Support NeoGAF

[EatinOlives]

Nintendo fires insanely loyal Nintendo employee for defending Nintendo against other insanely loyal Nintendo fans

fucking amazing. it is his fault but they shouldnt have fired him. makes him look foolish but it also makes Nintendo look like enormous shitheads, so well done guys, PR disaster amplified rather than nullified. what muppets.

I wasn't part of the "outrage against Pranger" or whatever. I do feel sorry that he lost his dream job over what amounted to a few off-the-wall comments on a random podcast, and the message of what he was saying wasn't all that far from the truth (that localization has its risks and Nintendo doesn't have the resources to localize every game from Japan).

The issue I think Nintendo took is that he was very confrontational about that message, making fun of the fans who even made that localization to the US possible in the first place, and the fans that are keeping Nintendo afloat by buying the WiiU and related products right now. I do agree there's a lot of moaning and bitching about business decisions at Nintendo and it probably gets on employees' nerves, but you don't solve that by publicly mocking them. You definitely don't solve that by doing so as an active Nintendo employee, as it reflects poorly on the company.

It's definitely shitty that he lost his job, but I don't blame Nintendo for letting him go.

 

[Garlador]

Very harsh. A man's entire life as he knows it ended.

I would have just talked to him in the office, told him what he did was frowned upon, and given him a warning not to do so again. If he did, then there'd be consequences.

But perhaps that's why I'm not in management and also why I detest "zero tolerance" policies.

I hope he lands on his feet.

 

[Spukc]

No, Nintendo fired a painfully naive employee who revealed internal information without the consent of his superiors. Any company would fire someone for doing that.

No my company has a talk with that guy explains him why and gives him a warning. if needed.

 

[crooked spin]

Listening to the podcast episode now -- if you're honestly offended by his "nerd voice" you oughta log off the internet forever. Sheesh.

 

[Nightbird]

From the other thread:

Yikes, if it was getting negative buzz in Japan, then it's no wonder he got fired

But yeah, he should have exercised better judgement about giving an interview without being authorized. That said I don't think there was anything wrong at all with what he said.

This probably was NoJ/NCL and not NoA, because this blew up in Japan:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=175288623&postcount=815
http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/8288093.html

Quoting myself to this Article:

Jesus, 1306 Comments!

What was written in the Article? And could someone tell how the tone of the first few Comments were?

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Maybe the OP needs a reminder, that Nintendo is a business.

 

[megabytecr]

He made a mistake, the decision to fire him is a bit harsh, he seems sorry and now miserable... I hope the best to him.

If he happens to check this thread, learn from your mistake, sometimes it is better to shut up, turn the page, have faith and move on, stuff sometimes happen for a reason, even if you don't understand it now.

 

[meanspartan]

While discipline of some sort was justified, when someone is clearly THIS fiercely loyal to your company (and it is clear he is judging from that Facebook post) you don't fucking fire him for one screwup, especially one that isn't even that bad really.

These are the kind of people you need more of Nintendo. Instead, another incompetent decision. Well done.

 

[Harlock]

The guy has a family to keep. This is very sad. I hope people help him to find a new work soon.

Nintendo also is very dumb to do such thing not knowing this is far worst than anything the guy did wrong. Everyone make mistakes, even with good intentions.

 

[Roo]

Well, he fucked up big time and Nintendo had zero tolerance about it.
Good luck finding a new job tho...

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Did he have permission to appear on a public forum? Because 'Treehouse guy' doesn't seem that big to overcome this. I mean, are other regular employees at Sony and MS allowed to appear in this capacity? Or is this another, 'I hate Nintendo and will blame them for universal policies' type of thing.

If not, this will just be another, 'why can't Nintendo do an online mulitplayer platformer that everyone is doing but not releasing?'

 

[Effect]

Sad and disappointing that he lost his job over this. I hope he can land on his feet and quickly.

And people wonder why devs and other employees don't give them real talk any more.

Public relations departments exist for a reason. Things have to be vetted and approved on the large corporate level. He clearly misunderstood this. It wasn't just gaf where this was being talked about. Even on gaf I don't think that thread had people losing their minds. It was actually a decent discussion and went into content that has been talked about before. What people were discussing wasn't anything really new in the end but what had been talked about for years.

His decision to appear on the podcast, seemingly not clear it with NoA, and to basically speak for the company regarding the decision making process is ultimately what got him in trouble. Not people talking about it. That's a byproduct of the former. Now if he had stuck with just telling stories about people he's meet and his own personal experiences being a localizer or training to be one, etc I doubt this would have ended the way it did. What he said is what is important here.

 

[galvatron]

Hard for me to blame Nintendo here. Not sure what the guy was thinking.

Just hearing about this for the first time and reading just the quotes from the other thread, I agree with the above. This guy is not at all authorized to speak on behalf of the company in public forums, let alone criticize decisions out of his area of expertise / responsibility.

I feel really sorry for the guy losing a job he loved, but I am at a loss for why he would say anything at all in a public forum, let alone things I'd hope HR tells you not to comment on...

