The Nintendo Interview That Never Happened

At PAX, my oldest and I were scheduled to casually chat with someone at Nintendo, but then…we got scared. A very similar thing happened to me when I was 14.

My two kids dressed up, as we head into Nintendo Live. No, I did not cosplay with them, which they repeatedly needled me about. Next time.

I haven’t been to PAX in a number of years. At one point, we were attending PAX with some regularity during my time at Waypoint, back when we had a real travel budget.

It did not take long before VICE slashed that budget, and thus, PAX no longer made a ton of sense. But I’ve missed saying hi to people who interact with my work in person, and when an opportunity came up to attend PAX on behalf of Crossplay, I took it, and quickly decided it would be really fun as a family trip, too. My children have never been to a convention of any kind before, and the debut of Nintendo Live, a Nintendo-centric portion of PAX, sealed the deal. It would be like attending a tiny theme park!

My oldest knew we were attending because of my job, and I told her that sometimes it would mean Dad would be busy talking to strangers. But her patience would be rewarded because…well, Dad can get special access. (When I was trying to explain all this, she said “I get it. We’re VIPs.” Sharp!) That special access at Nintendo Live meant two things: one, a guided tour from someone at Nintendo and two, a chance to talk with someone who worked at Nintendo, who could answer questions, at the end.

On the drive to the convention center, we brainstormed. I wanted her to explore her own curiosity. This wasn’t an interview with Miyamoto or Doug Bowser or anyone working on Super Mario Wonder—it was a communications person. That’s not to cast any shade at their job, insomuch as this was really an opportunity for my daughter. We were not going to come out of this with any scoops, it was just a cool perk for my kid.

Here’s what we came up with while in the car: