Nintendo fires employee for speaking on Podcast.

[Misanthrope]

Saying they "can all fucking die" was a bit uncalled for.

 

Yeah I'm of course exaggerating. I don't wish a human being would die for their videogame industry job decisions if that's what you're getting at.

[Gogmazio]

 

Yeah I'm of course exaggerating. I don't wish a human being would die for their videogame industry job decisions if that's what you're getting at.

Some people do. 

[comicsansms]

That wasn't really bad things he said, but he shouldn't have said them.

[GoodBytes]

It has nothing to do with Nintendo. If you work to any large company, even medium ones, that is the policy.

And companies are very strict by it, and in some cases have 0 tolerance.

[Jimbillroo Digital]

Oh snap.

[dalekphalm]

Meh maybe am just a nice dude. so what, If a co-work speaks shit about me so damn what? We live on earth, people WILL AND ARE going to hate you period. Even if you are the nicest guy on the world people are going to hate you or dislike you.

That's not the point. Those people, those coworkers, they can keep their personal opinions to themselves, and hate me all they want. However, the moment they step into a public forum and start making negative comments about their superiors, that crosses the line in any business. How do you think the company would feel about you going onto a live stream, in front of potentially thousands of customers, and start smack talking one of the execs?

 

I'd fire him on the spot if I worked for Nintendo. If you work there, you're part of the public image of Nintendo, no matter what you say. What you say or do in your private time is your own business. The moment you go onto a Public Venue, your private life ceases to exist, and you're speaking for Nintendo, whether you intend it or not.

 

Of course there will be but you don't go around saying things that reflect poorly on your employer and the people they work with and expect not to lose your job if they find out. Have you never had a job where you were told not to make your employer look back or you're fired?

Exactly. Basically every standard corporate contract has a clause about speaking negatively about the company in public. That even includes social media posts like Facebook and Twitter. If you want to bitch about your employer, do it offline to your friends in private.

 

Sorry, it is NO SECRET that translating and transferring games costs money and that it may indeed not be worth the effort due to low sales in some market sectors (even if the fans can't accept that). I really hope that he wasn't fired for sharing such redundant insight.

No, he was likely fired because of the shit he talked about Sakurai.

[Shaade]

He's lucky he only got fired. If it were Apple or Microsoft (for example), I could see him being prosecuted too.

[Shaade]

I just really dislike their attitudes and arrogance of companies like Nintendo or Square that hold ransom many great games and just ruin shit with their "Gaijin last" attitude. 

 

...as opposed to what? Western developers who churn out re-skins every 6 months and ransom half their game's content with DLC and Season Passes? 

[Misanthrope]

...as opposed to what? Western developers who churn out re-skins every 6 months and ransom half their game's content with DLC and Season Passes? 

 

Oh you wanna talk about franchise whoring and kicking out a dead fucking horse when discussing Japanese companies that are still releasing franchises and characters they started in the motherfucking 80s?

 

For all the DLC and season passes at least some western companies are doing new IPs and taking risks, not just here's another fucking Mario and another fucking Final Fantasy.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

Oh you wanna talk about franchise whoring and kicking out a dead fucking horse when discussing Japanese companies that are still releasing franchises and characters they started in the motherfucking 80s?

 

For all the DLC and season passes at least some western companies are doing new IPs and taking risks, not just here's another fucking Mario and another fucking Final Fantasy.

 

Final Fantasy games are actually different... Why'd you so mad at a country for? 

[ShadowCaptain]

Meh maybe am just a nice dude. so what, If a co-work speaks shit about me so damn what? We live on earth, people WILL AND ARE going to hate you period. Even if you are the nicest guy on the world people are going to hate you or dislike you.

This isnt a bit of banter around the water cooler, if you ran a company and your employees were talking shit about it publicly you would fire them,

 

If he walked into his bosses office and said he was a wanker - he might have been disciplined... but this is much more serious than that

[Kamina]

Man I'm really starting to loathe all Japanese involved in Videogames. They can all fucking die.

You got your wish with Iwata.

[Derangel]

Man I'm really starting to loathe all Japanese involved in Videogames. They can all fucking die.

 

You do realize this had nothing to do with Japan, right? The guy worked for the Treehouse division, which is part of Nintendo of America. The decision to fire him would have come from NOA's HR department or his boss. Also, why the hate? This is no different than how most companies on the fucking planet would react.

[Notional]

Nintendo needs to keep up with the times and adapt to how communication and their end users behave now. Otherwise Nintendo might see their market share implode internationally in the matter of few years. Their behaviour on Youtube and game streamers have been insane and out of touch with reality. This seems like that too. It's not like anything secret was leaked, and most gamers wants more inside info on how a company works and such.

 

I'm not sure Nintendo even knows what it's doing anymore, but even though they are economically padded, I wonder how long they will continue their ways, if they have huge failures like WiiU for a generation or two more. Their PR is a nightmare it seems.

[fringie]

Idk if it's just me but anything he said wasn't surprising and it doesn't change my view on nintendo at all. If anything the only bad thing was Nintendo firing him!

 

Very harsh consequence, hope he gets everything sorted out .

[Gogmazio]

Idk if it's just me but anything he said wasn't surprising and it doesn't change my view on nintendo at all. If anything the only bad thing was Nintendo firing him!

 

Very harsh consequence, hope he gets everything sorted out .

