PLEASE UNDERSTAND!
Being around for a few decades, Nintendo remains to be a very popular and long-running video game company. So of course, it only makes sense that a lot of their games create popular jokes around the internet.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- Various players have hacked into the Animal Crossing games to rip the sound font/instrument used for the singing voice of K.K. Slider, the guitar-playing dog. Here's what that sounds like normally,
for reference. With the sound font at their disposal, bored people with musical knowledge have gone on to create innumerable "K.K. Covers," doing everything from "Poker Face" to "Hare Hare Yukai" in the roving rover's signature voice. Oh, and since we know you'll ask: Yes, they've done that, too. - Asshole Villagers/I want to be verbally abused by my villagersExplanationThe various overseas releases of the first game in the series are infamous for deviating themselves from the original Japanese script, making the villagers, especially the Cranky, Snooty and Peppy villagers, surprisingly aggressive towards the player, with their dialogue ranging from petty snarks towards the player to outright insulting them for the most mundane of reasons. Thus, many players use the term "asshole villagers" to refer to the characters and how much they wish to be insulted by them again, as the following games in the series don't take as many liberties regarding localizations.
- See Animal Crossing: New Horizons for memes specifically related to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
CD-i Games
- Expand Dong ExplanationA photoshopped reaction of Donkey Kong with perverted captions attached to it, often made from the box art for Donkey Kong 64. It also refers to the practice of splicing/chopping up letters (mainly from game logos, text, etc.), ransom-note style, and attaching them to another image while making a sexual/perverted sentence with the letters. Most variants involve Donkey Kong, mostly due to some of the goofy expressions he can have, but some variants involve characters from other franchises as well.
- NO. THIS DOES NOT EXPAND DONG ExplanationA reaction image used to respond to anything displeasing, such as Fan Disservice or something disgusting.
- THIS SHOULD NOT EXPAND DONG... BUT IT DOES ExplanationA reaction image showing a displeased Donkey Kong on the top panel and a happy DK on the bottom, used in reaction to something that shouldn't be exciting or arousing to the poster, but somehow is.
- His coconut gun can fire in spurts! CG! Coconut Gun!Explanation"CG Rap" by Hinchy is an edit of the notorious DK Rap that uses the line about Donkey Kong's coconut gun firing in spurts to rewrite the rest to be about coconut guns. It reached memetic status after SiIvaGunner presented it as an unused vesion of the original rap.
- HE ExplanationPosting pictures of Lanky Kong accompanied by the first word of his verse of the DK Rap, inspired by a series of joke posts where he was discussed and announced as a playable character for Super Smash Bros.. This is usually followed by his verse being sung word-for-word, sometimes with the words after "This Kong" being replaced with something else.
- HAS
- NO
- STYLE
- HE
- HAS
- NO
- GRACE
- THIS
- KONG
- IS A FUCKING DISGRACE ExplanationCommon Combo Breaker for threads with this song being sung. Reached semi-ascended status thanks to Siiva Gunner in his "DK Rap (Gorilla Version)" video.
- THIS KONG HAS ELEPHANTITIS ExplanationA Combo Breaker in a DK Rap thread on Miiverse that became infamous for how out of the blue it was; a screencap of the thread can be seen here◊. For those who are unaware, elephantitis, or rather elephantiasis, is an actual condition that causes the various regions of the body to swell up to extreme sizes, which describes Lanky's balloon ability well enough.
- It's on like [redacted]ExplanationDuring the promotion of Donkey Kong Country Returns Nintendo trademarked the existing pop-culture phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong". This was widely mocked by the Internet, with many people saying the phrase with either a Last-Second Word Swap or Clumsy Copyright Censorship.
- Dankey KangExplanationA photoshopped Jeopardy! image showing a contestant giving this answer to a description of Sonic. The name went memetic and is used in a similar way to corrupted video game characters like Sanic, Mayro, Lonk and Petch (see below).
- Gotta go "Ook!" note Dankey Kang's catchphrase, mutated from the "Gotta go fast!" line from the theme song of Sonic X.
- And Then There's Chunky...he's dead!ExplanationFrom Brentalfloss's parody of the DK Rap, likely alluding to Chunky not having a major appearance in a game since Donkey Kong 64. It quickly spread and became a popular audio source on various platforms.
- The 2013 VGX Awards were a source of many, due to the absolute bizarreness that was Nintendo treating Cranky Kong as a major reveal (and their only announcement for the show): from the many◊ GIFs◊ and videos that made fun of people who expected info about the next home console Zelda and went apeshit afterwards, to Cranky Kong peaking as the #2 Twitter trend immediately after having people joke that it would the only thing people will remember from the show (and years later, it very much was), to jokes about Cranky Kong continuing to show up in future Nintendo games as a "megaton reveal."
- Stuff3's flipping chairs!ExplanationIn the comments of a YouTube upload of the song "Trunk Twister", a user named Stuff3 happily reflected on how he used to use the song as background music for his temper tantrums, which caused his family to fear this song by proxy. The original comment has since been deleted, but another user preserved it◊, while others joke that playing the song in public has caused them and others to uncontrollably commit property damage.
- New Funky Mode ExplanationFunky Kong's stamp on the Switch port's boxart uses this blurb to advertise the new Funky mode, a more laid-back experience for casual players. It instantly joined the ranks of "& Knuckles" and "Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series" in being plastered on every fake box art imaginable.
- Disappointed KongsExplanationBased on Donkey Kong Country, wherein Donkey Kong and Diddy arrive at their empty banana hoard, with whatever the user doesn't like placed over the "Kong's Banana Hoard" sign, before performing their animations whenever they fail a bonus game. See the original video here.
- Donkey Kong supports trans rights.ExplanationIn January 2019, Youtuber Harry "HBomberGuy" Brewis did a charity stream of Donkey Kong 64 on Twitch to support Mermaids, a transgender rights group based in the UK. It raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and attracted the attention of a number of celebrities, including Doom creator John Romero, video game composer Grant Kirkhope, notorious dada erotica author Chuck Tingle, and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
- How do I beat Beaver Bother?ExplanationThe beaver-herding minigame was already one of the most infamously difficult parts of Donkey Kong 64, but HBomberGuy brought it back in a big way after spending hours on it by asking several celebrities about it.
