Fun Club The Direct is missing one essential component that absolutely no-one is talking about

[Irene]

Never mind Fire Emblem, never mind Silksong, never mind 3D Mario. Where the hell is the flapper?

For those unfamiliar with it, a flapper is a sort of mark, or sticker, that is often attached to a bigger object, kind of like the laundry instructions sticking out of a t-shirt. The flapper is what Nintendo have been using on their YouTube thumbnails, showing the logo in the usual red-white colour scheme. I've always liked the flapper, it makes the thumbnails look distinct, which makes sense, given that that is their purpose.

They've had different looks over the years - recently, the flapper is on the upper-right corner, while it has had more rounded corners in the past.

My favourite is probably the one from 2019-2020, when it came in from the left and sort of "pushed in" the thumbnail. It looked great, and really gave a flavour to the thumbnails.

HOWEVER.

On the videos from this year's Directs - both this one and the Partner Showcase - there is no flapper. It's there on other videos, but on the Direct videos, it's nowhere to be seen.

This sucks. Where is it?!

 

[shoptroll]

Nintendo going third party clearly /s

 

[rickyson33]

can't say i've ever really actively noticed it before but I agree now that you mentioned it

 

[Imitatio]

I literally screamed fuck you, Nintendo at my screen just now. What the fuck is wrong with them?

 

[Imitatio]

Probably also means arrogant Nintendo is back. Smdh

 

[Dekuman]

I think someone on their team forgot to do it, they were doing flappers on everything until ths direct, and even the NSO trailers from this direct had it.

Nintendo of America

Welcome to the official Nintendo YouTube channel where you'll find all the latest videos, news and content from Nintendo including the Nintendo Switch family of systems. For customer support, please visit https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/

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[neil]

Probably also means arrogant Nintendo is back. Smdh

"We're too big to flap"

 

[JB2448]

I mean, they’ve also stopped the stupid “the [game title] game” format for games. They might just be trying to eliminate redundancies since Nintendo is already in the name of the presentation.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for Nintendo Switch unveiled in latest Nintendo Direct presentation - News - Nintendo Official Site

The newest Nintendo Direct presentation featured a broad variety of games coming to the Nintendo Switch™ system in 2024 and beyond, including the first look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and the reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as well …

www.nintendo.com

It’s good not having to see “The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom game” or “the Mario & Luigi: Brothership game” or “the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond game.”

 

[Hero of Hyrule]

This is a hint for Switch 2, I am positive

 

[NoodleVacuum]

Maybe they wanted to avoid having the word Nintendo twice in each thumbnail. The slick Nintendo Direct banner gets the same message across.

 

[woodhead]

The Nintendo DE channel has it on some of the new videos, but not all https://www.youtube.com/@NintendoDE/videos

 

[Suswave]

Never mind Fire Emblem, never mind Silksong, never mind 3D Mario. Where the hell is the flapper?

For those unfamiliar with it, a flapper is a sort of mark, or sticker, that is often attached to a bigger object, kind of like the laundry instructions sticking out of a t-shirt. The flapper is what Nintendo have been using on their YouTube thumbnails, showing the logo in the usual red-white colour scheme. I've always liked the flapper, it makes the thumbnails look distinct, which makes sense, given that that is their purpose.

They've had different looks over the years - recently, the flapper is on the upper-right corner, while it has had more rounded corners in the past.

My favourite is probably the one from 2019-2020, when it came in from the left and sort of "pushed in" the thumbnail. It looked great, and really gave a flavour to the thumbnails.

HOWEVER.

On the videos from this year's Directs - both this one and the Partner Showcase - there is no flapper. It's there on other videos, but on the Direct videos, it's nowhere to be seen.

This sucks. Where is it?!

we've all been waiting for the Nintendo Switch 2 and speculating that it could be the Nintendo [?????]...

but what if it's the [?????] Switch?!

 

[Imitatio]

"We're too big to flap"

I mean, yeah… like, holy shit wtf are they doing???

(Yes, I’ll stick with this)

 

[Brannigan]

Doomed! DOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMED!

 

[Irene]

I think someone on their team forgot to do it, they were doing flappers on everything until ths direct, and even the NSO trailers from this direct had it.

Nintendo of America

Welcome to the official Nintendo YouTube channel where you'll find all the latest videos, news and content from Nintendo including the Nintendo Switch family of systems. For customer support, please visit https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/

www.youtube.com

There are missing flappers on the Partner Direct as well.

Maybe they just think that the "Nintendo Direct" flapper speaks enough?

 

[UnrulyUmbreon]

It seems like Nintendo is experimenting with the positioning and format of the "Nintendo Direct" logo. All the trailers from the September 2023 direct have exactly the same format: flapper (with sharp edges) in the upper right, Nintendo Direct logo in the bottom left. Also pay attention to the formating.



"Nintendo"-white letters, red background
"Direct"-red letters, white background

The partner showcase from Feb 2024 is different. The Nintendo Direct logo is still there in rhe bottom left but no flapper. EXCEPT for a couple of games (Super Monkey Ball, Fantasy Life, Sword Art Online), where the ND logo is bottom right. Notably, all of these games have the game logo in the bottom left; this seems to be a deliberate move to show off the game title in the thumbnail.



Finally June 2024.

It's all over the place! Sometimes the logo is moved to show off the logo (Metal Slug); sometimes so it doesn't block the key art (MvC collection). They threw it in the top left for Switch Sports, which they've never done. And Mario Party just has it smack dab in the middle.



Now, coming back to formating. It's always red background, then white background. For the June Direct, that changed. A couple of games (Mario and Luigi, Luigi's Mansion 2, Metroid Prime) have totally different formats. You'd think it's to make it more legible, but then why leave off the background for Luigi's Mansion?







Folks, I'm not saying there's a conspiracy here, but...

 

[Jerm411]

Well they're saving it cause it's the name of the successor...the Nintendo Flap or Flapper, take your pick lol.

 

[Irene]

Well they're saving it cause it's the name of the successor...the Nintendo Flap or Flapper, take your pick lol.

Flappy Bird HD launch title?

 

[Lord Azrael]

Does the Nintendo Direct banner count as a flapper, or does it have to be skeuomorphic i.e. look like it's attached to the "edge" I guess they just felt the company logo was redundant with the Direct banner