 

[diablos991]

So Nintendo is basically the same as Konami

How?

This guy wasn't a superstar like Kojima.
Kojima didn't run around breaking Konami rules and breaking policy publicly as an agent of Konami.
Firing him is more egregious.

This guy oversimplified a decision making process way above his pay grade on what was likely an unauthorized interview which broke policy.


Pretty sure you are completely irrational.

 

[Producer]

He fucked up

 

[Mr-Joker]

After reading his Facebook posting, Fuck Nintendo.

That's almost to a level of Disney like control over their employees and what they say and can't say in a public space. I never once thought Chris Pranger was speaking for Nintendo; I only thought he was offering his opinion on their practices. Was his judgment correct in doing the podcast? No, far from it.

Yet he gets fired? Did he once break NDA and talk about games/projects that aren't even out?

If this is the case, Nintendo really is no different than Konami (except with deeper pockets).

He was representing Nintendo, his employer, in the Podcast and if he painted them and their fan base in a bad light while breaking NDA, which doesn't necessary have to relate to unreleased Games/project, then it's understandable why they chose to terminate his employment.

Nintendo is nowhere close to how Konami treats their employees.

 

[JMDSO]

No my company has a talk with that guy explains him why and gives him a warning. if needed.

YOUR company.

I'm not going to make assumptions on who you work for, but a company like Nintendo is not going to like this.

 

[Hero Prinny]

1 strike and youre out is pretty shitty but im not surprised.

 

[Curufinwe]

Sorry to quote you so far in the thread, but how? I really liked Shane but I sort of remember him being a MAJOR Sony loyalist/apologist.

The guy who just got fired was a MAJOR Nintendo loyalist.

 

[Kurtofan]

Nintendo fires insanely loyal Nintendo employee for defending Nintendo against other insanely loyal Nintendo fans

fucking amazing. it is his fault but they shouldnt have fired him. makes him look foolish but it also makes Nintendo look like enormous shitheads, so well done guys, PR disaster amplified rather than nullified. what muppets.

damned if you do, damned if you dont.

 

[rhandino]

Revealing the inner workings and decision making processes isn't usually a good thing unless you're someone high up.

Reggie wouldn't have been fired for this, obviously.

Reggie would never told the things this guy told tho.

Or at least not in the way that he framed the company.

 

[Stilton Disco]

More than a bit of a shitty move by Nintendo.

I mean the guy was dumb and I'm not surprised he got in hot water for it, but come on.

 

[diablos991]

No my company has a talk with that guy explains him why and gives him a warning. if needed.

Your company definitely doesn't do that if a contract was broken. This situation is likely very different.

 

[Lonely1]

So sad. :/

Never speak about your job without PR approval I guess...

 

[10k]

He inferred the fanbase were idiots. Anybody could have picked it out. He met with the consequences. If he knew how hard it was to make ends meet with his dream job he should have kept his mouth shut and spewed generic PR-101 on the podcast.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

One does not simply make a mistake on the internet

 

[Spukc]

YOUR company.

I'm not going to make assumptions on who you work for, but a company like Nintendo is not going to like this.

i don't say what company because people like that "wonderfull" podcast leech on that.
trying to spread "news" and getting honest workers sacked

 

[Aiustis]

Over that? It didn't seem fire worthy at all. He should just put it in perspective. There are people out there who couldn't even get enough loans to have 100,000 in student loan debt and you're situation isn't that dire if that's one of the first worries on your mind when you get sacked.

 

[Arkeband]

Listening to the podcast episode now -- if you're honestly offended by his "nerd voice" you oughta log off the internet forever. Sheesh.

They were triggered!

Spoiler

/s

 

[MrSaturn99]

This probably was NoJ/NCL and not NoA, because this blew up in Japan:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=175288623&postcount=815
http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/8288093.html

Yikes, this even reached Japan?

 

[Walpurgis]

Next time somebody complains about the lack of transparency and candidness from game companies, just hold up a mirror and point them to this thread.

That's a silly thing to say. It's really not hard to provide transparency without being a dick.

 

[Demon Lizardman]

You know, after the way Reggie tried to "calm the fans" after their horrible presentation, he should of been fired.

 

[GustyGardens]

That's terrible news, but I'm sure he'll land on his feet with another good company.

That being said, the issue with an employee being interviewed is that, at that time, they speak for the company. Everyone is listening to them, and whatever he says not only comes from his mouth, but from Nintendo as well. Nintendo has oft been known as fairly secretive company, particularly the Treehouse. It wasn't until recently that they started showcasing that part of the business and giving them a bit of slack to interact with fans and such. Chris unwittingly took advantage of that, because it's likely that he didn't get the okay from the higher-ups.

That being said, I wish Chris all the best and, as I said previously, I'm positive he'll find another position at an equally prestigious company. It's never not hard losing a job.

 

[Leatherface]

This sucks and all but there will be hell to pay if we don't get Xenoblade on WiiU. Damn system is in a constant state of drought. Take the hit Nintendo and give us the game!