- From the cartoon:
- BANANA SLAMMA!ExplanationDonkey Kong's Catchphrase, often associated with him punching someone.
- "I'll shower you with coconut cream pies." ExplanationA particularly infamous Accidental Innuendo from "Our Love is Stronger Than a Golden Banana", the song heard in the episode "Raiders of the Lost Banana", also causing DK to somewhat become a Memetic Molester. It's also commonly associated with the Expand Dong meme.
- "I don't know what's happening to me"/"OH MY GOD DK WATCH OUT!!!!!!!!" ExplanationA meme associated with a video featuring a snippet from "Kong for a Day" with DK singing "I don't know what's happening to me" edited to look like a plane crashes into DK. There are variants that either have a character dubbed with DK's voice suffering similar disasters or people's reactions to the original video.
- "You may spank it... once."ExplanationA gif of Donkey Kong sitting on the edge of a dock in a way that makes his butt look prominent, while pointing up one finger, with the gif captioned with the aforementioned line.
- FEATURE LENGTH ExplanationThe VHS cover for Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut has become a popular choice for Expand Dong variants thanks to DK's come-hither smile and the tagline "The Feature-Length Adventure".
- "Driving around in a fancy car..." ExplanationThe song "I'm Gonna Be a Star" became memetic when it was mashed up with Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow". Said mashup, known as "Dropping Around a Fancy Car" was used in several videos, most notably "Burn Marks" by ThemOldaBoys, which was featured in the Important Videos Playlist.
- That dog's laugh. ExplanationThe laugh of the dog has often made it a subject of parody for being one of the most infamous characters in video games. It's also sometimes used as a reaction image.
- When he was introduced as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros., people began guessing what the dog was laughing at. ExplanationFrom characters who didn't get in, to people who always say Nintendo is doomed, to the many characters (mostly from Brawl) who aren't returning.
- EarthBound: You Cannot Grasp the True Form of Giygas's attack! ExplanationThe message brought up when Giygas attacks, adding to the Mind Screw of the fight. This line tends to be used in incomprehensible and/or Mind Screw situations, usually swapping out "Giygas's attack" with whatever is going on.
- Giygas is often mentioned in the comments section of mind screwy YouTube videos. Mostly the ones that add frames every second or change the audio to G-Major.
- "Earthbolind" ExplanationThe "u" in the title screen looks a lot like "li", leading some people to call the game by that name.
- Zoom! Boing! ExplanationVerbal Tics of Mr. Saturn. Fans often like to repeat these verbal tics for zany/random purposes.
- "Jeff does not exist" and "Who's Jeff?" ExplanationA Running Gag which started on slowbeef's livestream playthrough of EarthBound on Twitch. Both slowbeef and the chat became increasingly annoyed at Jeff being useless to the point where they jokingly point out that he doesn't exist.
- "So, when do you get your third party member?" and "Who's this guy following your only party members?" ExplanationA running gag started by the chat on slowbeef's Twitch stream. An expansion of the "Jeff does not exist" meme. Even slowbeef got into it titling one of his streams "Only two party members?"
- Jimmy, James, Jack, Jeb, Jorge, Jerry, Jared, Jessica, Jigglypuff... ExplanationAnother running gag from slowbeef's Twitch playthrough. The chat intentionally getting Jeff's name wrong and instead using other names that start with "J" (or even random words that start with "J").
- "The gang's all here! Ness, Paula, and....Bulbasaur?" ExplanationA similar running gag to the above except with replacing Jeff with another random video game character.
- Ness, Paula, and Bimmy.
- The most notable bug during the making of the Mother 3 Fan Translation:
Welcome to th
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- The Flint used Swing!
- C'MON REGGIE GIVE US MOTHER 3! ExplanationNintendo of America Lampshade Hanging the No Export for You for the game in the E3 2014 Digital Event. Reggie responds by roasting the Straw Fan with a Fire Flower from Super Mario Bros.. This exchange is often brought up by the Mother fanbase, usually whenever discussing Reggie's stance on MOTHER 3.
- Cursed Images with EarthBound musicExplanationA "Cursed Image" is a disturbing or absurd image that falls just short of being scary and crosses over into ludicrous instead. For example, a stuffed Kirby holding a knife, or a dog faceswapped with Mickey Mouse. Because of the strange and surreal nature of many EarthBound enemies, it became trendy to make video compilations of these Cursed Images with EarthBound music in the background, with many noting the similarity between the game's antagonists and the bizarre subject matter of the pictures
- "X won't bring Claus back" Explanation (spoilers) Claus's death is one of the most well known spoilers of Mother 3 alongside Hinawa's, and a message in the Miiverse stage of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U made fun of this tearjerker with the line "Winning won't bring Claus back", spawning further mutations consisting of replacing "winning" with something else, or Claus with Hinawa.
- It started with a lamp and ended with a dragon/your brother Explanation (spoilers) The first enemy encountered in EarthBound Beginnings is a possesed lamp, and the final boss of Mother 3 is the Masked Man, who is Claus but Brainwashed and Crazy. Following the battle, Lucas has to pull the final needle in order to awaken the Dark Dragon. The line is often used to jokingly sum up the series as a whole.
- "This... can't be happening!" ExplanationCharacters say this to themselves after recovering from the effects of a low Sanity Meter. Because of how often it's said, fans quote it a lot.
- "CHARLEMAAAGNE!!" ExplanationHoly Roman page boy Anthony desperately wants to save Charlemagne from a sinister plot. Even his death doesn't prevent him from sobbing about it. Like the one above, it's said a lot, so fans say it a lot, too.
- "MAY THE RATS EAT YOUR EYES!" ExplanationFrom one of Maximilian Roivas' magnificent insane rants. Is quoted semi-frequently in threads related to the game for its hamminess and memorability.
