Nintendo has had bumpy relations with content creators over the years. Previously it has restricted live streaming on certain platforms and upped the requirements for its controversial YouTube creators program to match changes on the video website. In general, the Japanese company doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to acknowledging or embracing these modern influencers.
With a game like the upcoming Switch release Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fueled by the community, Nintendo evidently realises it's important to spread the word about the most anticipated release of the year. In order to do this, it's called on several content creators to help promote the title with their own unique fighter videos.
In the above video, Ryan Higa and his fellow content creators share small clips about what Nintendo means to them, the fighter they selected to use in their own videos (down below) and they also reveal where they will be playing the game first thanks to the portable power of the Switch.
Take a look at each of the videos below:
Are you a fan of Nintendo promoting its games with the help of influencers? Do you watch any of these YouTube channels yourself? Which one was your favourite? Tell us below.
[source youtu.be]
Comments (56)
Oh how I miss the the days when creators actually created stuff and "influencers" weren't a thing. Bunch of unemployed parasites.
(pssh) Sellouts.
@N00BiSH how dare they try to make a living. Who even wants money. Work? That's overrated
@JamesJose7 This guy gets it.
@N00BiSH kappa
Who the f are these people and who are they influencing!? All hot garbage...
@JamesJose7 I don't even know
Who the hell are these people? And who the hell are they supposed to be influencing?
You want to partner with someone, Ninty? Try IAMWILDCAT, try TheGamingTerroriser, try BigJigglyPanda, or MooSnuckel, or BasicallyIDOWRK, or VanossGaming, or ChilledChaos, or Smii7y, or MiniLadd. Those guys are the reason I bought Mario Kart 8, because their videos were damn hilarious, felt real, and certainly didn’t smack of this kiss-ass feeling I’m getting out of these goobers.
Content Creators??? More like an extension to the marketing team. Tune in folks for....ads and realize the information is biased.
And as usual, the game sold well (most preorders of any NSW game ever) without any help from youtubers.
@NintendoNomad To be fair, ESAM has been fairly Prominent in the Smash competitive community for awhile now. He has hosted and was a commentator, as well as competing in, events for 64, melee, brawl, and Smash 4.
As for everyone else, I have no clue.
@Benjamin ...I don’t know who those names are, either. I got Mario Kart because it looked fun in commercials
The headline should be: 'Nintendo uses YouTubers for free marketing'.
Inb4 their videos get flagged for copyright
@mikegamer Nintendo approved them.
@Crono1973 They are sponsered by Nintendo,so I think Nintendo paid them.
Who cares what any of these people think? Who cares what I think?
Nary a soul.
@ReWane I was being facetious, Nintendo likes flagging videos with their own content in it.
@Kevember their worse then parasites, parasites typically get only only 1 mindless zombie per parasite; these influencers get a horde
Probably should highlight this error in the article:
"upped the requirements for its controversial YouTube creators program."
All networks had to do that. YouTube mandated the minimum requirements for any monetisation be increased.
Ah yes, I too would promote my new fighting video game by having a beauty and make-up tutorial youtuber make a video about them attempting to look like Princess Peach
So the C list of Youtube “Celebrities”?
Not one person I watch there.
Remember when Youtube was about sharing videos and not all about money?
Shame they went for the C-listers in the public swimming pool of C-listers that is YouTube. They could at least get a B-lister. Could get a positive quote from Game Grumps' Arin Hansen and JonTron and throw them together into a hastily-made video, show them one after another, then ask the viewers "Arin and Jon both think Smash Bros. Ultimate is great. Coincidence? - Smash Bros Ultimate Pre-Orders NOW! Releases 12/7 Only On Switch!", get a little GameGrumps reunion tease going.
@Regpuppy Agreed. In ESAM's case, his Nintendo-sponsored video was far more wooden than his others, but the rest of his are far more entertaining. I guess that's what happens when you have to follow a list of bullet points instead of doing things more naturally. He hasn't made a Nintendo sponsored video in a very long time (if ever) though, so it's hard for anyone to realistically call people a sellout. The dude is top 50 in the world in Smash Bros for Wii U...it only makes sense that Nintendo would partner with him for something.
@Joeynator3000 I do, and the quality of some videos have improved since then when people have incentives to learn how to improve their videos. Yea, it also encourages people who just try to put out low effort clickbait videos, but I just avoid the garbage content in light of the positives, with quality content I enjoy.
Also, I find it ironic how people are choosing to blame Nintendo game-centric youtubers (I can't speak for all of these guys as I only know a few of them) for being sellouts, given all we've heard over the years about Nintendo's over-strict policies that prevent anyone from making decent money.
All sellouts dont know any of them and they dont feel real for me
@Majora101 I don’t think anyone wants to be associated with JonTron these days.
Wow the negativity here is a bit over the top! Wish these folks luck in what they're doing!
@Majora101 you are joking, right? Have you watched any of ‘Devinsupertramp’ at all? I’ve been following his work for years. Him and his team make some of the most professional videos on YouTube.
