1 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Technology Stuff from Hey there, and welcome to Tech Stuff. 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. And if thingn't sound a 3 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: little odd today, it's because I'm actually recording in my 4 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: home studio, my home studio which is got a window 5 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: facing out towards train tracks. It's not an ideal situation, 6 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: but it's what I have to work with. And today 7 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: we're going to look at the third part of the 8 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: Nintendo Story, the update to the two part series that 9 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: my former co host Chris Palette and I did way 10 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,279 Speaker 1: back in two thousand eleven. So back then, at that 11 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: point that we you had not yet been released and 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: had been announced but not released. So we've got a 13 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: lot to catch up on. And I'm going to pick 14 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: up in two thousand eleven and carry on up through 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: present day. Also, I want to get this out of 16 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: the way first thing. There will be a point in 17 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: this podcast at the end of the episode in which 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: I talk about stuff relating to gamer Gate. Now, I 19 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: want to say this. I can't be any more clear 20 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: than this, harassment tactics have no place in society, period, 21 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: end of discussion. Now, I believe wholeheartedly that you are 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: free to criticize the video game industry and video game journalism. 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: That is perfectly fine. It is something that you should 24 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: do if you truly believe in it, if you can 25 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: do it in a way that isn't an attack on people. 26 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: If you think that video game journalism is broken, or 27 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: that the people who oppose gamer Gate that they are wrong, 28 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: that's also fine. That's something we can actually have a 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: conversation about. Isn't fine is using bullying tactics, threats, insults, 30 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: dox sing, and other methods to terrify or silence someone. 31 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: That is not fine, period. And if you think I'm wrong, 32 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: unsubscribe to this podcast. I do not want you listening 33 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: to my show, Okay. I don't want people who think 34 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: it's fine to make another human beings life miserable to 35 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: be listening to tech stuff. So if if that's something 36 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: that you think is cool or funny, unsubscribed, I don't 37 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: want you listening to the show. Now. I say all 38 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: that right now, because when I get to the part 39 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,119 Speaker 1: in this episode that deals with gamer Gate, I might 40 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: not be in the right frame of mind to get 41 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: this point across in a civil reasonable way. I have 42 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: no tolerance for people who disregard another human beings, feelings, 43 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: and well being. No one deserves to face that sort 44 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: of of abuse. And if you don't think it's a 45 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: big deal, you are absolutely one percent wrong. Being constantly 46 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: hounded and attacked is a huge deal. It's not cool. Alright, 47 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: So we got my podcast or warning out of the way, 48 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,839 Speaker 1: and keep in mind again, you can disagree with what 49 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: people say. I don't have a problem with that. I 50 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: definitely do not have a problem if you feel that 51 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: the points that gamer gate enthusiasts make are correct. I 52 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: don't agree with it, but I don't have a problem 53 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: with you believing that and arguing that. The problem I 54 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: have is when you attack people. That's the problem I have. 55 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: Although let's be fair, I also think that if you 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: are really dead set against women being in the video 57 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: game industry, you are a misogynist. That's just that's the 58 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: definition of misogyny really, or a definition of mysogyny. It's 59 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: just it's something you've got to own. I think it's 60 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: bad and I think it's wrong. But if that's who 61 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: you're gonna be own it because you can't get around 62 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: the fact that you are saying one thing, but you 63 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: don't want to be labeled that thing. All right, let's 64 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: actually talk about Nintendo. Now. We'll get back to gamer 65 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: Gate towards the end of the episode. So when we 66 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: left off, it was Nintendo in two thousand eleven, Nintendo's 67 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: annual report for two thousand eleven, which actually comes out 68 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: in two thousand twelve. So Nintendo their financial year. Their 69 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: fiscal year begins in April and ends March thirty one, 70 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: So the fiscal year is not the same as the 71 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: calendar year. So when you talk about the annual report 72 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: of two thousand eleven, that actually comes out after March 73 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: thirty one, two thousand and twelve. Well, in the annual report, 74 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: the company announced it had sold eighty six point zero 75 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: one million units of the Week console worldwide, an incredible 76 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: number of sales, and in fact, that number would continue 77 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: to grow over time. The top selling game for the 78 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: Wei was We Sports with seventy six point seventy six 79 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: million copies, but let's be fair, that game was sold 80 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: with the Wii in most regions. In other words, this 81 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: was the game you would get when you purchased your Wii, 82 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: so automatically those sales should have been pretty high. Seeing 83 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: is how there are eighty six million Wi units sold. 84 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: Mario Karti was the top selling Nintendo title that had 85 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: an iconic character attached at that time. That one had 86 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: sold twenty seven million copies, so significantly viewer. It actually 87 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: shows you that one of the appeeling aspects of the 88 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: WEI was that it had this casual gamer appeal, and 89 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: casual gamers don't necessarily care about iconic characters the way 90 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: quote unquote hardcore gamers do, and that's reflected when you 91 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:11,239 Speaker 1: see the most popular iconic character title was Mario kart 92 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: We and it had sold twenty seven million copies. That 93 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: tells you something. At any rate, we fit and we 94 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: Fit plus sold about forty million units in total, so 95 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: almost you know, not quite but but definitely more than 96 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: Mario Karte, but not twice as much. Um, still pretty impressive. 