- Needs more Pargon. ExplanationThe Pargon rune is used to empower magick, but due to the game's spellcasting system an upper-tier spell can have four out of its seven component runes be Pargon, turning once-ominous incantations into Narm. Since "Pargon" is said often in these spells, fans often like to repeat the word.
- Nintendo constantly renewing the game's trademark and then just sitting on it has become the go-to example for tempering expectations regarding game developers hinting at reviving cult IPs.
- "Too bad! You lost your machine."ExplanationThe Have a Nice Death message in X upon falling off the course or your machine blowing up. While not quoted as often as "YOU GOT BOOST POWER!", people have still quoted it on some occasions in F-Zero discussions.
- "YOU GOT BOOST POWER!"ExplanationPlayed in X and GX when you finish the first lap, thereby granting you Nitro Boost privileges. Whenever these entries are discussed, this phrase will almost always be said once. It also tends to be said in response an image, GIF or video of a vehicle moving at high speeds. In GP Legend, this is replaced with "You've got a new booster!"
- "Pow pow Picard!" ExplanationFans who didn't like Piers's Dub Name Change used this as a Catchphrase.
- Making Kraden a playable character. ExplanationThe feeble, powerless elderly mentor NPC proved inexplicably popular with fans.
- "The Wheat Sword lets out a howl! Dutch Farmer!" ExplanationAn Urban Legend of Zelda hoax about unlocking a hidden super-sword and its completely nonsensical super attack.
- Star Magician's balls. ExplanationOne boss summons "ball" creatures to aid it in battle. Cue people making the obvious joke.
- Golden Sun 3 ExplanationFor a long time it was popular to create hoax box art for Golden Sun remakes or new installments. This ended, of course, with the announcement of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
- Golden Sun 4 ExplanationSame song, second verse.
- Isaac's sexy beard. ExplanationDark Dawn takes place thirty years after The Lost Age, during which time Isaac developed more rugged features and grew a beard. This led to many fans swooning over him and commenting how his beard makes him look sexier and more badass.
Kid Icarus (primarily from Uprising)
- In general, the sheer speed with which what should have been major spoilers became It Was His Sled. ExplanationJust look at these videos (the main character isn't even supposed to be known about at first).
- Touhou: Uprising ExplanationThis game is one of the hardest 3D shooters in quite some time, especially on the higher intensity levels needed to get major items. Not that it's anywhere near as hard as Touhou actually is, but there are other similarities like the ridiculous dialogue and the looks on characters' faces. Editor's noteThis meme inspired the wording of the meme potholed to Good Is Not Nice.
- Offbeat lines:
- Ask Auntie Pandora Hour ExplanationIn chapter 5, Pit asks the chapter boss about her lair. This bit is part of her snarky comeback.
- Pit's singing LyricsAgain today I will go soaring through the sky, / My enemies I'll dish 'em up in a stir fry, / Gracious goddess of light watches from up above, / At dinnertime I always show the cook some love! Explanation (spoilers)Chapter 13 opens with a chipper little melody, and Pit sings the above (not very well) to the tune of the first four lines, the last of which inspired an anime short. After about a minute, though, there's a major Mood Whiplash and Difficulty Spike as the chapter starts heavily referencing Star Wars.
- Magnus for Smash Bros 4! ExplanationMagnus is overall a genuine badass archetype, a rare thing for Nintendo who keeps things kid-friendly by limiting characters to Badbutt.
- Palutena confirmed for Smash!
- Dark Pit confirmed for Smash!
- Dark Lord Gaol is a girl! Explanation (spoilers)After defeating Dark Lord Gaol, her helmet comes off. Her voice may have given it away. Because of a meme below, she's also been compared to Samus Aran.
- Palutena is a good girl. ExplanationPalutena is, at least, not always very helpful, and may be at times actively trying to kill Pit (or so it seems). This phrase is used ironically whenever she does something that fits the above.
- The Reaper theme is now awesome. Explanation (long)Uprising remixed just about every theme from the original game somehow, and even used some verbatim in the original 8-bit (such as the Reaper detection theme, game over and credits music). It also gave the Reapers their own chapter (where else but Chapter 4?) and King Mook. The air battle for this stage, of course, was where the Reaper theme was remixed. And it didn't stop there, it went on to an epic orchestral section and eventually to an epic guitar solo, ending with Ominous Nonsense Chanting for the final descent. The land battle theme isn't half bad either; it adds an even longer awesome orchestral theme and mixes in the chanting to make up for the lack of rock guitar.
- Hamazing! ExplanationThe Catchphrase of Thanatos, the final Underworld commander, who has a new humanoid form this time (and for some sophisticated reason spells his name Tanatos).
- Shazammitylam! Explanation (spoilers)In chapter 15, a new character comes along to help you fight off the mysterious invaders. His Leitmotif is wonderfully narmy, and this is his Catchphrase.
- I'm now a level infinity ultra epic supergod-plus! Explanation (spoilers)This same character eventually takes over said invaders.
- "Hey look! A Kid Icarus meme!" "Hey look! Who cares?"ExplanationAn exchange between Pit and Hades in Chapter 15 when Pit spots an Exo Tank. Hades is unimpressed, Viridi and Palutena are confused, and Pit's just happy to find a vehicle.
- Viridi is Tsundere for Pit. Explanation (spoilers)She starts out actively hating you and trying to kill you, then after you team up against the Aurum and undergo the Time Skip, she eventually becomes your new mission control, and she's arguably nicer than Palutena, especially as time goes by.
- "What's wrong! All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—" ExplanationIn this game, Komaytos' resemblance to Metroids is acknowledged in that they latch on to Pit and are only weak to certain attacks, namely melee blows. Even the trophy gets in on the fun: "The last Komayto is not in captivity, and Skyworld is not at peace."
- "Pit!" "Hades!" "Pit!" "HADES!" "PIT!" It's on!ExplanationDuring Pit's first battle with Hades, this is what they first say before the battle. It happens again in their final battle.
