Super Mario Odyssey – yeah, Mario, us too (pic: Nintendo)



An investigation into a threatening email has agreed that it was a ‘bad joke’ from someone who’s just excited about the Nintendo Direct.



It’s one thing to be excited for a new Nintendo Direct, but have you ever been so excited for one that you had the police knocking at your door?



This appears to be what happened to one Californian student, after they emailed their university professor asking them to cancel an upcoming class so they could instead watch tonight’s Nintendo Direct .



We don’t blame them for being excited enough to want to skip class, when the Direct is expected to unveil more of Nintendo’s rather barren 2023 line-up and new footage for The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom , but their email was perceived as less of a request and more of a threat.



In a statement by California State University, Fullerton’s police department, it’s explained that the email never explicitly mentioned the Nintendo Direct by name.



Instead, the student (who has been left unidentified) only referenced a ‘once-in-a-lifetime event’ that would occur on Wednesday, February 8.



The police deduced this event was the Nintendo Direct in question since it matched the date and time of the class the student suggested be cancelled. The student also wrote that the class should be cancelled for ‘the good of humanity.’



Ignoring how Nintendo Directs are not once-in-a-lifetime events and happen with some regularity, it’s easy to see why such excessive language would prompt concerns, especially given how common mass shootings are in the US.



There have already been nine reported incidents since the beginning of February, two of which were in California. This is the same state where January’s Chinese New Year shooting took place as well.



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Fortunately, things didn’t escalate any further, with the student having now contacted their professor to say that their email was just a ‘bad joke.’



Regardless, just to be on the safe side, extra precautions will be taken around the university’s campus, with additional officers set to patrol the university’s campus grounds.





Message from Acting Chief Scot Willey regarding perceived threat to @csuf . pic.twitter.com/RyDbTqfxt9 — CSUF Police Department (@csufpd) February 8, 2023





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