97 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: And by two thousand eleven, the Nintendo D S series 98 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: had sold a total of one hundred forty six point 99 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: forty two million units. Now, to be fair, that's across 100 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: the entire family of DS devices you probably are aware of. 101 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: The three DS didn't do nearly as well. So what 102 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: was the top selling DS game at that point? Super 103 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: Mario World with twenty six point eight eight million units sold, 104 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: So again, it was a very popular family of handheld games, 105 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: but that didn't necessarily mean that any one title was 106 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: going to have this insanely uh popular run. In twenty 107 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: six point eight eight million, that's a lot. That's a 108 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: lot of of Super Mario World games, but not not 109 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: anywhere close to to what you would think based upon 110 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: the number of units out there. Now, Nintendo had cut 111 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: the sales price of the three D s by the 112 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: end of two thousand eleven, and actually some people think 113 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: that that was While it was probably a necessary move, 114 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: it didn't do the company very many favors because it 115 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: kind of contributed to some rough financial uh data. Moving 116 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: into actual two thousand twelve, keeping in mind that report 117 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: really came out spring of twelve, but in January two 118 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: thousand twelve, I actually had the opportunity to play with 119 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: the Wii U before it was publicly unveiled, although it 120 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: had been taught about at that point already, but I 121 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: got a chance to actually get my hands on it 122 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: and play it at c S. Now. Nintendo wasn't exhibiting 123 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: at c S. They had a suite in a nearby hotel, 124 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: and they invited certain members of the press to come 125 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: in and play with it, and somehow they got my name. 126 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: I have no idea how they got my name. I 127 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: am thankful they got my name because I had the 128 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: chance to play the We You before it came out, 129 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: and I thought it was a really clever device. I 130 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: didn't think it was one that I was going to buy, 131 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: and the reason for that is I thought the most 132 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: value from this device would be playing a game in 133 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: a room with other people there, so that you're having 134 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: a group experience playing a game. And I don't have 135 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: people over at my house very frequently, so it was 136 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: wasn't really a big appeal to me. I saw the 137 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: appeal of it. It's the sort of thing that if 138 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: I were at a friend's house at a party and 139 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: they had a We You and they wanted to play 140 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: one of these games, I would totally want to jump 141 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: on board. And I really enjoyed the fact that if 142 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: you had the game pad the controller that has the 143 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: tablet like interface included in it, you had a different 144 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: experience than if you were one of the other players 145 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: using the traditional we controls, and you could do lots 146 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 1: of cool stuff, like you could do a game of 147 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: pac Man where the person holding the game pad is 148 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: controlling pac Man, and the people with the other controllers 149 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: are controlling the ghosts. And you have two different views. 150 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: You might have a top down view for one group 151 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: and you might have a three dimensional point of view 152 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: view for the other person. It was a really cool 153 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: way to present video games in a new format, a 154 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: new user interface. So I was I was thinking, well, 155 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: this is interesting. I don't know if it's enough different 156 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: enough from the Wei to convince people who have a 157 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: WE to upgrade to a Wei you because otherwise it 158 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: looked a lot the Week console, and so I wasn't 159 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: sure that it was enough to convince people to buy 160 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: a new console, or if it would just convince people 161 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: who are just getting into the market to buy a 162 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: EU instead of a Week. In February two twelve, Nintendo 163 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: would purchase a company called mobi Clip. Now, if you've 164 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: played a lot of Game Boy Advance games or d 165 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: S games, you've probably seen the mobi clip logo pop up. 166 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,079 Speaker 1: Prior to two thousand twelve, mobi Clip was a company 167 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: that specialized in video compression codex uh so essentially they 168 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: were finding ways to compress videos so that you can 169 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: use it in um in in limited devices devices that 170 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: don't have massive amounts of memory or graphics processing. So 171 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: this acquired company became a new division at Nintendo called 172 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: the Nintendo European Research and Development Division. Mobi Clip had 173 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: done some work for the know for lots of these 174 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: handheld gaming systems, and a job posting actually made it 175 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: clear that Nintendo was thinking of using mobi clip not 176 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: just to continue working in the handheld realm, but also 177 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 1: to develop technologies that would be used in consoles, presumably 178 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: living room consoles, not handheld consoles. So that was kind 179 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: of interesting. It was it was a hint that there 180 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: was another Nintendo console in the works. Uh So, how 181 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: did Nintendo do overall in two thousand eleven? Not great. 182 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: The company experienced an earning loss of five hundred thirty 183 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: two million dollars, and it had a thirty six point 184 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: two percent drop in net sales revenue. This was the 185 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: first time Nintendo had ever suffered an annual earnings loss. 186 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,440 Speaker 1: Quarter by quarter was different, sometimes a quarter might be 187 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: up or down, but overall, Nintendo had always come out 188 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: on the positive side at the end of the year. 189 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: This was the first time that didn't happen. That Nintendo 190 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: had lost five thirty two million dollars as a result 191 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: of the drop in sales and the costs that Nintendo 192 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: had incurred in that year. Sadly, it would not be 193 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: the last time this would happen to Nintendo. Now, income 194 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 1: from net sales and Nintendo products had actually been on 195 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: the decline since two thousand eight, So that wasn't like 196 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: this was a big surprise, but it definitely wasn't welcome news. Uh. 197 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: At two thousand twelves E three, Nintendo spent a really 198 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: a good amount of time and energy talking about the 199 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: Wii U. So this was them trying to say that 200 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: the WU was going to be the next big thing, 201 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: you know, since the Wei. They were trying to position 202 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: it as the future of the company and a true 203 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: innovation in gaming. But the company ran to some trouble 204 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: with this. A lot of critics were saying that the 205 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: E three presence wasn't a very strong one, and and 206 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: that was partially due to a pre E three event 207 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: in which the president Awatta unveiled the e U and 208 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: a lot of the games involved. So in other words, 209 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: people felt that this pre E three event kind of 210 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: stole the thunder from Nintendo, and thus it didn't make 211 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: as strong as showing at E three. In fact, I 212 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 1: g N went so far as to say that Nintendo 213 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: lost E three and that going into the event, the 214 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: company could have one E three now lost in win win, 215 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: winning or losing E three. UH. That largely is just 216 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: what we say after the fact, like which company came 217 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: out looking the strongest after E three, and I g 218 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: m s argument was that Nintendo could have come out 219 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: looking the strongest, largely because both Microsoft and Sony we're 220 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: still in the old PS three, Xbox one or Xbox 221 