- Floor ice cream gives you health! ExplanationUttered by Pit when Viridi questions his habit of eating food off the ground. This moment tends to be referenced a lot, especially when referring to other instances of food on the floor (especially if it's ice cream).
- Super Bash Sisters! ExplanationA quick joke by Palutena wherein she deliberately misremembered Super Smash Brothers during a conversation with Pit. This became Hilarious in Hindsight when Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U was found to have a cast with an exceptionally large number of female participants, including Palutena herself.
- Mario Party destroys friendships.ExplanationDespite being a casual party game, people get really competitive playing it, and tempers can flare when the RNG snatches victory out of the hands of a player who thought they deserved the win.
- CHANCE TIME!ExplanationThe most infamous and loathed mini-game of the series, where characters randomly gift or swap coins or stars to one another, resulting in large, uncontrollable lead changes.
- Luigi Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing.ExplanationA series of videos making fun of the Artificial Stupidity of the Easy-level AI.
- "DOH! I MISSED!"ExplanationWario's exclamation whenever he loses anything, made memetic by The Runaway Guys. He actually says "SO EIN MIST!", meaning "Aw, crap!" in German.
- Stupid Sexy Bowser.ExplanationIn Mario Party 3, one of Bowser's potential poses is Ready for Lovemaking (and it's not a pose restricted to when Peach steps on a Bowser space); again, made memetic by The Runaway Guys.
- Bowser is a filthy commie/Bowser Communism.ExplanationOne of Bowser's possible effects, "Bowser Revolution", redistributes coins as equally as possible between all players. You can thank The Runaway Guys for that one, too.
- What's an airport, again?ExplanationAndy displays ignorance of something that is relatively easy to understand, and might be common knowledge. Looks to be an Acknowledged Meme as of the February 2022 Direct, when the first line of dialogue shown in the second Reboot Camp trailer was this line.
- Really? Continents? ExplanationFrom Black Hole Rising; when Sami tells Andy there are other continents outside of Cosmo Land.
- Flakalakalakalakalaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!
- Battleship. In. A. Lake.◊
- "Nigga stole my bike!" ExplanationThe break sections between circuits in Punch-Out!! show Little Mac training by jogging behind his black trainer Doc as he rides a bike. Memetic Mutation changed the context of the image. Surprisingly, this became an Ascended Meme (though understandably minus the racial slur) in the Wii game, where, between rounds, Doc will occasionally joke that he'll steal Mac's bike.
- RELEASE THE BOGUS! ExplanationMemetic Mutation based on Super Macho Man's "RELEASE THE BEAST!" technique being dodged, interrupting the voice clip with another of his Surfer Dude lines.
- This video seems to have permanently associated Super Macho Man with buses, of all things.
- "Give zem ZE UPPERCUT!" ExplanationThis phrase is usually associated with Von Kaiser.
- "Tekitekiteki desu ka?" "Eh!"ExplanationThe Ringside minigame in Rhythm Heaven Fever is particularly well-known, and also led to some crossover spinoffs
- "Wubadubaduba s'at true?" "Yeah!" ExplanationThe English version of Ringside.
- BA-BOM BOM BOM ExplanationForthington the cat's lob shot cue in Fever's Air Rally has proven very memorable.
- In the comments sections of Rhythm Heaven-related media (mostly Custom Remixes on YouTube), you're bound to see at least one comment based upon the rating screens of the minigames.
- It's become popular to make custom Remixes by using the sound effects from the games. Particularly popular picks are music tracks from other video games, or any of the games' Final Exam Bosses.
- "Monkey! MONKEY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"ExplanationIn May 2020, Timotainment streamed a playthrough of Fever. When he got to the first minigame, Hole in One, he is greeted with a monkey. Before he could introduce himself, Tim called him a monkey, and hysterically laughed after he did.
- Star Fox 64 brings us Peppy Hare's various over-eager "hints": "Do a barrel roll!", "Use the brake!", "Try a somersault!"
- Do a Google Roll!
- Star Fox Zero shows that Peppy's memes are the gift that keeps on giving. ExplanationOne optional mission has you play as Peppy due to Fox being in the Gravmaster in space. Let your imagination fill in the rest if the link doesn't fancy you.
- You forgot Falco's "Hey Einstein, I'm on your side!"
- Wolf O'Donnell's "Can't let you do that, Star Fox!" has expanded so that Wolf can't let anybody do anything.
- "Fox, get this guy off me!" Shut UP, Slippy!
- "This baby can take temperatures up to 9000 degrees!" ExplanationSaid by Slippy in Star Fox 64's Solar level, made Hilarious in Hindsight by the "IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAND!" meme.
- Or any of a number of other lines from that game. Star Fox 64 is a quote goldmine.
- Mostly for furries only and does not appear in any game, but Krystal can't enjoy her sandwich. ExplanationCreated by a user in FurAffinity named Cbee, the artist uploaded a beautiful landscape picture... and added Krystal eating a sandwich as an afterthought to Furaffinity's since-removed rule that pictures must contain furry content. It became quickly popular at the website.
- Five Nights at Slippy'sExplanationWhen the March 2016 Nintendo Direct announced a spinoff game called Star Fox Guard, which involves using security cameras to defend a base, many viewers immediately thought of another camera-monitoring game.
- UNITE X ExplanationThe Wonderful Ones calling their attacks.
- Wonder-eyes, X ExplanationThe Wonderful Ones Henshin cry
- "If it isn't the heir to the throne of the Roaming Rhullo, leader of the Space Pirate band known across the universe as the Guyzoch.. Prince Vorkken!" ExplanationEvery meeting with Vorkken has Wonder Red recite this word for word.
- Mash A to Protect Earth Explanation (SPOILERS)The game's final Quicktime Event is labeled as such to stop Jergingha's ultimate weapon.
- Watch Saur's videos ExplanationA common forum response to people that don't get the game, to watch videos made by YouTube user Saur.
- Diplomacy has failed! ExplanationWonder Red tries to negotiate with the GEATHJERK and Guyzoch whenever possible. It never works, resulting in physical confrontation.
