I played Nintendo Switch with a stranger on a plane

I never thought it could happen to me, but it did … I somehow ended up in a Nintendo commercial in real life. On my flight home from E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo game event in Los Angeles), I ended up talking with the person sitting next to me because she saw me playing Nintendo’s hybrid Switch home/handheld console. She asked enough questions about it that I eventually set it up for us to play some games together.

After peeling off the Joy-Cons and handing one to my United Airlines neighbor, I set up the Switch with its kickstand on my tray table. We then played Snipperclips and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the last hour of the flight. It was a great way to pass the time, but I was laughing to myself because the entire situation felt like Nintendo marketing. In October, Nintendo launched its first-look video for the Switch where the company focused heavily on young, hip people gathering around the small device in public places for quick gaming sessions. I was … cynical that anything like that would ever happen, and so it was absurd that I ended up in a moment that felt like Nintendo’s marketing team scripted themselves.