenever I want to buy a game, it takes me a long time to look into your news about the release versions and also into people’s comments hoping that someone might have the info I need regarding physical editions beside of course looking through google. All this process is a real pain just to know if I should wait for a physical release which is expected in the future or there will never be one and from where should I get it if there is one.
Thanks
Hesham Youssef
All good suggestions. The main issue we run into is that we can’t say that a game will ‘never’ get a physical release. It’s a tiresome state of affairs, but it’s the way small publishers have to roll these days to protect themselves — it’s all ‘we’ll see’. It’s understandable, although when big publishers like Sega do it, you can’t help but feel like they’re nickel-and-diming fans.
As things stand for us, non-limited, Day One physical releases go into the database as ‘Nintendo Switch’ (red pages) and everything else is ‘Switch eShop’ (orange). Given the number of games coming out every month, documenting all the limited physical runs and Standard / Special / Deluxe / Collector’s Editions, etc, etc, announced after release would pose a significant data input challenge, but it’s definitely information I’d like to surface better for readers. We’ve been looking at introducing other information on our game pages for some time, so I’ll pass on these suggestions to top brass. – Ed.
Bonus Letters
“This is the link I sent.” – Shawn
Oh my. – Ed.
“Cake, Pie, or something else? What are the best and worst desserts?” – Eric
Pie for me. Cherry, apple, steak ‘n’ Guinness. All delicious. – Ed.
As for the rest of the team:
- “Best: Tiramisu. Worst: anything with jelly/Jell-o in it.” – Alana
- “Are we pitching Splatfest ideas? I’m not a biiig sweet guy, but I’d go for best: Sticky Toffee Pudding. Worst: exactly the same as Alana, or anything with a rogue raisin/currant.” – Jim
- *too busy chasing Hideo Kojima around Summer Game Fest* – Ollie
I have a confession. – octokid
Say three Hail Marios and don’t do it again. – Ed.
“Do you like Moose?” – Owl1
I’m meese-indifferent. – Ed.
“Don’t let me get carried away.” – Albert Long
Right you are. – Ed.
That’s all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.
Got something you’d like to get off your chest? A burning question you need answered? A correction you can’t contain? Follow the instructions below, then, and we look forward to rifling through your missives.
Nintendo Life Mailbox submission advice and guidelines
- Letters, not essays, please – Bear in mind that your letter may appear on the site, and 1000 words ruminating on the Legend of Heroes series and asking Alana for her personal ranking isn’t likely to make the cut. Short and sweet is the order of the day. (If you’re after a general guide, 100-200 words would be ample for most topics.)
- Don’t go crazy with multiple correspondences – Ideally, just the one letter a month, please!
- Don’t be disheartened if your letter doesn’t appear in the monthly article – We anticipate a substantial inbox, and we’ll only be able to highlight a handful every month. So if your particular letter isn’t chosen for the article, please don’t get disheartened!
How to send a Letter to the Nintendo Life Mailbox
- Head to Nintendo Life’s Contact page and select the subject “Reader Letters” from the drop-down menu (it’s already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully-crafted letter into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you’re done!
Hello there! Welcome to the first edition of the Nintendo Life Mailbox!
In this new monthly feature, we’ll be rifling through correspondences we receive via our Contact page (scroll to the bottom of this post for precise instructions) and highlighting some of the best on this here letters page. Each month we’ll also pick out a Star Letter and the sender will receive a month’s free subscription to our Supporter scheme.
Enough waffling — let’s delve deep into the mailbag…
Nintendo Life Mailbox – June 2023
“Waldeinsamkeit” (***STAR LETTER***)
Dear Nintendo Life
It upsets me that video games aren’t considered high art the same way other media is. There are so many wonderful examples of art in games like the harder difficulty level of Catherine to convey the anxiety in the protagonist, the feeling of waldeinsamkeit in Zelda Breath Of The Wild or how Nier Automata explores themes of existentialism like only a game could.