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: three sixty rather days, and that neither of them had 222 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: shown a lot of innovation in the space. So it 223 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: was Nintendo's game to lose, and sadly, accordint to I 224 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: g N, anyway, they did lose it now. Late in 225 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve, Nintendo announced that the we uh It's 226 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: update to the Week console would hit store shelves in 227 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: the United States on November eight, and in the United States, 228 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: there would be two versions that would be available. One 229 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: was the basic version, which was an eight gigabyte UH 230 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: memory version with game pad, Hdmi cable we use sensor 231 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: bar a c adapter UH for a price of about 232 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: two dollars. Then there was more of a deluxe package, 233 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: which came with a unit that had thirty two gigabytes 234 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: of memory um and all the stuff that the basic 235 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: setup had, plus a game pad charging cradle, a stand 236 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: for the game pad, a stand for the console, and 237 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: a copy of Nintendo Land, which was sort of a 238 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: mini game collection, uh, kind of similar to Watching My 239 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: Find in something like Mario Party. And this version would 240 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: be priced at three forty nine dollars. Interestingly, it was 241 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: launching in the United States first. It actually launched a 242 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: little bit later in Europe and even later still in Japan. 243 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: Now the launch sales figures we're not what Nintendo was 244 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: hoping for. There was about three million units sold by 245 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: the end of two thousand and twelve, so to be fair, 246 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: they had only been on sale for about a month 247 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: and a half. But it was a holiday season, so 248 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: you expect a pretty strong adoption rate around the holidays, 249 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: but Nintendo just didn't see that. Part of that was 250 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: that sometimes we use were hard to find. It was 251 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: similar to the old we problem where you would go 252 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: to a store and they wouldn't have a unit in 253 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: for for weeks, or they would get one or two 254 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: in and they would be sold almost immediately. Nintendo representatives 255 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: later said that they thought the slow sales were largely 256 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: due to a lack of compelling games for the system 257 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: at launch. I can I can buy that. I think 258 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: that if your video game system does not have enough 259 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: compelling titles when it goes to launch, it's got an 260 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:18,119 Speaker 1: uphill battle ahead of it because the people who adopted 261 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 1: early will get disenchanted with titles that don't really take 262 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: advantage of the system, and then the word of mouth 263 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: spreads that it's not a very good system. And it 264 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: may be a great system, it may just be that 265 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: the games that best take advantage of it are a 266 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: year or two down the road. Um, it's a tough 267 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: thing to do. You really want to have a strong 268 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 1: launch library when you go out with a new console, 269 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: and that was the problem we You just didn't have that. 270 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: Now in two the company was starting off the year 271 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: in a pretty rough place, so it operates at a 272 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: loss for the second year in a row. Over the 273 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: fiscal year of two thousand and twelve, the company lost 274 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: three hundred sixty six x million dollars, and remember the 275 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: previous year it had lost five thirty two million here's 276 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: the other thing you have to keep in mind. The 277 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven fiscal year did not include the launch 278 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: of a brand new console. Two thousand twelve did include 279 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: the launch of a brand new console, and even with 280 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: the new product, the company still lost three hundred sixty 281 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 1: six million dollars, which to me tells me that it 282 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: would have lost even more money if the wu had 283 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: not come out at all. Maybe, I mean, maybe that's wrong, 284 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: because maybe the cost of developing, marketing, and shipping the 285 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: Weiu was part of that huge loss, And maybe if 286 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: they didn't do the Wi, you those costs, since they 287 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 1: never would have been incurred by Nintendo, maybe it means 288 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 1: that they would have lost less money. I'm not I'm 289 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: not good at finance, y'all. Anyway, Nintendo had projected it 290 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,639 Speaker 1: would sell five million we use by the end of 291 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: fiscal year two thousand twelve. It had later adjusted that 292 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: prediction down to four million we use, but in fact 293 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: they only sold three point for five million, so they 294 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: were aiming for five. Said, maybe that was too ambitious, 295 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: Let's aim for four and still only hit three point 296 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: four five million. The company also experienced week sales with 297 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: the three D s which was performing lower than expected, 298 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: so things were looking pretty bleak across the board at 299 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: the E three that year. At two thousand three, Nintendo 300 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: actually said, you know what, We're not gonna hold a 301 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: press conference at E three the way we've done in 302 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: years past. Typically, when E three rolls around, the big 303 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: big companies like Microsoft and Sony and usually Nintendo each 304 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: hold their own press events, typically the day before or 305 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: two days before the show floor opens, and then you 306 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: also get lots of the bigger name production companies like 307 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: EA or Bethesda doing their own events. Uh this was 308 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: the first time Nintendo said, you know what, we're gonna 309 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: gonna step out. We're not going to do a full 310 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,520 Speaker 1: press event. Instead, they held a small Nintendo Direct event 311 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: before E three started. Now, Nintendo Direct events or things 312 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 1: that happened fairly regularly back when uh uh Watta was 313 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: the president. He would do these personally and uh so 314 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: it was kind of a way of telling people what 315 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: Nintendo was up to regularly throughout the year. But this 316 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: direct event started before E three. Uh but Nintendo did 317 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,680 Speaker 1: go to E three. They had exhibition space on the floor, 318 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: so they were present. They just didn't hold a press event. 319 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: So you could go to E three if you were 320 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: part of the industry. E three is currently an industry 321 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: only event, so you could go to E three and 322 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: you could go to the Nintendo section and see what 323 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: they had to display, But they didn't have a big 324 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 1: press event unfolding all of that at E three. One 325 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: of the things they showed off at this Nintendo Direct 326 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: event was the We Party U, which allowed you to 327 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: use the w U game pad for tabletop style games. 