dartmonkey

@Scraggly1 I subbed an adjective you’ve used into our existing headline, that’s all. I’m trying to understand if it’s the word choice or the construction that strikes you as clickbait. For me, the headline absolutely delivers on its promise.

We can go the other way if you like, with your sentence and our adjective:

‘Check Out These Brilliant Elephant Mario Drawings’

Would you consider that clickbait?

@Scraggly1 You’re suggesting that a Nintendo enthusiast site shouldn’t express enthusiasm for Nintendo topics in its headlines. Do you not agree these qualify as ‘brilliant’ examples of fan art?

You’ve added positive subjective opinion in two of your own examples. Are they less ‘baity’ because the adjectives aren’t strong??

‘Artists Are Already Creating Elephant Mario Fan Art And It's Well-Crafted’

@Wheatly ‘New.0’, eh? jots down on tagline list

@ChromaticDracula Zapped, cheers.

@KainXavier Hi there — thanks for messaging.

Having investigated the history here, this situation appears not unlike several others that have come to light in the games industry in recent years, unfortunately. I agree, there's a troubling wider context here that needs highlighting.

I've added text that explicitly mentions that context for anyone potentially interested in the game, including a link to an article detailing the allegations in-depth.

Situations like this are complex, especially when it relates to games (and any media, for that matter) with which people have formed personal connections prior to revelations and allegations like this. Hopefully, having presented the available info, anyone reading will be better equipped to decide if they wish to support the developer in this specific case.

Okay, we'll be closing the comments on this article now. Thanks to all who contributed positively. Our Community Rules are available to review for anyone who may need reminding.

@Thomystic No plans to review Post Void, unfortunately.

@BaldBelper78 We're still waiting on code, unfortunately.

@PinderSchloss We're a Nintendo-focused site, and this is arguably the biggest Nintendo release of the last five years! A huge number of people are extremely excited and interested to read about TOTK and discuss and debate it here, us included. If that's not you, no problem — the articles are easy to avoid.

If you're vexed by multiple Zelda articles a day, I respectfully suggest that taking a break from NL for a few weeks might be best. We've got plenty of Zelda 'counterprogramming' lined up, but this is a huge deal and we're all excited for it.

Ah, the main theme brings a nostalgic tear to the eye!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5lHNgG34S0

@PBandSmelly As you can see above, inappropriate remarks from various people have been removed here, not only yours.

We'll be closing the comments now. Have a good weekend all.

A reminder that if discussion can’t be had without insulting and flaming other people, the comments will be closed.

@gurtifus This is very clearly a walkthrough guide for the game. It's labelled as such, and we've even put a spoiler warning at the top in case you somehow accidentally click on it!

If you click on a walkthrough guide and then get offended by spoilers, I don't know what to tell you.

@Hajilee This is a Nintendo-focused site, and there's a new Zelda game launching on Friday. TOTK is arguably the biggest release on Switch since 2017. We've always posted articles of all types, not just straight news, so OF COURSE we'll be doing so with Zelda.

Each to their own if you're not as enthused as we are, but there's going to be a lot of Zelda over the next, oh, month or two, so buckle up.

@TheBigBlue "I think it’s safe to say that at least one editor is a fan" — It is safe to say that! Just me, though. Nobody else on staff can stand it.

@mariomaster96 'Some' is italicised in the article. I think it's pretty clear from that and the context of the article that there are lots of question marks here.

@mattb994 @MikeSpags Ha, feel free to doodle and link a pic!

@MetaCrystal This is an NL thing. And it might be odd for team members to submit letters rather than just drop a message in Slack, but hey, why not?

@octokid TBD, we'll see what the response is like. With Zelda coming out, I'm tempted to start in June so everyone's had a chance to spend some time with it — I'm sure it'll be a popular topic of conversation!

@somnambulance @Narwhalnut @SwitchVogel

We review a huge number of games every year, but with so many releasing we're not able to cover everything we'd like to, unfortunately! That's the primary reason we started this series, to showcase gems our readers have enjoyed that we weren't able to highlight with a review.

