The Nintendo Society is where friendships are made... and blue-shelled
Press 'A' for a side quest that'll guarantee good vibes, hangs and unresolved Mario Kart beef.
Published on the 18 August 2026
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What exactly is the UNSW Nintendo Society?
The lush greens and vast expanse of Hyrule. Buying a property on a desert island from Tom Nook. Chucking fireballs at Bowser. Getting hit by a blue shell while in the lead of a Mario Kart race.
Even if you're not a 'gamer' per se, chances are you've been roped into the Nintendo gaming ecosystem at some point in your life. Given how large of an impact the big N has had on pop culture over the last few decades, you'd think that the UNSW Nintendo Society would be one of the oldest clubs around.
As it turns out, it is in fact one of the newest.
"It was actually started last year [in 2025] by the exec team before us, so [2026] is the second year of Nintendo Soc's existence," explains Kieran Grebert, a Physics and Electrical Engineering student and the society's Co-President.
While the love for all things Nintendo was certainly a factor in the creation of this society, its origins were primarily rooted in creating an inclusive space for all to join. The first Co-President of Nintendo Soc, Callum Smith, conducted an unofficial study titled A Look into the Representation in the UNSW Gaming Community and found that while women make up about half of all gamers, women make up no more than 25 per cent of any key aspect of UNSW gaming societies, of which there are at least 20.
As Kieran explains further: "The previous Nintendo Soc execs looked around at all the other UNSW gaming societies and [found that] they're all quite competitive and very male-dominated. [Many] people weren't finding it easy to join a [gaming] society to casually game and feel included.
"Looking at the proportion of men to women in each of the [UNSW gaming] societies, you'd see that there were no new women joining.
"Nintendo Soc aims to combat that and create an inclusive space where people can join regardless of gender."
Kieran Grebert
UNSW Nintendo Society Co-President
"Looking at the proportion of men to women in each of the societies, you'd see that no new women were joining. In the executive positions and director positions, you'd also see a similar trend. So Nintendo Soc aims to combat that and create an inclusive space where people can join regardless of gender."
Nintendo Soc Co-President and Medical Science student, Aleena Kazi, notes that Nintendo as a brand mixes traditional views with an 'open to all' approach. As such, the Exec team was able to find a space within that to really lean into the inclusivity angle for the society.
"Animal Crossing was one of the first instances where marketing to women and having a female-led team was proven to be a success, so [we're] just trying to recreate that space," explains Aleena. "We're using Nintendo as a platform to project what we want to see in gaming. That's why our marketing, how we present our society and how we run our events are specifically catered towards that."
Kieran laughs: "There's a lot of pink!"
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The goal of creating an open and inclusive space for all who enjoy gaming, Nintendo or otherwise, had an almost immediate impact within the UNSW student community. In the year or so of Nintendo Soc's existence (at the time of this article's writing), there are about 350 members, with a solid 40 to 50 people who regularly show up to meet-ups.
Aleena attributes this to several factors: "We had a really good growth [in 2025]. It was quite extraordinary how fast we grew because [we] have that unique aspect where [Nintendo] is something people know immediately [and] see it in pink [and] not your usual red or other [regular] colours.
"We decorated like an artist alley stall, which created a different atmosphere immediately. Then we had the Club of the Week highlight from Arc and the Switch 2 coming out, [it was] just a lot of eyes on us."
Being a casual gaming society has also meant members from existing UNSW gaming societies migrating over, whether it's for competitive gaming sessions or to just hang out.
"We're definitely not the only 'casual' society [but] I think we're the only one that presents our brand as 'casual' as one of our main features," says Amber Dong, Nintendo Soc's Secretary and a Computer Science student.
"[Nintendo Soc] has the advantage in the sense that for people who are super competitive and like, say, competitive Super Smash Bros. for example, there is a Super Smash Bros. area you can go to and engage with that. Casual gamers have their own place as well.
"The games that we play, anyone can play. At our weekly meetups, we try and prioritise multiplayer and group games."
Aleena Kazi
UNSW Nintendo Society Co-President
As a result of this large melting pot of gaming-related interests combined with an easygoing vibe, it's perhaps no surprise at all that Nintendo Soc grew exponentially and is so popular. What's particularly pleasing is how it has succeeded in having a member base that's equally split between men and women.
"[The gender split] is around 50-50 based on the events. Sometimes more females turn up, and sometimes more males turn up, but if you average it out it's about even," says Kieran.
Aleena says that the diversity extends all the way up to the Exec team: "We have 15 [Directors and Execs] with a majority of them female, and we have quite a few who are queer or gender fluid."
So for those interested in joining Nintendo Soc, what can they expect from the member base? In short, a wide range of ages and backgrounds.
"We try and have diversity in year groups, ages and backgrounds as well," says Aleena. "Our society is still quite new, which means the people that show up are quite new."
Women's and Welfare Officer and Fine Arts (Music) student, Lorraine Shen, expands on this: "We do attract a lot of first years and second years, but we have some third years. We also have some post-grad students as well."
