Mailbox: The Future Of Smash, Mouse Mode Upgrades, Revolutions - Nintendo Life Letters

Welcome back to another look through the Nintendo Life Mailbox. Well done, you made it.

It's been a fairly quiet time for Nintendo in recent weeks, as the Northern Hemisphere gets the summer started. Sony and Microsoft are keeping headlines coming, but given the horrors within, we're happy for a little respite here at NL Towers.

Anyhoo, 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 frosty beverage and go through our dispatch box...

Nintendo Life Mailbox - July 2026

"I have to ask" (***STAR LETTER***)

Dear Nintendo Life,

Later this year, the Wii will turn twenty years old (!), which means that it will be almost as old as the NES was when the Wii first launched (!!). I still remember the insane hype building up to its release—the way that Nintendo kept the Wii Remote a secret for so long and the way that Iwata boldly proclaimed that this new system would begin a revolution for the entire video game industry. Looking back, I have to ask—was the Wii truly a revolution? I can see both sides of the argument.
1. Yes, the Wii was a revolution. It popularized motion controls, which are still a part of gaming to this very day.
2. No, the Wii was not a revolution. Motion controls only work for specific genres, such as mini-game compilations and casual sports games. Button controls are still the default. The Wii Remote should simply be seen on the same terms as the NES Zapper or the Power Pad—an accessory designed for a very specific kind of game.
What do you think? Was the Wii truly a revolution?
Mii & Miiself

Motion controls were a neat way to open up gaming to a broader audience. The real revolution, though, was Nintendo stepping out of the tech race with Sony and Microsoft. On the first try, they proved that the ol' 'withered tech' adage from the Game Boy days could apply equally to home consoles. And this was before smartphones arrived and scalability across multiple platforms became a necessity.

I enjoyed how the Wiimote gave devs options for novel control schemes - that quirkiness has been lost as gamepads homogenised across platforms into essentially the same thing. But really, it was the reduced footprint and power of the Wii ('two-duct-taped GameCubes', remember?) that really changed the game. - Ed.

"long-time partners"

Hello, HotGoomba from NintendoLife.com here.

Just wanted to ask you all if you could choose any company, preferably a gaming company, to be bought by Nintendo, what would you choose?

I'd personally say Good-Feel. They've been long-time partners with Nintendo, and they've made one of the best Yoshi games of all time (Woolly World), one of the most unique (Mysterious Book), and whatever the hell Crafted World is, and they also worked on Wario Land: Shake It, and Kirby's Epic Yarn. But they've also made some well-regarded titles of their own, like Bakeru and Monkey Barrels, and their games have consistently ended up on Nintendo platforms. I think Good-Feel would fit very well with Nintendo's other studios, since they've proven to make great games, but also have the potential to make new IPs as well for the company.

Though not in the spirit of the question, I'd say we've had more than enough big companies swallowing little companies in the gaming space of late, and it's been going very poorly. So let's not roll the acquisition dice for funsies.

Good-Feel and Nintendo's business partnership seems to be working out fine for both parties as is. Nintendo should absolutely greenlight Kirby's Epic Yarn HD, though. - Ed.

"phased out"

This will be an unpopular opinion, but...

I actually prefer the 3rd party segments of Nintendo Directs and I prefer Indie Worlds and Partner Showcases more than general Nintendo Directs. Nintendo gonna launch the games they gonna launch, other devs... aren't.

This is because although there were Nintendo-developed games I wanted, I bought my Switch 2 (mainly) for the ability to play games like Blue Prince handheld. The main game I wanted, and therefore I think the main reason I wanted a (new) Nintendo handheld was to play Mini Motorways (and Mini Metro) because I watched lots of gameplay and I am an Android diehard. And also, Mini Motorways launched in 2019 and is still getting (quarterly) free updates.

I would be perfectly happy if Nintendo phased out general Nintendo Directs and just announced on socials, Nintendo Today and overview trailers.
Ben

Other devs "gonna launch the games they're gonna launch" too, I'd argue. The Switches are hella indie machines, definitely (and thankfully), and there have been some cracking Indie Worlds that blur the lines between arbitrary labels.

Still, nothing gets the pulse racing quite like a full-fat Direct. That's where you're going to find out about the new Zelda, the next Mario. The variety on Switch is its #1 selling point for me, but it's the Nintendo difference that puts it above a Steam Deck. - Ed.

"spit out my coffee"

I would like to propose a new feature for Nintendo Life, where, each Sunday you collect all the best comments of the week.
I can't recount how many times I've spit out my coffee after reading some stupidly funny stuff. I've equally been really fascinated by the insightful thoughts that have been shared.

The community is one of the main reasons why I enjoy your platform so much however it's so easy to miss a good comment. Hopefully this is something that is easy to implement, by filtering by the most liked comments. That way, liking a comment would also act as a way to recommend it for the Comments of the Week.
Twilite9

I like the idea of highlighting exceptional comments, although I feel you’d need the context of the original article for many comments to shine? Setting the stage and raising expectations in a weekly article could zap the spontaneous magic.

