Why The Internet Is Clowning On The OLED Switch Commercial

Though fans got excited over rumors of 4K resolution on a new Nintendo Switch console, the recently announced OLED model only managed to underwhelm consumers. Earlier this week, Nintendo released a new trailer to highlight the additional features of the OLED Switch, like its wired LAN port and expanded screen, and fans couldn't stop staring at one particular aspect of the ad.

The commercial showed people going about their lives and enjoying their new Switch, and while many some of the scenarios in the ad seemed unrealistic, none were so out of place as a man awkwardly sitting down to game in his hallway. After walking through the door to his home, the gamer throws his keys down on a table and promptly whips out his OLED Switch, sitting down on a bench in the foyer to play "Pokemon." Nintendo likely envisioned the scene as a testament to how people can't wait to play games after a long day of work, but the internet took the hallway gamer in a different direction. 

Over on Twitter, Gamepur editor Chris Compendio commented on the hallway gamer, calling the scene "the most absurd" part of the commercial. Compendio continued by drawing a connection to the other elaborate scenes Nintendo featured in the ad, saying, "Dude couldn't even wait until he was at his next rooftop party." Compendio isn't the only person to notice the unrealistic nature of gaming in the foyer, though, and many fans joined the conversation to speculate if the scene was a symbol for something more.

One viewer bluntly said what so many others were thinking, and noted, "This is absolutely code for 'taking a s***' but Nintendo are kind enough not to put a mirror to our shabby reality." Another commenter agreed that the scene was a coded symbol of the age old joy of taking the Switch into the bathroom, tweeting, "The posture, the colors, the light in the bathroom down the hallway, the white table placed so that it appears just below his butt..." In other words, plenty of fans think this particular scene resembles the aesthetics of a bathroom.

Other viewers chose to contemplate where the man came from or why he might be choosing to game in the hallway. One commenter imagined, "My head canon is that he just left therapy and it either went really well or really bad. He's gotta sit down and catch Pokémon now because it's a lot to process." Others wondered if the man was keeping his "Pokemon" addiction a secret from his wife and children, who might be situated elsewhere in the house.

Even if Nintendo didn't mean to start threads of deep conversation about a man playing the Switch in his hallway, at least the talk online garnered some interest in the OLED Switch.