w00t! I got a Nintendo Switch Icon Element!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I'm happy, and no one can take that away from me. (...Right?)

You may remember two weeks ago I wrote an article complaining about how my brothers got Nintendo Switch icon elements—the Switch's most exciting new feature of 2022—from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe set (exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers) but I did not get any such icon elements. (Neither did my sister, Wendy.)

As of last night, Nintendo listened to and directly addressed my complaints and has now implemented a brand-new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe set of five icon element waves to go on until September 5. Nintendo is saying that this is to promote the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC, but it's not a separate set from the first set of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe icon elements featuring the other Koopalings. One of the annoying things about icon elements is that you cannot mix and match them between different series—you can't use a background from Kirby and the Forgotten Land with a character image from Xenoblade Chronicles 3. But this new set of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe icons is compatible with the old set with the other Koopalings (and several other characters).

Anyway, to my utter joy, wave 1 of this August set has an icon element of... me! Yeah, it's not a whole scene like Morton's, Iggy's, or Roy's, but I think that's better in terms of fitting with a background.

Look! It's me!
Plus a generic Koopa shell, which is good for letting people know I'm taking a nap.
...And the Eiffel Tower as a background photo.
(Maybe I need to increase the brightness on my camera.)

This probably means that I'm going to be all set in terms of my Nintendo Switch profile picture's design. The background or frame might end up changing, or maybe I might get a SECOND icon element (hey, Link and Mario have a bunch). But I'm content with this feature. ...I'm sure Wendy O. Koopa will get an icon element within this month as well! Right?!

Ludwig likes purple and King Bowser's Castle,
but maybe a more visible background image might be better if it becomes available. (Not the Eiffel Tower.)
And maybe he might want to use a more fancy non-solid-colour frame if there's a good one for download.

I'm just hoping that we get to keep these icons and Nintendo won't take them away for whatever reason. (According to Nintendo, even if your Nintendo Switch Online membership expires, you will still be able to keep the icons.) I worked hard to make this happen. The life lesson here is that sometimes, when you ask for something of a multinational corporation, you actually can get that something. So don't be afraid to share your thoughts!


What's your number one dream icon element? Let KoopaTV know in the comments section below! ...And if you see that image above and decide you are going to send Ludwig a friend request, you should let him know you're doing that in the comments section, because he probably has to delete someone else from his friend list to make room for you, given that he's at the Switch's cap on the number of friends. Unsolicited requests aren't welcome requests.


Ludwig temporarily changed his Nintendo Switch profile picture to Emblem Micaiah when she got an icon element.