Latest news with #KitEllis
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nintendo "won't know" if the Switch 2 eShop will crash on launch day as everyone rushes to download Mario Kart World, former marketing leads warn, but "they're prepared"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Switch 2's launch is finally upon us this week, and there are understandably a few concerns from fans wondering if the Nintendo eShop will be able to withstand the surge of people rushing to download Mario Kart World as soon as its metaphorical doors are opened. According to two of the company's former marketing leads, that's not something Nintendo will know in advance, but it will be "prepared" to fix any problems. Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang – once the hosts of Nintendo Minute, and respectively the former director of social media marketing and original content and senior manager of creator relations and original content at Nintendo of America – have released a new video (further below) discussing what the company is likely to be busy with behind the scenes in the run-up to the console's launch on June 5. Ellis mentions the worries from players that the eShop could potentially "burst into flames," noting that all those who've purchased the Mario Kart World console bundle will be receiving a download code that they must redeem in order to play it. That's in addition to other things like the Switch system transfers, and returning fans redownloading their Switch libraries, that are likely to keep Nintendo's servers busy. Addressing this, Ellis notes that not only is the new console's launch thankfully staggered worldwide thanks to time zone differences, but "there are a lot of people right now who are planning for this, have probably been talking about this for weeks if not months." Specifically, he says these employees will have been discussing "what can we do, how can we stay in touch," pointing out that Nintendo of America will likely want to hear how things go in Japan, where the console will be launching a few hours sooner. "'Please give us your updates, is there anything that you did, is there anything that you saw that you didn't expect so that we can be ready,'" he says, giving an example of a conversation likely to be happening very soon. "This game of like Telephone and, you know, collective planning is happening in a big way right now." Yang notes that this process is called "triaging," and it's something that only happens "during really, really big things like big launches like this." It requires those involved to "be on a call about every two hours or so," even into the night, to give updates on the current situation – good or bad. The communications team is on hand to potentially "communicate out to the general public, like 'hey we recognize that there's an issue happening, here's the fixes that are coming" if things start to go awry, giving indications of when things might be back online and what's being done to fix it. She notes that Nintendo won't "know 100% what is going to happen, it's a wait and see," while Ellis agrees: "They won't know until the thing actually happens." Although this could sound a little bit concerning, Yang reassures: "Yes, but they're prepared in terms of like having a team that can either fix it, or work on a fix, and communicate that out to people." Yang adds that a team will be "on call," with Ellis saying that he can "remember many Christmas days where we had these calls scheduled, like 'Oh the eShop has died, and here's what's happening.'" On the other hand, however, launches that Nintendo had "been nervous" about, like Fortnite's Switch release, ended up going without a hitch. Here's hoping that issues are minimal when the new console's launch actually rolls around on Thursday. If you're keeping up with Nintendo Switch 2 news, also be sure to check out our roundup of upcoming Switch 2 games.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Switch 2 Startup And Menu Settings Appear Online As Early Player Shows Off Console In 'Code Red' Leak For Nintendo
The Switch 2 is just days away from its official June 5 launch, but already footage is beginning to spread online of people going hands-on with Nintendo's next console. One fan based in Russia recently uploaded a nearly 10-minute video that includes the Switch 2's startup sequence and a tour through its menu settings. 'Respects to this man for sacrificing his life to unbox the console a week before launch,' reads the top comment on YouTube. The early player in question runs a Telegram channel where he's been answering questions about the new hardware. His video includes a demonstration of what sounds like some bespoke Nintendo menu music for the boot-up sequence, though it unfortunately goes away once hitting the main menu. Fans of the ambient Wii theme music will have their hearts broken once again. The leaker did answer as many fan questions as he could, and said a second video is on its way. Here's what we've learned about the Switch 2 hardware in practice, according to him: The only menu themes are black and white He couldn't find a toggle for variable refresh rate HDR calibration does exist in handheld mode The firmware version listed for the console is 19.0.0.0 The