Former Nintendo Staff Recall the Musk Wario Sketch That Didn't Land

Saturday Night Live has added the November showdown between Grand Theft Auto 6 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake to its list of targets. The sketch riffs on the idea that two heavyweight releases landing in the same window leave players with an impossible choice, and it lands the joke the way the show usually does: fast, broad, and aimed at the gaming crowd that has spent months arguing about release dates online.

The sketch has also pulled a older story back into view. Two former Nintendo employees have spoken about a previous SNL segment that featured Elon Musk in a Wario bit, and they describe the reaction inside the company as decidedly cool. Their account is that the skit did not sit well with people at Nintendo, which has long been protective of how its characters and brand are presented, especially when a famous outside personality is folded into one of its franchises for a laugh.

It is worth keeping the two stories separate. The GTA 6 and Zelda joke is a comedy bit about release calendars, a theme that plenty of players and critics have already chewed over. The Musk and Wario recollections are more unusual because they offer a rare look at how a studio that rarely comments publicly can react to a parody of its own IP. Former staff speaking after the fact are not an official statement from Nintendo, so the reaction should be read as one perspective rather than a company position.

For players, the practical takeaway is simpler. Two of the most anticipated titles in the market are heading toward the same stretch of the calendar, and that collision is now being discussed on mainstream late-night television, not only in gaming forums. Whether the joke sticks or fades, it is a reminder of how much attention a release window can draw, well beyond the games' own communities.