After studying the most visionary auteur films, the most articulate and poignant books as well as the most captivating art pieces I think I know the game Nintendo needs to make to finally put to rest this notion of games aren’t art. Based on my studies I’ve determined that Nintendo needs to make a game which is in black & white, in French with lots of long words and have lots of shadows and angles in the game.
I’ve experimented with this by hooking my Switch to a black & white telly and changed the language settings to French when I was playing Doom. I feel more cultured already!
What do you think?
All the best,
Jump
Nintendo presents… Un Super Chien Andalou. Buñuel missed a trick by not putting a Battle Pass in it, tbh.
Congrats on penning our first-ever Star Letter! We’ll be in touch about the supporter sub. – Ed.
“Nostalgia and industry”
Do you think that game rankings lists (i.e. top 100 games of all time) should factor in nostalgia and industry impact? Or should it only be based on what stands up today?
Personally, I think far too much weight is placed on games being important and great for their time, as opposed to considering how they stack up today. For example, the original Super Mario Bros. was amazing for its time, but I think it has been far outdone by countless other games at this point.
Talking about games that were significant to the industry or hold great personal nostalgia should be kept separate from talking about what are the best games from today’s perspective. Your thoughts?
sketchturner
Depends on the list. As long as it’s defined upfront, there’s space for all sorts of rankings and categorisations.
From a video game history perspective, it’s important to highlight the context of a game’s wider industry impact, especially for younger players who could so easily overlook things that don’t vibe with the modern approach. OG Resident Evil’s tank or GoldenEye’s single stick controls are two examples that spring to mind — two classics that shaped the modern medium which should be discussed and researched and enjoyed. And fostering friendly debate while prompting people to try new things should be the primary function of any good list, I’d say.
As trends come and go and come back again, the modern barometer of quality is just as subjective as anything else. Ultimately, who cares if TOTK is better than BOTW? It’s the opportunity to discuss the video games that’s important. – Ed.
“Scoring”
Would you ever consider using a different scoring system for your reviews? The trouble with scores out of 10 is that a lot of people still see a score of 7 as “average” and even an insult to their favourites when it really shouldn’t be. What scoring system would you use instead?
Martin Saffrette
Most editors have a love/hate relationship with review scores, I’d wager. They’re incredibly useful for giving readers a quick critical snapshot, but branding something as complex as a video game or any other art with a number denoting quality is, in a way, undeniably silly.
I grew up in the ’90s game mag days of percentages and always remember them fondly. The tiny difference between an 88% or 89% score for games that cost £59.99 (an astronomical sum to me as a kid) would have serious implications on my purchase choices! I sometimes miss a broader scoring scale, especially when a classic ‘.5’ comes in and has to fall one way or the other. Ultimately, though, the 10-point scale is a happy medium between five stars and percentages, and I don’t see us changing it.
The sheer amount of games coming out is an unfortunate factor in people dismissing 5s and 6s and even 7/10s, I think. Who’s got the time for merely ‘Good’ when there are so many 9/10s to get through, right? – Ed.
“Sold for $70”
Dear NL,
With Tears of the Kingdom selling well and more games being sold for $70, do you think that Nintendo will eventually sell all their AAA games for $70 or will they stick with the ‘case by case’ basis for each game?
P.S. If Game Freak were to sell their Pokémon games for $70, do you think people would still buy it?
Tanookduke
If by ‘AAA’ we essentially mean Zeldas and Marios, then yes. Paying $70 US for the biggest first-party titles feels like an inevitability, I’m afraid. TOTK was an experiment and Nintendo (rightly) believed people would pay 70 bucks for it. Having played the thing, it’s difficult to believe that anyone could feel short-changed, even if it’s not their favourite game ever.
