The Worst Day We Ever Had at Nintendo - EP126 Kit & Krysta Podcast

[@MegaDoomdoomDoom]

Krysta’s idea of a kit to break when excited during a direct is so cute! And I love the idea of “when there’s a game announcement YOU are excited for”, because everyone has different tastes and that should be celebrated. Imagine if content creators had that during the last direct

[@RogersBase]

Oh man, I vividly remember that E3 and all of the reactions from the other NBAs to that late night tweet. There was no way in hell that I was going to miss live reacting to the E3 Direct though so I did it anyway. 😂 It ended up working out well for me too because, despite an internet glitch earlier that morning, my reaction stream of the Direct ended up being the first one to land on KZbin’s trending page that day since a lot of people were scared to do it. Everything worked out in the end! 💪

[@RogersBase]

Also, to add to their story, I do in fact still have (and love ❤️ ) my Nintendo Brand Ambassador jacket and the “Break in Case of Extreme Hype” box (that you definitely DID have to break) was put to good use with the announcement of Dread and the return of Advance Wars (viewers can go watch my reaction and see it for themselves, haha). Thanks for all your hard work to make it such a memorable E3 (even though the day was incredibly stressful)!

[@AB-py6jl]

I teleported to another dimension when Advance Wars came back 😂 Monkey Ball too! That was one of the best directs ever for me

[@The.natrix]

Victor seems like such a wise and candid person in the gaming industry, it was really cool to hear him talk about his experiences. Great guest :D

[@OkamiSpirit427]

Very funny how cool he is given the lack of professionalism of his old cohost on electric playground

[@borgs101]

As a new father, I find myself watching these videos with children present now, thank you for saying "no" to swearing on the show, it can be tough to deal with other content where swearing is used and kids are around!!!

[@just_jude_live]

After hearing this story, I must say, GO KRYSTA! Being boss in the literally politest way possible, just not responding. Good on you!!

[@1mmmmwwwwiiii]

It’s wild to think that Nintendo Japan was the originator of this wild no-costreaming request, even though Japanese news stations and tv shows are entirely built around reactions. Almost any tv show you watch has a little bubble in the corner with the hosts watching and reacting to the content. Super weird.

[@JeskidoYT]

Remember the corporate Japan people are extremely extremely slow to adapt. Like super super slow

[@ManectricReturns]

I live in Japan and I was thinking the exact same thing. As a westerner those little reactions are so stupid and distracting for me. I was so surprised to hear Nintendo Japan was against it. I guess the thing is, Nintendo can't control the people who co-stream and what they say.

[@TreasureBoxReviews]

It's interesting to hear the consequences of Nintendo's past tone-deaf decisions from the other side. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to have your voice and expertise squashed by those who wield more power, simply because they don't understand the modern social media and marketing landscape.

[@LoomDoom]

Yeah that would be extremely frustrating to work with. Very tone deaf on the Japan side. I’m glad Nintendo pivoted away from that nonsense policy!

[@flarestorm9417]

Nintendo of America: "why isn't it possible?" Nintendo of Japan: "it's just not."

[@avacado370]

the way that Krysta explained the situation gives off the same energy of a tech support worker trying to help explain what "allow cookies" mean t a grandma who kept putting cookies in the disc drive.

[@MicaiahBaron]

Corporate across the board, at pretty much any company, is often out of touch if not straight up delusional. Exceptions are rare.

[@ianp5367]

@MicaiahBaron Facts, can confirm as someone who works in a cooperate environment as a creative.

[@cwooddirector]

Love that Victor Lucas is still around covering games. I remember watching his shows on G4 back in the 2000s and I've been subbed to him on KZbin for at least a year now.

[@Oggar0912]

Krysta almost letting out an F bomb while telling her story, you can see how ANGRY she was at the situation!

[@arturobravo701]

I love this podcast and Victor Lucas too. Its nice to see people being positive and open to share their experience about games.

