Brazilian Nintendo enthusiasts were feeling a little left out by the Japanese gaming magnates, so they decided to do something about it.
While Nintendo is an international company, its games and services aren't accessible in all regions, and Brazilian fans have suffered as a result. The South American country has had much difficulty getting games and information regarding games, while they've also struggled to promote local developers.
As a result, some of them have banded together to make an unofficial Brazilian Nintendo Direct.
A fan petition was started under the name "Fãs de Nintendo do Brasil," which translates to "Nintendo Fans from Brazil." Since its inception, it has since grown into a much larger movement. The group requested that Nintendo first-party games such as Zelda and Pokémon get Portuguese language support. They also asked for a Brazilian Nintendo channel, presentations in Portuguese, and official Nintendo events in their country.
Nintendo left the Brazilian market in 2015 with claims of import duties being too high. While the Switch eShop is still available in the region, local players say they get limited functionality and are left to buy games from the US eShop.
"In Brazil, we fans feel a bit abandoned by Nintendo," said Rodrigo Coelho, the man who championed the Direct project, as per USgamer. "They were here officially in the '90s and there are thousands of fans. But nowadays if you want to play Nintendo in Brazil, you have to import games. And with that comes a high price. It is not cheap to be a Nintendo fan in Brazil."
Coelho grouped fansites and Brazilian developers together and went on to make Discord channels to maximize support for a movement known as the hashtag #QueremosNintendo (#WeWant Nintendo). The motivation behind the Direct campaign in Brazil wasn't simply due to a desire to put games on show but to be heard by Nintendo.
"We really wanted to show Nintendo that we want to be a part of the community too," Coehlo added.
Coehlo would also contact devs with a Brazilian background to have their games featured on the platform. Although he now lives in Tokyo, bringing in studios such as Long Hat House and Bitten Toast Games was important.
All studios involved in the project were either Brazilian or had developers who have roots in Brazil. In addition, after filming a session at YouTube Space in Tokyo with the help of an editor, Coehlo was finally able to secure his Direct with YouTube clearance.
"I'm always happy to see Brazilian games getting attention, so I was happy to join and share the event," stated Bitten Toast Games CEO Daniel Nascimento.
The service hit 4,500 viewers on its first day and maintained 4,200 constant viewers, according to Coehlo. Relative to Nintendo's first-party services, this amount isn't staggering necessarily, but the founder sees it as a huge success.
"We hope to at least get a response from Nintendo, recognizing the movement and the love of the Brazilian fans," he said.