@FishyS I've tweaked the tags on all the past 'Games We Missed' articles in the series, so now the relevant one will appear on the relevant game page. That should make finding the specific recommendation easier!

@Cashews The article contains relevant details as to what led to Bowser's incarceration and a prominent link to our previous coverage of the story, which we've covered various times over the past couple of years.

The info is there, with more detail available for those unfamiliar with the case or who just want a reminder, so I have to disagree we're "essentially" saying anything, and also with your assessment of our audience. I think many readers have followed this story from the beginning, but even if not, the article above catches them up and offers the opportunity to dive deeper.

@Cashews I don't see where the sympathy for Bowser is in the article. It states the facts and the reasons he's in this situation. Where are these "excuses" being made for him?

I…I did it!
https://twitter.com/dartmonkey/status/1646637352788410371

Looks alright, dunnit.

@xiao7 @SlowPokemon As I mentioned above, Seth Rogan revealed the DK rap was in the movie last week in official promo:
https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/1641485445816102920

@gaga64 This seems to be a popular misconception, so I'll address it. In what way does "flooding the comments page with disappointed people" benefit us or anyone else?

I can assure you, absolutely nobody on staff is slapping their hands and congratulating themselves when a comments section goes awry for whatever reason — it's quite the opposite! In terms of 'clicks', the traffic generated on an article from people voicing displeasure or arguing in the comments is minuscule, statistically insignificant in page view terms. There is zero benefit to our fostering negativity here, let alone 'trolling' readers.

@Sam_TSM As I said, it certainly wasn't "thoughtless". The rap has featured in the film's promotion — Seth Rogan said last week, "This is how my character comes out in the movie, to the Donkey Kong Rap":

https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/1641485445816102920

@KingDunsparce The headline was a big consideration before publishing. In this instance, the info is very much 'out there' already and omitting that specific detail didn't feel right.

The film is absolutely jam-packed with things like this, so there's an incredible amount to dig into — we won't be highlighting it all, but it felt appropriate in this case.

@nukatha >>AntonioBanderasLaptop.gif here<<

@Dr_Corndog Yes but no but yes but no. But YES!!

It's easily and officially playable on Wii and I couldn't resist adding it to the list proper.

@JaxxDuffer We only picked up on it recently and while stock is still there we thought it worth highlighting for people who might be in the same boat.

@DrGonzo And if you read that review, you'll find that it discusses that game's issues in detail and offers an overall subjective assessment, too.

And again with the generalisations. Comments here are removed for a wide variety of reasons when they contravene our Community Rules, which includes unfounded or ill-expressed criticism of staff. Our writers and contributors work hard to deliver as much information and analysis to readers as possible on as many games as we're able. Regardless of your opinions, they don't deserve grief in the comments and we'll continue to remove anything that breaks our rules.

@DrGonzo There are over 1100 words above discussing the game, the issues encountered, and Lowell's opinion on it as a whole. Saying it was docked five points from a perfect ten because it uses analogue aim and has repetitive dialogue, and then suggesting user error, isn't fair or accurate.

The text is there. A 5/10 means 'average', not 'bad'. If you've played the game and don't agree, there's a way to come here and strike up a meaningful, polite discussion — we're all for that. Accusing us and our writers of just being bad at games isn't the way to do it. Please be mindful of that in future. Thanks.

@somnambulance It ain’t now. 😉 Thanks 👍

@IceCatraz @Strumpan A tagging mishap — they're all present now.

@OorWullie Various team members have tested and haven't found any issues with the Pro Controller. We'll keep an eye out for other reports, but let us know if there's any change.

'87 is a real shout. And there's no denying 2017, either. If you're a cross-platform player, it's pretty much impossible to pick a dud! Ah, games.

@ralphdibny Ha, I'm not sure we'd be able to convince Capcom to run a sale, but I've reached out to see if there are plans in the works. Not long now, but a final weekend blowout would be amazing!