[@switchingitup_]

Man, imagine all that added pressure right on the eve of a big Nintendo Direct!! To think Japan tweeted that out during one of the biggest events of the year. Were they thinking they didn't want someone else getting excited and putting pressure on the viewers to get excited?!?! Your choice to be excited or not haha! And then Krysta does something nice for the content creators who are in lockdowns and she gets emails asking why she did this!?!?! Insane times. Thanks for sharing 🎉

[@CutesyCat07]

When you mentioned the party stuff sent out to creators and how corporate JP got mad about "overhyping the event", I just thought back to RogersBase breaking it open for Dread. Like that was a huge reveal, and I can't believe they got mad at you for that

[@HarrisonWinterssupercool]

It's one of my favorite reactions because of that box, I rewatch it all the time

[@cjt217]

Incredible to have THE Victor Lucas get to share so much! Looking forward to whenever he comes back

[@markieman64]

Your interviewees always offer such unique perspectives. Great job!

[@PraiseWorthy9]

❤ the open and thoughtful bad day story. Very relatable. It was really hard leaving a couple jobs for me too and hearing your insights helps. Like Krysta, I can relate to still feeling like some of those moments where you don’t feel valued at work are one of the worst days in life and it really sticks with a person. Good to know I’m not alone.

[@MedalionDS9]

Was a watcher of Electric Playground probably back in 1997 when it aired in Vancouver, good times... good to see Victor Lucas!

[@EthanMiguelScott]

Oh, I wouldn't have thought you're that old.

[@MedalionDS9]

@@EthanMiguelScott I am pretty much around Kit's age.

[@Nintentoast]

Rage on the Beach is a great band name 😂 But wow, feel especially bad for Krysta in this story. Not only did the co-streaming thing make her feel like her expertise wasn’t valued, but I’ve also been subjected to “I’m disappointed” emails in the workplace for the most harmless shit and it’s infuriating. Much like Krysta, it was an extra straw on the camel’s back that eventually prompted me to leave that job

[@Mattriarc]

I didn't know who Victor was before this episode, but I have to say this was probably my favorite interview yet because I'd love to see more insight on the human experience for game dev's with a positive mindset, and not just the criticism and cynicisms from big review tech companies that seemingly always have negative spins on the state of gaming.

[@ChromeColossus]

I said this on Victor's video with Kit and Krysta too, but--Victor has an awesome voice! Haha. Great video all around, and I'm glad you survived your worst day!

[@georgewexler5407]

Mentioning Etika towards the end was awesome. Great to know some folks at Nintendo appreciated him. Rest in peace Etika! Also surprised you aren't held back by an NDA when telling some of these stories. Love to hear them!

[@jdn538]

46:48 great life lesson for anyone wanting to achieve success!

[@fernando98322]

I literally did not remember that tweet from Nintendo Japan 😅 you were right, the Direct was great with Metroid Dread and everything else and we just forgot lol. P.S. I feel you Krysta, higher-ups think they know but they don't 😢

[@AquaTwist_]

As a fan of game history I'm surprised I never heard of Victor Lucas before! One of the best guests on the podcast so far, I'll have to check out his stuff.

[@danytargaerys712]

Kit & Krysta is SO much better than Nintendo Minute. Nintendo Minute was so sugar coated, and you werent allowed to give really honest opinions. You werent allowed to compare with other companies. So from my perspective it's much better..

[@Kuromichi08]

Seriously! It almost felt a bit robotic and scripted. Not K&Ks fault, but I’m sure that’s just how they had to be under Nintendo’s wing. I love how more open and free they can speak now on their pod.

[@madnessarcade7447]

I always thought NM was more wholesome They are more negative here

[@JeskidoYT]

​@@madnessarcade7447 negative because of free speech

[@PaulGaleNetwork]

That was a great episode! Victor Lucas is an awesome, long time friend, so I knew this interview segment was going to be super cool! I’m really happy that you two were on his show and that he was now here. Also, thank you for answering my question from the 1:45:12 to 1:48:26 mark on what kind of games would you want to create if you became publishers. Keep up the good work on the indie scene and here’s to more fun podcasts!

