In the year leading up to the big reveal of the Nintendo Switch there were a substantial number of leaks and rumours, many of which turned out to be correct. Nintendo, known for being so stringent with secrets in the past, was seeing many of its surprises splattered online well before they were officially aired.
It seems the company has undergone extensive internal work to stop such leaks. An anonymous source leaked the details to us on the approach Nintendo's management took to shut down online rumours, and forwarded an image used in an internal presentation of the project's goals. An abandoned idea for a project name was the 'Samus Seekers', but the team wanted to utilise a franchise that was still active and commercially successful.
- The management level project was simply called Operation Mario, in honour of the mascot's original job as a plumber. The question "what would Mario do" was supposedly an in-joke, but no-one actively started stomping on turtles.
- A private online chat room - called FLUDD - was setup in which each project member had a codename; examples included Peach, Bowser and Toad. The chat around plugging leaks was often serious, but some took the chance for a bit of shallow humour to lighten the mood.
- The goal was to identify development, marketing and PR staff that were leaking details and to stop those activities moving forward.
- Those with nieces and cousins active on Twitter were monitored most closely.
- Proof of the cross-Atlantic project's success (or otherwise) will be judged on the status of leaks ahead of E3.
Apparently leakers weren't punished with terminated employment, but their duties have been 'watered down'. One member of the marketing team caught spilling Nintendo Direct scripts was told they'd only be allowed to work on the inevitably disappointing successor to Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash; successfully promoting a game with so little marketable content was considered punishment enough.
We spoke to two sources in total regarding this program for rooting out leakers; when we asked how them leaking about an anti-leaking programme made Operation Mario look, both declined to talk further.
So, has Nintendo plugged all of the leaks, or will secrets burst out of the pipes yet again once E3 gets closer? Time will tell.
Comments 79
Happy April Fool's day, everyone!
Well, it was better than the Splatoon Legends announcement last year.
Was a fun read nonetheless though!
Uhuh. Sure.
And im making a game for PS4.
Ive always said this. If the source remains anonymous ignore it.
Granted this is fake. But it goes true for actual news too.
(You guys should try more. It wouldnt be Samus seekers. It would be Metroid Prime Hunters!)
I was buying the story right up until "The Samus Seekers". I feel such a fool!
In the internet age I don't think you can have a day to make up stuff any more, that's pretty much every day now.
Oh boy, here we go...
I still fell for this despite my niece yelling "April Fools!" throughout the whole day. I really am gullible. XD
Yeah, this your April Fools joke.
I feel so dense for not clocking this before the "nieces and nephews with Twitter accounts" bit
I ain't afraid of no fools.
I actually fell for it, I can't believe it. I'm a teacher too, this makes me question how easily students have been getting away with excuses!
Hmm it's not very convincing as an April Fools. Still a fun article though!
if you thought nintendo april foos joke with a fake fire emblem game was lame, here comes nintendolife and makes one thats even more lame
Ehh... I preferred Splatoon Legends.
Very good!
April Foo.......
Samus Seekers, lol. There would be riots in the streets.
Kind of a pity that this year April Fools falls on a Saturday, as it reduces the amount of real news for this to get mixed into.
There were some nice little references to actual video game practices here though. Konami's 'demotion' practices get a bit of a reference.
good joke!
Haha I completely forgot it is April fools and I almost fell for it! 😂
I believed this up to the "FLUDD" chat room part. That made me originally gasp, as I thought Sunshine was forgotten by Nintendo. Then, I looked back at "Samus Seekers". Then, I looked at the date.
Well played...
"An abandoned idea for a project name was the 'Samus Seekers', but the team wanted to utilise a franchise that was still active and commercially successful."
How cruel of you, NLife.
Happy April Fools Day!
@MrGawain Rotfl
@Rafke what do you mean? That's official artwork for the operation...
Arceus damnit, i belivied it for a second. Lol!
I haven't fallen for one yet, but day is just starting here. Happy April Fools everybody. Ha ha
Lol, that was a good one guys.
This is one of those stories that seems like a ridiculous story on April Fools that could really be true.
April fool's!
I knew this right from the word "exclusive". Nothing's exclusive on the Internet!
Though, really, when is Splatoon Legends releasing. Nintendo announced it last year and never said anything else.
Lol silly
An abandoned idea for a project name was the 'Samus Seekers', but the team wanted to utilise a franchise that was still active and commercially successful.
HAHAHAHA.
