People like Nintendo Directs. People want Nintendo Directs. But these streamed promotion for forthcoming Switch games are so rare people get a little…twitchy. Yesterday, after someone tweeted that they’d seen an ad on YouTube demanding a new Direct, it rapidly went viral. It’s not all it seems, but it certainly speaks to fans’ desperate clamors for every tiny snippet of information from the Japanese giant.
Initially thought to be someone’s fevered demands for a new Nintendo Direct to be announced, Twitter user @CreatorFm exclaimed, “THERE’S AN AD BECAUSE SOMEONE WANTS A NINTENDO DIRECT.”
The account that more usually posts…er…drawings of anthropomorphized Pokémon having special cuddles went on to receive over 16,000 likes, so incredibly likely did this seem.
Finding the video that’s being advertised, however, shows something rather different. It is in fact a link to a year-old video by YouTuber PooruBoy, which itself is spoofing the sorts of reactions Nintendo fanatics can have (including some very hearty language) when the games company goes quiet for too long, something that’s been exacerbated during the pandemic as video game release schedules have become more fraught.
Yeah, no, it’s a lot. Yes, that’s Doug Bowser’s face superimposed on a man getting throttled. And indeed, it’s obviously a reaction to last year when Nintendo announced a Direct, but it turned out to be an indie one, and not the AAA news everyone was craving.
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The feeling is in the air again. Last month saw a Direct, but a “Mini: Partner Showcase,” rather than something offering new Nintendo news. Given that everyone is aching for a new glimpse of Breath Of The Wild 2, a hint that there might one day be either a Metroid Prime remake or sequel, or news of the anticipated Mario open-world follow-up to Bowser’s Fury, that didn’t sate a thing. The month before offered us an Indie World Showcase, and you then have to travel all the way back to February before you have the last proper Nintendo Direct.
So why did PooruBoy take out an ad for his video this week? Are they starting to get twitchy about it all over again? We’ve of course reached out to find out, and will update you should we hear back. But it’s worth noting that anyone can pay for an ad on YouTube, so if you’ve ever seen a trailer for something that seemed unusual or very DIY, there’s a good chance it was made by an average person.
Updated: 07/19/22, 05.20p.m. ET: We’ve heard back from PooruBoy, delayed slightly because it’s his birthday today (happy birthday!), who explains that he took the ad out “as a joke.”
“I saw that Google was allowing ads, and I was like, ‘They wouldn’t let one of my shitposts pass for an ad, right?’” PooruBoy tells us, assuming it would get filtered out. “I honestly couldn’t believe it,” he adds, “and then the fact it was getting to a bunch of people.”
The original video was created as a gag, “poking fun at the impatient Nintendo fans.” PooruBoy really didn’t believe the advert would get any attention, saying it was “just a joke that somehow got through the Google filters, if they even exist.”
As it happens, there’s no demand for an immediate Nintendo Direct from the video creator. “I’m pretty content with what they’ve been announcing so far!” he told us.
