The Switch reveal trailer caused “a lot of drama” at Nintendo, say former employees

Nintendo is known to always do things their own way. It’s a part of the company’s DNA, but even those within the walls of the Big N butt heads concerning some of the decisions from time to time.

It’s funny to look back on the reveal of the Switch, because it’s 100% clear the initial trailer was incredibly effective. That trailer, which didn’t include any voiceover, clearly conveyed what the system’s focus was and the main features it included. It’s not the usual type of hardware reveal trailer you see from big game companies, but it also felt very Nintendo.

According to former Nintendo employees Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang, there were plenty of people inside Nintendo who weren’t sure that the Switch reveal trailer wasn’t the right direction to go. For example, some employees felt that it was a bad idea to not discuss system specs in the trailer, as they felt that info was needed to go up against the likes of Sony and Microsoft.

Those trepidations continued when the Switch reveal trailer was being storyboarded. Even though things were being planned out and the idea was being showcased through visuals, there were still team members who didn’t think it was the correct route to go. In particular, it seems like there were some major names on the Nintendo of America side who pushed back against the idea, but the bigwigs in Japan decided to go ahead anyway.

Again, hindsight is 20/20. There’s simply no way to look back on the Switch reveal trailer’s direction and say it was anything other than a massive success. It’ll be very interesting to see if Nintendo pulls out that playbook once more for their Switch successor reveal.

If you’d like to hear more detail on the back-and-forth concerning the Switch reveal trailer, check out the Kit and Krysta Podcast below.