...work on the inevitably disappointing successor to Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash; successfully promoting a game with so little marketable content was considered punishment enough.
@DarkCojiro Hahaha likewise. Fake news day! I'm going to Hyrule and staying there for the rest of the day.
Thanks for the giggle!
I get half this is fake.but to the leakers you ain't cool in all reality you just ruin things.i went to jail for a guy ruining
Bought this article waaaaay longer than I should have. Well played NL.
Not the greatest. An Aprils fool needs to be more straightforward and emotional based. Something like "Retro employee confirms Metroid Prime will arrive this year on Switch" or " "Reggie announces Switch problems more pronounced issues recall".
Lol, they need to step up their game since details of Operation Mario somehow got leaked.
Anyway, that was an amusing read.
You've got to try harder than this.
"Utilising a franchise that was still active and commercially successful."
In other words- Metroid is dead.
"EXCLUSIVE" Of course! No other news site made this joke, so you have to use exclusiveness as an excuse! April Fools!
LOL
Didn't fall for it. Lol
I hate this day.
Guys, guys! A Nintendo Direct is coming later today! We had a legit Direct two years ago on April 1, and the previous leak came true, so this must be legit too! We're going to get Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door HD and Virtual Console announcements!
http://www.gamepur.com/news/26246-nintendo-direct-april-1-reveal-switch-super-mario-maker-paper-mario-hd.html
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1355917
How did the picture and the "Exclusive" tag not give this away to everyone reading? Lol.
I knew that metroid part was fishy lol.
Well, if anymore leaks do happen, please use the Rumour tag, or maybe create a Leak tag specifically for such situations. Whatever you do, don't call it News unless Nintendo announces it.
EDIT: I just looked through the comments. How did I not see this coming?
@Shard1 That ain't no joke.
Luckily I remembered it's April Fools and didn't fall for it. Can't say the same for last year, though... I still wish Splatoon Legends was real. lol
They actually had me right up to Samus Seekers....This is what I get for visiting NL right after waking up.
They finally took my brilliant idea from years ago and got Mario involved. About time. Hopefully this year's e3 will be full of actual surprises and not fludds
Good effort but too much water.
Hmm is that time of the year huh?
I'll bet Nintendo will see this and start an actual initiative in this vein
This is the first April Fools article from you guys that I actually fell for. I blame the fact that I should have been asleep 4 hours ago....
This was good.
Oh great, now Nintendo has their own FBI.
"Apparently leakers weren't punished with terminated employment"
Are you kidding? Nintendo would fire them immediately if "Operation Mario" was a thing.
Too much tongue-in-cheek writing for it to be true 0specially from Thomas).
The line that gave it away (besides the crummy pic of Mario plumbing) was: "...but no-one actively started stomping on turtles".
Plus Nintendo would have never addressed Metroid, not even internally.
You had me until the bit about Mario Tennis. It didn't even occur to me what day it was until I hit that point in the "exclusive." Good work, folks.
Hey I heard a thing recently where April Fools day ends at noon in Britain is that true?
"An abandoned idea for a project name was the 'Samus Seekers', but the team wanted to utilise a franchise that was still active and commercially successful."
Well, if anyone knows how to stop leaks, it's a plumber.
@Tempestryke I've got a feeling you may need an army of plumbers for these kinds of leaks.
@UmniKnight
Haha true! Not even the Mario Bros can stop these leaks sometimes.
I like the irony. Plus, naming a leak-plugging program after a popular franchise would be pretty counter-intuitive.
if the title says "exclusive" -"today"-, well, only I have a word.
NOPE.
This time, I did not fall into the "leak",
Eh, this is rather mediocre for your joke this year.
They funniest thing about this to me was the Roto Rooter ads on the page
April 1 - worst "news day" of the year
Splatoon Legends last year was way better. Just saying.
"Those with nieces and cousins active on Twitter were monitored most closely."
Best line right there
This was like reading Nintendo of America fan-fiction!
I'm kind of disappointed with the punishment I was still hoping they would face capital punishment. ( Like maybe hit with a koopa shell or if warranted, dropped down a bottomless pit.)
An exclusive article based on leaked details about a Nintendo operation, along with jabs at the Metroid franchise, to prevent information leaks? With the punishment from being caught leaking info is to purposefully make a "bad game"?
Geez, try to make it sound even just a little bit believable would ya?
Joke or not, that image is excellent, saved it.
APRIL FOOLS!
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