The Future of Nintendojo

For longtime readers you might recognize my name, but even for those who don’t or are newer members of the good ship Nintendojo—my name is Robert Marrujo and I recently took over as Editor-in-Chief of the website. I’ve been writing for Nintendojo since 2013 when then-EiC Kevin Knezevic took a chance on me and gave me my first professional writing gig. Ever since, Nintendojo has been a big part of my life as a video game journalist. After Kevin we had the good fortune to be guided by Marc Deschamps, our outgoing EiC, who was instrumental in guiding us through the next phase of the website. I wouldn’t have an inkling of what to do without the two of them, for which I’m eternally grateful. Now, the time has come for one more transition with me taking over as EiC. Let’s talk about what’s coming up for Nintendojo and you, our readers!

I guess I’ll start off by telling you all a bit about me. I grew up in the Bay Area in California and have a major love for the region, particularly Oakland and the East Bay (sorry SF, you’re out of luck). I’m a diehard Oakland Athletics fans, so forgive me if I indulge in my love of the A’s here and there! I have interests in other forms of media, especially comic books. I love to read, I love to write, and I pretend to be a bit of an illustrator and a graphic designer. Video games are my passion, however. Gaming is my first love and my drive for game preservation and sharing the history of the medium is something I take very seriously. As a video game historian, I find much joy in combing through the minutiae of what makes the industry tick and why.

Nintendojo will be 25 years old next year. It’s only April, but already we’re thinking about this milestone achievement for the site and how we’ll be handling it. As EiC, I have some goals I would like to aim for, goals that I hope further everyone’s enjoyment of the website. I’d like to go through some of these plans right now:

Doubtlessly some of you will have noticed that output here became erratic with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and even a bit before that when we began this shuffling of desks. First and foremost, we hope that returning to a stable, dependable news cycle has been a positive with the world in such a state of turmoil. Video games might not be the most important thing at the moment, but they’re an incredible source or respite and inspiration for many, so it’s a privilege we take seriously here to be able to keep everyone in the loop regarding such a precious pastime. So, expect news regularly from here on out!

It’s time for a poll! #Nintendo has a lot of #mobilegames running. #PokémonGO, #AnimalCrossing Pocket Camp, and so on. Do you want us to cover them more? Please let us know by voting! It’ll run until next Monday.

— Nintendojo Tweets (@Nintendojo) April 27, 2020

That said, we’ve also been trying to make an effort to return some of our focus to the properties and characters of Nintendo itself. Our love for the indie scene and smaller studios and games is equaled by our passion for Mario, Link, Samus, and the rest of Nintendo’s pantheon. The objective from here on out is to maintain a healthy balance of it all, because for many of us, it’s that mix which makes Nintendo special. That said, we’re also trying to open a dialogue with you, the readers, for some input regarding what you’d possibly like to see more of. I’ve attached a poll we’re running on Twitter asking about coverage of Nintendo’s mobile games, for instance—it would be great if those of you reading this would cast your vote!

Another element of Nintendojo that I’ve been thinking about is the rich history we have of being different. I feel that the tone of the site is fairly unique in that we try to keep the everyday person in mind as we go about our businesses. From our editorials to our reviews, the hope is that those of you reading know that all of us writing here today were in your shoes at one point. I found Nintendojo because a larger site had linked to one of our articles. From there I got into a debate with an ND staffer, eventually applied to work, and the rest is history! To this day, having the privilege to go to events like E3 continues to instill a sense of wonder in me. I’m so grateful to our partners in the publishing world that entrust our staff to talk about projects and offer us games to review. Typing this letter right now is surreal!

What’s my point? Well, what I’m trying to say is that Nintendojo is a news site about Nintendo games, yes, but it’s also a site for the fans. It’s a portal into a larger world beyond just the news and reviews of the day. For many of our readers, and this includes me, I’m a fan of anything and everything having to do with video games. Books, comics, art, history, industry scuttlebutt, rare prototypes, urban legends—I live for all of it. As we move closer to a quarter century of existence, I hope to maintain the tradition of excellence that Nintendojo has adhered to while also pushing forward with new and engaging content.

Backlog Reviews are just the beginning. We want to talk about the things that all of you love about Nintendo. Features like Toy Box will be making a comeback in the months ahead, and we have something percolating with Retro Scope, too. It’s an exciting time to be a Nintendojo reader and we couldn’t be happier to have you all along for the ride. Our site is nothing without you readers and we thank you all for being here up to this point. The march to 25 has begun!