As Zelda gets zilch for 40th birthday, former PR leads say Nintendo's approach to anniversaries is very different from The Pokemon Company's: "It's like this way of life"

The 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda is this month, but you wouldn't know it from Nintendo's reaction (or lack thereof) – a sad reality for the decades-old franchise, but not one that applies to every game series from the company.

Pokemon serves as a good example here, with celebrations already practically rolling out for the 30th anniversary of the beloved creature collector series. I mean, just look at these special themed logos in honor of its birthday – one that marks 10 years less than Zelda boasts. Why is that, though?

According to former Nintendo PR managers Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang (respectively, former director of social media marketing and original content, and senior manager of creator relations and original content at Nintendo of America), it all boils down to how differently The Pokemon Company handles anniversaries. "Pokemon's approach is just so different," Yang says in a recent podcast episode on YouTube.

Pokemon’s 30th Anniversary is About to Change Everything - EP210 Kit & Krysta Podcast - YouTube

Watch On

"Nintendo's approach to anniversaries is always, 'If it so happens that a game is launching the same year as an anniversary, sure, we'll do a thing. We'll tie it to it, whatever' – but Pokemon's truly the other way around, where they do a lot of cultural things to celebrate anniversaries. We saw it with the 25th anniversary. We're seeing it play out in real time with the 30th anniversary."

She continues, explaining that "they really understand that Pokemon goes beyond just the game, just the trading cards, just the anime, just the movies… It's like this way of life." The franchise "is in every aspect of people's lives."

As Yang puts it, "It's like this big cultural lifestyle phenomenon." According to the PR veteran, The Pokemon Company acknowledges this and applies it to its approach to anniversaries.

"It's like, 'Yeah, we're going to be everywhere because Pokemon is everywhere.'" On the other hand, Nintendo deals with big birthdays on a far more casual basis. "They're like, 'Oh, yeah… If a game happens to launch, we'll slot it into this anniversary."

That checks out, considering the fact that it's pretty much precisely how the Breath of the Wild release went. Sadly, though, there aren't even new games to look forward to this year, it seems.

Even though Zelda is arguably one of the most influential video game series of all time, fans are spending this month sadposting on forums like Reddit about how it didn't "have even a small celebration" made in honor of it. Meanwhile, Pokemon is… well, Pokemoning.

Longtime Zelda producer says "the hardware evolution" lifts "restrictions" but, more importantly, "greatly influences the game design."