328 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,439 Speaker 1: They also showed off other games at E three. Not 329 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: all of these would be aimed for a release, so 330 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: they showed off Super Smash Brothers, Super Luigi U, Yoshi's 331 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:32,119 Speaker 1: New Island, The Legend of Zelda, Windwalker HD, the Pokemon's 332 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: games X and Y, and yes, I know I'm saying 333 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: it wrong, and yes I know it's not funny. Moving on. Also, 334 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: they showed off Mario Kart eight. In August two thousand thirteen, 335 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: Nintendo announced that they had a new handhold console. They 336 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: were going to release the two d S, so they 337 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: were working backwards. The three d S had been out 338 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: for a couple of years. Now they're going to d S, 339 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: so the two DS is essentially a dumbed down three DS. 340 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: It has largely the same hardware, except it doesn't have 341 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: the three D screen. It has the two screens, and 342 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: it's also in a slate form factor. In other words, 343 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: it's a solid, almost tablet like form factor. It's just 344 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: a tablet that happens to have two screens separated by 345 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 1: by a bezel like a case. Uh. It doesn't close. 346 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,120 Speaker 1: It's not a clamshell design like the other DS systems, 347 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: where it's it's solid. Some people like that and some 348 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: people hated it. I was indifferent because I have not 349 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: held had a handheld system and so long apart from 350 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: my phone, my phone is my handheld system. Actually, that's 351 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: a huge issue for Nintendo. So in the fall of 352 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: two thirteen, Nintendo purchased a twenty eight percent interest in 353 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: another company called p u X Corporation. Now pu X 354 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: Corporation started off as a division inside Pana Sonic, but 355 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,440 Speaker 1: then panas On expund it off as its own company. 356 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: And what it does is work in voice and face 357 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: recognition software as well as audio and video processing. So 358 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: again Nintendo is trying to beef up its ability to 359 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: deal with voice and face recognition. It tells you a 360 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: little bit about the sort of stuff the company was 361 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: thinking about developing into the future. So now we're up 362 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,640 Speaker 1: to two thousand fourteen. Guess what didn't start off very 363 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: well at all. Reports of falling profits prompted Nintendo CEO 364 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: Wata to announce he would take a fifty percent cut 365 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: in his salary. He said, you know, if if the 366 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: company is doing this poorly, I cannot be rewarded for it. 367 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,919 Speaker 1: So I will take a half cut in my salary. 368 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: I would make half as much this for the next 369 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: six months or five months. Uh and other executives received 370 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: cuts in their salaries between twenty Wata he saved the 371 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: biggest cut for his own salary, and he said that 372 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,919 Speaker 1: the reduction would last for five months and then the 373 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: company would revisit the issue in June of two thousand fourteen. 374 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: And this was a pretty interesting move. I like the move. 375 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: I like I like executives taking ownership for a company's performance, 376 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: not doing well and saying, look, if if we are 377 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: rewarding ourselves at full salary, whether we're doing well or not, 378 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: where's the incentive to do well. Now you've created an 379 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: incentive to do well because you're not making nearly as 380 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: much money. From April two thousand thirteen to December. Uh, 381 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: the company had only sold two point four million we 382 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: U units. Uh. Now, the company had adjusted protected sales 383 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: from April two thousand thirteen to March two thousand fourteen. 384 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: Remember that's that's a fiscal year for Nintendo. April through March. 385 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: They wanted to sell two point eight million units. Actually, 386 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,160 Speaker 1: that's that's how many. They sold. Two point eight million 387 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,640 Speaker 1: units from April two thousand thirteen to March two thousand fourteen. 388 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,880 Speaker 1: But that's not what they were hoping for. Originally, they 389 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 1: were aiming to sell nine million units, so their goal 390 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: was nine million, and they hit two point eight million. 391 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: They didn't even get thirty three percent of the way there. 392 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: That is dreadful, dreadful performance. And the annual report was 393 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: pretty graham. It was the third straight year of losses 394 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,400 Speaker 1: for a Nintendo. This time the damage came to four 395 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: hundred fifty seven million dollars and losses. So still not 396 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: as bad as two thousand eleven. That was five thirty two. 397 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: Two thousand twelve was three hundred sixty six something like that, 398 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: and then two thousand thirteen was four hundred fifty seven million. Yikes. Now, 399 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,360 Speaker 1: at the two thousand fourteen E three, Nintendo again decided 400 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: not to have a full press conference, and this was 401 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: a little confusing because when they decided to skip the 402 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: press conference in two thousand thirteen, Nintendo representative said, this 403 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,159 Speaker 1: is a one time thing. We're skipping this year, but 404 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 1: that doesn't mean we're done with E three. We're just 405 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: skipping this year. We'll be back again, don't worry. Two 406 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: thousand fourteen, they skip it again for the press event, 407 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,479 Speaker 1: so instead Nintendo held a video presentation called the Digital Event. 408 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: It was actually really cute. I don't know if you've 409 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: ever watched it, but it is worth watching because it's 410 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: it's very silly and Nintendo pokes fun at itself in 411 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: a way that is refreshing. However, that does drag. It's 412 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: it's about I think forty five minutes long, and it 413 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: could have been half an hour easy, maybe less, because 414 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,719 Speaker 1: there's some stuff that drags on. I literally started skipping 415 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: ahead at some points. Anyway. At E three, during this 416 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 1: Digital Event, the company announced that me Characters, that's M 417 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: I I, the little characters you could create in Nintendo. 418 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: We that they would start to show up and smash 419 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: Brothers games for the three d S and for We You, 420 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: So for the first time, you could actually create your 421 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: own Smash Brothers character to fight against the iconic characters 422 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: of Nintendo like Mario and Link and Zelda and Samus 423 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: and those sort of characters or Sammu's I honestly don't 424 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: know how to say her name. I apologize. Nintendo also 425 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: introduced at that digital event the Ambo How Ambo's are 426 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,479 Speaker 1: a brilliant idea. It's not the first time anyone's come 427 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: up with this idea. There's Disney's characters have this, and 428 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: then there's the Skylander characters that have this. These are figurines, 429 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,959 Speaker 1: physical figurines you can go out and buy, and they 430 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,640 Speaker 1: can interact with a we U game pad. You set 431 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: the figurine on top of the game pad and there's 432 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:54,560 Speaker 1: a chip inside the figurine that then communicates wirelessly to 433 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: your game pad and allows you to import certain characters 434 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: into in too compatible games. It also the chip inside 435 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: the Wei you