@TeaCatherine You saw nothing. 👀

@Nancyboy Don't know what you mean. Move along, nothin' to see here. 👀

@Magician Ha, I considered putting all the 3D Classics into one entry tbh. They're all worthy, even the 'lesser' games got such good treatment. It's an amazing series.

We'll see how we go, only ten more days! We might do ONE more — if we don't, it's certainly not a slight against any of the others! I wouldn't do that to my boy, SOR2.

Edit. Also, we just numbered the countdown for our own amusement, it's not supposed to indicate a ranking. Otherwise, Pocket Card Jockey and Affordable Space Adventures would be tied in first place and we wouldn't have bothered with anything else.

@Krull I 100%-ed the first, but fell off the second when the difficulty spiked. I think I overdosed tbh, BUT I've just downloaded the Fullblox bundle after investigating the NES Retro pack. Time to return!

@Greenmanalishi Oof, you're not wrong! I've added green, blue, and red-haired Link to the poll (single entry, let's not go mad) and I'll see about getting Jim to insert the trio into the ranking soon. Cheers!

Edit. Actually, Jim did mention them in the Four Swords entry, and that's just about where it would rank anyway. Let's leave them embedded there, but I'll also leave them with a separate entry in the poll for all the Tri Force Heroes fans out there.

@amixForever As a general rule, we don't include import-only titles in these lists. The only exception that springs to mind is Mother 3 on the GBA one.

@dew12333 Refresh

@Tyranexx @TheBigBlue That's my bad — I wasn't signed in when I checked the page, so the 'No longer available' message didn't appear for me. Thanks for the spot, I've removed that line from the text.

@Browny I think from a community POV, dissecting leaked material would segregate readers who want to digest and discuss EVERYTHING from others who want the intended 'mystery' preserved for when they actually play. If we ran spoiler articles discussing leaked material in-depth, inevitably you'd get people from one article mentioning it in another without spoiler tags, and what should be a fun chat turns into a gauntlet for a lot of readers!

There are other factors, of course, not least that those of us on staff don't want the game spoiled for ourselves! It's a similar deal with Pokémon. Those games and their 'dexes were leaked online in their entirety weeks in advance. Once that info is online, it's simple enough to find for those who do want it.

@Matroska There's nothing noble about it, I just want to communicate clearly and specifically to regular readers and Zelda fans that they don't have to worry about stumbling on spoilers in our articles themselves. As I said, we'll still cover leaks and link out to the relevant material where appropriate. This isn't some conspiratorial case to be cracked open and 'exposed' through reportage. It's a video game, a piece of media built to be explored, discussed, enjoyed. Discussing and enjoying games is NL's MO, and we understand the potential impact of a juicy, spoiler-filled article plastered over our homepage.

Obviously, we'll continue to highlight officially released material — are you suggesting we shouldn't cover new trailers or a potential TOTK Direct if we were serious about spoilers? We're a Nintendo-focused outlet, so naturally we'll cover that. We've recommended that people on a total media blackout start muting keywords if they want to know nothing.

The vast majority of Nintendo fans visiting Nintendo Life, though, will be interested when a new TOTK trailer drops or an amiibo is announced or whatever. Ultimately readers themselves also have to take personal responsibility if they're sensitive to any information whatsoever. We're simply trying to give as much information about our approach as possible.

@Shambo Ha, zapped! Thanks

@Stocksy We cover physical releases from a range of 'boutique' publishers, large and small, and our coverage depends entirely on if we're excited by the game or the specific package that's been announced. If we think a particular physical release looks good or that readers have been waiting for the announcement, we'll run a post, regardless of the publisher. Simple as that.

@DarkTron We're a Nintendo site covering Nintendo news — in this case, various details around the latest financial report which always deliver interesting nuggets. We've picked out what we consider to be the most interesting stories, including figures for fans of specific games/series that may not be interested in overall hardware sales stats or other details from the report.

Feel free to use the contact form if you'd like to discuss our approach further.

Game Freak's best game.
The 3DS' best game.
Apple Arcade's best game.
Best game.

Some excellent suggestions for collections in these comments!