Nintendo Minute was a weekly series which ended in December 2021. The show was hosted by former PR managers for Nintendo of America Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang. Since Nintendo Minute ended, the pair both left Nintendo and went on to create their own podcast. In episode 31 of Kit and Krysta Podcast, when responding to questions submitted through Patreon, Ellis and Yang recalled a time when they had brought up the idea of a Nuzlocke run to The Pokémon Company. “We thought that this would be a fun idea for a Nintendo Minute video, so we pitched it to The Pokémon Company,” Ellis began, before punching his own fist, suggesting the idea did not go down well. Yang admitted the pair thought Nintendo was “gonna fire us” for making the suggestion. Ellis continued, claiming The Pokémon Company refused on the basis it was considered “to be on the same level as using a hacked game”. The pair then conveyed their confusion and frustration to the response, as Nuzlocke runs don’t involve any hacking. For those who haven’t heard of Nuzlocke before, it’s a Pokémon playthrough with specific player-imposed rules. The two basic rules are: Some people choose to play with other constraints on top of the ones listed above, but it’s open to each individual player as to what rules they follow. As Ellis says, it’s just a “style” of playing a game. Yang made a further claim regarding people who were a part of the Nintendo Creators Program. “There were a lot creators that played a Nuzlocke-style of Pokémon that got erased from their Creator Program,” Yang said, and the pair also claimed the bad reactions would put creators off from suggesting ideas for fear of their reputation with The Pokémon Company. The Pokémon Company has responded to the remarks made by Ellis and Yang in a statement issued to Eurogamer, stating: “The Pokémon Company International does not have any issues with fans or creators playing the video games with Nuzlocke rules”.
