
2019 may have tested many of us with varying trials and tribulations outside the world of video games, but it's been a pretty wonderful year for gamers all round, and especially Switch owners. Nintendo's hybrid handheld has gone from strength to strength, with a huge amount of excellent games, a nice little internal revision that substantially upped battery life and, of course, a portable-only version dubbed the Switch Lite.
Looking back on 2019, we've assembled some of our very favourite Nintendo moments from the past year and presented them below. Some were sensational, some shocking, some sad, but all of them warmed the cockles of our hearts and made us glad to be on board the Nintendo Hype Train all year round and not just for E3.

So sit back and join us as we reminisce about the best Nintendo moments of the last twelve months...
[wavy dream crossfade]
Banjo-Kazooie Super Smash Bros. Ultimate E3 2019 reveal

The rumours and speculation surrounding the challengers coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate only increase with every new fighter announcement as they become more and more 'outlandish'. We don't mean that they're left-field picks necessarily; only that in a world where rights, licencing and paperwork govern absolutely every facet of media, it can feel 'impossible' that a digital creation owned by one company could possibly appear in the digital creation of another. Some streams can never cross.
The big three video game console companies, in particular, used to feel like implacably separate entities - only an infant would think that Master Chief or Nathan Drake could every appear in Smash! With Microsoft becoming increasingly pally with Nintendo, perhaps we should have predicted the announcement of Banjo and Kazooie as Challenger #3, but somehow the moment a Jiggy bounced across the floor of DK's jungle treehouse still caught us totally off guard. For fans of the original N64 games, it felt like a dream and it had some of us in Team NL blinking back big (manly, obviously) tears of confusion, excitement and sheer joy.
Frankly, it was all a bit overwhelming. Maybe it was the rush of nostalgia at hearing the Spiral Mountain theme again. Or perhaps it was the enthusiasm of the bear and bird's erstwhile Rareware stablemates DK, Diddy and King K-Rool whooping and hollering at their arrival that got to us. Or just maybe it was that in these dark, divisive times Sakurai and co. had really made good on their 'everyone is here' mantra that warmed the cockles of our hearts. Everyone is here, and everything's going to be all right. Regardless of the exact reason a couple of us got all emotional, the Banjo-Kazooie Smash reveal (which riffed on the similar King K.Rool reveal trailer) was absolutely spot-on.
If you want an idea of the excitement levels at NL Towers (well, for some of us) at the time of the announcement during the E3 2019 Nintendo Direct, these scenes from the NYC Nintendo Store sum it up pretty perfectly. What a world!
The outpouring of affection when Reggie Fils-Aimé retired

