Mailbox: Zelda-Themed Switch 2s, Kiddy Consoles, "Take My Money, Nintendo" Scenarios - Nintendo Life Letters

Дата публикации: 16-08-2026 12:00:00

Issue #39 - August 2026.Welcome to the August 2026 edition of the Nintendo Life Mailbox.It's been a particularly hot summer around these parts. The moon did its best to block out the sun last week and give us some respite from the heat, but we've still sitting around Nintendo Life Towers in various states of (HR-compliant) undress, surrounded by fans and iced beverages. Hopefully you're keeping cool wherever you are!Read the full article on nintendolife.com

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Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Welcome to the August 2026 edition of the Nintendo Life Mailbox.

It's been a particularly hot summer around these parts. The moon did its best to block out the sun last week and give us some respite from the heat, but we've still sitting around Nintendo Life Towers in various states of (HR-compliant) undress, surrounded by fans and iced beverages. Hopefully you're keeping cool wherever you are!

Now it's time for our monthly letters page feature. Got something you want to get off your chest? We're ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings.

Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Let's sit back with cool drink and go through our dispatch box, shall we? No hot takes this month, please.

Nintendo Life Mailbox - August 2026 Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life "buffet of our deepest desires" (***STAR LETTER***)

I have been saying for the last decade or so, if Nintendo remake either The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Super Mario 64 in glorious HD, I would throw £100 at either game, no questions asked.

So I'm pretty stoked that OOT is finally getting the HD treatment and then some, and who knows, it may even retail for half the amount I'm happy to pay.

It's always been a "Take my money Nintendo" scenario; it's a little crazy it took this long but if one game deserves to be repainted and brushed up for modern audiences, it's Ocarina - a true landmark in the medium.

While I'm happy if it's a 1-2-1 remake, I can't help but feel Nintendo are up to something more. Why tease so little mere months away from release? Why stop short of showing Hyrule field or even a dungeon?

It could be one of two scenarios: trolling us, or hiding something from us. Hopefully, Hyrule Field will be expanded and made into a mini breath of the wild esque open world with way more to do than before.

If so, then I am excited for the future of Zelda. Because as great as the Botw and Totk era was, I think most Zelda nuts like me miss a good, honest dungeon.

So the OOT remake presents an opportunity for Nintendo to dip their toes into combining the best of the new with the old. They could even, if they wanted, retool the dungeons a little ala Master Quest version of OOT.

Of course, I may be wrong. If Nintendo can bring back the Virtual Boy in 2026, they can troll with the best and tease us "just cos".

But either way, wrong or not, Nintendo will rediscover what makes a great Zelda dungeon by remaking OOT, and hopefully the next Zelda, will give us the full dungeon and open world buffet of our deepest desires and be the GOOAT (Greatest Ocarina of All Time)...
YoshiTails

Re. Nintendo not revealing much yet, the moment you properly show off the Ocarina remake, it'll suck up all the air and discourse in the room. From a bland marketing perspective, if you're plugging a game like Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave over the summer (a very different game, granted, but still a fantasy swords-and-tunics affair to the layplayer), you're better off waiting until that's gone through its pre-release cycle before dropping an Ocarina Direct. I wouldn't expect new news (beyond leaks) until September.

I'd love it if Aonuma and Fujibayashi and the EPD Zelda team had been working on this since TOTK wrapped up — I'd far prefer a serious overhaul than a delicate 1:1 remake, personally — but I'd temper expectations if you're hoping for open-world Ocarina. The timing of this feels complementary to next April's movie, and Nintendo will want to have the next instalment lined up for 2028/29. As I wrote last week, my money's on a Grezzo special. Not long to find out, though. - Ed.

