Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 50 Comments

Happy 4th of July to everyone celebrating! Even if you have nothing to do with the holiday, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.

Last week, I put up a pretty important post on Nintendo Everything. If you haven’t already seen it, I’d greatly appreciate if you’d give it a look since it’s very critical to the site’s future. The gist is that, from a financial standpoint, I have some concerns, and I feel like something will need to change sooner rather than later in order for things to continue as they are now. Ultimately I’ve just wanted to continue handling the site in the same manner that I have been for the past eight years, am I’m hoping that some of the suggestions you threw my way will allow for that.

The kindness you’ve shown thus far has been overwhelming. I can’t thank you all enough for the positive sentiments, words of encouragement, and overall support you’ve shared. It truly means a lot to me, and I can’t say that enough.

Over the past few days, I’ve been taking the time to really look at and reflect upon all of the comments left in last week’s post. There were two main suggestions that were brought up, and both were donation-related. One idea was to add a donation link (ex: PayPal) to the site. The other, which was suggested more than anything else, was Patreon. Patreon is something that I may very well pursue, but I feel like this post (and subsequent feedback once again!) is necessary before anything can happen.

So what the heck is Patreon? Many of you seem to be familiar with it already, but it’s certainly worth an explanation regardless.

Patreon would allow anyone who visits Nintendo Everything to donate to the site each month. That could be as little as $1, or something higher – it’d be entirely up to you. You’d also be able to cancel or change your donation amount from month to month. Patreon is more than a donation service though. It would also allow me to provide everyone who chips in with a few “rewards”.

At least for now, the idea of Patreon seems like the smarter way of approaching the situation when compared to a donation link. With the former, you guys would have complete control as to how much to donate from month to month. I also like the idea of providing something in return, even if it wouldn’t be huge.

I think that’s it for now. Just like last week, I’ll be reading up on everything you all have to say in the comments below. I realize that we already had a pretty big talk and Patreon was one of the top suggestions stemming from the previous post, but I really did feel like one more discussion was necessary before proceeding with anything. Based on last week’s comments and how people respond this week, I’ll be making a final decision on how to proceed very soon.

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 7 Comments

Hi everyone. Quick site update!

Kira is sadly stepping away from her main position on the site due to personal work responsibilities. That means we have an opening for a news writer.

We’re looking for someone to help out on Wednesdays and Fridays. You’d be posting news each week during the following times:

– 1:30 AM PT – 4:30 AM PT
– 4:30 AM ET – 7:30 AM ET
– 9:30 AM in the UK – 12:30 PM in the UK
– 10:30 AM in Europe – 1:30 PM in Europe

If this is something you’re interested in, get in touch here! I’ll follow up with everyone who sends in an inquiry.

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 131 Comments

Let’s Talk is on a one week break so that I can give the spotlight to a very important site topic. The feature will be back in full force next week!

With each passing anniversary on Nintendo Everything, I’ve thought about doing this forever. I can’t properly express how much I love the site, and how it’s become extremely embedded in my daily life.

There’s very little that I won’t do for Nintendo Everything – whether that means putting it ahead of my personal life, sleep, health… you name it. For nearly eight years, that’s the way things have been. That’s largely because I love being in a position to write about Nintendo in some form. I also take great happiness in knowing that I’m able to share updates about the company with you all.

Everything sounds fantastic, right? Well, in reality, that isn’t entirely the case. I think I may have been in denial a bit in terms of how long Nintendo Everything can continue on. Okay, that probably sounds way too dramatic. Let me try to explain what’s been on my mind and why this post is even necessary.

Over the past year or two, I’ve been taking a serious look at Nintendo Everything’s (and my own) financial situation. I need to be completely honest here and admit that it’s not the best. It’s why I’m putting up this post today, and why I’d like to have a discussion about the site’s future.

Running a site, as rewarding as it is, can be very taxing. The financial aspect alone has been extremely stressful for me. Few people have known about this – maybe just a handful.

Nintendo Everything generates revenue through ads. Unfortunately, this is not at all the best/consistent source of income. The ads themselves cannot at all be relied upon. Companies act irregularly in terms of when they’re interested in advertising. The first half of the year is often filled with dead periods for ads. Throw in the fact that some people use Adblock, and the situation becomes a bit of a mess. Truthfully, the site isn’t exactly bringing in what it needs to right now.

Those are some of the reasons why I’m concerned about Nintendo Everything’s future. We’re not in an absolutely dreadful situation, but we’re not in a good one either. It’s very tough for the middle-of-the-road sites to survive. We’re not backed by any major corporation, we’re not part of a network, and I run everything independently.

At the end of the day, I don’t want anything to change. I don’t want us to have to team up with anyone else, sell the site, shut down, or anything along the lines. I just want to be in a position to continue doing what I’ve been doing for the past eight years or so.

