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Nintendo Week is an American online gaming news show created by Evan Baily^[2] for the Nintendo Channel service on the Nintendo Wii. It was produced by Popular Arts Entertainment and hosted by Gary Culig and Alison Whitney.^[1][3] The hosts presented the latest and upcoming video games releasing for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and later, the Nintendo 3DS. Episodes aired every Thursday on the Nintendo Channel, discussing the latest in Nintendo news. It featured the two hosts, Gary and Alison, telling the viewers all about what's going on in the world of Nintendo, showing off games, systems and interviews.

History

The first episode of Nintendo Week premiered on the Wii's Nintendo Channel on September 14th, 2009.^[4] The series was notable for its comedic tone and humorous skits.^[5] New episodes of the show initially premiered every Monday, but following the Nintendo eShop's launch in June 2011, the Nintendo Channel, as well as the Wii Shop Channel, were updated on Thursdays starting July 28, 2011, the same as the eShop on the Nintendo 3DS. Alison Whitney left the show in the February 2, 2012 episode, leaving Gary Culig as the series' host, portraying both Gary and Dark Gary.^[6]

Cancellation

The series aired its final episode on March 29, 2012,^[7] and was replaced by Nintendo Update, which aired until around September-October. Nintendo Week was the longest-running advertising campaign by Nintendo, until it was surpassed by Nintendo Minute. The series had a spiritual successor, Nintendo Show 3D, hosted by Jessie Cantrell, which premiered in 2011 and aired on the Nintendo 3DS eShop,^[5] though it would be cancelled on March 28, 2013.^[8][9]

Production

Nintendo Week was co-created by Evan Baily, who served as executive producer and showrunner for its entire run, as well as director of more than 40 episodes. Baily established the series' studio and production workflow, and was responsible for recruiting and overseeing a full-time staff of 15, as well as on-screen talent and crew.^[2] The series was produced by Popular Arts Entertainment Inc.^[1][10][11] and filmed in New York City.^{[12][13][14][15]} Cinematographer Mark Hubatsek of Cinnabar Pictures also served as a producer^[16][17][18] and a director,^[19] with Paul Kropfl serving as the show's production coordinator from 2011 to 2012.^[10][11] Sound was done by freelance sound technician Topher Reifeiss, starting in 2010.^[20] Derek Lieu served as an editor from August 2011 to January 2012,^[15][21] while Joel Friedrich served as assistant editor from April 2011 to March 2012.^[12][22] Hannah Neufeld served as an editor.^[19]

The Flipnote Studio animation of the shapeshifting animal, which was Alison's Flipnote in the September 14, 2009 episode, was animated by artist Dayna Gonzales of Jumping Tadpole Productions LLC.^[23]

Cast and characters

• Gary (portrayed by Gary Culig^[1]) — Gary is the main host of Nintendo Week, alongside Alison. He loves to wear plaid shirts and is frequently teased by Alison. He created a Flipnote titled "Sad Guitarist" and posted it on the Flipnote Hatena website (flipnote.hatena.com) for everyone to see. He and Alison go on many gaming-related adventures throughout the series.
• Alison (portrayed by Alison Whitney^[3]) — Alison is the main hosts alongside Gary. She made a Flipnote simply titled "Alison's Flipnote" and uploaded it to flipnote.hatena.com. She has a boutique in the game Style Savvy and it is unknown if it is still running. Alison left the show on during the February 2, 2012 episode, shortly before the series' cancellation. Alison left the studio by telling her alien commander Zorblort that she was ready, leaving Dark Gary shocked by the fact that Alison was an alien the whole time. Dark Gary replaced Alison's role following her departure.
• Dark Gary (portrayed by Gary Culig^[1]) — Dark Gary is Gary's evil twin brother. He added onto Gary's Flipnote and retitled it "Sad Guitarist 2", and uploaded it onto flipnote.hatena.com. More toward the beginning of the series, it seemed Gary and Alison couldn't stand him being around, and in the Thanksgiving episode, he gave the turkey to a wizard so Alison and Gary kicked him out. He had tried to steal Alison's copy of Style Savvy, but she grabbed it back. Later in that same episode, when Gary and Alison were giving thanks, they admitted that they were thankful for him. During the 2009 Christmas special, Gary gets visited by the Ghost of Gaming Past (who showed Virtual Console), the Ghost of Gaming Present (who showed the main game for that week), and the Ghost of Gaming Future (Who showed upcoming releases). There were many other random appearances within certain episodes such as a zombie on Halloween, a wizard on Nov. 30th, and many other characters who had one-time appearances.

Episodes

Main article: List of Nintendo Week episodes

Special events

• Nintendo Week exclusively announced the WiiWare video game Excitebike: World Rally in the October 26, 2009 episode.^[24]
• Gary and Dark Gary posted their own Flipnotes in Flipnote Studio, both of which are seen in the show. Both feature the Sad Guitarist, a sketch done by Gary where a guitarist plays his guitar saying "Rock and roll!", then looks sad without the guitar and says "I'm sad...". Gary's version ended simply at that, but Dark Gary's version adds another figure bringing over the guitar while saying "I found your guitar! Oh, butterfingers!" as he drops and breaks the guitar, followed by the Sad Guitarist's comical Big "NO!".
• Gary and Alison made microgames in WarioWare: D.I.Y., the former's based on tapping a wall to reveal the chicken man who wrecked their house, titled "SayThatAgain," and the latter's based on selecting which hat (Dark Gary's) stole her lunch, which could be played by other players.
• In the November 2, 2009 and November 9, 2009 episodes, Shigeru Miyamoto appeared to discuss New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
• Gary and Alison were present at the Nintendo World Store launch event for New Super Mario Bros. Wii on November 15, 2009, where fans could meet them.^[25]
• In the January 11, 2010 episode, Alison interviewed the manager of Nintendo of America about Glory of Heracles.
• In the July 5, 2010 episode, Gary and Alison devoted the entire episode to covering Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies.

Trivia

• Series co-creator Evan Baily would later write, produce, and direct the Nintendo Video original series Threediots at Consolidated Baily Inc.^[2]

• Both Nintendo Week and Nintendo Show 3D were produced by cinematographer Mark Hubatsek of Cinnabar Pictures.^[26][27][17]
  • Hubatsek would later serve as director of photography for the Nintendo Video original series Threediots.
• Paul Kropfl, who served as the show's production coordinator from 2011 to 2012, would later serve as production manager for the Nintendo Video original series Threediots.^[10][11]

External links

• Nintendo Week wiki
• Nintendo Week at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (archived)

References