Nintendo Switch Calculator

About

Nintendo Switch Calculator refers to a calculator app for the Nintendo Switch gaming console that was released on May 12th, 2021. The app became the subject of jokes on social media, mainly due to it not being a game and its price at $10 compared to free alternatives for smartphones and PCs.

Origin

On May 11th, 2021, Nintendo Everything^[1] reported that a calculator app for Nintendo Switch developed by Sabec and named simply "Calculator" was releasing in the Nintendo eShop^[2] on May 12th. On the same day, Nintendo Everything tweeted the article, with the tweet gaining over 3,600 retweets, 3,100 quote tweets and 19,600 likes in one day (shown below). On May 12th, the app was then released.

Spread

The viral spread of the news on Twitter was followed by jokes and memes about the upcoming app. On May 11th, content creator DitzyFlama tweeted^[3] a clip from The Amazing Word of Gumball, writing "game journalists when they review calculator on the switch." The post received over 5,800 retweets and 24,200 likes in one day (shown below).

On the same day, multiple users on Twitter made posts about the app, including jokes about speedrunning and streaming the app.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References