I feel rather sad for him. IIRC, he said in the past that it would be an honour to make a Starfox game. That isn't the same as saying "I want to make a Starfox game", even if he had that desire within. It is important to learn and understand the difference between the two. He will be well aware that such a choice isn't in his hands, and his responses to other tweets in the past will reflect that. Once you differentiate, then forget your thoughts about Nintendo, and realise that in the games development profession, to make Nintendo games in this industry, to have "I made exclusive games for Nintendo consoles" on your CV is a developer's honour and privilege.
It's deeply unfortunate that a man had been heckled to a point of total discouragement and disillusion. If it is true that he wanted to make it one day, fans must realise that it is a right he would have to earn. Then there is the other side of this: Time and time again, a number of people have cried for 'New IPs' on Nintendo consoles, and he's just created one - The Wonderful 101. Now that you have it, you're bothering him about something which isn't his choice. You're asking him to do something with an existing IP, and given that a new one has just released, I can see how that can feel a smack in the teeth.
But there is something much deeper-rooted than all of this, and it's showing in responses in this thread. There is a tendency of some 'gamers', primarily 'Western' ones, to mock and casually insult Japanese developers and some of the expressions they have used before. Perhaps a casual racism, masquerading as 'banter and sarcasm', and it's rotten. I can see how some developers and other figures can find it discouraging. It needs to stop.
Calling him the Japanese Phil Fish is a crock of BS. Kamiya's actions don't even compare to the douchebaggery of Phil Fish. Phil Fish trashed Japanese games. He tarred the lot with the same brush. He trashed Japanese culture. All in the same breath. In doing so, he was downright disrespectful to many accomplished figures in the industry, in his profession. He showed no sense of remorse for those remarks, and understandably, it rubbed many people up in the wrong way. Note how not everything he said was turned into an Internet meme, and it was seemingly alright to do this. Note how when anybody spoke out against it, they were dismissed as 'probably butthurt Nintendo fans', and apologists lined up in their droves to defend it. Also, when the shoe was on the other foot, note how many turned around to sympathise with him - they say he threw a tantrum by quitting, but in the same breath, they expressed sympathies. Other comments he made made him come across as very self-entitled, and note how when he went on his tirades, he wasn't harassed by Internet users in anywhere the same way - little or nothing happened to trigger it. But when he was 'Mr. Angry', there was a real sense of acceptance about it. "He's a prick, but...". So, he would get a pass.
Now that Kamiya says he doesn't wish to make Starfox, it doesn't surprise me that many are quick to put him in the same bracket. In doing this, they give Phil Fish and his actions some sort of justification. They say "But he did it, too!!", when they are nothing alike, and the intentions are far from the same. By quoting everything he said in Internet Meme fashion, they paint Kamiya (the more accomplished of the two, by the way) as a crazed caricature. The responses are very different, and it's actually unbelievable that few can, or will see this.
You see this type of practice all the time on here:
"Please Understand" - Here, a man takes accountability for events. He doesn't blame customers, but rather empathises. Yet these two words are thrown about to paint him as incompetent by people who couldn't do a better job.
"Do You Eat Shit?" - Not the first person to say it, and not the only thing he says. Yet this is thrown around as if it's his response to everything - let's forget that he puts up with insults in the first place, then paint him as 'Mr. Angry' all the time.
"Use your own brain", "Fuck Off" - Note how only when he says it does it become a dumb Internet meme.
"Score, score, score", "Sales, sales, sales" - Since when have people cared so much about sales!? Your favourite music bands don't top the charts all the time, but it doesn't make you enjoy their songs any less - Also, review scores are opinions, and opinions are not facts. Notice how the validity of that point gets buried, because 'gamers' seem more obsessed with portraying him as that 'Mr. Angry' figure.
"I'll block Mom/Smash idiots" - Forget that he was being harassed. He should always bite his tongue. But if he opens it, he's 'Mr. Angry' again.
"For the nth time, Check my twilog" - If you had read his tweets pre-E3, you would've noticed that he mentioned being very busy over that time. Also, the eyes of the world were on him, as we were going to see Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101, and he was going to meet up with legendary Nintendo figures. I imagine that it can be quite an overwhelming experience for a man who grew up as a Nintendo fan. One of many boyhood dreams being fulfilled. Also, he's not a God, he's human. But instead of empathising, his comments were portrayed in a negative light, ignoring what he was on the receiving end of. It's convenient for them to paint him as 'Mr. Angry', when all one would have to do to find some of those answers is what he asked. I don't see that this is so difficult.
"To Not Buy Idiots" - Let's forget about all the death threats, insults, port-begging and extreme hate from 'gamers' and large sections of the games press over Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101 Wii U exclusivity. Let's forget about those who were telling him they won't buy his game, that they hoped it failed, those who trashed the latter because they couldn't draw a line on the GamePad, and the hate he gets on a regular basis for making games, exclusive games for Nintendo consoles. You even see members of NeoGAF wishing those games didn't exist, or worse still, fail, and this is somehow acceptable.
"Next week..." is an actual joke on his part. Here, he's mocking the impatience of 'gamers', and there are also instances where he's used slightly different responses.
Now, this - If you looked at
the account which tweeted him the Starfox question, you would see that it consisted of a series of tweets in succession, to a point of trolling. Imagine more people doing that. Everybody has their breaking point. He did not throw a tantrum. He simply said that enough is enough. But Yeah, feel free to keep mocking. Feel free to indulge in your casual racisms and harassment masquerading as 'banter and sarcasm' - No apologies for calling it what it is.