"ticked me off"

When comparing Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation, one major thing that’s always pointed out is that Nintendo is the ‘kid’ console. Recently one of my friends asked me when I was upgrading to a ‘real’ console, and that ticked me off. Nintendo is just as much as a console as the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Sure their main target may be children, but as the Switch 2 has demonstrated, it’s also for adults too. With the likes of Resident Evil Requiem, Cyberpunk 2077, and REANIMAL on the Switch 2, I believe that proves Nintendo is no longer a kids only console (if it ever was). What do you think about Nintendo frequently being called the ‘kiddie’ choice, Nintendo Life?
AGuyWhoLikesNintendo

The mistake is to assume that adults only enjoy
eviscerations and decapitations and nipples and swearing. Those can all be exceptional, but so can a perfect long jump or an ink splat or catching some broccoli to the beat. I'm biased, but the idea that any intelligent gamer would avoid Nintendo systems and software for lack of gore or sad dads is hilarious.

It's not worth getting upset over, though. Wish them well with their tired, tedious takes and enjoy the games you enjoy. - Ed.

Adult content warning: This is what a gaming system for grown-ups looks like — Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life "giant juicy jewels"

Over the course of Switch 2’s first year we’ve seen Nintendo recruit its unfailingly colourful cast of characters to paint an otherwise beige gaming landscape every shade of the rainbow: Kirby zooms past pastel pink blooms in Air Riders’ Mega-Blossom Meadow; DK burrows through colossal cubic fruits in Bananza’s tropical-themed Resort layer, which gleam like giant juicy jewels suspended in an azure ocean; Mario Kart is as cartoonishly colourful as expected, and at the time of writing Nintendo is on the verge of releasing a new entry in its cephalopod-focused paint-spraying shooter series, Splatoon*.

*Yes, okay, it’s technically ink not paint but it really looks like paint.

As ever, colours abound on the software-front. But the Switch 2 hardware? Pitch black. Or really, a sort of very dark grey. Call it ‘Switch Black’, or ‘Cosmic Charcoal’, or ‘#424242‘. Whatever you call it, it’s still pretty dull. Admittedly, the original Switch unit was an equally uninspiring black tablet, but Joy-Con were eventually released in so many neon shades that I’m convinced Ke$ha was secretly in charge of product design.

Nintendo has opted for an overall stealthier approach with the Switch’s successor, inverting the Joy-Con’s palette and making black the principal tone (I won’t say ‘primary colour’ so as not to upset colour theorists). While the original Joy-Con has rizz up the wazoo, the Joy-Con 2’s colour-scheme is much more coy. When viewed from the front, the controller’s already scant embellishment is largely eclipsed by the joystick, leaving only the thinnest ring of colour visible behind a rubbery black moon. The ‘joyfully-conspicuous’ Joy-Con colours of old are now largely ‘joystick-concealed’ and Ke$ha weeps.

But it’s not too late to steer this ship towards more vibrant waters! Ke$ha may still be appeased! The Switch 2 is still young and unless sales drop off a cliff, unlikely to die that way. I don’t doubt that Joy-Con 2 variations and special edition consoles will arrive eventually. We’ve already seen lavender and mint shades released, and while the fundamental designs don’t really deviate from the stock set, the colour choice is interesting; I wasn’t expecting pastel interpretations of Waluigi and his less sexy green counterpart to inspire the first set of Switch 2 custom colours. Equally, I wasn’t expecting the first special edition Pro Controller 2 to be based on a Capcom’s gnarly zombie shooter, nor for it to resemble the kind of fake newspaper you get in semi-pretentious restaurants when ordering chips.

…All this is to ask: what do you expect the first proper special edition Switch 2 design to be (realistically) and what would you LIKE it to be (unrealistically)? And do you ever think we’ll move beyond the ‘black with splash of colour’ template for the base Joy-Con 2?

My bet is that we get an Ocarina of Time Special Edition with a Triforce slapped on it somewhere and maybe some gold trimmings. History bears this out. A more inspired design might be to mimic the ocarina itself by making the body cerulean blue while leaving the buttons black to resemble finger holes (the Pro Controller would also work for this as it already looks like two conjoined ocarinas). Alternatively, each part of the system (two controllers + the main unit) could be themed after one of the Triforce bearers.