[@just_jude_live]

I've got a lot of Victor this week, from Brian Shea's, "All Things Nintendo" podcast and now from you, Kit and Krysta!

[@TAHK0]

this is painful to listen to my condolences 😩

[@100megayoshi]

Great to see Victor Lucas on the podcast, hope you can have him on again. But hearing the stories of Nintendo being really overprotective of their IP, it makes me think Nintendo should hire some sort of "Calm Down Associate". A middle man who communicates with the higher ups to relax a bit: Nintendo: "We don't want co streaming for our E3 press conference". Calm Down Associate: "Relax. We have Metroid Dread. Just let the Internet do it's own thing".

[@mrwho995]

Nintendo sound like nightmare bosses in this story to be honest. I'd have wanted to hand in my resignation the next day with a big middle finger. I knew they were really bad with internet stuff at the time, but knowing that they wanted to be much, much worse, and you two were basically the only people stopping them blundering into a long series of PR nightmares ... just mindblowing.

[@MrRockPR]

This was a very fun episode!

[@TheAlicerds]

Very good episode. Hope you are enjoying your vacations. Well deserved!!

[@wrosebrock]

So did you flip the button? Just push it 😂😂

[@willywampa84]

I work at an Inpatient rehab facility and we have a few Wii's for physical therapy sessions!

[@vinnieg007]

I remember Rogersbase breaking that hype kit when Metroid Dread was announced.

[@OtakuJoker17]

Rip Satoru Iwata 9 years ago today…

[@willwunsche6940]

RIP I still remember where I was when I found out. Was in a hotel on vacation visiting family in Chicago.

[@jimmyyasuda]

Just a little bit of insight from Japan side :) The majority of Japanese KZbinrs and streamers, big and small, have been complying with the rule the tweet suggested. (BTW Capcom etc. has the same demand for their presentations) During live, they stream with no Direct footage on screen, and the viewers are hanging out while opening a window of the Direct on their own. After the Direct, they upload a video with the Direct footage edited in. They used to do just like everyone else like RogersBase/MissClick etc. (I love watching their reactions!), but they all actually changed how they do reaction that way after Nintendo's demand. It is sure less convenient, but opening two windows at the same time is not that much of hustle, at least to me. Apologies for any broken English!

[@TriforceWisdom64]

What do you do if you want to watch a content creator's stream on your phone?

[@jimmyyasuda]

@@TriforceWisdom64 For me personally, since this restriction only applies to a certain type of reaction streams which only happens once in a while, I would just go 'oh well' and watch it later :)

[@tiredhippo82]

I hate this, expecting people to have two screens is dumb, and Nintendo should remember that directs are essentially adverts and you should want adverts to be seen as much as possible.

[@jimmyyasuda]

@@tiredhippo82 You've every right to feel that way! I wish KZbin created a feature like Amazon Prime Watch Party that lets you watch other video together during your live stream.

[@JPGamerRetroAnime]

Man Victor Lucas i remember watching Electric Playground including Judgement day(review games and judge it)on G4 tech TV channel that's best classic show.

[@AntforceYT]

I remember really looking forward to streaming my reaction of E3 and this tweet refrained me from doing so!😂

[@DougyFreshGames]

Judgement Day! Hope Victor Lucas can get those old videos out again :)

[@nerdwriterfighter212]

Did you guys hear about the Olympics having an esports games in 2025? Do you think Nintendo would have any involvement in this? With some of the problems nintendo has had with Esports, do you think this would control some of the issues surrounding it?

[@MoGamingPlay]

What an awesome opportunity to be archive such gaming history.

[@JuanPabloJonesR]

Victor's KZbin channel: kzbin.info

[@theteeman]

Nice to see the Electric Playground make another appearance in the podcast. It's crazy how Nintendo can ruin someone's excitement. They can take you out of Nintendo, but they can't take Nintendo out of you as a fan/employee.

