shadow2810
Member
The first 10 minutes of the podcast was already enough to get him a warning, the rest was a disaster.
Really harsh by Nintendo if he really was fired just because of that podcast.
Maybe a verbal or written warning would have been better for this matter, if Nintendo didn't like him talking about that stuff, but to just be fired for being honest about how the gaming industry is, wow. I mean come on Nintendo, it's not like he was spilling all of your secrets, we all know this kind of stuff already.
Hopefully he will be able to get a job with MS or Sony or another games publisher / developer.
From talk about Star Fox Zero to not pointing Sakurai in a positive light (and kind of a control freak). Xenoblade stuff, etc. could've been fine if it was general talk, but making fun of owners and talking about the why some games made it and some and providing examples was also out of place.
I don't really get what people are (still) misunderstanding here.
Man joins company. Company outlines terms of employment in contract and/or NDA. Man signs contract agreeing to those terms. Man then breaks terms. Man then subject to punishment as outlined in contract and/or NDA.
Uh... Considering that konami thread where it was talked about how Japanese companies prefer to reassign employees so that they work there or resign on their own I'm not sure why you're making connections like this. It's not even a Japanese thing, most companies would can you if you're a working Joe talking out of line like that.For me, it's about how a company handles HR when an employee makes a mistake. Most JPN companies seem quite fascist when it comes to that. Life isn't black and white.
What opinions were dumb?
Was it that some franchises don't have a big enough audience to make it worthwhile to port them over?
That doesn't sound idiotic
I mean, the way he said it weren't the best.
Breaking NDA is black or white though. You either do or don't. That's all there is to it.
Uhh... Can't really feel bad for him. NoA sucks largely in part because people there have opinions as dumb as his.
Can't imagine things will go well for him now that he's bitching about it online.
Because doing something similar to what got him fired is likely to get him a similar job elsewhere. Dude doesn't learn from his mistakes.
Uh... Considering that konami thread where it was talked about how Japanese companies prefer to reassign employees so that they work there or resign on their own I'm not sure why you're making connections like this.
It's not even a Japanese thing, most companies would can you if you're a working Joe talking out of line like that.
Nintendo made billions from their social games, why not greenlight a passion project or 2 for the hardcore, especially the wii audience as starved for rpgs? "you don't make a big enough fan base blah blah" How do they know, they never tried to bring it over to be able to say there's not enough people. It sold really well in the end so they're proven wrong. Though I'm not surprised this coming from NoA, Reggie doesn't give a shit about their core fans.
Nintendo has become a terrible risk averse company.
I'm talking about meting out punishment here and how said breakage affects a company, if at all. In general, JPN companies seem way more paranoid and punitive when it comes to these things.
For those posting, have we actually listened to the episode?
For me, it's about how a company handles HR when an employee makes a mistake. Most JPN companies seem quite fascist when it comes to that. Life isn't black and white.
As to 'most companies', I disagree and since we have no way to prove something like that, well, its a pointless argument.
I'm baffled by how terrible a lot of posts in this thread are. What this guy did was completely moronic and he absolutely deserved to be fired. He went on a public pr stunt with no prior approval and spoke about internal decision making as well as how the client base is perceived. This has nothing to do with NDAs or secretive Japanese companies. If you went on Twitter as a fucking Subway sandwich maker and said shit you'd be fired just as quickly.
A lot of people here obviously haven't held a real job nor have they gotten used to how something can balloon up on the internet.
This guy already made a string of terrible life choices, from his education, to his naïve childhood dream nonsense, to now this. Hopefully he grows up.
I know of many people in the game industry that work for US companies that have been fired for NDA breach. You just don't hear about it because most people know better than to talk and then most people that do (get fired) don't then go publicly talk about it.
Regardless, it'll be good for this guy to lose his Nintendo obsession and broaden his horizons a bit. Adversity can be good for one's character.
That's a bit different, yeah? People hate tattletales. But Chris, right or wrong (that's for the fat cats in Washington to decide), snitched on himself.
Personally, I think nobody would have remembered this in a week, so if Nintendo fired him partly to save face they're just a wee bit out of touch. If they did so because of a broken NDA, well, that's more or less Chris' fault. Not that I can't feel bad for a guy who - in the grand scheme of things - did something innocuous and lost his dream job. But people blaming others for what was ultimately his decision are way off base.
Going on FB was a mistake.
We really are a culture of posting everything we are thinking.
People need to stop using social media as a diary.
