Welcome back, lovely people, for another rummage through the Nintendo Life Mailbox.
Blimey, it's mid-March already, and Mother's Day in the UK, no less. Shoutouts to all mothers and motherly types out there who also like to read Nintendo-related correspondence on a Sunday. We love and salute you all!
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 2026
"Miyamoto draws closer" (***STAR LETTER***)
Dear Nintendo Life,
As Shigeru Miyamoto draws closer to retirement, he’s been focusing on non-video game projects, like theme parks and movies. I can’t help but speculate that when people look back at this, it might be seen as a tragedy. Instead of using decades of experience to create his greatest interactive masterpiece, Miyamoto is spending his time on non-interactive projects. Imagine if Michelangelo spent the last years of his life folding napkins instead of working on his magnum opus. Very profitable napkins, but still—just napkins. Of course, Miyamoto has made mistakes; he is only human. But with mistakes comes the opportunity to learn from them. What games could Miyamoto be helping to create if he wasn’t working on non-game projects?
Contemplator
I get the disappointment, but I don't see it as an 'Oh man, imagine what James Cameron might have done if he didn't spend the last 20 years making Avatar movies!' situation. Whatever the field, people at that level, at that stage of their career, can't be cajoled into doing something that doesn't interest them.
If Miyamoto wanted to get his hands dirty directing something, he could, but he's been in this overseer role for ages now. Institutionally, his fingerprints are all over Nintendo's output and will be long after he's gone, and I'd argue that's more important and 'one more masterpiece'. - Ed.
"blast that 'x'"
What do you think happened to the first-party published indies? The 3DS era gave us the Pushmo, BoxBoy, and Dillon series Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, Pocket Card Jockey, HarmoKnight, NES Remix, and some Kirby minigames. The first half of the Switch era gave us Snipperclips, Flip Wars, Part Time UFO, The Stretchers (which I just discovered was made by the Little Nightmares people), Good Job, some Kirby (Fighters 2 and Super Clash), and another BoxBoy. After that, we basically just got another Kirby (Dream Buffet) and Nintendo World Championships.
I'm not counting:
- live service games with numbers in the title
- retro games like the FireRed and LeafGreen or the first Fire Emblem
- AA games like Famicom Detective Club or Drag & Drive (blast that "x")
- games that should have been free: you know who you areAnd I understand that Cadence of Hyrule was a bit of an isolated incident. Arguably, some of the pressure of "drop the price" could have been alleviated if there had been a first-party Snipperclips-type game for this launch window.
Do you think they just figure we've had enough time with Game Builder Garage by now to take care of ourselves? Did some key behind-the-scenes figure leave? Do they not want to price something in a way that will de-normalize $70 and $80 games? Is there a sense that HAL and GameFreak (who made many of those) have now "grown up" such that GameFreak is now making a AAA PS5 game? What's your hard-hitting journalistic hunch?
Thomystic
It's just changing times and fortunes. 10 years ago, Nintendo needed to court indies to ensure a flow of good software on its platforms, especially games which showcased a console's features. When Switch launched, they had to demonstrate how this hybrid system could be all things to all people, and Snipperclips, in particular, helped establish the easy co-op concept.
We all get it now, though. Indie World Showcases are still useful for maintaining dev relationships and highlighting the breadth of quality, but does Nintendo need to be publishing them like they did a decade back? I'm sure we'll see them get behind more smaller, experimental things, but we're at a stage where every week there's more quality indie games launching than there is time to play them. - Ed.
"dropdown"
Why is Senran Kagura Burst on 3DS always in the dropdown menu under games? It was out in 2013. Is there an in joke I missed, or is this page really popular with Nintendo Life readers?
Alan
Ah, yes. We've joked about this on staff before, Alan. The games on that tab are ordered by popularity based on weekly page views, and for reasons unclear, SKB is an evergreen hit with fans across the internet.
In fact, I see from poking around in the backend (ahem) that it's currently the 9th all-time most viewed game page on the entire site. Just above Smash Bros. Ultimate. Why? It's a mystery, like the changing of the seasons and the tides of the sea. - Ed.
"frankly to the point of joyful tears"
Third Parties are bringing the party
As we stumble ever closer to the one year anniversary of the Nintendi Switch 2 launch, it's become evident that Third Party support has been utterly vital to sustain excitement for this new console.
Nintendo's first party efforts have been pretty solid, some neat titles, but nothing earth shattering. Donkey Kong Bananza is the only title of theirs in the last year that truly blew me away, frankly to the point of joyful tears at points
But since then, it's been Third Party all the way baby. Most recently Square and Capcom have showcased what the Switch 2 is capable of with FF7 Remake and Resident Evil Requiem.The latter is genuinely jaw dropping at times, not lagging too far behind PS5 standard graphics.
And then coming down the track super soon there's Indiana Jones, FF7 Rebirth, Pragmata and 007 First Light.
We've also had some ace Indies: Hades 2, Silksong, Blue Prince and Minishoot Adventures to name a few.
It's odd isn't it? Nintendo have struggled historically to garner Third Party support, but with Switch 2, for me at least, Third Party games have been the beating heart that's kept things ticking along for the Nintendo Switch 2's maiden year.
And long may it continue. If RE9 can come day and date alongside its PlayStation and Xbox releases for Switch 2, what else is possible? Maybe, we don't need to worry how long the next big Mario and Zelda take to cook, because Capcom and Square are cooking up a storm already.
YoshiTails
Agreed, you love to see it. After years of Switch ports — impressive and otherwise — arriving years down the line, it's been a thrill with Requiem to be there day one with the rest of the world.
After leaning heavily on Switch 2 Editions since launch, you'd assume Nintendo has some big games in the chamber for the second half of the year. In the meantime, plenty to be getting on with while we wait for Rhythm Heaven. - Ed.
Bonus Letters
"I'm going to say something totally crazy: I honestly believe Bubsy would be a more interesting Smash Bros fighter than Waluigi." - HappySmurf
I'd rather have Q*bert, myself. - Ed.
"Inquiring Minds wants to know: which Nintendo characters do you lovely folks at Nintendo Life Towers (and in the comments) think would like the film K-Pop Demon Hunters, and which ones do you believe would hate it (on a scale of *One* to *Gold-Ten*)?" - Inquiring Minds
Bowser and Daisy are huge fans. Waluigi enjoys it, but I wouldn't let him borrow your phone, lest he pollute your algorithm with unsavoury searches. Toad finds the whole thing massively overrated, but Strategy has a Bruno Mars-esque swing to it that even he cannot dislike. - Ed.
"The majority of those scripts were actually for Splatoon" - HalloweenPeachy
Yeah, I heard that 50% of scripts on the Hollywood blacklist were Splatoon-related. - 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!