A word from my buddy Jay

Hey , My name’s Jay, and I’m a longtime subscriber of Switch Weekly, a games writer myself, and a passionate Switch owner since day one.

Chris is on holiday this week — so although there’s no usual issue this week, he’s kindly given me the keys to the newsletter to say a few words. Stay a while, and listen .

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I remember the giddiness that bubbled up in me when I saw the UPS truck pull up on March 3, 2017: The Nintendo Switch’s momentous launch date, and one day before my birthday.

I’d taken the day off work, so I could set it up and play as soon as it arrived. Not even two minutes into playing Breath of the Wild I had a feeling that this was the start of something special. The next day during an Uber ride, I got out the Switch and played it some more, removing all doubt in my mind — this really was a beautiful thing, indeed.

My very first memory is of me unwrapping an NES my parents gave me when I was four years old.

I’d always loved games, and gaming. But along the way, life started creeping into my gaming. First came university, then a career, and finally a family. I just did not have enough time to invest into my hobby, and I slowly lost more and more touch with videogames the older I got.

Until of course that fateful afternoon when I took my Switch out of its box, with a giddiness to make my four-year-old self proud — it all came full circle. After years of life coming into my gaming, at long last, gaming had finally come back into my life.

Five years later playing my Switch is just as joyful as it was all those moons ago. In the half-decade since launch, Nintendo’s brave little console has become an irreplaceable fixture in my life.

I no longer dread commuting, I actually enjoy long flights now, and I don’t mind waiting in lines anymore. Breath of the Wild gave me hope and helped me keep my sanity during my newborn daughter’s extended stint in three different ICUs and two open-heart surgeries. Animal Crossing: New Horizons gave my life structure, solace, and social contact during the Covid-era — and as my daughter’s grown older, we’ve been increasingly bonding over Mario Kart, 1-2 Switch, and now Nintendo Switch Sports.

These experiences with my Switch (and more) eventually inspired me to become a games writer myself — and as such I launched my own gaming newsletter, ‘Game & Word’, a few months ago. Not only have I seen an amazing response and received wonderful feedback, it’s also given me an even greater appreciation for this hobby, the games I love, and especially Nintendo’s current hardware masterpiece.

But even before I started writing about games, I’ve voraciously read about them as much as possible. Which is why I’ve always looked forward to seeing Switch Weekly land in my inbox every Sunday. And as if the newsletter itself wasn’t enough, at some point I joined Switch Weekly’s Discord server—and found a wonderful community of kindred souls who share my passion for these games and love to geek out over them as much as I do ( Chris tells me you just can hit reply to this email if you want a Discord invite ).

Chris, Switch Weekly, and the community have all helped me in many ways. Whether by sharing Switch-related articles I’d written, hosting the best Nintendo Direct watch parties on the internet, or helping me think through solutions to thorny issues—as much in gaming as in life.

So, to show my gratitude to this publication, and the people who make it as great as it is, I would love to give a little something in return.

My newsletter, Game & Word , is chock full of content that I know Switch Weekly readers will love. You can sign up here if you’d like to check it out — you’ll start getting my free weekly updates filled with original, quality content.

Here’s just some of the articles I’ve published this year:

• A breakdown of MOTHER 3’s deconstruction and a critique of the idea of “Utopia.”
• A look at Majora’s Mask through the lens of Jungian psychology.
• A detailed look at what Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag gets right about pirate history.
• An interview with an actual game economist about the similarities and differences between digital economies and “IRL” economies.
• And much more..

However, there’s also a little extra for you here. If you’d like to try a paid plan ( and get bonus content, be able to comment on podcast episodes, and receive early access to certain content — like guest posts ), then I’ve got a special link for you which will give you three months access (90 days) to my entire output.

Once that time is up, you’ll then continue with a monthly or annual subscription, you can revert to the free tier ( and still get to enjoy quality weekly content ), or cancel/unsubscribe entirely.

Just tap here to sign up and get your all-access sub!

Thank you very much for reading this note, thank you Chris for lending me the space to write it, and I hope you enjoy reading Game & Word as much as I enjoy writing it.

May the Triforce be with you, always.

Warmly, ✌️
~Jay Rooney
Publisher, Game & Word

🎮 P.S. — Chris will be back next week, with the full newsletter as usual. If you want to see what games are coming out over the next seven days, Switch Scores has the list you need .