“That was not received well at Nintendo” – as GTA 6 and Zelda are lampooned by Saturday Night Live, former employees recall Elon Musk Wario skit controversy

As American comedy series Saturday Night Live airs a sketch lampooning the November showdown between Grand Theft Auto 6 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, a pair of former Nintendo employees have recalled a more infamous SNL sketch from years earlier that did not go down well at all.

The older SNL sketch had controversial billionaire businessman Elon Musk dress as Nintendo character Wario, on trial for being evil, ironically enough. During the trial there were mentions of Mario taking drugs, blurred out Luigi dick pics, all while Wario-Musk tried to convince the courtroom he was misunderstood.

“That did not go over well,” Krysta Yang said on the Kit and Krysta podcast

(via Techradar). Yang was a former host of Nintendo Minute with Kit Ellis – the eponymous Kit in the podcast’s title – and both worked within Nintendo for more than 10 years.

“We were still there for that,” Ellis added. “That was one that was not beloved by the people … That was not received well at Nintendo,” Yang echoed..

Ellis said the Wario sketch came out of “leftfield” because it wasn’t obviously tethered to anything, as there wasn’t a Mario or Wario game releasing at that time. “Why is Elon Musk Wario?” Ellis recalled people wondering. “Some of the stuff was getting into subject matter that was uncomfortable for Nintendo.”

Nintendo had nothing to do with the sketch, the pair insisted, “But there is a lot of contact between Nintendo and the producers of SNL, [and] these other late night shows. There are people who are very focused on that segment in particular within the communications team at Nintendo, making sure that they get games when they come out, that they have access to information.”

In the most recent Zelda vs. GTA 6 sketch, Link and Jason – main characters in their respective games – argue about whose game is best. Yang and Ellis praised Link’s costume – “This seemed to be custom-made to the remake,” Ellis said – but the pair were more muted on the skit itself. “I thought this was generally fine,” Yang said. “I wasn’t rolling on the floor laughing or anything like that. There were some moments where it’s a little cringey.”

The Ocarina of Time remake was shown in some detail in September, ahead of its 5th November release. The game’s art style has been updated considerably, which has been a topic of much debate, but there are changes to performance and to the ways the game works, as well. It’s a notable undertaking.

Meanwhile, GTA 6 looms large for its 19th November release.