Perhaps we should have seen it coming; after all, everyone wants to go out on top. Following the disappointing Wii U years, the reversal of fortunes that the Switch heralded created the perfect opportunity for Nintendo of America's president to leave the company with his head held high.
In the time since, it's been revealed that Reggie had been laying the groundwork for his departure for some time, grooming young Bowser (Doug, that is) for the presidential role and ensuring his legacy would sustain long after the big man had emptied out his desk and left the building.
Reggiephiles may have been distraught to see his body ready to leave NOA's Redmond offices (indeed, 23,000 of them signed a petitioned to get him a new office chair when his current one was revealed to be a 16-year-old model - and Herman Miller obliged by sending him a brand new Aeron), but ironically not being employed by Nintendo has enabled the exec to open up a little more and display that more casual persona hinted at in the various skits he's delivered at Nintendo over the years. Every utterance still has that trademark corporate twang but is imbued with sincerity enough to avoid sounding like a cardboard cutout. It's uncanny.
Immediately following his retirement, he snapped up the enviable @Reggie Twitter handle and has been an entertaining follow since leaving office. He's made it his mission to inspire young business leaders through lectures and conversation, and fully embraces the love his years at Nintendo have inspired in his followers.
He might not be at Nintendo in any official capacity, but his spirit lives on over at NOA and from his social media feed and general presence in the video gaming sphere (he presented an award at The Game Awards back on 12th December), you'd be forgiven for not realising he'd left the game.
'Switch Mini' is real! The Switch Lite is revealed
After months of rumours, speculation, Nvidia chip teardowns, industry analyst chatter and a truckload more rumour and speculation, the 'Switch Mini' was indeed revealed to exist in the colourful form of the smaller, cheaper Switch Lite.
Many of the rumours were right on the money regarding price point, form factor and the like, and while the Switch Lite isn't everybody's cup of tea, it certainly seems to be working for its target audience. We couldn't quite believe that Nintendo had taken the 'switch' out of the Switch, but then again they took the 3D out of the 3DS quicker than you can say 'New 2DS XL' so we really shouldn't have been surprised.
With a huge library of brilliant games, the Switch Lite is a smart little device if you simply don't play games on your TV and after such a long period of whispers and hearsay, finally seeing the finished product felt like a huge relief. Now just make one that looks like a Game Boy, Nintendo! Speaking of which...
Comments 31
Pity. I feel like the only person who couldn't really care less if Banjo got into Smash or not. Happy for the fans who have been wishing for it, though.
The Animal Crossing delay ruined 2019.
nah for me it is 2018 best time with the switch. Better games came out that year and more better news.
Banjo Kazooie was my number 1 Nintendo moment this year just because Banjo Kazooie is my favourite game of all time
I was more excited for Terry from Fatal Fury being announced for Smash
Imo Terry was more hype for me then banjo
No really though, Banjo killed it this year. Hard to top a fan favorite literally rising from the dead. Here's hoping 2020 brings more nice surprises like that.
Witcher 3 and Switch 1.1 with revised processor / battery were my favorite moments of the year. Even though I had Witcher 3, and all DLC, on Ps4... ive never had the time to play it due to having my daughters around the tv nearly constantly. So having Witcher portable was amazing, not to mention the feat of getting it running and running well on the Switch. Then having a switch with nearly double battery life? Yup, I was sold. Proud to say I’m currently in a 2 Switch household. Hopefully 3-4 this coming year - just depends on if they announce a Switch Pro or not!
Another Zelda game announced and Witcher 3 running on the Switch are definitely top 2 Nintendo moments for me.
The final Splatfest was a pretty big moment for the die hards. I still play from time to time, but it's not the same knowing that there's nothing new to look forward to. But I suppose it's to be expected from a launch year game.
@JHDK Don't you mean enhanced 2020?
also, nice to see Muddy make the thumbnail yet again!
I'd have to give it to the February Direct as the best moment, it really showed us just how amazing the second half of 2019 was going to be even though the first half was very rough.
My favorite Nintendo moment was the announcement of the Famicom tantei club remake.
The Banjo Kazooie reveal is one of the best Nintendo moments ever
My personal favorite out of this list was the Breath of the Wild 2 announcement.
@Ralizah yeah I wasn’t excited either when banjo got announced.Tbh apart from the fact that botw 2 was announced,this year has been pretty disappointing for me.I hope next year is better.....
A good selection! I'd personally say the reaction to the Sans Mii costume in Smash was more hilarious than that of Banjo & Kazooie's reveal, but they are far more important in terms of the gaming history that their inclusion made, and I think that's more important than one more indie game getting representation in Smash. Banjo & Kazooie came home, as many people have put it.
They forgot the part when Reggie says he can’t wait to jump off the battle bus and see us in Fortnite
@Ralizah it was cool but personally I was like ok. I just have no connection to the series. I've ayed the games bit I dont feel like banjo was an icon.
@Arcron not this year dumb dumb
Botw2 announcement was by far the best for me
Omg that moment when BotW 2 was announced though! 😻 So awesome!
Removed - harassment; user is banned
Witcher 3 was the best moment. That a Nintendo console is getting solid AAA ports like Skyrim, DOOM, this and soon Outer Worlds is amazing. Top it off with a strong selection of first party titles and of course a beyond exceptional selection of indie titles and the whole "there's nothing to play on the Switch!" excuse is tired and old.
Reggie's departure is hard. He was such a fun guy who made you believe he loved Nintendo. I don't get that at all from Doug Bowser.
@graysoncharles They didn't beat Microsoft though
I've wanted Banjo since SSB64/Melee days, so that was definitely the Nintendo moment of the year for me. Trailer was perfect, especially the little touch of the Rareware characters cheering Banjo on. BOTW 2 reveal trailer would be a close #2. BOTW is among my favorite Zelda games, and in general favorite games of all time.
I do miss Reggie. I mean sometimes he was definitely frustrating with vague answers and PR stuff especially during Wii/Wii U game droughts. But he was/is an interesting person and you could tell he genuinely loved having a role at Nintendo. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I don't get that same vibe from Doug Bowser, at least yet.
"but Breath of the Wild's open world (not to mention its 900 Korok seeds) has kept us returning again and again"
That's so true, played for 3 hours again today. I'm at 328 of 900...
Let’s gloss over the top 50 GameBoy games debacle...
sorry no relationship with zelda ever goes into hibernation
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