I really dislike the term 'content creator'. If I write a book or make a movie am I a content creator? So why does anything on the internet get generalised to 'content'?
Yeah coz this game needed hyping more.
I get a feeling the backlash on this game will be real. I’ll be more than content as I’ve tempered my expectations. But way people are hyping it up the only place they are leaving themselves to go is to be disappointed.
@chardir I’m a Nintendo life content creator and influencer coz I post the odd comment here. It’s a millennial thing. Make yourself sound important. Fair dues to YouTube “influencers” they make money and get freebies left right and centre and people lap it up.
@chardir agreed, “Content creator” is so self aggrandising. It makes my skin crawl.
It looks so cringy.
These are great choices, definitely not riding the trend train. Why else would a video game company pick a Top 10 channel, a beauty channel, and skit youtubers to promote their newest installment in an extremely popular game franchise? (It seems like less than or equal to half the channels are related to gaming. Matthew Santoro is very mind boggling, as well as his attempt at including a sponsorship into his usually clickbait videos.)
They just picked a bunch of popular YouTubers, none of whom whose content is regularly about Nintendo.
Considering how much Nintendo has dumped on YouTubers with copyright and by ignoring fair use, it's pretty sad to see YouTube people lap up the scraps they've been thrown when Nintendo realises they need them for this game. I've loved Nintendo my whole life, but something about them this past year just feels different. I guess losing a legend at the helm like Iwata was always going shift things in one direction.
Strong sense of negativity here, for some reason. Nintendo are promoting their games, and it’s not like these YouTubers aren’t fans of Nintendo. All you need to do is watch Nigahiga’s Nintendoe Paper sketch to see my point. Frankly, with this alongside the YouTuber collaborations for Let’s Go, it’s clear that Nintendo of America/Europe have been keen to use YouTube for promoting. Let’s just hope they stop with the constant copyright strikes soon.
Did Smash, of all games, need more promoting???
Almost everyone is going to get it.
I don't get why so many people here accuse these youtubers of being sellouts and why this seems to be a major issue for some commenters here.
I watched the videos - the baking video was charming, the inkling song video made me chuckle a few times and the Villager / Peach / Link / Little Mac one was very well made (and pretty funny at that). The others were not really my thing.
Nintendo gets low-cost publicity, these people get some financial compensation for doing something they probably would do anyway - looks like a win-win situation, if you're not a negative Nancy.
I like this, not because i like any of the youtubers (except maybe Ryan Higa since he's very creative), but because people like these have a lot more of a casual audience meaning they might bring in other types of players we dont really see in smash
@Sebas Everyone who is a Smash fan does. Smash is a huge series but it's still missing a lot of the casual side
What the Hell is wrong with some guys here?
To call people like NigaHiga (whom I really like, though he's a bit lame in this one sadly) and Santoro (whom I can't stand) C-Celebs is just pathetic^^
To this date there's only one person (Pewds) who has been the most subscribed youtuber for a longer period, and Niga even started his chanel way back to entertain friends and family and has some really creative stuff with more effort behind it than most Youtubers I know... and no, I'm not even a Fan, I just know some of his stuff. If you wanna reach people outside the Nintendo-Bubble, you are better served with people like these and I think its an awesome sign, that Nintendo is finally really opening up towards youtube now.
Congratulations Nintendo. You have disregarded the laws on fair use in videos for so long, now you are paying people to promote your products. Just keep making great games so I can try to ignore some of the other stuff you do.
i don't support big youtubers ..I support the small ones who do videos because they care and not doing it for the money
Man, a lot of salty Nintendo fans. Nintendo is actually wanting more people to see Smash besides the people who watch just video games. Like people suggest to get people who already make Nintendo content..... Why? They already make gaming content.... They are trying to get more people to learn about the game. Trying to reach ones that don't get on this website, or really follow video games. Chill. I know more people who watch devinsupertramp than ones who follow GameXplain or whatever.
Devin is actually really cool and loves Smash (he's better than me... Which I mean isn't too hard to get ) and his brothers are gamers as well. His videos are always super crazy! And really humble guy (I know him and his family )
Randomencounters have funny songs about very different video games. They are the most gaming content creators (besides the smash player dude)
I don't know the other guys but many more people do, more than gamers that follow JonTron or the other gaming YouTubers.
@Kevember preach!
@WaveBoy You are absolutely right, my friend. Even unboxings have been ruined by the current "creators" culture. Remember when you used to watch and unboxing video and you actually learned what was in the box in about 2 minutes? Now it's all about morons trying to become stars.
Is it bad that I only know Ryan Higa and Esam?
I don't know, they all seem very happy. Especially the dude on the second video. Is he trolling in the begining? I wonder
@Stocksy I actually got disappointed when they didn't show any sign of Smash Run.
But wheres alpharad!?
Stay independent guys! That's all I have to say.
@N00BiSH It turned out to be an awesome game.
@NotTelevision Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an amazing game!
@Crono1973 It truly is an awesome game.
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