[@ChainWhippin]

Got to discover Victor this weekend on All Things Nintendo. All my podcast universes are colliding.

[@thekeggers02]

Same here. This interview was a bit of deja vu 😅

[@Cobman1999]

Another cool Nintendo work story to hear about is how was organizing splatoon mess fest promo lol

[@oddishu]

What a crazy story! I truly don't understand how anyone can be in charge of people without understanding a simple concept as co-streaming.

[@remakeyourself]

01:09:44 is the hardest I've laughed so far this week.

[@crobinson2624]

Yeah, I concur as somebody who has worked for the same employer for 15 years. I’ve seen it all. I’ve done it all. I know how to do my job well when somebody tells me my “business“ I get a little put off like I’ve been here forever I know what I’m doing. Like do you have nothing better to do? Go do something productive?! 🤨

[@Lucarioguild7]

Oof yeah I could definitely see myself quitting after that kind of day, especially when the person who signed off on it also threw you under the bus too.

[@takenoprisoner42]

Omg i haven’t seen Victor Lucas in forever. I had the biggest crush on him and Tommy Tallarico

[@luxrayever]

I can't read the name Tommy Tallarico without thinking of the Hbomberguy video lol, are you aware of it?

[@sirmel11]

Play time does equate to value. Nintendo can see things however they want but if a game is $60 and the story or campaign is only 10-15 hours, I might question the value. It's not always the case but if it's that short, I'd rather wait for a discount.

[@HowBarbaric]

Is there a link to Electric Playground? I couldn't find it in the description 😅

[@RunieDayeVT]

cant wait for Kit and Krysta to do a podcast with Nintendo Week the folks who ran Nintendo on the Wii and 3DS aka Gary and Alison :D

[@SuperChristianMiiworld]

So the Break in case of excitement kit was your idea Krysta??? LOL! You owe PlayerEssence OJ a finger injury bill. 😂 But all jokes aside, I feel like I’m on Japan’s side on this one because I can’t ever get too excited for a direct because I don’t want to end up being disappointed… but the idea that I should get excited for at least one game should change my perspective. I appreciate that idea. Wish it could have gotten more popular

[@shootingdio7200]

1:09:47 lmao the response

[@sirmel11]

There's a site that can track your Nintendo Switch playtime but it can only see the public details so you have to turn on each game so it can track your hours. I think that would be a cool video idea for you two.

[@willwunsche6940]

Oo that's cool. I hope they bring back 3DS activity log on the next system. That was literally the best

[@sirmel11]

Good episode!

[@SIXminWHISTLE]

Are you not able to say what the months later reason was for the co-stream incident?

[@cactusloaf]

Nintendo is among the best there is at making videogames and so horrible at everything else. It's one thing to be ignorant about the world and the way people interact with games and each other - it's another to be so WILLFULLY ignorant about such things. "Podcasts? Who would listen to that?" Uhh, millions of people. "An oral history of A Link to the Past? Who would care about that?" Just about everyone who loves that game and the Zelda series, which is a huge amount of people? "Why do people want to watch a presentation along with their favorite commentators?" ....because...it's their favorite commentator? It never ends.

[@NERDmNERDf]

Etika will never leave our hearts and minds.

[@MadfireMonkey]

I like Kits shirt

[@alastair9870]

I miss those individual vlog style videos of yours. When are those coming back?

[@jedisquidward]

I think that Krysta's story about the surprise boxes is a very sobering one. The idea of doing something completely innocuous only to have it be met with it somehow making the Japanese team extremely upset and angry sounds like an awful situation where you never know what the rationale is. I wonder how often this made you worry about being fired, in all honesty. I used to have a tech/social media job where these tiny, random things would make the bosses extremely upset; it was an awful feeling to never know if you're going to unintentionally do something that angers them.

[@Mike-sy5zn]

E3 2021. Poor Playeressence. Who remembers seeing that? Lol Funny now, but ouch in the moment!