For those who may not be a 'gamer', you may be surprised to find that there are quite a few people who skip video games in favour of other activities or socialising. What Nintendo Soc has become is a pseudo-third space for people who just want a spot to relax.
"We found that a lot of people don't play the games anymore; this has become a third space for them," says Aleena. "Places like the art table, people just love sitting there and chatting, or playing board games and chatting. Games are just one aspect of our kind of thing."
Kieran concurs: "That's a major change I've seen from 2025 to 2026. As the members have become more comfortable and know each other more, a lot of them are gravitating more towards the art and board games tables."
40 to 50 people turn up to each Nintendo Soc meet up, which shows a strong sense of community... and love of playing games.
Thank you, Mario! But our events and hangouts are at another castle!
Since this is the 'Nintendo' society, you would expect games to be played regularly... and you'd be right, actually. Every Monday afternoon, members meet up to play video games and just hang out.
Kieran says: "We have a bunch of monitors around the room [with] mostly multiplayer games set up, and we usually have a craft table and a board games table as well."
To keep things engaging, these weekly Monday meet-ups are typically themed, with the spotlight shining on a different game or theme, such as Zelda, Xenoblade and Pride Month.
"We try to mix it up and have a bunch of different things people can do. Every week we spotlight a different kind of game.
"One week we did a Zelda spotlight, another week we did a Xenoblade spotlight. Another week we did a spotlight on women in gaming in general and Pride Month for another week."
Kieran Grebert
UNSW Nintendo Society Co-President
Outside of the main Monday meet-up, there are typically events every fortnight or so that go beyond the usual video game-playing rhythm.
"Every two or three weeks, we have another more specific event that people can come to. For instance, we did a Kirby murder mystery," says Lorraine. "It's about having a different environment [and] not just sitting down and playing the video games."
The extra advantage of being anchored to a brand as broad as Nintendo is the many opportunities to crossover with similarly themed UNSW societies and therefore expand each respective member base.
"We cross over directly with Pokemon Society and Smash Society, and had events with them," says Amber. "We just cover everything, so if anything comes up, we will always confer with the relevant society."
The 'cover everything' isn't an exaggeration either, as there's always something within the Nintendo canon that could be linked to another UNSW society for a potential collaboration.
"[In 2025] we collaborated with SanrioSoc, and we did a clay charm-making class," recalls Aleena. "We also had a charity event with DogSoc that was a bake sale for charities like Guide Dogs Australia [because] there's the Nintendogs link."
Needless to say, Nintendo Soc is quite the buzzy place to be for people who just want to chill in a relaxed space with like-minded people who welcome anyone and everyone. This open-armed approach to running the society has resulted in a surprising level of investment from members according to the Exec team.
"What was most surprising to me was how many people were so genuinely drawn to the concept of our society," says Aleena. "We intentionally try to be casual and appeal to more diverse audiences, not just men. People really appreciate that, and they like the effort we put in to show it as well."
Women in Gaming campaign and Nintendo Soc future plans
With diversity and openness as the foundation on which Nintendo Soc was founded, combined with the findings of the unofficial representation study of UNSW gaming societies, the first Exec made a conscious effort to ensure a majority of its team was female. This is also why the society's constitution has enshrined a rule that there be two Co-Presidents, at least one of whom has to be female.
To ensure that women are fairly represented within the UNSW gaming community, the Women in Gaming initiative within Nintendo Soc was formed and is led by Lorraine. But instead of doing big splashy campaigns, the initiative's impact is woven more subtly across everything the society does.
"We don't have specific events centred towards Women in Gaming; we try to incorporate things into every [event]," explains Lorraine. "For example, if we have a poster with characters on it, we're going to try and make a majority of them female. It's just doing little things that build up [over time] towards normalisation."
That normalisation of having more women in gaming forms part of what the Exec team want to do as part of their plans for Nintendo Soc. Having set the bar insanely high during the society's first year of existence - winning three awards at the Arc Club Awards in 2025 - the team are not resting on their laurels when it comes to making the community they've built into the best thing it can be.
"We want to have a bigger impact with the Women in Gaming initiative, make the events we have the best we can and a few more collaboration events," says Aleena.
Kieran adds: "Something we're trying to do is make our events more accessible to new members. You look at a lot of other societies and [people] feel like they don't know if they can join if there's an already established clique. We want to create a [safe] space where new people can feel comfortable to come in and that's one of the main things we're aiming for."
"I want to encourage UNSW societies to really try and cater towards women, because when you do, that creates a path for other people as well.
"You're creating paths not just for women, who are 50 per cent of the population, but for other people in general. Just extending your hand out is already doing something that encourages more people to come in."
Aleena Kazi
UNSW Nintendo Society Co-President
What members say about Nintendo Soc
To get a fuller picture of what the UNSW Nintendo Society experience is like, we also asked some members to share some quick thoughts with Student News.
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- Anonymous #2 (Design/Media): "IDK😭 Probably that it’s free? I didn’t realise some other clubs needed money..."
- Aria (Business): "I feel like people fail to realise that despite the gaming community being male-dominated, Nintendo Society constantly strives to welcome people outside that community, such as women and LGBTQI+ people."