uh amibo also can record information, so 436 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: you can beef up a character over time and use 437 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 1: it to play against other people, for example. There's a 438 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: really interesting idea. And of course by creating a new product, 439 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: a new physical product for people to buy. It gave 440 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: a new line of revenue for Nintendo, so it was 441 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: a really interesting way to try and go about this 442 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: this decline in sales. They also showed off several games, 443 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: including Yoshi's Wooly World, Captain Toad, Treasure Tracker, a few 444 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: of the Pokemon's games. Mario Maker was shown off for 445 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: the first time. Really, it was just a tease that 446 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: was shown at this digital event, and a tease for 447 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: the new Legend of Zelda game, which as of this 448 00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: recording still hasn't come out yet. It was supposed to 449 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: come out in two thousand and fifteen, but then it 450 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,400 Speaker 1: hit a delay, and so we're still waiting for this 451 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: new Legend of Zelda game to come out. A collection 452 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: of good games started to show up on the Wii 453 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: You and that actually gave a little bit of a 454 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: boost to we use sales, and three DS titles started 455 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:15,880 Speaker 1: to do well as as at the same time. But 456 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't like the figures were spectacular. They were just 457 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,960 Speaker 1: better than they had been, So it wasn't a a 458 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: Grand Slam home run, but it was a move in 459 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: the right direction. Now, starting in two thousand fifteen, when 460 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,239 Speaker 1: Amibo's actually began to hit store shelves, and by hit, 461 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: I mean they would gently land on a store shelf 462 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: for a split second before someone bought them. This became 463 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: a huge problem for Nintendo pr nightmare really, because the 464 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: Amibo figures had relatively small production runs, meaning there weren't 465 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: a whole lot of them made, and that meant that 466 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: only a few would end up going to any given 467 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: store in a region. So if you have lots of 468 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,040 Speaker 1: different stores in your area, one of them might get 469 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: a few of a certain generation of Ambo, and once 470 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: they're gone, they're gone. Nintendo's idea was that they were 471 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: going to produce small runs of figurines, and when you 472 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: when all of those were gone, instead of replacing them 473 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: with new versions of the figurine, they would come out 474 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: with all new characters, all new figurines that had brand 475 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: new ones that had nothing to do with the old ones, 476 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: because they had so many characters, uh dozens of characters 477 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: that they could go through. And so the idea was 478 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: that they were going to cater to a certain group 479 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: of fans. Those fans would buy the figurines, and then 480 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: new figurines would come out and they'd buy those, but 481 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: Nintendo would not go back and make tons and tons 482 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: and tons of the older figurines because they didn't anticipate 483 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: demand being as high as it was, and that was 484 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: a huge mistake because demand was through the roof. People 485 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: were camping out to buy amibo's and you couldn't necessarily 486 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: get them online either. As soon as they would show 487 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: up in stock online, people would buy them and they'd 488 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: be gone again, and it became very frustrating for a 489 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: lot of collectors and a lot of gamers who legitimately 490 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: wanted these amibo to play with in their games. In fact, 491 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: some of them, they weren't collectors. They had no interest 492 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: in buying all the different amibos. They had a specific 493 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: one they wanted, and then it would get and it 494 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: would get purchased, it would be unavailable, and people were 495 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: having trouble finding them. It ended up creating a secondary market. 496 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,720 Speaker 1: So these figurines, which for retail price were at twelve 497 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,719 Speaker 1: dollars and cents, were sometimes being sold for more than 498 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: a hundred dollars on various auction sites because he couldn't 499 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: find them anywhere else, and it was creating a real 500 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: sense of frustration among the fans and Nintendo and the 501 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,120 Speaker 1: company started to address this by increasing the production runs 502 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: so that they were producing more units per generation. But 503 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: as far as I know, there's been no announcement of 504 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 1: going back and producing new versions of the older Amibo figures, 505 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: so those are still scarce. And it's not It wasn't 506 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: like it was a manufactured scarcity on purpose. Nintendo wasn't 507 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: necessarily setting out to create a scarce resource because Nintendo 508 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: does not benefit from that. Nintendo is selling them at 509 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: the at the standard price. It's resellers that are marking 510 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: the price up. Nintendo does not benefit from the marked 511 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:47,239 Speaker 1: up price. And that's a real issue UH for the 512 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,000 Speaker 1: company and for its fans, because it gives the company 513 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: a black eye. It says, uh, yeah, you know, we 514 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 1: messed up, but deal with it, and the fans say, no, 515 00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 1: that's not cool. So Amibo's have been without blessing and 516 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: a curse. Now, in the spring of two thousand fifteen, 517 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: Nintendo announced it would bring some of its games to 518 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: mobile platforms, which is something it had never ever done before. 519 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: In fact, Nintendo representatives before that point had been adamant 520 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: that there was no interest or desire to end up 521 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: going over to the UH mobile side that they would 522 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: never really do that they would instead focus on their 523 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: own platforms, But two thousand fifteen showed a change of heart, 524 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: and the company also announced that a new console code 525 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: named in X, was in development. So this was the 526 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: company acknowledging that there is another console on the way. 527 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 1: This was back in two thousand fifteen, but there weren't 528 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: that many details other than the company claiming that this 529 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: was a brand new direction. It was not just a 530 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 1: new iteration of the Wei or the Wei U. It 531 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 1: was a new model for sould gaming for Nintendo. We 532 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: don't necessarily understand what that means yet. It might mean 533 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: that it's a hybrid, that it's something that bridges both 534 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: the living room experience and the mobile experience, but we 535 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,080 Speaker 1: don't know for sure, and we won't know for a while, 536 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: probably maybe not too long as of the recording of 537 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: this podcast, but nothing official has been announced. Uh So. 538 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: News also broke the Nintendo was partnering with Universal to 539 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: create theme park attractions, and I know that got a 540 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,960 Speaker 1: lot of people excited. The idea of visiting a theme 541 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: park that has Nintendo style rides or experiences, characters, that 542 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 1: kind of thing. It could be a huge hit, and 543 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: I gotta admit I would love to see some really 544 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: cool interactive theme park attractions that are based on Nintendo properties. 