- #WonderRed4Smash ExplanationAfter the announcement of the Smash Bros Ballot, this became one of the most popular trending topics for a possible new character. Sadly, he did not make it in either 3DS/Wii U or Ultimate.
- So when's Bayonetta 2 coming to PC? ExplanationIn 2020, PlatinumGames launched a Kickstarter to let them self-publish The Wonderful 101 on Switch, PC, and PS4. This was all done with Nintendo's blessing (as they hold the IP rights). Despite this, it led to a large cavalcade of people asking when the controversially exclusive Bayonetta 2 (IP by Sega, game itself by Nintendo) will be seeing ports.
- "It's happening again, Immorta." ExplanationTaken from Vorkken in Operation 007-B, this line has been used by fans to point out how history is repeating with "journalists" giving the game poor reviews because they barely spent time with it, or casual players discarding the game because it doesn't take time to explain every little detail.
Other
- Nintendo Hardware in general:
- Made of Nintendium ExplanationNintendo's hardware has traditionally been known for being extremely rugged compared to the competition. Both exaggerated tales and true stories abound about Nintendo hardware surviving abuse that would have totaled rival hardware.
- Nintendo Entertainment System:
- SET SIDE B ExplanationAside from the internet, this one is otherwise only known in Japan since the Famicom (the original Japanese name for the NES) Disk System was never released in North America or Europe. Many games made for it would more often than not have the players turn the disk over in order to actually play it, although Side A needed to be put in first ("Set" refers to the action of inserting a disk).
- "B men o setto shite kudasai" Explanation"Please insert [lit., "set"] side B"; the Japanese rendition of the above.
- W A I T ExplanationThere was in fact loading on a Nintendo console long before the Nintendo GameCube (let alone the Wii) came along. This happened on Famicom Disk System games.
- "Omachi kudasai".Explanation"Please wait".
- Now you're playing with power! ExplanationThis marketing slogan for the NES continued into the first two years of the Super NES era. It was even incorporated into Nintendo Power magazine on occasion. It was replaced with "The Best Play Here" around the Super Mario All-Stars release and then "Play It Loud" alongside Donkey Kong Country, which continued into the early Nintendo 64 era.
- Blowing on the cartridgeExplanationThe NES is notorious for its sheer unreliability, sometimes requiring removing the cartridge and putting it back in praying that the game will finally start instead of just giving a "blinking screen of death" or worse, garbled graphics or the game freezing about two seconds later. A common piece of advice is to blow on the cartridge's contacts thinking it will clean off whatever's in the way of them, but this can actually make the problem worse due to the moisture of one's breath making the contacts more suspicable to attracting even more grime.
- I love the Power Glove. It's so bad. ExplanationA line from The Wizard describing the Power Glove accessory for the NES with late 1980's slang meaning "very cool/good." The actual Power Glove was seen as a buggy mess of a peripheral and literally so bad as to not be worth buying.
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System: "WARNING! It is a serious crime to copy video games according to copyright law. Please refer to your Nintendo game instruction booklet for more information.ExplanationThis anti-piracy message (along other variants) appeared in Super NES games whenever anyone tried to use cheat devices (e.g.: Game Genie), or tried to copy the game's files to a PC. Some honest gamers have reported being scared by the message when they first saw it (especially if their game didn't have a booklet).
- Nintendo 64:
- It's a Nintendo SIXTY-FOOOUUUR! Explanation A viral video of two kids getting excited for getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas.
- The Nintendo GameCube startup intro ExplanationIt's become rather memetic to make remixes and parodies of the startup.
- What Nintendo fanboys have said about the Nintendo DS: "It prints money!" ExplanationThis phrase has since commonly be used to poke fun at Cash Cow Franchises and things obviously made for a cash grab.
- Someone else made a hilarious picture of this meme in a different light for the PlayStation 3: "IT EATS MONEY!" ExplanationThis was reinforced by the actual fact that Sony initially sold the PlayStation 3 at a loss, banking on software sales to break even. The meme gradually fell out of fashion as Sony introduced the slimmer and streamlined second- and third-gen PS3s that had vastly reduced production costs.
- On the Wii: "It still prints money!"
- On the Nintendo 3DS: "It prints money! IN 3D!"
- On the Wii U: "It prints money! In HD!"
- Subverted during the first few years of the Wii U's life due to poor sales (It took them more than 2 and a half years to sell 10 millions units, Sony sold 10 million PS4s in nine months.) Images◊ started to appear depicting the Wii U eating money. This ended once Wii U sales began to pick up after games like Sm4sh were released.
- Wii
- Two GameCubes duct-taped togetherExplanationAt the 2007 Game Developer Conference, Chris Hecker of Maxis insulted the Wii's tech specs by describing the system this way. Gamers still occasionally use "GameCubes duct-taped together" as a tongue-in-cheek unit of measure of console power.
- Wii Shop Channel musicExplanationMany fans have noted that the music that plays in the Wii Shop Channel is quite the ear worm, and show their appreciation for it by making remixes of it or mashing it up with other songs.
- The Wii crash noiseExplanationA discordantly high-pitched buzz that plays whenever the Wii itself crashes (also used by the Wii U and, in a lower pitch, the GameCube). The noise gained ubiquity in the modding/homebrew community thanks to how easily one could crash the system with a faulty mod, and since then it's become commonly invoked among fans— especially in video edits— as if it were a trademark element of the Wii's brand.
- Wii U:
- When the Wii U's name was announced at E3 2011, references to Ling's Verbal Tic in Kung Pow! Enter the Fist immediately followed.
- Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U! Wii-U!...ExplanationWhen the official name for the system was first announced at E3 2011, some people thought it sounded like a police/fire engine siren.
- ... will save the Wii U ExplanationA chalkboard◊ listing off each possible action Nintendo could take to turn a corner with the Wii U, striking out each one that doesn't.
