Mailbox: Welcome To The Nintendo Life Letters Page!

They must feel great writing letters and having all their suggestions rejected 🤣.

We had to pay $99 for 'Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' here in Australia and 'Pokemon Scarlet and Violet' cost $79.95 when they came out here at EB Games and JBHIFI.

Love this idea for a feature. Keep it up!

It's nice to be able to write letters to you. But prepare for some poorly written ones.

Gaming absolutely is high art, the highest art imo as it combines all other forms of art.

I love this. Seeing comments with '-Ed' at the end hits me right in the feels,. Now, if my brain ever thinks of something semi intelligent to write, I'll scrawl something on a napkin at some point

@Debbiee Lots of people just focus on US price and ignore the rest but foreign prices of AAA games can be even more questionable. Even in Europe, AAA PS5 games actually increased 20 euro instead of 10, costing 80 euros per game.

At least... in theory since retailers know that price is ridiculous so they sell it for 60-70 at launch and in Europe ToTK actually costs the same as BoTW: 70 euro (yes, BoTW was 70 euro in Europe).

I've recently been going through old stuff I had in my room and found old videogame magazines that included this very sections. This is somewhat nostalgic.

NL likes Moose confirmed!

@dartmonkey Can I knock up the letter in Word before cut & pasting it into the box?

Cheers @dartmonkey and @Nintendolife for picking mine as the first Star Letter!

Maybe low art - like 1960s sad clown art. But there has never been a game that isn't derivative of another better form of art. I can think of only one game out of the 1000s created over time that combines emotion, storytelling purely through art - Shadow of the Colossus. It is the only one that comes to mind. The Secret World and other Funcom games try and succeed now and then - in small doses.

There are plenty of games that reach young adult status but nothing beyond that. Even the oft explored science fiction in gaming doesn't have any particularly good story crafting. Just common, save the world against this threat or explore and find this mean monster tripe.

Some cool visuals for sure. But the kind you find at at comic con booth.

I can't see it getting beyond that really.

That is actually like the old days!

The scoring thing always gets me. Also the fact “there are so many 9/10 games that people don’t bother with 7s shows where we have gone wrong. There are not a load of 9/10s that’s a fact.

There are games that reviewers score higher but in all reality there are very few 9/10 games.

I’d get rid of scores.

I want more facts in reviews and less opinions. Tell me about features, controls etc. give opinions briefly at the end.

Many times I come away from a review with my main questions about the game unanswered.

Also try and put a reviewer on the game that actually understand what the target market of the game actually wants from the game.

This was a wonderfully entertaining read, definitely keep this series going in the future!

I'm pretty sure I was being swamped by exams when the initial submission period was up and running so I'll definitely try and have something in for next time round!

Also @Owl1 's submission gave me war flashbacks XD

@Owl1 @Fizza The Chat Thread knows what the Moose represent

@Stocksy

Agreed on most points. But I don’t think getting rid of scores really helps. They do help in gauging the rest of what the reviewer has to write/say, which helps in overall appraisals.

Strongly agree on more facts than opinions.

What would a Hail Mario actually read like?

It's a great read for a slow day!

On the Nostalgia and Industry - I don't think it's a problem since the games that were once great are still great, and "what are the best games from today's perspective" are actually the same old games. Let's not forget that there are VERY few entries for the greatest games since 2010.

As for "Waldeinsamkeit" - if anybody doesn't consider VGs as a high art, they are the ones that embarrass themselves. From my perspective, art is art, there is no high or low art, it's all about the conveyed emotions and execution. I have no idea what waldeinsamkeit means, so I'll just say:

Kan ich deine katze streichen?

For Hesham Youssef's question, keep an eye on https://www.dekudeals.com/. While the site's primary intent is not the same as the question, you should be able to find many of the answers to your questions there. It's an excellent resource.

This was a fun article. I'd missed the announcement so this came to as a surprise.

The first letter made my day. It started out so serious but it transitioned into a joke by the end. Once I saw who wrote it, it all made sense. Good job @jump, you got a chuckle out of me. Best letter well deserved.

