It's November 21st in Japan; dubbed by fans as 'Nintendo Day'

[MondoMega]

#任天堂の日 is currently trending on Twitter in Japan; but you may be wondering "what exactly makes November 21st such a special day for Nintendo?" The answer is simple: November 21st is the launch date for a ton of well-known and iconic Nintendo software and hardware, especially in Japan:

• Mach Rider (1985)
• Punch-Out!! (1987)
• Super Famicom (1990)
• Super Mario World (1990)
• F-Zero (1990)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
• Yoshi's Cookie (1992)
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995)
• Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
• Pokémon Gold and Silver (1999)
• Sin & Punishment (2000)
• Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
• Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (2002)
• Pokémon Coliseum (2003)
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
• Nintendo DS (2004; NA)
• Nintendo DSi LL (2009)
• Super Mario 3D World (2013)
• Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (2014)
• Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (2015)
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (2017)

Looking at the rest of the world you've got other big anniversaries like Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014) too. So let us celebrate these Nintendo classics (and amiibo Festival) today; share your favourites from this list, and any fond memories you may have with them!

 

[Mekanos]

3D World gang gang

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

One of those games does not deserve to belong on that list, and it was in 2015.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Gee, it's like 1 week before Black Friday Weekend is like a high priority date or something. Like there's some mass buying event coming up that you want to have software coming out around for.

 

[DrForester]

Weekend before thanksgiving has been a Nintendo staple for years.

 

[MondoMega]

Gee, it's like 1 week before Black Friday Weekend is like a high priority date or something. Like there's some mass buying event coming up that you want to have software coming out around for.

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Those are mostly Japanese release dates, remember; and for most of that time worldwide release dates were very segmented and months apart. I don't think Black Friday has much relevance.

 

[MinerArcaniner]

Goddamn, what a line up.

 

[GamerJM]

Those are mostly Japanese release dates, remember; and for most of that time worldwide release dates were very segmented and months apart. I don't think Black Friday has much relevance.

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They still want to ship games internationally before Christmas (see something like Melee, which came out in the US a few weeks later before Christmas). Also, people still like....celebrate holidays in Japan.

 

[andymcc]

Punch-Out, F-Zero, Sin & Punishment & 3D world are some of my all-time faves!

 

[SalvaPot]

You can pick any day from October to December and chances are Nintendo released a classic that day.

 

[MondoMega]

Also, people still like....celebrate holidays in Japan.

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Wow, thanks, I had no idea! /s

Black Friday sales are only run by very select stores in Japan, mostly local branches of international stores like Amazon; it isn't all that massive there now and it certainly wasn't in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s when most of the titles on that list launched.

 

[GamerJM]

Wow, thanks, I had no idea! /s

Black Friday sales are only run by very select stores in Japan, mostly local branches of international stores like Amazon; it isn't all that massive there now and it certainly wasn't in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s when most of the titles on that list launched.

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It's not massive but like, it's still a season when people buy games as gifts iirc, especially now. Like the "holiday game season" is just a general thing and always has been. It's like when Hollywood blockbusters always come out during the Summer.

 

[MondoMega]

It's not massive but like, it's still a season when people buy games as gifts iirc, especially now. Like the "holiday game season" is just a general thing and always has been. It's like when Hollywood blockbusters always come out during the Summer.

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I never said otherwise! Naturally the holiday season is a huge time for game launches, and November is still the month Nintendo target for some of their biggest releases in a given year, even if they don't fall on the 21st as often anymore with their current aim for worldwide Friday launches.

Just a little peeved by how US-centric this forum can be sometimes is all. I didn't reply to the poster mentioning Thanksgiving because Japan DOES have a Labor Thanksgiving Day; Black Friday just stood out to me as not feeling particularly relevant, so I questioned it.

 

[MondoMega]

Sakurai is going to be posting about some of the titles that launched today, one an hour.

 

[Many]

Fun fact, Zelda A link to the past was released when I was born.

 

[anaa]

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (2015)

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I bought this filth on release date, played it once, and never again. Never has there been a concept so appealing on paper (mario party + animal crossing) but execution so poor.

 

[HMS_Pinafore]

One copy of Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (2015) please.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Lotta good shit released

 

[TheDinoman]

Banjo-Tooie also came out this day.

Hey, it WAS a Nintendo published game once. It counts!

 

[MondoMega]

First game Sakurai is covering is Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

 

[BY2K]

2013 was insane with the double-whammy of Super Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds in the same day (in NA, at least.)

 

[foxuzamaki]

First game Sakurai is covering is Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

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Wonder how many he's gonna do

 

[TheDinoman]

Sakurai name dropped Mike Tyson in that tweet. Pretty surreal tbh

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Super Mario World is my favorite game of all time...but I swear by the GBA version, so I'll throw in my appreciation for 3D World and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

 

[MondoMega]

 

[SalvaPot]

You can pick any day from October to December and chances are Nintendo released a classic that day.

One copy of Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (2015) please.

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I bought one and gifted one. And ALL the amiibo.

 

[MondoMega]

 

[MondoMega]

He's still going!

 

[giapel]

Doesn't look that big past the 90's but ok.

 

[L Thammy]

November 21st is when Wes blew up a Team Snagem hideout so I guess it's Nintendo's equivalent of Guy Fawkes Night.

 

[TheDinoman]

yooooo he acknowledged Diddy Kong Racing's birthday

 

[whoamiifnotwhoiam]

I see why they see it as Nintendo Day, these are pretty much Nintendo's top heavy titles. Then there's Animal Crossing amiibo Festival...

 

[MondoMega]

It'll be fun to make a collage of all his images when he's done posting them.

 

[MondoMega]

Like I said i'd do; a collage of Sakurai's celebration pics from yesterday, with special third-party guest Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Shame he couldn't get around to everything, but I guess that just goes to show the big a day it was in Nintendo's history. You'd be hard-pressed to find a single other day with this many high-profile releases from a single publisher.