- Miiverse became host to a number of fondly-remembered lines during its time on the air:
- nice water ExplanationWhen it comes to iconic posts, user MARIO WiiU's repeated comments on good-looking water in Wii U games are up there among some of the most known, due to their prevalence in the communities for every game that happened to have water in it. Even Nintendo themselves referenced it in a tweet promoting Paper Mario: The Origami King.
- this game is fun but i hate my parents ExplanationAn infamous Non Sequitur post made by a user named Andrew in the Super Mario 3D World community.
- y can't metroid crawl? ExplanationA post by Pauly, in reference to the second room of Blue/Old Brinstar in Super Metroid, where a door is behind a tiny corridor that requires the Morph Ball to enter. While many people got stuck in the game after its release on the Wii U due to its open-ended and unguided style, Pauly's confused, Samus-misnaming post caused him to become the most popular of these people. His trek through the game became documented throughout his time on Miiverse, culminating in a not-too-shabby 7:35 clear time. This meme has been acknowledged by a few of Nintendo's social media accounts, even as late as during promotion of Metroid Dread, and Samus's Varia Suit trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS notes that "it lets her morph into a ball instead of having to crawl!"
- who thought it was even remotely okay to put this here ExplanationFrom Jon, in regards to a red spring on a wall in Sonic the Hedgehog that sends you backwards into a lava pit.
- i wish squids were real ExplanationA post made by Domohead in the Splatoon community, which did zero research on animals. This one got referenced in Splatoon 2.
- Who this man why he everywhere ExplanationA post made by Nat in the Splatoon community regarding Sans. This line cropped up as a Running Gag whenever any character became memetic, resulting in drawings of them appearing in the game and its sequel.
- Is "Mount Wario" a race course, or a command?◊ ExplanationA Double Entendre referring to the Mario Kart 8 racetrack "Mount Wario" having an unfortunate name if you have a dirty mind.
- White Ink Confrimed/you should draw her giving birth ExplanationA one-two punch of michi's incredibly horny drawing of Splatoon's Marie, and an equally-skeevy comment by Roger which barrels headlong into fetish-posting. The latter later became a popular source of parodies on Twitter in 2021, where users would respond to character art by juxtaposing ridiculously mundane requests (e.g. "now draw her reading a book") with imposing images of buff men (usually from Dragon Ball Z screencaps).
- I'm a straight male but damn is Luigi hot◊ExplanationA post by Ryan Ribbity of Ready To Start Cast that quickly gained notoriety for how out-of-nowhere it was and for the immediate regret that followed, becoming popular to quote in reference to Luigi as a result. Ironically, Ryan came out as both a trans woman and a lesbian years later (still going by Ryan), taking the post in stride and joking about how the only true part of it was Luigi being hot.
- What's a Wii U?ExplanationAfter the Wii U's failure and discontinuation followed by the Switch being more successful and getting a number of Wii U ports, people began to joke about the Wii U never existing in the first place whenever the console is mentioned in any way. This was fueled further by Nintendo marketing the Switch port of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and the Wii U version's silent disappearance from the Wii U eShop.
- The Nintendo Switch:
- ______ is cool and all, but I want to hear more about the NX.ExplanationIn the months leading up to the Nintendo Switch's reveal, Nintendo was infamously quiet about nearly everything about the Switch other than its codename (NX) and a few games. Naturally, fans complained, which reached memetic status when a Twitter bot was created to spam Nintendo of America's account asking for news regarding the Switch.
- The very day the first preview trailer for the Switch came out, people began comparing the look of the console's Joy-Cons when attached to the controller bridge to a dog's face; this has led to a lot of jokes and fanart revolving around the Switch being a cute little puppy. The "Switch dog" is an unofficial mascot for the system.
- Awkward translatorExplanationThe Nintendo Switch presentation was translated into English live by three interpreters. Two of the interpreters were doing OK throughout the presentation. But one interpreter was doing OK at first (1-2-Switch segment), then a bit flat (Splatoon 2 segment), then Suda51 came up and he totally lost it. Got even worse when Nintendo released a job opening on Twitter for a translator, leading many to believe he got fired.
- The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls trailer, which shows Bowser monitoring his son's video games, has also been making rounds.
- Click!ExplanationPromotional material for the console open with a distinctive clicking sound effect (mirroring the sound of inserting the Switch into its dock, or attaching the Joy-Cons to the Switch). It's been a somewhat common source in remixes.
- Counting ice cubes.ExplanationNintendo, for whatever reason, introduced the Joy-Cons' HD Rumble feature by showing how it could reproduce the sensation of ice cubes being dropped into a glass, right down to the number. This quickly led to jokes comparing it with the melting ice cubes effect that was demonstrated in Metal Gear Solid 2.
- There are a number of jokes about how expensive the console's accessories (and some of its games, and online play) are.
- BOY, THIS IS REALLY EXPENSIVE!ExplanationAn already memetic line resurfaced with an edited screencap showcasing some of the aforementioned pricey accessories.
- Nintendo added the bittering agent denatonium benzoate to Switch carts to discourage young children from eating them. Approximately everyone who hears this feels an irresistible urge to perform an immediate taste test.
- Kimishima, what are your plans to save Nintendo? note It didn't go unnoticed that almost all of the Switch's first-party lineup included attractive female characters with nice butts, most of whom immediately became very popular (Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Twintelle from ARMS, Marina from Splatoon 2, and Pyra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are the most visible examples) and joking that that was Nintendo's real plan for saving the company◊. This also comes into play◊ with the men of Nintendo, considering you can have entirely shirtless runs in both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, which many women have stated to have been extremely happy about.
- "Perfect for the Switch" ExplanationDue to the Switch's main selling point being that it is a hybrid console/handheld, this is both commonly used by Nintendo fans to describe games that fit well with the console's portability and is commonly used to mock the Vocal Minority of Nintendo fans who loudly clamor for Switch ports of certain games; the second use of this meme is most commonly seen among Sony, Microsoft, and PC fanboys, but also sees plenty of use among Nintendo fans who openly dislike the behavior of the aforementioned vocal minority.