545 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,240 Speaker 1: I know that there have been people who have recreated 546 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: things like Mario levels using bungee chords and trampolines and 547 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,120 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, so that you can kind of 548 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: run a course that is inspired by a level in 549 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: Super Mario Brothers. I would love to see something like 550 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: that done with a universal theme park budget. That would 551 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: be amazing. Um, So hopefully that is something we will 552 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,560 Speaker 1: see in the future. Now, Nintendo's E three and two 553 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: thus fifteen showed off some of the games that had 554 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: been announced the year before, so they started to really 555 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,320 Speaker 1: show off things like Mario Maker and Yoshi's Wooly World. 556 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:30,680 Speaker 1: But those are games that we got a peak at. 557 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,719 Speaker 1: In two thousand and fourteen. Nintendo also announced a partnership 558 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: with Skylanders, which would allow certain Nintendo amibo to enter 559 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 1: the Skylanders world. But in general, a lot of people 560 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,359 Speaker 1: felt that that E three was a pretty quiet one 561 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: for Nintendo. They didn't really come out and announce anything 562 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: groundbreaking or truly surprising at that E three. Now in July, 563 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: that's when we get to the really sad part of 564 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: this story. The gaming world was shocked when Nintendo announced 565 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:08,360 Speaker 1: that Nintendo president Saturo Iwata had died from bile duct cancer. 566 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,400 Speaker 1: He was just fifty five years old. He had previously 567 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: undergone treatments for his cancer, including a surgery in two 568 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, and this death was pretty sudden. I 569 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:26,759 Speaker 1: get the sense that people did not know that this 570 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:32,440 Speaker 1: was coming. It was a very kind of unexpected thing 571 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: to happen. Uh. Genio Takida and Shigiro Miyamoto took over 572 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: the company as interim replacements. They were leading the company together, 573 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: and the industry as a whole grieved over a Watta's death, 574 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: and lots of sympathetic messages came in from companies like 575 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,720 Speaker 1: Microsoft and E A lot of luminaries in the gaming 576 00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:01,879 Speaker 1: industry spoke highly of Awata and warned his loss, UH 577 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 1: and our loss with his passing. It was a very 578 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,960 Speaker 1: heavy time. And keep in mind, this is also happening 579 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: while Nintendo was struggling. They're having issues because the We 580 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:21,760 Speaker 1: You just was not selling very well compared to earlier console, 581 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,320 Speaker 1: certainly not as well as the We. The We sold 582 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,799 Speaker 1: about a hundred million units overall. The Weiu was not 583 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:34,480 Speaker 1: doing that well and that made shareholders antsy, and then 584 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,200 Speaker 1: to see the president pass away, it was really a 585 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:43,440 Speaker 1: rough moment. On September two thousand fifteen, Nintendo named Tatsumi 586 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 1: Kimishima as the new president, with a Takeda receiving a 587 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:52,920 Speaker 1: title called Technology Fellow, and Miyamoto got a title called 588 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:59,840 Speaker 1: Creative Fellow. Kimishima was the former president of Nintendo North America. 589 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: Even before that, he was the president of the Pokemon's division. 590 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 1: Uh So, he had been when Nintendo for more than 591 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: a decade and uh now was assuming the leadership role 592 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: of the overall company. He had even been the managing 593 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:20,239 Speaker 1: director of Nintendo before becoming the president. Nintendo also changed 594 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,839 Speaker 1: up its organizational structure at that point, consolidating several game 595 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: development teams and and shifting things around, really in an 596 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:34,400 Speaker 1: effort to redefine its corporate structure and its strategy. And finally, 597 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: now we're getting to the story I alluded to at 598 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:40,359 Speaker 1: the beginning of this episode pretty soon. First, I guess 599 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 1: I should say before I get into that Nintendo, there's 600 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: a lot of spectator speculation that Nintendo is going to 601 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: show off the n X console at E three this 602 00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: year in two thousand and sixteen, with a goal of 603 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:56,320 Speaker 1: potentially having it on the market by holiday two thousand sixteen. 604 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,120 Speaker 1: A lot of analysts say that their their bed thing, 605 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: this is going to happen, that Nintendo feels it is 606 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: necessary for it to happen in order to turn things around. 607 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:08,920 Speaker 1: I'm sure there are a lot of shareholders who feel 608 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: the same way. UM. I don't know if that's realistic. 609 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,239 Speaker 1: I don't know if the n X is going to 610 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 1: be unveiled and launched this year. It's possible that we'll 611 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,560 Speaker 1: get a tease and a launch next year. Um. But 612 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: it's also possible that Nintendo has its ducks in a 613 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,440 Speaker 1: row and it's ready to move on this because it 614 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,279 Speaker 1: would be a way of reinvigorating the company. If they've 615 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:36,000 Speaker 1: made the right choices with their new hardware, that's gonna 616 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 1: that remains to be seen. We'll just have to keep 617 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: our eyes out and that comes up. E three happens 618 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,960 Speaker 1: in June, and it is currently April as I record this, 619 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: so we'll just have to watch and find out what happens. Now, 620 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 1: let's get to the story I talked about at the 621 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:54,480 Speaker 1: beginning of the episode. The Gamer Gate related episode or 622 00:38:54,840 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 1: related story. Uh, this is a complicated story, and there 623 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:02,200 Speaker 1: are a lot of things I need to kind of 624 00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:07,560 Speaker 1: explain in order to to really give you guys the 625 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:12,840 Speaker 1: the context of what's happening. So there was a Nintendo 626 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: employee named Alison rap and Allison was the was a 627 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,680 Speaker 1: marketing employee. She worked in a marketing division for a 628 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:25,840 Speaker 1: Nintendo so her job was to, uh, to do marketing 629 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,279 Speaker 1: for Nintendo products. She was also the target of a 630 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:38,240 Speaker 1: massive harassment campaign that was absolutely insane. It made no sense. 