Also, liking a comment can mean different things: 'I agree'; 'this is hilarious!'; 'hear hear for taking down that troll before the mods zapped it'; etc, so using likes as a metric wouldn't necessarily surface the real gold. Most of my favourites are small asides with no likes buried down in the 70s that speak to my particular sense of humour.

Alternatively, I could pick out something to highlight on this letters page? Readers nominate their favourites? Let me know in the comments if you'd be down for that. - Ed.

"expect to get roasted"

I have an idea for the future of the Super Smash Bros. Series. I expect to get roasted for this in the comments, but hear me out: WHAT IF the next entry on Switch 2 was all about full 3D battles? The "all players will be split into 4 different small screens like in Mario Kart and single-screen 8-Player Smash will not be technologically possible" kind. The game would be called "Super Smash Bros. Next Dimension" because of the move to... well... the next dimension (laughs). Also, I Imagine that it won't be an "Everyone is here" situation, for the sake of not having to renew a ton of 3rd party fighter licenses. Also... sayonara, Pichu. You're just a Pikachu who hurts himself, who was only invited to the Ultimate party due to his one other appearance in Melee.

Don't get me wrong, I love the classic 2D fights in Ultimate and all prior entries, but I think a move to 3D would be a beneficial new gimmick. And if anyone wants to play the classic 2D battles on Switch 2, Ultimate would still exist via backwards compatibility. Perhaps they could keep the fans happy by releasing a Switch 1 port of Brawl (digitally and physically) along with new Wiimote peripherals in 2028 (the 20th anniversary of Brawl), also to tide people over while Next Dimension is still in development. Thoughts?
Nep-Nep-Freak

Hmm. Would the move to 3D be fun, though? Would injecting some Power Stone into Smash actually make for a reliably good time?

As someone who's bounced off Smash multiple times and enjoys the relative simplicity of the original over the others, you're probably talking to the wrong editor. However, while the steady stream of Nintendo Switch 2 Editions can be wearing, Smash Ultimate feels like an ideal candidate for a cheeky Upgrade Pack with new stages, characters, and some roguelike Mii-builder mode. A properly 3D arena-fighting Smash...doesn't sound like Smash at all to me. - Ed.

"actually point and click"

Hi guys!

Thanks for your excellent review of ‘The Drifter’! Playing (and loving) the game right now.

When they announced that the Switch 2 was coming with a mouse mode, the first thing I thought, was that now we will finally get ‘point & click’ games where we can actually point and click!
But over one year after the Switch 2 launch, The Drifter is the only one I can think of.

Where is the Switch 2 mouse mode upgrade for The Return Monkey Island or Thimbleweed Park? Why not give us mouse mode version of classics like Full Throttle, Day of The Tentacle or Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis? There are also many newer games inspired by these, I would love to play from the couch.

Do you think we’ll see any of these in the future? Do you have any other favorites you would like to see? Are there any upcoming games in this genre you know of?

Or are there perhaps many mouse mode point and click games on the Switch 2, and I have just missed them all?

Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of The Drifter, and for this great site in general:)

(Also.. bring us mouse mode Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era!)
LK

While there are plenty of Mouse Mode-compatible games, I think the issue is that the best ones have been adapted to work with a standard pad so well that updating older titles with Mouse Mode compatibility simply isn't worthwhile or viable for most studios.

When first announced, it felt like a natural dovetail of genre and platform, but the slight awkwardness of the form factor (seriously, asking people to use the face buttons in Mouse Mode feels like an obvious no-no, but devs are still doing it) and the general gamepad optimisation work that's usually been done for console editions reduces the desire further, I suppose. I'd love to see stats on Mouse Mode use when it's an option; my gut says it's not massively popular, though.

It still feels weird we've never gotten the Day of the Tentacle or the Monkey Island Special Edition on Switch. I'd love to see them get the Switch 2 treatment. - Ed.

Bonus Letters

"I am a bit surprised that Pickleball is not in Switch Sports Resort. Has the Pickleball craze not reached Japan yet? What do you think the chances are that it will be DLC? " - DwaynesGames

It's known fairly well outside the US, I believe, but I'd guess that it's just too mechanically similar to tennis and badminton to be a worthwhile addition from a gameplay variety perspective. So no Pickleball or Padel. - Ed.

"What is the worst joke you've ever made about a video game? Probably mine is after mentioning Distrust, the working title of Danganronpa, saying "not to be confused with Liz Truss", which is even worse there, but was slightly funnier in the context of the original conversation. I realise now that this is a really bad reader letter in every way, but I feel that the main question is good. Can we post these anonymously?" - Scooby-Doo

You hear that, Scooby? That is the sound of our collective non-UK readership going "Whozzat?"

For reference, Liz Truss was the UK Prime Minister for approximately 12 minutes in 2022 until beaten by a cabbage, it says here. I'm told the UK is almost onto its third PM in the time since, although that can't be right.

And yes, you can post these anonymously, Scooby. Let me know if you want to. - Ed.

"I’d love to suggest some coverage: a review of Deltarune Chapter 5 (“Festival Day”), which launched on June 24." - Asaca

Got you covered, A. - 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!