Welcome back as we rifle, once again, through the Nintendo Life Mailbox. It's March, and around these parts we're wading through a deluge of fantastic games (and the weekly eShop cack) while we await Princess Peach's upcoming solo Switch performance with great anticipation.
Let's put our Switches down for a moment, though, as it's time for our monthly letters page feature. Got something you want to get off your chest? We're ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings.
Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.
Let's sit back with a warm beverage and go through our dispatch box...
Nintendo Life Mailbox - March 2024
"broken" (***STAR LETTER***)
Lately game studios have had mass layoffs. AAA games have budgets rivaling blockbuster films. Isn’t there something broken about the modern gaming industry?
Several years back I read that the next XBox would be six times more powerful than the previous one. That was the day I decided to buy a Switch. It was an ethical decision as much as anything. It just seems that Nintendo has the right approach to this stuff on a fundamental level.
The four games from Final Fantasy IV through VII were all released within a span of 2,024 days. You can’t tell me that isn’t a better way than what we have today. But — other than always buying the least powerful console available — what can an average gamer do to improve the situation? Because what we have now doesn’t work.
Fishface Jenkins III
It's been a mind-boggling couple of years, and the daily layoff announcements make it hard to stay positive when you sit down at the desk every morning. Pandemic and economic excuses only go so far — in an industry this big, with games as popular as they are, the lack of foresight and consideration for the people who make those games is bewildering. The vision for anything beyond chasing the live-game golden goose and, in Sony's case, leaning into its prestige single-player shtick, is missing at the highest levels of many big companies, and the short-sightedness is staggering. Nintendo has its problems, too, but the importance of preserving its heritage, and the people responsible for it, is better understood.
To your question, smaller developers have picked up the first-party slack when it comes to variety, and then some. There's much to be positive and hopeful about when you look further afield.
And console power isn't the issue. Teraflops alone don't create mismanagement, poor business practices, or insecure workplace cultures. It's up to each of us to make personal buying decisions we can live with and remember that without those thousands (thousands) of people who have lost and continue to lose their livelihoods on a daily basis, we simply wouldn't have many of the games we're enjoying right now. - Ed.
"a massive departure"
Dear Nintendo Life,
I’m curious: what are your most controversial, absolutely mind-boggling, could-almost-get-you-fired gaming opinions, and how do you defend them? Mine is that Paper Mario: Sticker Star was actually a good game in its own right. I understand the frustrations behind it being a) puzzle-thing-wise ridiculous and b) a massive departure from the series, but as someone who got the 3DS for Christmas with this game when I was 10, I’ve enjoyed it as a game that I’ve come back to over the past decade where I’ll get stuck, then come back four months later after having an epiphany (I finally 100%-ed it last October). I’m curious if anyone else has out there opinions like this, perhaps influenced by their childhood as mine was?
Sincerely,
Alex H
Hmm. Epic Yarn is the only great Kirby game. Spirit Tracks is good. The SNES is a bit overrated?
Defending them comes down to taste and, like you, personal circumstances at the time those things came out. I was a Mega Drive kid and didn't play Nintendo's 16-bit output until later, mostly on GBA. I've never liked Kirby's floaty air-gobbling mechanic, but Epic Yarn doesn't have that (which leads purists to suggest, not unreasonably, that it's not much of a Kirby game at all). I liked Forgotten Land, actually, but Epic Yarn's charm offensive obliterated me. It's a stone-cold 10/10 game in my books, and I can't wait to revisit it with my kids in the coming years. - Ed.
Let's hear from Team NL...
- "Sunshine being my favourite Mario game is probably up there" - Ollie
- "Water Temple is a top-tier OOT dungeon and I won’t hear otherwise" - Jim
- "My takes are all warm at most." - Alana
"hoping for Virtual"
Dear Nintendo Life,
I was wondering what would be the team members' most wanted off-the-wall game or console addition for NSO. I am personally hoping for Virtual Boy NSO at some point (I can dream).
Keep up the great work!
Thanks,
M Stan.
Rare's Mickey's Speedway USA. I never played it and never had sufficient interest to hunt it down, especially not at N64 cart prices. Perfect NSO fodder, although who could be bothered to sort out the licensing for that? - Ed.
Team NL?...
- "If we're not getting GameCube on NSO, then there should just be a dedicated app for the Donkey Konga franchise, with full bongo compatibility." - Ollie
- "Give me a subsection of the GBA library titled ‘Bad Licensed Games’." - Jim
- "Get the 32X on there." - Alana
"whatnot"
Hello, NintendoLife!