631 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: It was just mean spirited, vicious, and vile. And here's 632 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 1: what happened. So Nintendo had made a decision to tone 633 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,839 Speaker 1: down the content of certain Japanese games when being adapted 634 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: for the Western market. And that's a very general thing 635 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,480 Speaker 1: to say. So what's actually happening. Well, most of the 636 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 1: content had to do with depictions of sexuality or sexual characteristics, 637 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:10,960 Speaker 1: particularly in young female characters. So the Japanese versions were 638 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:16,239 Speaker 1: a little more explicit and sexualized, and some representatives at 639 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: Nintendo apparently felt that this was not a good approach 640 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:25,040 Speaker 1: for Western video game audiences, and so the move was 641 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:30,279 Speaker 1: made to tone that down. Um. Now, some people who 642 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: associate themselves with the gamer Gate movement, felt this was 643 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:38,480 Speaker 1: another example of video games being ruined by people. They're 644 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:40,640 Speaker 1: ruining the video games. That's not the way the video 645 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:45,200 Speaker 1: game was meant to be played. Uh. They identified rap 646 00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: Alison Rapp as a target for their frustration, largely because 647 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:52,720 Speaker 1: Alison Rapp worked for Nintendo and she had posted about 648 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:57,319 Speaker 1: feminism and feminist issues on Twitter in the past. So 649 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:03,120 Speaker 1: they leapt to the conclusion that somehow Alison Rapped one 650 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:10,440 Speaker 1: was responsible for toning down these games, and two didn't 651 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:12,840 Speaker 1: share their opinion that this was a bad thing, and 652 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:17,640 Speaker 1: so therefore she should be targeted and harangued and harassed 653 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:22,319 Speaker 1: and bullied and threatened. And that's exactly what started. Now. 654 00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,640 Speaker 1: First things first, like I said at the beginning of 655 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: this episode, this is never a justified course of action. 656 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: It is wrong to harass people in this way. It 657 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: is wrong both ethically and legally. It is against the 658 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:47,920 Speaker 1: law to harass people in this way. Don't do that. 659 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: You are a bad person. If you do that, don't 660 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:56,399 Speaker 1: be a bad person. Be a good person. Even if 661 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 1: you disagree with someone, be a good person. That doesn't 662 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,120 Speaker 1: mean just let the thing happen. You can voice your opinion, 663 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,000 Speaker 1: just do it in a way that's not an attack 664 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 1: on another human being for goodness sakes. So that's the 665 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,399 Speaker 1: first thing. It's wrong on the face of it. But 666 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,440 Speaker 1: the second thing is that rap had nothing to do 667 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: with the localization of products for Nintendo. In other words, 668 00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:27,160 Speaker 1: she was not responsible. She had no input on changing 669 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,759 Speaker 1: the content of a game from the Japanese version to 670 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:37,400 Speaker 1: the American version. Nothing, not even input into that area. 671 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: So holding her responsible for something that she did not 672 00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: do is crazy. Third, raps own history, her own writing, 673 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,479 Speaker 1: her Twitter history suggests she felt pretty much the same 674 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 1: way as a lot of the gamer gate folks felt 675 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 1: that she did not see the need to alter games, 676 00:42:57,719 --> 00:43:04,120 Speaker 1: that she didn't see the set realization necessarily as wrong. Uh. 677 00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:06,440 Speaker 1: Not to put words into her mouth, but a lot 678 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,320 Speaker 1: of her writing suggests at least that taking the Japanese 679 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:14,040 Speaker 1: culture for what it is is what you should do. 680 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:17,319 Speaker 1: You should not apply the ethics of one culture to 681 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: the Japanese culture. That was kind of her perspective. So 682 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:28,560 Speaker 1: she wasn't even advocating the changes that people attacked her for, 683 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,080 Speaker 1: So she wasn't responsible for it. She didn't advocate for it. 684 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:34,880 Speaker 1: She just happened to be female, and she happened to 685 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:39,759 Speaker 1: have voiced her opinion on some feminist issues and that 686 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,280 Speaker 1: was enough for her to be targeted and bullied and harassed. 687 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:47,279 Speaker 1: So they actually at that point when once it was 688 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:49,840 Speaker 1: even clear that Alison Rapp had nothing to do with 689 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:53,640 Speaker 1: the problem, the attackers didn't back off. They doubled down. 690 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:56,920 Speaker 1: They found an essay that Alison Rapp had written in college, 691 00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,400 Speaker 1: which was not hard to do. It was linked on 692 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:03,440 Speaker 1: her linked in profile, and in that essay, Rap essentially 693 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:07,920 Speaker 1: argued that Japanese cultural norms are different from Western cultural 694 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,759 Speaker 1: norms and it's wrong to apply the moral perspective of 695 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,720 Speaker 1: one culture to another culture. And she was specifically talking 696 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,880 Speaker 1: about the sexualization of teenagers, which is a pretty taboo 697 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:23,640 Speaker 1: topic here in Western culture, especially the younger teenagers. It's 698 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:27,480 Speaker 1: a very taboo subject, and Alison Rapp has been pretty 699 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: vocal about supporting the Japanese culture side to a point 700 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,480 Speaker 1: where some people are actually offended by it, and her 701 00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:39,640 Speaker 1: attackers began to use that against her. They began to 702 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:44,160 Speaker 1: send messages to Nintendo executives saying that Alison Rapp was 703 00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:49,120 Speaker 1: supporting UH pedophiles, that she was in favor of this 704 00:44:49,200 --> 00:44:53,200 Speaker 1: from happening, that she thought that things, you know, laws 705 00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:56,959 Speaker 1: regarding pedophilia should be removed, and that was putting words 706 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,759 Speaker 1: into Alison Rapp's mouth. But they were essentially using her 707 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:04,160 Speaker 1: own own writing against her in this case, which is 708 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:08,720 Speaker 1: weird already, not that I you know, it's weird because 709 00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:12,200 Speaker 1: the original argument the attackers made was that they did 710 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,080 Speaker 1: not want changes made to the video games they wanted 711 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,840 Speaker 1: to play. They wanted to have the access to the 712 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:23,600 Speaker 1: content that Nintendo representatives had identified as being inappropriate for 713 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:29,480 Speaker 1: Western audiences. And now they're using in an argument that 714 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:33,360 Speaker 1: that same argument that Nintendo representatives used in an effort 715 00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:36,919 Speaker 1: to get Alison Rapped fired. So, in other words, they're 716 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:41,120 Speaker 1: using their own the thing that they hate as an 717 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,640 Speaker 1: attack against the person that they've identified as the appropriate target. 718 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,120 Speaker 1: Keeping in mind she had nothing to do with any 719 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:51,799 Speaker 1: of this. Now here's the next step. Nintendo fired Alison 720 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:56,239 Speaker 1: rap This adds another complication to the story. Now the 721 00:45:56,280 --> 00:46:00,279 Speaker 1: company claims that the reason that they fired her had 722 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:04,160 Speaker 1: nothing to do with the harassment she had been enduring 723 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,960 Speaker 1: and the the threats that had been leveled at her 724 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,719 Speaker 1: and the pr problem that this was creating. They said, no, 725 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:14,560 Speaker 1: We're aware of that, but that's not what this is about. 