@Lightsiyd tbh I agree it’s just I’m so tired of reading a positive review - 7/10 and seeing comments - “oh hard pass then. Expect it to be good”

Get rid of scores and it’ll force lazy fools to actually think for themselves. Also it’ll stop the trend of dishing out 9/10 like candy.

I saw a website give Redfall a 4/5 and then Zelda 5/5 ——— like if that doesn’t highlight we scores are meaningless nothing will.

If you didnt look elsewhere you’d think those two games are close in standards.

No one believes that surely.

I was a bit concerned when I started reading that first one. But then it took a turn and became truly funny. Nicely done. Games are not high art, and I don't think they should strive to be. So called high art is often overrated anyhow, in my opinion.

Review scores are merely a tool. I've hated top-rated games, and enjoyed some lower-rated games(not low enough to be broken). Some years back, Nintendo Life stopped providing review scores, and people were always asking for scores to return, as imperfect as they are. A review is only as good as the points made within. Anyone who is only looking at the scores is doing themselves a disservice.

It's like if Yob was still around but had lost all his soul and charm and the pages of the magazine had lost all their soul and charm too. I think that's definitely one of the things we lost going all digital with our gaming info, where everything is so standard formatted and basic colours and the like. Well, at least no one has yet designed a website with the same personality and charm of the old gaming mags like Mean Machines and Super Play anyway.

It would be good if you published the deadline for submitting letters for the following month.

I doubt that Pokémon will be upping their prices without fear of consequence. They've also released absurdly overpriced DLC for Scarlet/Violet, which is even more expensive than that released for Sword/Shield, and for a game crippled with performance issues and bugs.

They did re-release Sword/Shield with the expansion passes preloaded at an inflated price (US$90, if memory serves), so there's somewhat of a precedent there. I don't mind coughing up the goods for a complete physical edition later on, however overpriced it may be, but a price hike on broken base games? Which many will essentially be buying TWO copies of?

Hell no.

If Scarlet/Violet aren't reissued with patches/DLC on the cart, then I won't be buying the DLC at all.

And imagine paying US$70 for the likes of Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, which have a laughably incomplete build of the game on the cartridge. With the sheer volume of copies that they manage to sell for their sloppy products, they are not in a position to be demanding that we pay more. They need to earn that privilege first.

@Debbiee : Grossly untrue. JB is fairly competitive with gaming prices (and pre-order bonuses). Only EB Games defaults to full retail price, and the retail price for TOTK is AU$89.95, not AU$99. And in the latter case, most major retailers were selling it for $74-$79. One would be a fool to pay full price at EB when the majority of the competition sells most games $10 under the retail price at the very least (budget-priced games and collector's editions excluded).

Plus, the discounted AU$74 (US$49) is considerably cheaper than the US retail price of US$60 (AU$89). Furthermore, our prices are inclusive of GST, while in the US, local taxes tend to be added at the point of sale, piling on to the overall cost of the game. We're lucky that the game is so cheap here relative to the rest of the world (and in spite of the weaker Australian dollar).

And Pokémon Scarlet/Violet were also available for a LOT cheaper than retail price. At one point, pre-orders were available for as little as about AU$45 (US$30). That's half of the US retail price of US$60, though the norm was AU$59 (US$40) at most retailers, which is still substantially cheaper than the US.

Entertainment is always a hard thing to price. The average cost of an album, video game or movie ticket hasn’t really risen much in 25 years. I paid £60 for Majora’s Mask in 2000 and £60 for Tears of the Kingdom in 2023.

A bigger issue is perhaps pricing parity between Digital and Physical releases.

Ha ha, I never thought the moose one would get through.

@Ironcore It is the most evolved / advanced form of art humans have created, isn't it. Potentially combining all others indeed. No wonder it gets so amazing!

@jowe_gv mwah .. preordering TotK in Holland cost 65 eur, preordering it in France through Amazon cost 52 eur. Btw, same as BotW back in 2017.

This is a nice little distraction. I am looking forward to the next one.

The return of Mean Yob ?