Yes. I think he allowed his identity to become way too attached to the company, giving him a false sense of security when he did the podcast. He really wasn't expecting to be fired, as he said himself, despite breaking a NDA. He seemed to forget that he was a Nintendo employee first before he was a fan, and that's how he came across in the podcast. The guy was raving with excitement, like a rabid fan with insider info, without pausing at all to think through his words.
If you listen to Reggie talk, you can tell he's calculating every single word in his head before he says it. He's a PR wiz who knows that every word can have consequences. Chris wasn't doing this at all.
There's a good reason many companies specifically avoid hiring "superfans" of their company. Stuff like this happens.
For those posting, have we actually listened to the episode?
You've worked in corporate Japan? Tell us more.
American companies let people go for a bad tweet all the time.
Some of the people here who said the firing was excessive should listen to the damn podcast instead of just reading the title and then posting a stupid knee-jerk reaction. Just listen to the first 20 minutes. If you think what he said does not merit the sanction, then you haven't been in a corporate environment before, especially not something as major as Nintendo, and maybe should just shut up.
no. what's your point? that only people who have worked for corporate japan can read and understand things like this: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2011/opinion/japans-fatigued-corporate-culture?
and if the world consisted only of jpn and usa, you'd have a point.
It's a non stop flow of diarrhea of the mouth. Way worse than I thought.For those posting, have we actually listened to the episode?
It's a non stop flow of diarrhea of the mouth. Way worse than I thought.
no. what's your point? that only people who have worked for corporate japan can read and understand things like this
and if the world consisted only of jpn and usa, you'd have a point.
While what he said wasn't incorrect, it was done in a very abrasive manner. He isn't some random internet guy, he is representing nintendo, it builds a narrative that nintendo doesn't care about niche games, or that NOE is better than NOA. and generally it puts them in a bad light.
That said, being fired is crazy excessive, but not totally unsuprising considering how secretive nintendo generally is.
100k loan is insane. Crazy ass american tuition fees.
I did a bachelors in comp-sci in NZ and it only cost me ~15k USD
Going on a Nintendo focused podcast as a Nintendo Treehouse employee without permission is dumb. And I think the main reason he was fired. You can not have employees who think it's ok to speak to the public in a unofficial capacity without explicit permission to do so.
Also, I found this just now: http://geekswithwives.com/gww-podcast-135-chris-pranger-escapist/
So it wasn't even his first time doing this. I haven't listened to it, but from the description: "He cautiously goes on a fantastic rant about the state of Nintendo from his own perspective."
I have to assume a lot of people saying the guy got a bad deal either...
1. Didnt watch the podcast
2. Have never worked in corporate America
If I so much as shittalked my company on Facebook Id be potentially subject to dismissal, and thats nothing compared to this podcast. While getting fired sucks even he admitted it was his own fault.
I think most people just read the OP and saw Chris's Facebook sob story and want to vilify Nintendo as the big mean corporation who doesn't care about its employees.
But the fact is he broke the rules. He was under NDA and he broke NDA. Nintendo is fully within their rights to fire him, even though it's unfortunate. If this happened at any other major company - Sony, Microsoft, EA, Apple, whatever - where an employee said stuff that was under an NDA, the exact same thing would have happened. The only main difference here is 1) we know Chris is going through a hard time, which makes people more sympathetic and 2) this reinforces Nintendo's controversial reputation for being intensely secretive.
I don't think people realize that when other companies like EA and Activision shut down studios with no warning or reason, a lot of people are in the same situation as Chris is. But this is getting more traction because of how public he made his plight.
And just to be 100% clear, I definitely feel sorry for Chris - everyone makes mistakes, and it's a horrible situation to be in. But he broke the rules, and that's what happens.
"I'm just now barely under $100,000 in student debt and my last payment is scheduled for the same year that I turn 40"
I think most people just read the OP and saw Chris's Facebook sob story and want to vilify Nintendo as the big mean corporation who doesn't care about its employees.
But the fact is he broke the rules. He was under NDA and he broke NDA. Nintendo is fully within their rights to fire him, even though it's unfortunate. If this happened at any other major company - Sony, Microsoft, EA, Apple, whatever - where an employee said stuff that was under an NDA, the exact same thing would have happened. The only main difference here is 1) we know Chris is going through a hard time, which makes people more sympathetic and 2) this reinforces Nintendo's controversial reputation for being intensely secretive.
I don't think people realize that when other companies like EA and Activision shut down studios with no warning or reason, a lot of people are in the same situation as Chris is. But this is getting more traction because of how public he made his plight.
And just to be 100% clear, I definitely feel sorry for Chris - everyone makes mistakes, and it's a horrible situation to be in. But he broke the rules, and that's what happens.