726 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: The reason we fired her is because she was working 727 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:22,439 Speaker 1: a second job that went against Nintendo's corporate culture. Now, 728 00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:26,120 Speaker 1: Alison Rapp has admitted that she did do some moonlighting 729 00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:30,120 Speaker 1: work in a secondary gig using a totally different name. 730 00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:33,680 Speaker 1: So she was using a different name doing a different job. 731 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:36,440 Speaker 1: That's all the details we have. We don't know what 732 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:39,279 Speaker 1: the job was, what she was doing. You know, how 733 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,719 Speaker 1: was this in violation of Nintendo's corporate culture. None of 734 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,839 Speaker 1: that has been revealed as of the recording of this podcast. Now, 735 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:51,080 Speaker 1: she maintains that it was the controversy around the harassment 736 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:54,560 Speaker 1: that led to her being fired. In other words, she 737 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:58,040 Speaker 1: says Nintendo never would have fired her even with the 738 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:04,000 Speaker 1: second job issue, unless they also felt that there was 739 00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:06,200 Speaker 1: all this other brew haha going on. So if the 740 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:09,440 Speaker 1: brew haha wasn't happening, Nintendo would have just turned a 741 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,480 Speaker 1: blind eye and Alison Rapp could have continued to work 742 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:16,360 Speaker 1: for Nintendo and have this secondary job. Now, is that true, 743 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,120 Speaker 1: We can't say for sure one way or the other. Honestly, 744 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:26,040 Speaker 1: if Rap was violating company policy, I don't hold Nintendo 745 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:30,880 Speaker 1: at fault for acting on that. If she's violating corporate policy, 746 00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:34,920 Speaker 1: Nintendo has every right to act on that, though personally, 747 00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:37,640 Speaker 1: I think it makes it much more sense. It's much 748 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:41,920 Speaker 1: more appropriate to have a conversation with Alison Rapp to 749 00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:46,120 Speaker 1: to maybe reprimand her or say hey, this is in 750 00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:49,640 Speaker 1: violation of our corporate policy. You have to make a choice. 751 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,360 Speaker 1: Either you work here or you do something else. But 752 00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:56,080 Speaker 1: you cannot do this other job and work here. It's 753 00:47:56,120 --> 00:47:59,600 Speaker 1: against our policy. But that's not what happened. They fired her. 754 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,560 Speaker 1: There wasn't this step of let's talk to her first, 755 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,960 Speaker 1: but it just went straight to let's fire her. So 756 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:12,480 Speaker 1: if reps secondary gig was in violation of Nintendo's policy, 757 00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:16,720 Speaker 1: and if Nintendo makes it a standard procedure to fire 758 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:20,680 Speaker 1: employees who violate this part of the policy, I don't 759 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:24,560 Speaker 1: think Nintendo's at fault necessarily because they're just doing what 760 00:48:24,600 --> 00:48:27,840 Speaker 1: they always do. So if this is something that happens 761 00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,279 Speaker 1: to any employee that has found to be working a 762 00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:37,000 Speaker 1: secondary gig, then that's that's the way the cookie crumbles. 763 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:39,759 Speaker 1: That's the corporate policy. I don't necessarily agree with it, 764 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:43,200 Speaker 1: but if that's the corporate policy, you gotta abide by that. 765 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:50,000 Speaker 1: Or you suffer the consequences. But if Nintendo rarely enforces 766 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:53,840 Speaker 1: this rule, that's another matter, because it brings up the question, 767 00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:56,720 Speaker 1: if you don't enforce this rule all the time, why 768 00:48:56,760 --> 00:49:00,359 Speaker 1: did you enforce it in the case of Alison Rap. Now, 769 00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:03,719 Speaker 1: Rap maintains that Nintendo was aware that she had this 770 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:08,200 Speaker 1: secondary gig and that the policy that they are citing 771 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,120 Speaker 1: is not typically enforced. Again, I don't know the truth 772 00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:14,560 Speaker 1: of that, and I also want to make it clear 773 00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:17,279 Speaker 1: that my personal opinions and wraps point of view about 774 00:49:17,320 --> 00:49:22,240 Speaker 1: the morality issue, those ideas aren't in alignment. I don't 775 00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:25,560 Speaker 1: really agree with her on this, and maybe that's just 776 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:29,480 Speaker 1: because I'm old, but I disagree with her perspective. I 777 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:33,080 Speaker 1: understand where she's coming from. I disagree somewhat with that, 778 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:36,400 Speaker 1: but that's fine. Adults can disagree and they can have 779 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:40,279 Speaker 1: conversations about this. But my main objection is that she 780 00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:46,000 Speaker 1: was targeted, harassed, threatened, and bullied for no reason. Shouldn't 781 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:49,440 Speaker 1: have happened at all, and it's deplorable that it happened 782 00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:56,000 Speaker 1: for no reason and Nintendo didn't do more to protect 783 00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:59,799 Speaker 1: her and defend her and speak up for her. So 784 00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:04,360 Speaker 1: even if the reason she was fired was purely because 785 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:09,120 Speaker 1: of this corporate policy. It still remains that the company 786 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:14,080 Speaker 1: did not take a firm stand to say it is 787 00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:19,120 Speaker 1: wrong to treat anyone this way. It is a wrong 788 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,920 Speaker 1: message to send that women have a place in the 789 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,319 Speaker 1: video game industry. They should not be run off, they 790 00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:30,719 Speaker 1: should not be treated like they aren't human beings. They 791 00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:35,880 Speaker 1: shouldn't be persecuted. And that's the real issue I have 792 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:43,640 Speaker 1: with Nintendo and this particular story. Personally, I hope that 793 00:50:44,640 --> 00:50:47,680 Speaker 1: more of the story unfolds and that Nintendo takes the 794 00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:56,919 Speaker 1: opportunity to really establish a much more firm anti discriminatory, 795 00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:01,319 Speaker 1: anti harassment stance on the issue. I feel like a 796 00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:04,640 Speaker 1: lot of companies have been very careful about this because 797 00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:08,359 Speaker 1: they don't want to run off their audience. But I 798 00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:11,080 Speaker 1: also think those companies need to take a hard look 799 00:51:11,120 --> 00:51:14,400 Speaker 1: at what that audience is demanding and how that audience 800 00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:18,600 Speaker 1: is behaving and ask themselves, is it a responsible thing 801 00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:22,200 Speaker 1: to not speak up about this. That's why I'm speaking up, 802 00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:26,000 Speaker 1: because I really think there are better ways to go 803 00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:30,120 Speaker 1: about getting your point across to support your arguments than 804 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:34,600 Speaker 1: to try and destroy the person who feels differently about it. 805 00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:39,200 Speaker 1: Than you do that. I truly believe that. And if 806 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:42,719 Speaker 1: you don't believe that, don't listen to my show. You're 807 00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,080 Speaker 1: not gonna be happy. So just go listen to something else. 808 00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:50,480 Speaker 1: It's okay. I won't miss you. For those of you 809 00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:56,800 Speaker 1: who remain, I love you guys. I very much looking 810 00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:02,359 Speaker 1: forward to having conversations with you. That being said, if 811 00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:05,719 Speaker 1: you want to have a conversation with me, you need 812 00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,600 Speaker 1: to write me. My email address is tech stuff at 813 00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:12,800 Speaker 1: how stuff arts dot com. Now I know I haven't 814 00:52:12,840 --> 00:52:16,680 Speaker 1: responded to many of you for a long time, and 815 00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:19,440 Speaker 1: here's the reason why, because I found out about it 816 00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:27,560 Speaker 1: today Outlook. Microsoft Outlook has very helpfully moved almost all 817 00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:33,120 Speaker 1: the listener mail into a clutter folder. So, in other words, 818 00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:35,920 Speaker 1: it's like a spam filter. In other words, most of 819 00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:38,400 Speaker 1: the listener mail has been going into this clutter folder. 820 00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:42,120 Speaker 1: So I didn't see that I was getting mail. I 821 00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:44,840 Speaker 1: didn't see that listeners were writing in. So I'll be 822 00:52:44,880 --> 00:52:49,360 Speaker 1: going through the backlog of listener mail and trying to 823 00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:51,319 Speaker 1: answer as many of those as I possibly can, and 824 00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:55,080 Speaker 1: I apologize for that. I did not realize it was 825 00:52:55,120 --> 00:53:00,080 Speaker 1: happening until today, So do write me. Know that I 826 00:53:00,080 --> 00:53:03,160 Speaker 1: will be looking at that clutter folder, and I will 827 00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:06,520 Speaker 1: be reading and answering emails. I look forward to hearing 828 00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:10,800 Speaker 1: from you again. That email address is tech stuff at 829 00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:14,200 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or you can always drop 830 00:53:14,239 --> 00:53:17,600 Speaker 1: me a line on Facebook or Twitter. The handle on 831 00:53:17,640 --> 00:53:20,960 Speaker 1: both of those platforms is tech stuff H s W. 832 00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:29,759 Speaker 1: And I'll talk to you again really soon. For more 833 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:32,399 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics, is how stuff 834 00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:42,920 Speaker 1: works dot com