So where does Nintendo Everything go from here? That’s what I’d like to talk to you all about today. I would really appreciate if we could have a discussion in the comments below about what I’ve tried to explain. Maybe you guys have some ideas about how I can go about things to improve the site’s situation. My ears (eyes?) are wide open, and I’ll be looking at everything you all have to say. Let’s turn this ship around!

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 1 Comment

Hey folks – quick site update. I’ve been experiencing email issues on my end for the past few days. Many emails slipped through and seemed to have disappeared, to put it simply. All problems have been fixed, but if you sent something in over the past week and were expecting a reply, please resend. Apologies for the inconvenience!

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Posted on 8 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Site updates, Wii U | 10 Comments

Hello. Everyone. (say this like Iwata does in the Nintendo Directs)

Nintendo was very kind to send us a pre-release build of Splatoon for review, and Brian and I wanted to try and get some video content about the game up before its release in a couple weeks. We were going to do a simple Q&A about the game, but since GameXplain already covered a ton of the more common desired information (as comprehensively and eloquently as they always do), we thought we’d ask first: is there anything more detailed you want to ask about the game? How mechanics interplay? How it feels to only have two maps in rotation? Something very specific about online play or whatever?

If you’ve got anything you want to ask, post a comment below, send us an email with the subject “Splatoon Question”, or tweet at us with the tweet beginning with “Splatoon Q:”.

Thanks everyone! We’ll look at the questions soon and decide if there’s reason enough for our own Splatoon Q&A video. Either way, we’ll have a video review when the embargo lifts and more video content before launch as well.

~Austin

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Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 9 Comments

Giving this one final bump to the top. I’ll be closing the survey soon so that I can closely look over what you guys had to say!

Bumping this to the top. Thank you so much to those who completed the survey thus far. The feedback/comments/responses are very much appreciated and will hopefully allow us to improve! We received a ton more than I was expecting. I’ll be going through them all in the days and weeks ahead!

Surveys are not something that we’ve dealt with too much in the past. I’m changing that now! I have a fairly short survey that I would really, really appreciate if you could take a moment to fill out.

There are several questions in there, but most are basically in the form of multiple choice/quick selections. Also, you can feel free to skip any question. I’m just looking for genuine responses! I can’t stress how important this survey is, and your feedback will help shape Nintendo Everything’s future. Thank you in advance!

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Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Site updates | 2 Comments

Giving this a bump to the top. All emails that have been sent in have been responded to!

Kira is lessening her role on the site slightly to pursue some new opportunities and free up time. Because of that, we have a spot open for a news writer!

We’re looking for someone who can cover Nintendo Everything two days each week (between Monday and Friday) at the following times:

1:30 AM PT – 4:30 AM PT
4:30 AM ET – 7:30 AM ET
9:30 AM GMT+1 – 12:30 AM GMT+1
6:30 PM GMT+10 – 9:30 PM GMT+10

When joining the team, you’d initially pick the days that you’d be responsible for, though you’d need to stick with them. If you select Mondays and Wednesdays, we’d count on you being available during those days each week.

Please note that this is a non-paying position. I’d love to compensate our writers, and I feel awful that I can’t… but I just don’t have the means to do so. At all.

… anyway, I’ll also mention that you would only be responsible for news coverage, but your role could expand into areas such as reviews and features – depending on your interest of course!

I’m probably forgetting something, but I think that’s it! If you’re interested, send an email here and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Site updates | 5 Comments

Alas, we knew that being forced to do podcasts over Skype would make things more difficult, but nobody could have anticipated the antagonizing role that American corporation Comcast would play in all of it. Because of their unreliable network services in the Albaquerki, New Mexico area, we’ve been forced to cancel this week’s episode of “Here’s a Podcast”. It’s a shame really, because I was looking forward to discussing the finale of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and how it relates to Zelda Wii U, and various comments Eiji Aonuma has made about the Zelda series in the past.

Alas, not all good things were meant to come on a weekly schedule. Thanks for your understanding! Send us an email to [email protected] with questions, thoughts, comments, or answer our question of the week: How impactful do you feel the ending to A Link to the Past is compared to other Zelda games?

~Austin

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Site updates | 9 Comments

Since our Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D giveaway worked out so well, we’re offering one more freebie on Twitter. You can win yourself a lovely Rosalina amiibo by following us and re-tweeting this post. We’ll choose one winner next Saturday. This giveaway is open to all regions.

We’ll get back to normal site giveaways soon. This latest one will be the final one on Twitter for a bit!

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Posted on 9 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Site updates | 2 Comments

Hi everyone, Austin here speaking on behalf of Jack and Laura and Austin. We won’t have a new episode of Here’s a Podcast this week because Laura got sick and we couldn’t arrange a backup person quickly enough. If you have any emails you want to get to us (questions, comments, whatever), send them along to [email protected]. Otherwise, stay patient! We’ll be back next week with lovely things.

Send Laura your get well feelings on her Twitter.

In fact, send Jack your love too.