 

[crooked spin]

He inferred the fanbase were idiots. Anybody could have picked it out. He met with the consequences. If he knew how hard it was to make ends meet with his dream job he should have kept his mouth shut and spewed generic PR-101 on the podcast.

Listening to the podcast now for the first time, can you give me the timecode of the moment that offended you the most? Thanks.

 

[Peltz]

1 strike and youre out is pretty shitty but im not surprised.

To be fair, we don't know the quality of his work or if this was indeed his only screw up. We have no way of knowing.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

How the hell do you rack up $100,000 in student debt?

You go to school in America.

 

[Spukc]

Your company definitely doesn't do that if a contract was broken. This situation is likely very different.

nope each case is looked in individually by me.
you guys seem to forget we are dealing with human beings not numbers.

 

[EloquentM]

If Reggie gave away a bunch of Nintendo secrets good or bad he'd either be fired or forced to resign. This guy is just a treehouse employee. This is not a slap on the wrist. This is someone who spoke for the company and was not authorized to in any way shape or form. There's a reason the few Nintendo employees that have a Twitter say their views are their own and not at all involved with Nintendo.

 

[meanspartan]

Reggie would never told the things this guy told tho.

Or at least not in the way that he framed the company.

Didn't Reggie basically imply that the guy who beat him at Smash at E3 had no life and that's why he was so good at the game? I mean, I didn't think that was a big deal, actually kinda funny (and who the hell knows, maybe even scripted) but it's way worse than this.

 

[Ivan Amiibo]

I'm not saying I disagree with his opinions. Fuck I work at retail, 90% of my clientelle is made up of people that make me question how long will it take till we live in Idiocracy's world.

But I don't openly say this to their faces, sarcastic tone or not. I feel sorry for the guy and his family and I think Nintendo was too harsh but he dug his own grave and it's their right to act as they see fit.

That's actually how i kind of understand the situation. Having worked retail and other customer service jobs, i'd always use examples of why someone can't do X, Y, or Z by citing a hypothetical idiot or sketchy customer who might try to take advatage. The person I was talking to didn't immediately flip out and get butthurt about me insulting customers in general. They probably understood that i wasnt calling every single one of them idiots.

But when ypu're talking about a niche group who want 100 hour jrpgs localized in a market that doesnt really support that kind of game...they are not really up on the finer points of conversation and socialization. Literally every article, podcast, press release, interview, review, announcement, etc. is viewed as either validating/omg the best thing evar or an affront/insult. If it's the latter, they want blood. Hence, this blowing up and ruining the guy's life.

 

[Crocodile]

...and also portraying one of Nintendo's most beloved and iconic developers as a crazy diva of a game producer, and somewhat of a spoiled child (Sakurai). And also that the Fox voice acting in Smash sucks, they know it sucks and they feel bad.

It wasn't all positive, good stuff, he was saying.

It's Treehouse. I don't even think they're allowed to discuss stuff with their spouses lol

I want to know more about this. Can you elaborate?

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

You don't make your company look bad, he had it coming.


This is still so fucking sad, a job at Nintendo sounds like a dream, I can't imagine how he feels right now... with a baby + 100k debt.

 

[jett]

That's usually what happens when you fuck up. Sucks for him, but seems like he wasn't being all that smart about it.

 

[Troy]

It will. And it should, if people are going to lose their jobs over this.

In a just world it wouldn't. Irrational gamers don't deserve any respect.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Did he have permission to appear on a public forum? Because 'Treehouse guy' doesn't seem that big to overcome this. I mean, are other regular employees at Sony and MS allowed to appear in this capacity? Or is this another, 'I hate Nintendo and will blame them for universal policies' type of thing.

If not, this will just be another, 'why can't Nintendo do an online mulitplayer platformer that everyone is doing but not releasing?'

Depends. Middle level Microsoft and Sony employers have appeared in random podcast before, but most of the time don't reveal inner workings. Then again, I remember some can be "mocking". Of course, most of this guys are media trained or are in positions that are all about promoting stuff.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Reggie would never told the things this guy told tho.

Or at least not in the way that he framed the company.

Reggie never tells anything that isn't already public information. A Reggie interview is incredibly useless.

 

[Lights and Waves]

That Facebook post is really sad. I can't imagine how he must be feeling. A lot of your replies in this thread defending him and chastising Nintendo are extremely ignorant. Clearly some of you don't understand that Nintendo is a business. PR staff members exist for a reason.

 

[Vena]

Didn't Reggie basically imply that the guy who beat him at Smash at E3 had no life and that's why he was so good at the game? I mean, I didn't think that was a big deal, actually kinda funny (and who the hell knows, maybe even scripted) but it's way worse than this.

That was scripted.

 

[diablos991]

So sad. :/

Never speak about your job without PR approval I guess...

You are oversimplifying it. Discussing his job likely wouldn't have been that big of deal.
If you want to be safe, don't go around on publicly distributed media childishly simplifying your boss' decision making processes and insulting a group of the company's customers.

He could have expressed his opinions in private and been just fine. Whenever somebody is addressing publicly distributed media about any subject a bit of discretion is advised.