First letter was amazing. All of them are actually. Well done excellent writers. I feel cultured already!

@Owl1 Oh this is what you were talking about! This is great!

I love this new feature. Just like the old game mags. I look forward to reading more in the future.

Waldeinsamkeit exactly expresses how I feel about BotW and TotK. Thanks to Jump for expressing it that way.

And maybe it's my own nostalgia talking but the original SMB remains a masterpiece that holds up as such even today.

There’s a Lego fan website called Brickset.com and they let you sign in and access a massive database of all things Lego. You can track what you own, want, or even make customized check boxes (like “roommate owns” or “owned but sold” or anything you’d like). They have reviews by their staff as well as fans. And extensive photos and information on millions of lego sets. The reason I’m saying this, is because NintendoLife could do something like this as well. It is still set up very clean and user friendly over there and well moderated. I’d love to see this site show info on each game (even older ones going all the way back to NES), with at least 3-5 screenshots per game, how much data is on the cartridge/disk/download, the date it released in each major region, etc, the ability for us to check mark it as owned, wanted, etc, and links to reviews for the games.
Just my thoughts 😊

This is a great idea! Reminds me of that classic era of UK magazines, Mean Machines and such.

I really do like this though, it’s fun!

Enjoyed this a lot. Took me back to being a kid reading my Nintendo magazines. Perfect for a Sunday too!

Cute feature idea. Echoing those who feel reminded of old magazines. I think keeping it monthly is the right call.

Let's hope Mark Discordia feels nostalgic from his Nintendo Power days and grace us with his awesome plumbing letters. 😛

@Sisilly_G I didn't say 'Tears of the Kingdom' was $99. I said 'Breath of the Wild' was $99 and I was surprised 'Tears of the Kingdom' was cheaper than 'Breath of the Wild' but as it stands now 'Breath of the Wild' is still $79.99 at JBHIFI at regular price despite being an old game and 'Pokemon Scarlett and Violet' are down to $65 at regular price now. Nothing is cheap here in Australia and is one of the reasons I often order things online from overseas stores because they always end up being cheaper even with the postage being higher than it used to be. I remember when we first joined Amazon in 2007 I couldn't believe how cheap everything was compared to here and we used to have to spend $29.95 at most record stores to get albums including old ones and Amazon had a lot of them for under $10.

Glad to see Ed is keeping busy. I remember he used to respond to all the reader’s letters back in the mag days… assuming it’s the same guy!

…Assuming it is a guy, of course! It could well be short for Edwina. Or Edith. Or Edeline. Or Edward or Edmond or Edgar (if it is indeed a guy).

Anyway, keep up the good work, Ed. Your responses are always so very… edifying!

_{HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!}

On the whole “games as art” question, I think it’s clear that games have the capacity to be art, when you look at certain strong examples. But there are many other factors that militate against regarding games as art. The industry itself treats games as disposable (ultimately worthless) entertainment. Indeed, they often actively resist efforts to preserve their work. The fan community overwhelmingly emphasizes graphics and presentation over any other aspect of games. Games are so collaborative that they usually lack any clear authorial voice. And games are so difficult to make that it is hard for young game makers to effectively “practice”. Even filmmakers (film being the other ultra collaborative medium of our time) have more capacity to practice their craft, especially now with iPhones and such… and finally, and this is speculative but if I’m right this could be the most intractable problem of all, it seems that the ultimate medium of the video game is computer code… and the personality of the coder may just be fundamentally unlike the personality of the artist. Not that there won’t be a few exceptions, of course, but if this is the case then most games will never succeed as art, because they are fundamentally made by engineers and technicians, not artists. I could be wrong about that last point but that’s how it seems to me.

@Debbiee : Breath of the Wild was never AU$99. It was always AU$89.95, just like TOTK.

It's the US that got a US$10 price hike for TOTK, but Nintendo have wisely refrained from imposing a similar increase in Australia.

@JoeYabuki Wow, haven’t heard that name in ages!

Oh this was always one of my favorite things to read through in old gaming mags! Glad you brought it back guys! ❤️