These are just a few of my (perhaps naive) musings. With the world in its current sorry state and AI raising RAM prices ever higher, Nintendo may be counting its blessings that people are still buying the standard ‘unspecial’ edition of the console and might reasonably want to focus all its production efforts on that.

As such, perhaps my technicolour dream of a more vibrant Switch 2 will forever remain a dream: a pigment of my imagination. Perhaps I am a fool for wishing otherwise. Feel free to throw shade if you must. Indeed, I welcome it… shower me with eve
Chromaxz

...ry colour of the rainbow? Sorry, C, lost you at the end, there.

I'll keep my reply short: Looks like you're probably on the money. I'm liking the green prong on that Pro Controller.- Ed.

"You may say they're stupid"

Hi NintendoLife!
Recently I've been getting into Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] and I'm not gonna lie, it is incredibly fun. I've been enjoying it a lot, which brings me to a slightly unrelated point.
I like the recent advent of silly names.
Like, I know people tend to dislike them and say they're a turn off, but I like my Octopath Travelers and my Triangle Strategies. Mon Yu's full title brings me so much unnecessary joy. Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabell park is a fun title! You may say they're stupid names, but I will put on my propeller cap and grab my oversized lollipop and say I like the Various Daylifes of the title world.
Bluelink45

Recent advent? Ballz 3D: The Battle of the Balls would like a word. - Ed.

Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life "gifted games"

Sony discontinuing physical games has got me thinking.

I’ve heard so many of the pros and cons of physical vs digital games at this point. It’s always the same points but one I feel I never hear mentioned is that I feel the lack of physical games is going to make a big difference in how, or even if, people are gifted games.

My family will often gift me a Switch game they know I’m interested in for my birthday or the holidays which I always look forward to. They feel they’re giving me something I want with some thought in it (as opposed to just something like a gift card) and I get something I’m looking forward to.

While I know there are various ways to gift digital games, a bunch of my family is older and that’s not something I see them bothering to learn how to do. I feel if physical games are ever done away with completely, it will also be the end of me being gifted games which means I’ll probably just start getting gifted much more boring things.

Does anyone on the Nintendo Life team feel like they would experience similar if physical games are completely done away with?

I will say, for all the hate that Game Key Cards get (much of it justified), I know my family would certainly have no issue gifting me one of those and would not even be likely to know the difference and while I prefer fully physical games, I’m still happy to get a game I want to play.
KoiTenchi

I'd say that we often mention the gift-giving, holiday stocking-filler factor when it comes to physical games' decline, but you're absolutely right that there's something magical about unwrapping the genuine article rather than a download code or store credit in a card.

However inevitable the move, Sony's approach to physical is dismaying. For me personally, Game Key Cards represent the worst of all worlds, but being able to resell a game is an important plus point. Hopefully we're many years away from Nintendo abandoning physical. - Ed.

"instinctively up-B’d"

Dear Nintendo Life,
I’m not sure how controversial this is—I’ll just go ahead and say it. In Super Smash Bros., the real test of skill is not items off, but items on. Not only do items add an additional layer of strategy, but there is a real skill in being given bad luck and using it to the best of your advantage as possible. Once when I was in a large gathering, I was playing as Mario and I had a lot of damage. My opponent then got a hammer and started heading for me. The audience thought that I was a goner. But then I saw an opportunity. I instinctively up-B’d at the right time, sending my opponent into the air. And since you cannot do a midair jump while carrying a hammer, my opponent plummeted to his doom. And the crowd went wild. You just don’t get brilliant moments of serendipity like that if your rule set is too sanitized.
Items On

Agreed. As a Smash novice, I spend most matches scrambling from one item to another to see what they do while everyone else actually plays the game. - Ed.

Bonus Letters

…

No bonus letters this week! That's right, all the suggestive snippets are in the letters above with their full context, and there's nothing in this PR blurb for some random Steam game that's somehow found its way into the Mailbox that makes the grade. - Ed.

Let's finish on some more adult Nintendo content. Can someone pass the fan, please? — Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

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That's all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.

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