[@matthewbarrios1028]

There is no reason for Nintendo to NOT show you exactly how much play time you have in a game. Steam has been doing it for years and nobody cares. In fact it is awesome so you can keep track of your completion time.

[@tomsimmons7673]

So Krysta is responsible for Player Essence breaking his hand trying to open that box. 😂

[@Jormunguandr]

E3 war room 😂 I can relate to blame game at work instead of taking responsibility for bad decisions.

[@bittertea]

Recent release co-op game suggestion is Chained Together but it's only on steam. My game group has been all a buzz about this game. $5. I think Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time is better with 3 to be honest. For Switch, there are a lot of games and port but nothing stands out atm but probably there are gems if you dig through old ports. We

[@ssmelche]

Go Pack Go!

[@ianp5367]

As someone who works in a corporate environment as a creative, the story this episode was too real.

[@NishiOxnard]

I do not remember hearing about the streaming issue at all. How weird!

[@scottlee600]

38:18 "It was just the worst day of your life..." Sure was, and with that let's move on to today's sponsor. LOL

[@Jdogtoocool]

Longest I’ve ever worked anywhere is a year and a half. I think it’s too hard to not eventually butt heads with the top brass

[@SchoolofRockNRoll]

i love how gamers have this "just push the button" attitude in terms of porting a game, but now it seems nintendo had a similar mentality towards streaming LOL

[@paparick6234]

Something looks different this episode. Is there a new camera? Different lighting? I know the camera itself seems to have been zoomed in compared to past episodes, so we don't see the table or tablets, but something is different.

[@ChaosMarx]

If people try to cancel a dev because they got offended, they're not your fans. I say screw em. Devs should build what they want to build and have fun with it. And if it turns out well, the real fans will show up for it.

[@Goldmight]

i like krysta's idea.

[@TimdeF]

Ah yes, the corporate version of "but why can't you just pause the game?"

[@BlueBoboDoo100]

Making that tweet shows how out-of-touch Nintendo leadership was about streaming. Nintendo Directs are essentially advertisements for upcoming products. Why on earth would you want to stop influencers from sharing your ads with their audience FOR FREE??

[@himynameisjohn]

Is that a New Order shirt, Kit?

[@Luffy2008]

Brazil Mentioned 🎉🇧🇷🥳

[@SJT9791]

Absolutely crazy that one of the best Directs was so poorly executed.

[@jeremyfrank881]

Oh my god. The first part of the nightmare day was bad enough. But the second part, wow Nintendo Japan needs to chiiiiiiillllll that's horrible. I'm so sorry Krysta! ETA: just heard that people bashing you were the very people who approved it. Love when bosses throw their employees under the bus 🙃

[@matthewbarrios1028]

How did Victor steal Mike Rowe's voice?! 😮

[@trevormorgan9084]

Yah, I’ve never witnessed a more out-of-touch company or corporation in modern existence than Nintendo. I don’t know if Furukawa is directly to blame for that, but the Nintendo of Yamauchi and Iwata’s era’s is truly truly missed! The games are great, as they always are, but their practices and policies have tarnished their reputation tremendously!

[@willwunsche6940]

I have been following Nintendo for a looong long time. They used to be a lot worse in the past (in terms of being out of touch in many ways), modern day is basically the most in touch they have ever been. There are plenty way more out of touch companies bigger and smaller than Nintendo too, you'd be surprised, many have even gone bankrupt as a result

[@madnessarcade7447]

They left before furukawa completely took over Nintendo feels more modern now than they have ever been

[@madnessarcade7447]

Their “out of touch” mindset is what helped them survive so long Do you also want them to push live service and microtransactions like the other “modern companies”

[@XradicalD]

