The State of Nintendo in 2025

Greetings Nintenkats!

Once again, I’m about to hit the road (I promise I’ll stay in one place for at least a few weeks after this). Before I go, I wanted to share my conversation with Patrick Klepek for Remap about the State of Nintendo. We cover a lot of territory in the video, and I think the conversation will be of interest to you all. Here we go!

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The Kat Take: The State of Nintendo in 2025

Patrick invited me on Remap Radio a couple weeks ago to talk about the state of Nintendo (he also said a lot of nice things about this newsletter, which was kind of him). Over the course of a little more than an hour we discussed

• How different would the Switch 2 have been under Iwata?

• The “Disney-ification” of Nintendo and its focus on IP over new experiences

• Has Nintendo lost touch with the kids?

• The differing philosophies between Nintendo and PlayStation

• The release of Donkey Kong Bananza

• The Bears and the Vikings, obviously

I hit on a lot of the persistent themes that I’ve covered in this newsletter, namely that the Nintendo of 2025 has changed in a lot of subtle ways that aren’t always obviously. In many ways they are company looking back more than looking forward right now, as evidenced by its approach to everything from the Switch 2 to its recently-opened museum. Like Pokémon, Nintendo is becoming a lifestyle brand as much as a video game company.

Admittedly, it’s still capable to putting out some absolute bangers — Tears of the Kingdom and Donkey Kong Bananza are proof enough of that — but I find myself thinking a lot about what Nintendo is trying to accomplish as it opens theme parks and puts out billion dollar movies. It may simply be that, in today’s video game industry, it isn’t enough to be just about video games — you have to be about everything.

Thanks to Patrick for the chance to talk about Nintendo in 2025. I hope you enjoy the show!

ICYMI: Indie World Showcase announcement and a new Kirby and the Forgotten Land trailer

• Nintendo has announced an Indie World for August 7 at 6am PT. I will regrettably not be able to cover it, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye the announcements. Maybe we’ll get some Silksong news? 🤡

• A new trailer has detailed the new features coming to the Switch 2 version of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, from Starry Stages to an even harder boss rush. Kirby and the Forgotten Land was one of the best games on Switch 1 and remains highly underrated, so I strongly recommend you check it out if you haven’t already.

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Thanks for reading another issue of Nintenkats! We’ll be back with more Nintendo news, opinions, and mailbag questions next week!