- Ryan (Data Science): "You don't really need to be into the games, we show [up] at Mii Meetups and other events to have fun!"
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- Anonymous #1 (Education): "I expected events typical of a hobby society like casual meet-ups, competitions and creative events. I also expected a slightly more welcoming and inclusive atmosphere than other societies. These expectations have been met!"
- Anonymous #2 (Design/Media): "I expected games and to make friends hopefully. And yeah, I think I achieved both things lol. I play a bunch of games or draw and talk to people who I’d like to call my friends :D."
- Aria (Business): "Before joining Nintendo Society and even at first thought, I thought the society would be catering to one gender rather than be welcoming to all different communities and minorities. However, I was instantly proved wrong when I realised that Nintendo Society's goal was to be more inviting towards more communities and minorities despite gaming communities being male-dominated."
- Trenton (Computer Science): "The society turned out to be a lot more relaxed and casual than I was expecting; all societies seem a bit intimidating at first."
- Ryan (Data Science): "Several of the people I talk to most from this society are not actually as well-versed in general Nintendo games as I initially expected. Instead, they are typically fans of one specific franchise or just generally have a casual interest in playing the most popular titles. While this may sound like a 'bad thing', I actually really enjoy this aspect of the community because it first of all allows me to get into franchises I never would have considered prior through conversations with these people (e.g. I got into Hollow Knight Silksong partially because of the hype around it from my friends in the society), and it taught me that I could become friends with new people that I don't have much in common with if our personalities are a good match, if you know what I mean."
- Shay (2D Animation): "To be honest, I fully expected it to just be a place where you play video games competitively; however, it's much more than that! Such a nice environment, and it's really nice to have a place for casual gaming."
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- Anonymous #1 (Education): "Friends!"
- Anonymous #2 (Design/Media): "Haven’t actively tried to make a friend for years (trash at socialisation 😭) so seeing how most people here are introverts, I stepped up! Making the first move for once LMAO!"
- Aria (Business): "Something I did not expect to gain while being a part of Nintendo Society is a bunch of great memories. For instance, my first ever Miitup, playing Jenga, watching other people play Overcooked and drawing a bunch of characters on the whiteboard with others."
- Trenton (Computer Science): "Since joining the [Exec] team, I've had to dip my toes into a lot of skill sets that I don't think I would have otherwise, doing some social media marketing and helping with planning events and merchandise. It's definitely given me a place to try new things in a supportive team where I can learn from others and see my work have an impact."
- Ryan (Data Science): "Idk how else to say this, but I feel like I've just become funnier from regularly being able to talk to others through the Discord server and at events. So much dumb stuff happens that I always feel comfortable saying the most ridiculous stuff I can!"
- Shay (2D Animation): "I'm someone who's an introvert, so I was really nervous about the meetups, but over time I've become much more social and confident, and have been able to make loads of new friends!"
- Anonymous #1 (Education): "Friends!"
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- Anonymous #2 (Design/Media): "Probably the Moo takeover for April Fools, that was funny!"
- Aria (Business): "The most chaotic moment within the society definitely has to be during the weekly Mii Meetup events and how chaotic each game of Overcooked would be."
- Ryan (Data Science): "There was a point in a Mii Meetup when we were playing a board game where players had to submit one-word hints towards a word that someone had to guess, and at one point the word was 'explosion'. So I coordinated with two other players to say 'FIVE BIG BOOMS! (BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM)', which you're not supposed to do, but it was late so we did it anyway, which eventually just took me out so hard I got stitches from laughing tbh."
- Shay (2D Animation): "Most chaotic moment had to be the sudden disappearance of Kirby leading up to the murder mystery. Link's sudden shine on the society with Kirby announced as dead has caused many to be gaslit, and theories have been made as to what exactly happened to the pink mascot we know and love! There was a time when pink fabric from the Kirby mascot was brought as an ARTS AND CRAFT. So so evil... Eventually we had the murder mystery which finally allowed us to bring justice to Kirby!"
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- Anonymous #1 (Education)
- Favourite: "The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood."
- Underrated: "The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood!"
- Overrated: "Fire Emblem..."
- Anonymous #2 (Design/Media)
- Favourite: "Splatoon, currently."
- Underrated: "Does Splatoon western scene count...?"
- Overrated: "Minecraft Hypixel Skyblock 😭 idfk."
- Aria (Business)
- Favourite: "Overcooked 2."
- Underrated: "All the games I play are unfortunately overrated..."
- Overrated: "Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream."
- Ryan (Data Science)
- Favourite: "Pikmin 4."
- Underrated: "The Henry Stickmin Collection."
- Overrated: "There's no such thing as an overrated game, everyone likes different things for different reaso - Brawl Stars."
- Shay (2D Animation)
- Favourite: "Pokemon! Sonic! Undertale and Deltarune! I'm so indecisive!"
- Underrated: "Oneshot! It's so good #pleaseplayitpleaseplease"
- Overrated: "I fear that I may start a war if I answer that..."
- Anonymous #1 (Education)
All interview quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
Last edited on 11 August 2026
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