Nintendo fan sparks safety fears at US university

A California Nintendo fan has sparked major safety fears at his university after receiving a “bad joke” email aimed at having his classes canceled so they could watch the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast.

The California State University Police Department has one today opinion on the perceived threat after a professor was told via anonymous email to cancel his classes due to a “unique event” coming up.

In early 2023, another spate of mass shootings erupted across the United States, with eight incidents in January alone resulting in at least four deaths. Most of these shootings took place in California, including the Monterey Park mass shooting that killed 12 and garnered worldwide media attention.

Police eventually linked the timing of the threat to Nintendo’s own announcement that it would host a live broadcast at 2pm Pacific time (10pm UK time) today, which is expected to show more of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and other Switch games becomes .

After the alarm went off, “the perpetrator emailed the professor and admitted it was a bad joke regarding the Nintendo Direct event,” California State University police wrote.

Additional officers will be patrolling the university campus today as a reassurance after the threat was made public.