November 04, 2019
Nicole Mazza ’14 brings her creative writing degree to Nintendo Entertainment
By Vicki-Ann Downing
Nicole Mazza ’14 is a lead, localization writer-editor at Nintendo of America’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., just outside Seattle. She works with writers on the mobile game team to make sure the language reflects what is in the source Japanese text and that voices of characters are authentic and match the Nintendo style.
Mazza was a creative writing major and a writing tutor in the Office of Academic Services at PC. She worked for 18 months as a writing intern at Disney Interactive Studios in Salt Lake City before joining Nintendo in August 2016. She works on games for smart devices, such as Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Dr. Mario World.
“Several contract writers now report to me,” Mazza said. “It reminds me of my tutoring job, which I really loved. They bring me their writing and I work with them to improve it, to get the Nintendo style down, to make sure we are getting the right message across, and to be certain the characters are in the right voice. I apply what I did in college. I never thought there would be such a match for what I studied.”
Every other month, Mazza travels to a studio in Vancouver to oversee voice recording for the game Dragalia Lost. She even contributed her own, as the voice of a villager.
She also attends trade shows, such as Comic-Con in San Diego, and participates in service projects through employee resource groups. During her lunch hour for three weeks during the summer, she volunteered at a camp offered through the Girls Make Games organization, which helps girls ages 8-17 create their own video games and encourages careers in technology.
When she demonstrated new video games at Comic-Con, she drew a crowd of young men and women.
“It made me happy to see that mix,” she said.
After graduation, Mazza was unsure which of her many career interests to follow. Because she enjoyed being a writing tutor, she decided to work as a graduate assistant in academic services while studying for a master of education degree in counseling. But after a semester, she was restless and knew she needed a change.
“Writing was my passion, and I didn’t want to be in school anymore,” Mazza said. “So my advice to others is: Don’t be afraid to realize, after you graduate college, that something you’ve started is not for you. Life is about trial and error. There’s always another option.”
Mazza began applying for writing jobs and found the paid internship at Disney Interactive, where she wrote scripts and texts for video games, including Disney Infinity, for translation into six languages.
“It was a dream come true because I was a Disney fan growing up,” Mazza said. “I was writing for characters I loved as a kid: the Alice in Wonderland characters, including the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp’s character, and Time, which Sacha Baron Cohen played; Baloo in The Jungle Book; and some Star Wars characters.”
Mazza is from Cumberland, R.I., and had never lived outside the state, so she welcomed a change in location.
“It was another reason I knew I needed to do something else,” Mazza said. “They could have told me the job was in Siberia and I would have packed a parka and gone there. I wanted to go somewhere new and experience something different. Salt Lake City is surrounded by mountains. There were hiking trails behind my house.”
A “lapsed gamer” when she joined Nintendo, Mazza enjoys playing games on her Nintendo Switch.
“When you work on developing these games and the technology that goes into them, and then you see them in real life, you get excited,” she said.
In June, during the Electronic Entertainment Expo known as E3, Mazza attended the Nintendo World Championships for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2. The theatre in Los Angeles was filled to capacity to watch players compete from around the world.
“Video games are a way to take yourself out of the world you are in and place yourself in a different reality,” Mazza said. “There are so many creative opportunities. Five or six years ago, esports wasn’t a thing. People got together in dorm rooms to play. If you had told me PC would one day have esports teams, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