available storage is 221GB Game Share and other features don't work without the day-one update Like the Switch 2 unboxed in a separate brief video (since removed by Nintendo), this one appears to need a day-one patch to be fully capable. While early players have reported not being able to run Switch 1 games on the new hardware, it's not clear yet if that means Switch 2 games won't work right out of the box or not. Switch 1 games require a software layer for backwards compatibility, and it's possible that Switch 2 cartridges might play just fine even ahead of the launch date, though it's not yet clear if anyone out in the wild has both a Switch 2 and a Switch 2 game in their possession and has been able to test that yet. Nintendo didn't respond to a request for comment about what the reported day-one patch will entail. A similar leak happened with the original Switch when someone with early access began sharing images of the home screen and menu settings weeks ahead of release. At Nintendo it was 'like code red to find out what happened,' former marketing manager Kit Ellis said on a recent podcast episode. 'It was actually really surprising for me to see that, like, 'Oh! You actually can track this,'' he continued. 'Like, again, these things get scanned and identified, and there are so many little identifiers that you might not even think of, like they will find who it is, but the fact that the leak has happened...' 'It's almost too late,' his co-host who worked alongside him at Nintendo said, finishing the thought. The Switch 2 leaks should in many ways be less exciting to fans since the console is more of a straightforward upgrade to the existing hardware than a radical departure from the past, like the original Switch was from the Wii U. But the current console's massive success has also propelled Switch 2 hype to new levels, with players combing through each new piece of footage and information until they can try it for themselves. Watching someone else do that is the next best thing, and comes without having to worry about any consequences from Nintendo. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Nintendo Fans Remain Relentlessly Furious About $80 Switch 2 Games
Mario Kart World Of course there have been Nintendo-related controversies in the past, but console war arguments? Culture war fights? Almost never in recent years, and when Nintendo gets in hot water with fans, it must be something significant. And I cannot remember when I've seen something quite like this. News just broke that Nintendo was delaying US pre-orders of the Switch 2 due to uncertainty around Trump's tariffs and market conditions, but even before that, Nintendo was, and still is, undergoing a crisis about pricing that started the moment its recent hour-long livestream ended. The $450 console isn't the main focus, though that is expensive, $50 more than a PS5, $150 more than the original Switch and $50 more than the $400 price many were predicting. One reason the Switch did so well was its relatively inexpensive barrier to entry, but that does not seem to be the case now, priced right up there alongside its rivals, if not above them. Rather, the focus was on the reveal that what will likely end up being the most popular game on the console, the brand new Mario Kart World, would cost $80, $10 more than the $70 industry standard which only became the standard at the start of this console generation a few years ago, which is still not over. In some regions, that's €80 euros with €90 euros for a physical addition. As of now, that $20 bump for physical doesn't seem to exist in the US but, hey, tariffs now, so who knows. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder This has manifested in a few ways, social media complaining, sure, with even some high profile industry figures saying these price points were a pretty sharp turn-off. But on Nintendo's Treehouse livestreams, the entire chat, nonstop, has been spamming 'DROP THE PRICE' regarding the recent announcements, namely focused on the $80 price point. We've also heard from ex-Nintendo PR reps Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang talking about how this is a 'crisis moment' for Nintendo, something you really never hear about happening to…Nintendo: It's a bizarre situation, because Nintendo appears to be trying a concept about a specific game being at a higher price point, one that it knows will probably be its best seller (as Mario Kart 8 was on the original Switch). The new Donkey Kong game, for instance, is $70. But one fear is that if Nintendo can do this with a big game, who's to say other publishers won't try? It's easy to imagine big series trying to also follow in Nintendo's footsteps here and soon enough we get $80 Call of Duty and God of War games. There has been a long running half-joke that GTA 6 is such a big game it could charge $100 a copy and people would buy it. Well, if Nintendo is literally doing this, could Rockstar pull that trigger, for real? With just two months until release with pre-orders already live in most regions, it seems unlikely Nintendo will reverse course. But almost everyone, from fans to analysts, seems to think they have made a big blunder here. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