If The Pokémon Company decided to charge $70 for the next mainline entry, there would be uproar! Then again, there’s uproar with every mainline Pokémon launch for one reason or another. Honestly? Given the draw of the brand, I think people would pay. I wouldn’t personally, but plenty of players wouldn’t want to miss out for the sake of an extra 10 bucks. It’s Pokémon! – Ed.
“Totally into physical”
I am a huge fan of Nintendo and of course Nintendo Life which I check nearly once or twice a day for many years now for anything Nintendo and also, I am totally into physical releases which will lead us to my request that I wish Nintendo Life would add in each game main info ( which is located on the right side) the versions available for that game beside the regular info of release dates ….etc which is already there.
1. is it only digital release with no physical release will be available ever
2. There is a future physical release plan
3. There is a physical release (either by main developer or by third parties like Limited Run games, iam8bit..etc)
4. If there is a physical release, will there be different versions like deluxe or collectors edition
Because whenever I want to buy a game, it takes me a long time to look into your news about the release versions and also into people’s comments hoping that someone might have the info I need regarding physical editions beside of course looking through google. All this process is a real pain just to know if I should wait for a physical release which is expected in the future or there will never be one and from where should I get it if there is one.
Thanks
Hesham Youssef
All good suggestions. The main issue we run into is that we can’t say that a game will ‘never’ get a physical release. It’s a tiresome state of affairs, but it’s the way small publishers have to roll these days to protect themselves — it’s all ‘we’ll see’. It’s understandable, although when big publishers like Sega do it, you can’t help but feel like they’re nickel-and-diming fans.
As things stand for us, non-limited, Day One physical releases go into the database as ‘Nintendo Switch’ (red pages) and everything else is ‘Switch eShop’ (orange). Given the number of games coming out every month, documenting all the limited physical runs and Standard / Special / Deluxe / Collector’s Editions, etc, etc, announced after release would pose a significant data input challenge, but it’s definitely information I’d like to surface better for readers. We’ve been looking at introducing other information on our game pages for some time, so I’ll pass on these suggestions to top brass. – Ed.
Bonus Letters
“This is the link I sent.” – Shawn
Oh my. – Ed.
“Cake, Pie, or something else? What are the best and worst desserts?” – Eric
Pie for me. Cherry, apple, steak ‘n’ Guinness. All delicious. – Ed.
As for the rest of the team:
- “Best: Tiramisu. Worst: anything with jelly/Jell-o in it.” – Alana
- “Are we pitching Splatfest ideas? I’m not a biiig sweet guy, but I’d go for best: Sticky Toffee Pudding. Worst: exactly the same as Alana, or anything with a rogue raisin/currant.” – Jim
- *too busy chasing Hideo Kojima around Summer Game Fest* – Ollie
I have a confession. – octokid
Say three Hail Marios and don’t do it again. – Ed.
“Do you like Moose?” – Owl1
I’m meese-indifferent. – Ed.
“Don’t let me get carried away.” – Albert Long
Right you are. – Ed.
That’s all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.
Got something you’d like to get off your chest? A burning question you need answered? A correction you can’t contain? Follow the instructions below, then, and we look forward to rifling through your missives.
Nintendo Life Mailbox submission advice and guidelines
- Letters, not essays, please – Bear in mind that your letter may appear on the site, and 1000 words ruminating on the Legend of Heroes series and asking Alana for her personal ranking isn’t likely to make the cut. Short and sweet is the order of the day. (If you’re after a general guide, 100-200 words would be ample for most topics.)
- Don’t go crazy with multiple correspondences – Ideally, just the one letter a month, please!
- Don’t be disheartened if your letter doesn’t appear in the monthly article – We anticipate a substantial inbox, and we’ll only be able to highlight a handful every month. So if your particular letter isn’t chosen for the article, please don’t get disheartened!
How to send a Letter to the Nintendo Life Mailbox
- Head to Nintendo Life’s Contact page and select the subject “Reader Letters” from the drop-down menu (it’s already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully-crafted letter into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you’re done!
