With the Nintendo Switch entering its twilight hours and the end of a gaming era being on the horizon, My Nintendo News reached out to former Nintendo of America employees Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang to see what their views were on the future of Nintendo, while asking some fun questions along the way.
The duo, who rose to fame as a part of Nintendo's official YouTube series Nintendo Minute, left the company after its San Francisco office closed down in 2021. Now, they host their own podcast titled Kit & Krysta where they react to gaming news, look back to their time at Nintendo, and answer questions from fans about all sorts of topics. See the full interview below:
Thank you for joining us! Let's get started. What's a perk of working for Nintendo that you miss having?
We both worked on the Communications team, which gave us a front-row seat to Nintendo history as it was happening. Our team usually learned about new products and initiatives relatively early on, and were able to participate in the conversations about how they would be presented to the public. There's always so much interesting work that happens behind the scenes that leads into what is eventually presented to the public, whether it's a Nintendo Direct, an event or something else. Speaking of events, these were often a great opportunity to be among the Nintendo game developers from Japan. Of course we were able to get deeper insights in the games they were making, but we also got to know them as people, which was really rewarding. Now that we're content creators, we're still at many of these events where these sort of things are happening - for example, last year we attended the premiere for the Super Mario Bros Movie and got to congratulate Mr. Miyamoto - but our perspective on it is different.
So it seems like the two of you have been privy to some very cool behind the scenes stuff regarding development and game production. We have to ask: If Nintendo gave you the resources to develop a game based on any of its IPs, what series would you go with and what would the game be like?
Of course, we're not game developers ourselves, but have always felt like there's a lot of untapped potential with the Star Fox series. We were both pretty disappointed in Star Fox Zero and feel that the classic Star Fox gameplay is a bit at odds with what many people expect from modern games. The premise of Fox and team going on adventures across space can be explored so many different ways - the idea of Star Fox Assault could be a good starting point for this, where you have some missions in space and some missions on foot with different vehicles sprinkled in. Something like a combination of that game and a more compact No Man's Sky where you have some freedom to fly around and take in the experience at your own pace and direction could be really interesting. We hope to see a fresh new take on Star Fox on the Switch 2.
2024 saw the Big N partner with Kraft Mac & Cheese, Capri Sun, and Boston Pizza (among others) in the US. What's a restaurant chain or food brand that you'd like to see collab with Nintendo?
Interesting question! We think Nintendo's efforts here have been hit or miss. The Pikmin/Kura Sushi collab was creative and really well done, but we're a bit tired of things like branded Lunchables where it's just a logo or character on a box. We both really like Wario and think he's an underutilized character for Nintendo. Perhaps he can team up with a restaurant like Wingstop or Buffalo Wild Wings and debut a new Extreme Garlic flavor for their chicken wings. It'd be a natural fit for the character and you could pose a challenge in a playful way through the voice of Wario to ask if customers are up to trying his new recipe. Negotiations around the topic of farting could be a deal-breaker, but we'll leave that to Nintendo to iron out the details.
Real talk: Which Pokémon do you see yourself as being?
We're very vocal about our favorite Pokémon [Machamp for Kit and Togepi for Krysta], but it feels like a cop-out to just go with those. To spice things up, we'll pick a Pokémon for each other!
Kit: I'm going to go with Mankey for Krysta. They are both on the smaller size but are really feisty and can get worked up easily! She also seems to like the name "Mankey" but I can't blame her because it's fun to say. Mankey!!
Krysta: I'm not going to mince words here - it's Mr. Mime. I suppose Kit has done a good job of expressing himself through podcasts the last couple years, but could he cut it as a mime? There's only one way to find out! Mimes also tend to not speak, so that would be a welcome break for me.
It's been a long day. You've finished all your work and you're looking to unwind: What game are you booting up to help you relax?
Kit: I tend to gravitate toward older games when I'm in that kind of mood. Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of my favorite games ever and I am always glad to pick it up and play through a couple levels. There's something magical about how the levels are so compact but always have some sort of fun twist or surprise waiting for you that makes it so replayable after all these years.
Krysta: It's December and I must confess that I am a sucker for a good in-game holiday themed event. I recently got back into Pokemon Unite and they always do a great job with their holiday event. It's really nice to be able to play a game and stay in the holiday spirit!
Within the past few years, the gaming industry has grown in many ways and seen shifts in how companies market their games. Is there a key demographic or market that you think Nintendo has been missing out on?
Nintendo prides itself on making games and experiences that can be enjoyable for everyone, and for the most part they deliver on this goal. In the mid 2010's there was a realization that kids were approaching games differently, and that it shouldn't be assumed that kids will naturally gravitate to Nintendo because there're so many other kid-oriented games out there. Our teams watched how really young kids were intuitively able to play games on a tablet and realized things were changing fast. When we grew up, consoles and dedicated gaming handhelds were our only options, but it seems many kids today have their first gaming experiences on an iPad, and those games are sticky by design so they're hard to move away from. From that moment of realization, Nintendo's made a renewed effort to make sure that kids know about and want to play their games - the Play Nintendo YouTube channel, which is entirely dedicated to exposing kids to Nintendo games and IP, is a good example of that effort. We think they've done a solid job in this area but it's something that requires constant focus and resources, so it's an ongoing challenge for them to make sure that these new players grow into lifelong fans.
Let's address the elephant in the room (no Mario, not you), Nintendo Switch 2 is on everyone's mind. What's the one thing that Nintendo has to get right to make its 2025 a success?
A lot of things went right for Nintendo when the Switch first launched in 2017. One of their greatest successes that year was the absolutely stacked release schedule - it's amazing to look back and see how Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out one after another. It's a remarkable achievement and will be hard to replicate, but having a similarly strong first year for Switch 2 will go a long way in ensuring that people have a reason to upgrade to the new system right away. On the Switch, we've become used to having a new first party game release about every month. Switch 2 games will undoubtedly be bigger and more challenging to make, but really nailing that lineup and showing that there is a strong library of games available in the first year will be critical for them to make 2025 a great year for both the company and the fans.