I am curious, how “soon” do you usually purchase games when they come out? Personally, as much as I’d love to buy everything that piques my interest, I do not have the funds for that (my backlog thanks me…). So I tend to wait a while before a purchase, and often I never end up buying it. However, this almost makes it more fun to play the game. For example, I got Splatoon 3 on launch day, and I don’t regret that. But I also got Mario Wonder on launch day, and while I really love the game, I think it would have been safe in my “to buy” list for a little while. Meanwhile, I didn’t get TotK until December of 2023, and that has been fantastic! I don’t have to worry about spoilers, since there isn’t much content about it being put out, and it’s easy to avoid. And, I can work through it at my own pace. (I believe Ollie wrote something about that a while back.) However, another game that I just picked up this past week is Hollow Knight. I knew this game was “good,” and “pretty,” and “fun,” and whatnot. But after sinking in just under an hour, I understood why. Honestly, that almost makes it better: I get to see for myself how awesome this game is, and I can confirm what everyone has been saying. (And, I get to talk about it with friends without spoiling them!) What are your thoughts?
Thanks for listening,
Caleb
For many games, especially first-party releases, we're professionally obligated to get involved ASAP. It can be a pain and it's impossible to play everything, but when it gets to GOTY time, you want to have a decent overview. So there's a tension between needing to stay informed or waiting and potentially missing out as the next wave of games washes in.
Not always, though, especially if a couple of other team members are already into a game. I personally skipped Splatoon 3 after getting my fill with 2. I picked up Pikmin 4 only last month, and I too have Hollow Knight in my slushpile. The backlog is a trove of delayed gratification — retirement is looking good. - Ed.
"bullying for Nintendo"
Howdy, long time reader, first time caller. Anyway. Mario Tennis on the Switch apps. I've just noticed that the GBC Mario Tennis includes the minigames for Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser (that Bowser minigame is legit impossible without save states, I've long given up on the reward of his court on my OG carts) as well as the ability to play as them in expediton mode. That's usually impossible without syncing the two versions of the game. Meanwhile, the N64 Mario Tennis doesn't include any of the GBC bonuses — four characters are missing (Alex, Nina, Harry, and Kate, and while they translated differently depending how they were leveled-up in the GBC version, they could have brought them over fully powered to the NSO N64 version and been done with it), while there are many courts that can only be unlocked via completing the GBC minigames and syncing again to N64. I figure that warrants an article and maybe a bit of "bullying" for Nintendo to upgrade the N64 version, personally. Have a good week!
Adam
With the Mario Golf example, I can see the argument that fully-powered-up characters would be massively OP in the early game and could ruin the sense of progression. But now both versions are on NSO, it's crying out for a 'virtual' Transfer Pak that lets you move data between the two rooms. C'mon Nintendo! Throw Pokémon Red and Blue on there with a virtual Transfer system that lets you play Pokémon Stadium properly, too - Ed.
Bonus Letters
"I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the staff at Nintendolife.com for all the hard work you do" - Jim
Thank you, Jim! (Not that one... although maybe it is that one and he's after a cheeky bonus? Nice try, Jimbo. Where's my Big Stick™?) - Ed.
"I want to play a Switch JRPG or SRPG where I don’t need to either do extensive research and planning beforehand, consult a spreadsheet, keep multiple browser tabs open over the course of my playthrough for reference, or make my own spreadsheet." - Alex
You mean you want to have fun? How perfectly vulgar. Alana says, among other things, Sea of Stars. - Ed.
"I was playing Double Dragon 1 & 2 NES on NSO, and there are those moves to jump kick and jump / twister kick where you need to press A and B together. Wouldn't it be convenient to just press X or Y instead?" - Yalloo
Playing on a modern pad, sure. Could this be done at a system level? Do we need a natty Super Pro Controller with programmable paddles on the back? - Ed.
"With Disney’s investment in Epic Games do you think we will get more good Disney games, like Epic Mickey and Disney Illusion Island? Or just more Disney characters in Fortnite." - OswaldTheLuckyGamer
Castle of Illusion playable on Switch, but only on a 50ft screen in Fortnite. Once Martin Luther King has left the podium having delivered his historic address to Darth Vader, Deadpool, and a Xenomorph. - Ed.
"For the Johto remakes, I want Charla from the anime to appear with a pink bow on her head and Liza will keep her appearance." - Scott Devine
Have you any idea the processing power required to render a pink bow on a fiery dino-lizard thing? Maybe on Switch 2. - Ed.
"does anyone have any "Download size horror stories" they'd like to reveal to the world?" - Willax
Who among us hasn't gone down with a bad case of the 2Ks? - 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!