I need to throw a shout out to Nintendo.

I came across a rising subreddit last night about the new play.nintendo.com site that is built to entertain kids and provide resources for parents about video games and Nintendo games.

Why the attention?

Well, I’m impressed to see Nintendo put some effort into creating engaging experiences using HTML5. My personal favourite is the Mario Kart 8 Party Starter built on a canvas, or the “surprise” that happens when you click the question mark box (see above).

I know it’s nothing major for an entertainment company create an interactive HTML5 web site and application, but I feel as though this is something big for a company like Nintendo to do this.

I’ve loved Nintendo for years, since I was a kid in fact. But (like many other video game companies) websites are not engaging, rather just informative places.

There’s nothing wrong with that, as the web is just that a whole whack of documents.

But to see a big player, like Nintendo, take a leap into the rich and engaging modern web, I need to highlight it and applaud them for their effort.

Next Steps for Nintendo

You need to embrace your fan community out there and let things like FullScreenMario and FullScreenPokemon become part of your web presence, rather than killing them off.

Thanks for Playing. ~ DW