- The Nintendo Switch Tax! ExplanationA commonly used critique of the pricing model for games ported to the Nintendo Switch. Due to the nature of the Switch's hardware, it often gets late ports of Third-Party Games and Updated Re-release of Wii U Titles. By the times these games have been released on the Switch they have already undergone signifcant price cuts on the original consoles they were released on, but the newly released Switch version will still be fully priced at $60 by comparison.
- Mixing with the Avengers: Infinity War meme of Thanos snapping his fingers, killing half of the life in the universe, somehow this included the Wii U dying and that the Switch clicking noises was something ominous.
- Nintendo Switch has games ExplanationAn ad ran during The Game Awards 2019 started with this statement.◊ The fact that this ad was prefaced by the Nintendo Switch's iconic "click!" opening led to many expecting a new game reveal, only to be told the most obvious thing about a video game console. As a result, this quote became emblematic of the sheer amount of nothing announced during TGA 2019, with comments sections, Twitch chats, Discord servers, and Twitter users echoing it.
- Nintendo Switch HAD games◊ ExplanationGoing into the year 2020, one of the only big releases that had a date set was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which was slated for mid-March of 2020. Everyone expected a Nintendo Direct within the first month of the year to elaborate on some new first party titles, since the last Direct was at the beginning of September 2019, but nothing of the sort occurred; the only announcements during January were Pokémon Sword and Shield's DLC, a remake of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team, and Byleth as the final member of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's first Fighters Pass alongside later DLC being confirmed to be another Fighters Pass. As January turned to February, the only Direct that appeared was an Animal Crossing-centric one, and moving into March, no general Directs showed up, leading people to take the original ad and rework it a bit to apply to the lack of new content. However, this is slowly becoming a Discredited Meme, as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic has inevitably affected the game industry by causing delays, shortages, event cancellations, a shift towards working from home, and affecting overall game development for many major developers and publishers, with Nintendo even leaving a disclaimer at the beginning of their Mini Direct in March 2020 to expect release date changes for their titles.
- Where's EarthBound? ExplanationPrior to it and Beginning's additions to Nintendo Switch Online in the February 9th, 2022 Nintendo Direct, EarthBound was one of the main games people requested to be added to the service, for reasons such as SNES NSO's lack of JRPGs outside of Breath of Fire and the fact that it's a first-party Nintendo game. The fact that it took nearly two-and-a-half years after SNES NSO's launch for it to be added, while other random third-party games were added before it, led to memes◊ making fun of the situation before and after EarthBound's addition.
- Nintendo 3DS: Once the Nintendo 2DS was announced, many people doubted on the marketability of a 3DS without the actual 3D. A lot of memes gave joking instructions on how to make your own 2DS: simply turn off the 3D slider of a 3DS system you have.
- Nintendo of America's Reggie uttered "My body is ready" during an early showing of Wii Fit. It didn't resurface until three years later, when it would become a huge fad.
- At E3 2012, he mentioned it. He was talking about the opportunity for fitness with the Wii U, and said that "People laughed, my body was ready" to a chorus of cheers.
- As of recently, he seems to have turned it into his own Catchphrase of sorts. He mentioned it under the Wii U release at Nintendo Land, and later during an Animal Crossing video showing a tour of his in-game home in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
- And again during an interview aired on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. After being asked on Twitter whether or not he would be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U, Reggie explained that the decision was not his to make, before coyly adding "But, if Sakurai wants... my body is ready.”
- In fact, this meme is even referenced in several Nintendo games, including Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokémon X and Y, Pokémon Sun and Moon, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
- This phrase is common when Nintendo fans get hyped before, say, a Nintendo Direct livestream.
- At E3 2008, a Nintendo employee named Cammie left a pretty bad taste in all the gamers' mouths due to her overenthusiastic personality about casual games. She even told a personal story on how she broke her wrist when she tried to snowboard. Literally, within seconds, her and and the word "wrist" became memes on several forums.
- A lot of the Nintendo E3 2012 stuff and related events:
- Non-Specific Action Figure ExplanationNintendo's pre-E3 2012 announcement video featured a demonstration of the Wii U's capabilities via a nerdy video gamer's struggle against zombies. His only friend (prior to using the Wii U) is a bizarre custom action figure that he refers to by the above name. Viewers took a shine to it immediately, to the point of demanding its appearance in the next Super Smash Bros..
- Zombified Reggie ExplanationA demonstration of the Wii U had Reggie making a zombified version of himself. Cue his terrified reaction.
- Iwata holding bananas ExplanationA press conference about the Wii U included a clip of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata holding and staring at a bunch of bananas for a few seconds. This quickly caught notice from the Internet.
- The fruit/food-holding itself seems to have been made into Nintendo's own joke as of recently: it was later that year referenced by a Nintendo Direct, where Bill Trinen would stare at a tangerine, and in yet another Nintendo Direct, a Lego version of Iwata was holding a carrot. And now it has happened again in the recent 3DS Nintendo Direct for Europe, whilst there is no holding, Satoru Shibata does promote the new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game by scanning an apple.
- "I feel just like a purple Pikmin." ExplanationQuote from Reggie during the Pikmin 3 presentation, which caught on for its weirdness.
- "Please understand." ExplanationA line Satoru Iwata has a tendency to say during Nintendo Directs when something happens that the audience won't like, primarily a Schedule Slip. It's been mutated into his Catchphrase. Became especially widespread after the 2013 Pokemon Bank fiasco.
- "Please underStand." ExplanationSome Nintendo fans who enjoy JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have cracked jokes about Iwata having a Stand. This has become more widespread after E3 2014's Nintendo Direct video with a short, but impressive fight scene between Iwata and Reggie meant to announce more information about the upcoming Super Smash Bros.. This quickly took a tragic, yet heartwarming turn after Iwata passed away, with a lesser meme about how Iwata used the last of his strength to teach Reggie his final Hamon.
- All hail the Virtual Boy. ExplanationA short clip from the Nintendo Direct preview for Tomodachi Life shows various Miis of Nintendo employees circling and worshipping a giant Virtual Boy.