Considering what he said, not really. 

 

 

Nintendo needs to keep up with the times and adapt to how communication and their end users behave now. Otherwise Nintendo might see their market share implode internationally in the matter of few years. Their behaviour on Youtube and game streamers have been insane and out of touch with reality. This seems like that too. It's not like anything secret was leaked, and most gamers wants more inside info on how a company works and such.

 

I'm not sure Nintendo even knows what it's doing anymore, but even though they are economically padded, I wonder how long they will continue their ways, if they have huge failures like WiiU for a generation or two more. Their PR is a nightmare it seems.

This has nothing to do with the article, but alright. 

[fringie]

Considering what he said, not really. 

 

 

This has nothing to do with the article, but alright. 

I guess it's an opinion. I don't view what he said as being too.. revealing? Most of the info was fairly obvious and it's known companies do the voice acting thing anyways. He just seemingly (I've only read the OP) stated it as it is. To me it shows Nintendo knows where it stands and is actively trying to improve where it can.

[Notional]

Considering what he said, not really. 

 

This has nothing to do with the article, but alright. 

 

It shows a pattern in their way of ignoring or outright punishing new ways of content creation based on these games. The market is moving more towards lets plays and online reviews, both of which Nintendo are actively sabotaging.

 

I can understand a tight lipped company reprimanding him, but this is draconian.

[Gogmazio]

I guess it's an opinion. I don't view what he said as being too.. revealing? Most of the info was fairly obvious and it's known companies do the voice acting thing anyways. He just seemingly (I've only read the OP) stated it as it is. To me it shows Nintendo knows where it stands and is actively trying to improve where it can.

If you talk shit about the fanbase of the company you work for and talk shit about someone who works for/with your employer don't expect to keep your job.

 

It shows a pattern in their way of ignoring or outright punishing new ways of content creation based on these games. The market is moving more towards lets plays and online reviews, both of which Nintendo are actively sabotaging.

 

I can understand a tight lipped company reprimanding him, but this is draconian.

None of that is happening here. All they did was fire an employee who made some very poor choices. 

[Burusutazu]

<snip>

 

I assume this is sarcasm given such a thing doesn't exist. AFAIK (and I've really searched for them) the only ones that "exist" are scams so it's probably not a good idea to say that they exist even jokingly. Wii and Gamecube emulators? For sure. Wii U? Nope. Not even close.

Dolphin has successfully emulated Nintendo Land and one or two other Wii U games now. It takes some serious cpu horsepower.

[Notional]

If you talk shit about the fanbase of the company you work for and talk shit about someone who works for/with your employer don't expect to keep your job.

 

None of that is happening here. All they did was fire an employee who made some very poor choices. 

 

Which were? He spoke very highly of Nintendo, defended their choices and otherwise provided positive free advertising for Nintendo. Nothing odious about his podcast presence. Nintendo has only achieved in creating a lot of bad will against their own market lately, and this only makes it worse.

[Gogmazio]

Which were? He spoke very highly of Nintendo, defended their choices and otherwise provided positive free advertising for Nintendo. Nothing odious about his podcast presence. Nintendo has only achieved in creating a lot of bad will against their own market lately, and this only makes it worse.

I can't remember what part of the podcast it but he talks poorly about the group of fans who want more games to be localized and talks poorly of Sakurai.

[Notional]

I can't remember what part of the podcast it but he talks poorly about the group of fans who want more games to be localized and talks poorly of Sakurai.

 

I haven't heard it so I can't say, but based on what has been quoted it just sounds like he says that not everything can be translated due to too high costs compared to realistic sales. That is a common business choice that is necessary to take. Don't see a problem with that, unless of course he actually shit talks about these people. As for Sakurai, it sounds like he explains how he reacts to certain things to explain the choices he makes. Not a biggie either. No one's perfect, and most people would rather understand why someone behaves in a certain manner, than just be ignored like Nintendo tends to do.

[dalekphalm]

Which were? He spoke very highly of Nintendo, defended their choices and otherwise provided positive free advertising for Nintendo. Nothing odious about his podcast presence. Nintendo has only achieved in creating a lot of bad will against their own market lately, and this only makes it worse.

THIS was why he was fired:

 

 

Two additional discussion points that showed up on GoNintendo were quotes about how the fan reaction to the Wii U’s name was overblown, and how it was sometimes frustrating to work with Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai because he was overly passionate about his own project. From the podcast:

“Sakurai’s outlook on the games is very dire. He gets really sad when he finds out how people are reacting and he gets sad whenever there’s a leak, because he really wants to create. And he’s an auteur in the most crazy sense. He’s basically Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and we’re sitting there going “Frick! Stop doing that!” And he’s like “You don’t get it, guys, my vision!”

Source:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/08/13/nintendo-fires-treehouse-employee-for-appearing-on-a-podcast/

 

He was fired because he painted Sakurai in a negative light. Even if it was a "back-handed" compliment of sorts, it was still presented in a negative way.

 

You don't criticize your supervisors work ethic on a live podcast without consequences.

[Gogmazio]

About 9 minutes into the podcast he starts to talks poorly about a certain group of fans, with good reasoning but that still isn't something you do. As for the Sakurai part, he didn't talk all the poorly of him but the way he portrayed him isn't all that kind when it comes to how how Sakurai handles stress during game development.