Shame to hear about you guys' passion being absolutely drained. And it's incredible that if you think about it, it might be a rather silly reason to be upset about and yet, it was just the tip of the iceberg of many issues being layered. Being hired for a role and then turns out you opinion is disregarded AND THEN getting yelled at for following suit just kills any talent. It's scary how bad leadership and accountability can kill incredible talent in the industry, a couple of wrong emails and you lose the best in the house. 1:09:45 Frank O'Connor (Who eventually worked on Halo as Franchise Development Director, and eventually being canned from 343 recently) being a jerk is rather on character for him. As far as I'm aware, the guy wasn't exactly nice and had a knack to say awful things. Also thank you for bringing in Victor, I wasn't aware of his direct work and yet I do know of the impact of the shows he worked on. He's absolutely right on the perception of people on gaming as a whole, plenty of them still think of it as Pacman and Space Invaders. I remember when I was in graphics design college (a decade ago now), I was talking with a classmate about games general and a teacher of ours overhearing a bit was blown out of the water by the advancements games had made. She DID thought it was still like Pacman, and she wasn't like old either. Great show as always! Love hearing from both you and the special guests!

[@wrosebrock]

I wonder if now they would admit they were wrong for dismissing your valuable input

[@quiet451]

Now I really want to know the specific rationale behind not allowing the Metroid Dread co-streaming.

[@wrosebrock]

Remember they used to copyright claim even a few seconds of their games being streamed but eventually gave in on that. Overprotective of their IP after the 80s Mario movie disaster

[@just_jude_live]

1:50:21 💀🤣 Exactly people really overreact sometimes

[@TheWriterNW]

If this was the worst day at Nintendo then that job sounds absolutely great. This seems like a total nothingburger to me. Making mountains out or mole hills. Really doesn't seem like a big deal to not do co-streaming. Just deal with it. Nothingburger.

[@sirmel11]

Harassment from higher ups doesn't sound fun.

[@TheWriterNW]

​@@sirmel11 That wasn't harassment. Grow up.

[@sirmel11]

@@TheWriterNW How about you reword what you just said?

[@Poever]

You know, I really don’t like higher ups who don’t explain anything for pleasure

[@Nora-rb6tr]

TODAY \o/

[@llauram3650]

wow, I can't imagine being undermined like that and undervalued. I'm really glad ye moved on shortly after! it definitely wasn't your failing, but Nintendo's loss.

[@Squip_]

wow whoever made Krista feel like that at Nintendo should be ashamed :( thats so mean to approve it and turn on you

[@lulu_749]

"Krysta, how dare you make people excited to buy our products?! Dont you know that can encourage people to spend *gasps* MONEY on our brand?" 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@MicaiahBaron]

No, I think it's definitely okay to hate game companies. Companies *aren't* people, whatever their tax status. Ubisoft, EA, Activision-Blizzard, and more; they're profit-driven machines that exist only to make money, and mostly for the people at the top (many of whom are very deliberately not creative).

[@shinxshinra]

Idk what goes through Ninteneo's head sometimes. That's why I have a love-hate relationship with them

[@thawhole9]

There's really nothing to love if you're not blinded by childhood nostalgia, it's a cult

[@psakku]

@@thawhole9they have good games

[@thawhole9]

@@psakku and that's the start and end of this community, and Nintendo fans in general. Shitty work situations? Be damned! I like teh princess peaches

[@AREAlhero]

@@thawhole9 The only cultist here is you Cody. Go back to prison again already, you're a danger to your family

[@AREAlhero]

@@thawhole9 You do understand that the entity that makes the games is separate from the ones K&K worked for right? Like that's literally the most fundamental thing about the company yet you fail to grasp it? I can't wait till lil bro learns about Microsoft/Activision Blizzard or Naughty Dog, that would blow his feeble mind

[@user-nw5ef3zh9t]

Nintendo really doesnt seem like a company that values psychological safety.

[@thawhole9]

Turns out the Emio trailer is just a peek into the life of a Nintendo employee

[@AREAlhero]

Lil bro can't even parse a teaser trailer correctly, for shame

[@thawhole9]

I'd imagine most days working for that draconian dystopia of a soulless corporation was pretty terrible Glad you two got out and can actually speak freely whatever is on your minds