- "My uncle works at Nintendo".ExplanationThe go-to explanation/response for how someone would get insider info on a game, especially if it's obviously fake. There is even a horrifying visual novel based on this schoolyard phenomenon.
- Don YamauchiExplanationIn YouTube videos of archival Japanese interviews with Hiroshi Yamauchi, the way he dresses, have caused some comments to compare him to a mafia don.
- "Lonk from Pennsylvania"ExplanationA StreetPass Mii that looks like a bizarro version of◊ Link. Also joining him is "Petch from Texas" and "Dankey Kang from New York" (named after the Dankey Kang meme above). The Lonk and Petch Miis are popular in games that utilize Miis, such as Tomodachi Life, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros..
- "Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience." Explanation This is at the end of the notes for every system update to the Wii U or 3DS, and is sometimes the only note. Jokes relating to horse stables, or an abundance of stability, often ensue. The hacking community also makes fun of the phrasing because they know it really means "we're patching hack exploits". It started to surface again for the Nintendo Switch with the first patch after launch (not counting the day 1 patch) doing nothing but "enhancing the user's experience with improved stability"."
- "It's surprisingly easy to mod your 3DS" ExplanationWhen Nintendo announced on February 2022 that the Nintendo eShop for both the Wii U and 3DS will be discontinued on March 2023, various memes began to spread about how surprisingly easy it was to mod the 3DS (as well as the DS and DSI by extension), encouraging people to do so, and it grew more prevalent as the date drew closer. It got to the point that when Nintendo released a firmware update a couple months after the shutdown to try to curb this, modders were able to circumvent the patch in less than a day, leading to a small resurgence of memes.
- Nintendo HardExplanationMany players who grew up in the late 80's and early 90's fondly remember NES and SNES games being particularly punishing, to the point where Nintendo is the Trope Namer for the Nintendo Hard trope.
- "WE ARE NINTENDO. WE CHALLENGE ALL PLAYERS. YOU CANNOT BEAT US."ExplanationFrom a particularly bizarre Australian commercial for the Nintendo Entertainment System, featuring a sort of Hive Mind of Nintendo villains (including the Duck Hunt dog) proclaiming this.
- Nintendo ninjasExplanationWhenever something is leaked about a game, jokes will arise about Nintendo having ninjas who will silently kidnap, assassinate, or shut up the leaker. Hideki Kamiya cites these as reasons for not answering questions about upcoming games (and during the Xbox 360 days, the hyperbolic threat was Microsoft making him jump off the Space Needle).
- Nintendo Therapy Explanation A photoshopped version of the logo for Nintendo Directs, made to mock those who continuously question when the next Nintendo Direct is releasing, often shown in the responses for the Official Nintendo Twitter.
- Nintendo Direct pranks ExplanationA common practice during the long periods of time when there's no Direct is to troll people by posting a tweet from Nintendo about a Nintendo Direct that would take place soon, if not for the fact that the tweet is from several years ago.
- Bowser Taking Over Nintendo Explanation Following Reggie's retirement from Nintendo of America as president, the successor was revealed to be Doug Bowser. Because of the last name, numerous memes have been made of Bowser, the Koopa King, taking over Nintendo of America. This was referenced at E3 2019, with King Bowser with a tie thinking he was giving a presentation before Doug Bowser showed up to correct him.
- Virgin Ninja vs Chad Reggie◊ ExplanationDuring The Game Awards 2019, many people noticed that the way Ninja walked onto the stage vs the way Reggie walked onto the stage had a striking resemblance to the Virgin vs. Chad meme.
- NINTENDO, HIRE THIS MAN!ExplanationA parody of people who respond to Unreal Engine demos of Mario running around in realistic placeholder environments by suggesting that these videos are better-looking than actual Nintendo titles, in turn mocking the wider Animation Age Ghetto surrounding video game graphics. The meme later gained a second life with the release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, whose own realistically-designed environments led to jokes about how "Nintendo finally hired this man." The quote would later be shoehorned in other video game companies, like Sega.
- Nintendo killed Rush Limbaugh.ExplanationOn the same day as the 2/17/21 Nintendo Direct, it was announced that far-right political commentator Rush Limbaugh has passed away from cancer, leading people to make jokes in anticipation of the Direct about the company killing Rush. The jokes only increased when Mario Golf: Super Rush was announced during the direct.
- "50 dollars to play Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games?" "With Animal Crossing DLC, Mr. Squidward, with Animal Crossing DLC." ExplanationNintendo has gotten a lot of heat over the Nintendo Switch online expansion pass being $30 a year alongside the regular $20 for the basic service. This has immediately drawn references to the exchange in the The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during the scene where Mr. Krabs changes the price of a Krabby Patty to $101 when King Neptune arrives.
- "Fall Guys was my favorite Capcom fighting game", or similar comments.ExplanationOn June 24, 2022, Nintendo dropped a trailer for Capcom Fighting Collection, but apparently uploaded the wrong video, as it was instead a trailer for Fall Guys. The comments section was flooded with sarcastic remarks about how Fall Guys was actually a Capcom fighting game. The video was made private before the actual trailer was dropped within the hour, but the sarcastic comments about Fall Guys continued in the real trailer, and it seems some fans won't let Nintendo live this one down.
- Farm Direct. ExplanationIn the September 2022 Direct, a noticeable number of games were of the Farm Life Sim genre, Harvestella, Faefarm, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life and Rune Factory 3 Special. This lead to numerous jokes of the direct being themed around farming and some of the videos covering the direct having a farm on the thumbnail.
- "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever." ExplanationA quote allegedly from Shigeru Miyamoto that gets posted any time a game is delayed from its original release date, or when an Obvious Beta is released.
- Totaka's Song ExplanationA 19-note song that appears in games that Kazumi Totaka is involved with (usually in a musical capacity).
- The ______ game for the Nintendo Switch system. ExplanationInsistent Terminology often used by Nintendo that's frequently mocked online for stating the obvious. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass in particular was singled out due to every reveal trailer for it in Directs ended with "[whichever wave it was] of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass DLC for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game[...]"
